“It’s backwards and inside out day.” Last night, a very sweet little girl dressed all in pink said that to me with the most angelic smile on her face. This little girl was filled with the perfect fearlessness of childhood. Her smile says that she knows she is safe and loved. She knows it so deeply that it has never occured to her that things might be otherwise. She was talking about her clothes, but her comment perfectly described how I am feeling these days.

The world is backwards and inside out.

South Dakota’s efforts to outlaw abortion are just the latest symptom of this problem. The social conservatives are taking over my country, and my womb, for reasons that I do not understand. If this trend continues — and how I wish I could believe in the hope behind that if, but I do not — women will die. And for what? Someone else’s principles? Someone else’s beliefs? Someone else’s insecurities? None of those things are important enough to risk the lives of real, living women.

There’s clearly something going on that I do not understand. Last night, in the dark hours when I could not sleep, I prayed for that little girl in pink. I prayed that when she grows up, she will never be in a situation where she needs an abortion, but that if she ever does, that she be able to get a safe and legal one. Because she deserves to be safe and loved, no matter what obstacles life puts in her way. I also prayed that one day all children might be as safe and secure and loved and wanted as the little girl in pink is today.

But then my prayer was over, and I was left with the reality that everything is backwards and inside out. And I despaired for the little girl in pink.