Raven is a 17-year-old girl that lives in rural America and has recently found out that she is pregnant on the heels of the overturning of Roe versus Wade. She shares her story of experiencing extreme homelessness as well as being impoverished all of her life. Raven has a close relationship with her mother who is very honest with her about the life decisions that she has made and how those choices have affected her life and the lives of her children. The important thing that Raven expresses is the recognition that not long ago while she didn't have a lot of choices because of her financial situation she did have some, but now she has none. This is a story about innocence. This story is a reflection of many women young and old who no longer feel like they have a choice. Seen through the eyes of a 17-year-old whose life has not quite begun but whose mother is willing to do and trying to do everything in her power so that her child does not continue the generational struggle that her family has been stuck in for decades.
Out of Choices
(Raven, a teenage girl nervously paces around her living room. She looks out of a window for a few seconds then turns on the television. She is stunned.) This is insane, this is absolutely insane. I can't even believe this is happening, in this country and right now I just don't have the words. I wonder if on the back side of this they will pass a law that in some way, anyway, deals with the man’s anatomy. (Laughs) Of course not because men rule this country, and we would never do that to them. What if, what if when a man doesn’t take care of their kid financially, they had to get a Vasectomy? I mean it is a form of birth control. It’s painless. It’s even done as an outpatient procedure (Laughs), now there, there is the answer or at least it’s an answer. (Beat) But nothing can make it equal. Because men don't have to ever carry a baby or give birth (looking out of the window) or run. It may not be a popular opinion, but I'll always want a choice. When it comes to my body, I will always, always want a choice.