If Ii lived in Ohio and a anti-choice person came to my door and started with the spewing of BS, I would keep them at my door as long as possible then walk with them in the neighborhood to tell my neighbors what these people are saying is false.
I SO appreciate this column, and the great discussions that happen here. In that spirit, let me make my contribution: Jessica, you praised the article from the young feminist, writing in the LA Times. I also love her fervor and commitment; however, she is repeating the incorrect and harmful trope that self-managed abortion is dangerous. It is not, and that commentary further stigmatizes women seeking their own reproductive freedom. Angelina Chiang writes “Overruling [Dobbs] will only make this procedure unsafe and put women at risk… now that this country has once again restricted access to optimal, medically supervised abortions, women are being forced to turn to pre-Roe options. Methods such as underground abortions and self-induced abortions are taken out of desperation and are known to heavily increase the risk of maternal death and morbidity.” That is just flat out wrong. Guttmacher, WHO, and others have researched and reported extensively on the safety of self-managed abortions. What is dangerous is LACK of abortion access, as Chiang documents in several stories later in her article, e.g. for women who have problem pregnancies. In reality, medical abortions require only medication and information (not, importantly, doctors!). And Chiang does not mention the true danger of self-managed abortion in today’s digital surveillance climate: being safe online. Medical, self-managed abortion is a game-changer that empowers us, not harms us.
"By 6 p.m., a jail employee walked with Caswell to a shower, where she 'delivered her baby while standing upright on a concrete floor, without the aid of any medical personnel or medication,' according to the lawsuit. Soon after, she fainted because of the blood loss and was allegedly left naked on the floor. Meanwhile, the suit claims, corrections workers passed around the baby, which was still attached to Caswell through the umbilical cord. Then, they posed with the newborn for pictures without asking for Caswell’s consent, according to the lawsuit."
"All the while, jail staff allegedly refused to render her any aid."
DeWine's comments are so casual, cavalier, uncaring... It's like saying, "Yeah, this law makes you a second-class citizen, will ruin some of your lives, and will kill some of you. But I'm sure we'll come up with something." Jesus!
Thx for the excellent reporting, as always. Just a note on nomenclature - the contraceptives available in New Jersey and Arizona pharmacies that you’ve highlighted today and last week are not “over the counter”. They are called pharmacy access or pharmacist prescribed because the pharmacist still writes the prescription. We Wait until 2024 for true OTC access across the US.
Ugh. And these statistics on infant and pregnant person mortality are going to get so much worse. Thanks for sharing an update on the Ohio ballot measure. I hope those anti-abortion assholes get to eat their smugness when the votes are counted.
Re: increased infant mortality with increased abortion restrictions.
Antichoice advocates have tried so hard to make abortion seem like a world away from labor and delivery. From calling physicians "abortionists" to demonizing the women who have abortions as selfish narcissists when so many are already mothers and/or caregivers. But abortion is reproductive health care! The same people trained to deliver babies also provide abortions. As Jessica is fond of saying "pregnancy is too complicated to legislate." A well-trained physician needs to know how to handle it all.
I know these advocates don't care how abortion bans lead to more dead and injured babies (and moms). I hope these findings reach saner and more compassionate people who can fight against their insanity.
Yes they sound so ignorant as their is no such medical designation. It would be like calling your podiatrist a "Bunionist." They are OB/GYNs. The media should use their proper title too. I read an article in Politico that kept calling them "abortion doctors" Grr.
If Ii lived in Ohio and a anti-choice person came to my door and started with the spewing of BS, I would keep them at my door as long as possible then walk with them in the neighborhood to tell my neighbors what these people are saying is false.
I SO appreciate this column, and the great discussions that happen here. In that spirit, let me make my contribution: Jessica, you praised the article from the young feminist, writing in the LA Times. I also love her fervor and commitment; however, she is repeating the incorrect and harmful trope that self-managed abortion is dangerous. It is not, and that commentary further stigmatizes women seeking their own reproductive freedom. Angelina Chiang writes “Overruling [Dobbs] will only make this procedure unsafe and put women at risk… now that this country has once again restricted access to optimal, medically supervised abortions, women are being forced to turn to pre-Roe options. Methods such as underground abortions and self-induced abortions are taken out of desperation and are known to heavily increase the risk of maternal death and morbidity.” That is just flat out wrong. Guttmacher, WHO, and others have researched and reported extensively on the safety of self-managed abortions. What is dangerous is LACK of abortion access, as Chiang documents in several stories later in her article, e.g. for women who have problem pregnancies. In reality, medical abortions require only medication and information (not, importantly, doctors!). And Chiang does not mention the true danger of self-managed abortion in today’s digital surveillance climate: being safe online. Medical, self-managed abortion is a game-changer that empowers us, not harms us.
Alabama goddamn, folks.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/10/17/alabama-pregnant-birth-jail-etowah-county-lawsuit/
"By 6 p.m., a jail employee walked with Caswell to a shower, where she 'delivered her baby while standing upright on a concrete floor, without the aid of any medical personnel or medication,' according to the lawsuit. Soon after, she fainted because of the blood loss and was allegedly left naked on the floor. Meanwhile, the suit claims, corrections workers passed around the baby, which was still attached to Caswell through the umbilical cord. Then, they posed with the newborn for pictures without asking for Caswell’s consent, according to the lawsuit."
"All the while, jail staff allegedly refused to render her any aid."
I don't even know what to do with how dehumanizing that is. Jesus.
They put her in jail for child endangerment!
The definition of cruelty and hypocrisy.
Exactly.
She has a 15 year term.
DeWine's comments are so casual, cavalier, uncaring... It's like saying, "Yeah, this law makes you a second-class citizen, will ruin some of your lives, and will kill some of you. But I'm sure we'll come up with something." Jesus!
Thx for the excellent reporting, as always. Just a note on nomenclature - the contraceptives available in New Jersey and Arizona pharmacies that you’ve highlighted today and last week are not “over the counter”. They are called pharmacy access or pharmacist prescribed because the pharmacist still writes the prescription. We Wait until 2024 for true OTC access across the US.
Glad you enjoyed it, I'm a retired surgical assistant medical ignorance really galls me! Feel free to steal it! They need to be humiliated a bit.
Mitchell is evil. I don’t know how else to describe him at this point.
Ugh. And these statistics on infant and pregnant person mortality are going to get so much worse. Thanks for sharing an update on the Ohio ballot measure. I hope those anti-abortion assholes get to eat their smugness when the votes are counted.
There are not enough expletives in the world for Jonathan Mitchell. Something is deeply, deeply wrong with that man.
This. 💯
He’s an evil, authoritarian a--hole.
He's an opportunist, and this is his grand "money and power" grab.
I really liked the sliding door article. Roe Your Vote Virginia is a pretty cool 😎 name too.
Re: increased infant mortality with increased abortion restrictions.
Antichoice advocates have tried so hard to make abortion seem like a world away from labor and delivery. From calling physicians "abortionists" to demonizing the women who have abortions as selfish narcissists when so many are already mothers and/or caregivers. But abortion is reproductive health care! The same people trained to deliver babies also provide abortions. As Jessica is fond of saying "pregnancy is too complicated to legislate." A well-trained physician needs to know how to handle it all.
I know these advocates don't care how abortion bans lead to more dead and injured babies (and moms). I hope these findings reach saner and more compassionate people who can fight against their insanity.
Yes they sound so ignorant as their is no such medical designation. It would be like calling your podiatrist a "Bunionist." They are OB/GYNs. The media should use their proper title too. I read an article in Politico that kept calling them "abortion doctors" Grr.
Thank you for the bunionist analogy, which is truly apt and at least made me laugh.
I think I'm going to start calling my pharmacist a pill pusher 💀