" I have well more autonomy as a woman in Spain than I did in the so - called dry land of the gratis . "
It was June of 2020 when I realized I no longer need to live in the United States .
Riding out the pandemic in a guest bedroom at my parent ’ sign of the zodiac , I ’d spent the summertime watching in horror as half the country protest theviolent murder of George Floydand the other half mystifyingly seemed to celebrate it . Donald Trump was up for reelection , a race it seemed he might win despitealready having been criminate . Rampant disinformation and denial swirled around COVID-19 , which by then had already killedwell over half a million peopleglobally .
The pivotal moment came when , on a rare trip out of the house as the family ’s doom grocery shopper , I drove past a dozen children gathered on a locality corner . All appear to be under the age of 12 or so . They waved signs in the atmosphere bringing attention to Floyd ’s murder and call out to cars drive past . A world-weary grownup fiddled with their earpiece on a lawn hot seat perch a few yards away . None of their parents , it seemed , had worry to join them .
I honked as I drive by and pumped my fist out the windowpane . Then , as before long as I was out of sight , I pulled over and sob in the car .
Three calendar month by and by , I was boarding a one - way flying to Spain with my dog and all the belongings I could block into two large suitcases . I ’d settle I was done — done watching people I ’d consider close friends passionately fend for harmful racist and misogynous views , done living under a government that I felt carry no value for my liveliness as a woman , done fighting for what I considered basic human right only to watch them be stripped away , one by one .
If this is the eccentric of country the majority of the population need to live in , I remember , let them have it . But I ’m opting out .
Yet soon after I go out , I began to finger a sticky sense of guilt feelings that I ’d left behind myriad women who share my despair but had no manner out . I was fortunate enough to have access code to an EU recommendation ( my founding father is Italian ) and the financial means to leave . I was distressingly mindful , as I remain to this day , of the monolithic privilege I have . Even from 4,000 sea mile away , I found myself ineffectual to detach .
When Donald Trump lost the November 2020 election , it should have brought some signified of reprieve . It did n’t . As a intimate assault survivor , I make do with the idea that virtually half the country — my peers — had rallied behind a man who isalleged to have raped dozens of womenand a youngster as young as 13 .
I have well more autonomy as a woman in Spain than I did in the so - called land of the loose . I visit the pharmacy once per calendar month to buy my preferred birthing control over the counter ; the intact process takes less than two minute , and I payabout $ 4for a 28 - day supply . gynaecological concern , include STI testing and malignant neoplastic disease covering , arefree and easily accessible . If I ever choose to have a child , my partner and I will both be entitle to16 weeks of ante up parental leave of absence . Thanks tocommon - sentiency abortion rights , I ’ll never have to worry about being deny care for life - threatening pregnancy complications .
My heart break for all American women after the overturning of Roe v. Wade . Having contend to get a basic birth ascendance prescription prior to moving afield , I ’m familiar with the hoops woman were force to leap through even before the decision was turn over . As a 19 - yr - honest-to-goodness victim of a violent rape that put me in the hospital , Planned Parenthood was my lonesome avenue for follow - up medical aid . I thrill to call up what will materialize to the next generation of women as they face these challenges .
In the wake of the outcry surrounding Roe v. Wade ’s change of mind , the idea of Trump gain another term in 2024 seemed abysmal . sure enough , I cerebrate , America would rally around its womanhood in their time of need . Tuning in to various global medium outlets , it feel like the whole world was on the same page ; a survey in Denmark , for example , showedjust 7 % of respondentswould vote for Trump if eligible , and his support was only slightly higher at 17 % in Spain and 22 % in Australia . Even canvas in Italy , currently the epicenter ofa troubling far - right extremist movementin Western Europe , cap bread and butter for Trumpat just 24 % .
I did n’t expect to be amiss . I sure as shooting did n’t expect to see so many American adult female blindly pledge allegiance to an presidency that openly intends to suppress their rights .
“ I ’ll instruct my girl how to track her period . About protected sexual practice . I ’ll learn her about God and his miracles , ” one female friend from my hometown wrote on social media the morning after the 2024 election .
“ track my period and learning God ’s miracle did n’t avail me as a terrified 19 - twelvemonth - older slipping in and out of consciousness in an emergency room , ” I message her in private . She did n’t reply .
The more clock time I pass traveling the globe , the more I realize the United States be within a house of cards — one that has been steadilyinfiltrated bymisinformation from Russiaintended to push more voter toward Trump . Americans are rarely challenged to face position originating from outside their field of view . Nationalism is heralded as a virtue , while globalism is a four - varsity letter word . To someone with this kind of special worldview , propaganda may be impossible todiscern from the true statement .
With every twelvemonth that passes , visits to my original rest home experience more like a trip-up to a foreign country . I spend the integrality of my clip on U.S. grime riddled with fear that I ’ll get into a car accident or bust an ovarian cyst and rack up hospital bills so extreme they ’ll drain my life savings . My kernel bound off a beatnik whenever I notice a holster strapped to a alien ’s hip at the grocery memory board . Friends jokingly ask me to convey them back to Spain in my suitcase , but their phonation are lace up with real anguish .
Each time I glance at my American pass , I ’m reminded that as long as it remains in my possession , I ’ll perpetually have to yield taxes to a governance that would rather rent me die than allow me to end a life - jeopardize pregnancy . While Trump made brief remarks during his hunting expedition about ending double taxation for extraneous residents , economic experts warnit’sunlikelythe hope will materialize . Given the long list of broken campaign promise from his 2016 full term , I wo n’t hold my breath . Renouncing my citizenship is a thought that ’s crossed my idea more than once . However , it comes at the cost of no longer being able to visit my syndicate without a visa .
The impact of the 2024 election will reach far beyond U.S. borders , digging its Myxocephalus aenaeus fingernails deeply into the life I ’ve built halfway across the world . Many dread Trump ’s winnings willembolden thefar - right extremistsamassing support across Europe . Italy ’s extremist - conservative Brothers of Italy party , which took powerin 2022 after winning 26 % of thevote , has already chipped away at procreative rights by givinganti - abortion activists the sound right to enter clinicsand make itillegal to get at surrogacy serviceseither within Italy or afield . Snowballing patriotism could even spell out the ending of the European Union , mark the entire continent back tenner and leading to a catastrophic economic flop .
Experts further foretell that as Trump ’s economic policiesdrive up consumer prices and interest rates in the States , they ’ll also work havoc on the European saving . terminate America ’s fight against the mood crisis is a dark omen for the entire humanity , which feel all too palpable now in Spain as the whole res publica reels from theloss of more than 200 livesin historic floodinglinked to world warming .
supporter from Ukraine , Gaza and Lebanon expect why my rural area has turned its back on them as they confront invasion and genocide precede by dictator wait to behanded even more autonomyby the Trump governing . I wish I had an resolution .
Four years after leaving the U.S. , I find myself right back where I began : reeling from the impact of an American sociopolitical crisis . But this meter is different . I ’m no longer under the opinion that I can outrun the77 - million - person mobthat vote in favour of racism , misogyny , wildness and corruption . All I can do is link up the rest of the humans in bracing for what number next .
Lisa Bernardi is a self-employed person writer specialize in personal finance and international resettlement . Lisa ’s multifaceted professional life frequently takes her across the Earth ; she has lived in four countries , speak three language , and hold two external degrees . She is presently establish in Barcelona .
This clause primitively appear onHuffPostin December 2024 .
