Hi! This is a different story but I’ve been reading about the Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader who died after the stillbirth of her child at 20 weeks. Wondering if Missouri abortion laws were a factor in impeding her care/developing sepsis. Thoughts?
This IS their conundrum. I am placing my hope in the idea that there are more men willing to stand with all women and girls in the voting booth than there are subservient, co-opted women who will do whatever their pastor or priest tells them to do. Unfortunately, it didn’t play out like that when the Equal Rights Amendment was up for ratification, though. We have to fight for every vote!
I'd like to know why AZ can cherry pick only the one part of the Howell Law that bans abortion. It also bans brown people testifying in court against white people. It also rules that it is okay if you kill your kid or slave. I mean, if the Law is the Law, the whole damn thing should have to be implemented!
Congress passed legislation to get food to children from low income homes over the summer. But nearly half of Republican-led states haven't joined the program. FOR SHAME!!! Republicans will force birth but won't help the low income families that are a result of bans. My God, I am so pissed. Vote these sadistic bastards OUT of office.
Jessica - I live in NJ which many think is a “safe Blue state”. Meanwhile the HEAD of the Congressional Pro-life Caucus, Chris Smith, has been representing NJ-4 for OVER 40 YEARS!
He does not hold town halls, meet with voters or debate opponents. He accepts campaign money and endorsements from anti-choice organizations like SBA but somehow he just stays under the radar. He’s a headliner at the March for Life every year.
I am trying mightily to raise awareness of his heinous acts and positions (e,g. Forcing African nations to keep “life of the mother” exceptions out of their abortion bans by withholding AIDS funds from them since he’s in Foreign Relations).
If you ever have the time to profile him I believe that would be valuable. NJ-4 can do better for themselves and the nation by kicking him to the curb!
Omg, how monstrous can a person be??!! Withholding AIDS funds if they keep saving the life of the mother as an exception in their abortion bans!! WTAF That is horrific
Somebody in Texas needs to sneak out at night and plaster the faces of GOP legislators over the face of the woman who says SHE is in control of her pregnancy.
My daughter is a physician in Arizona. I’m sending to all of you what she sent to me in its entirety. For those who may be unaware, the margins of victory for Dems in Arizona, including Governor, Attorney General, at least one Senator, and/ of course, Biden/Harris were extremely slim, slim enough that they could be accounted for, or almost entirely accounted for, by the Native-American vote. Here is what she sent me (sorry if the links don’t work):
Hi dear friends,
Many of you have kindly reached out to say WAT AZ?!!?!? the last few days.
For what it is worth, I wanted to offer a few places if you feel able to spare some support that could use your help that are slightly off the beaten track. No obligation of course at all whatsoever, but wanted to offer these up in case you are outraged and looking for a way to send some good vibes this direction.
Northeast Arizona Native Democrats: committed to outreach and building a democratic coalition in native communities - often the "swing" vote in important elections. They are explicitly organizing around pro-choice and abortion issues.
Abortion fund of Arizona: Travel is often a barrier, and for ALL the expenses and coordination required to even get an abortion in Arizona (and then of course, paying for the thing itself), the abortion fund is there.
Gallup Community Health: A family medicine clinic in Gallup, New Mexico (right over the border with Arizona) that provides same day abortion services. They can't use federal money that they get for the family medicine they provide for ANYTHING related to abortions, so please write abortions or reproductive healthcare in the donations tab and they will earmark and use that money to support reproductive health services for the patients that come to them.
"A guest on Larry Kudlow’s Fox Business show was slammed on social media after he suggested that women being forced to travel out of their home states to receive an abortion is “not the worst thing in the world.”
... “If someone needs one and they live in Arizona, it just means they’ll have to go to a neighboring state.” “If you had to travel to another state to get an abortion, it’s not the worst thing in the world,” he [Simone] later proclaimed. “Hopefully this is a very rare occurrence in your life, once in your life, maybe you would do it,” he added. “Buying a bus ticket to go somewhere to get it is not the worst thing in the world.”
Did anyone see / read that? Once again I'm just aghast at the ignorance. Forget the money for the ticket for a minute -- the 1-2K Jessica cites in today's edition -- you going to send a woman who is miscarrying on a bus? I can't even begin to react to this guy. I wish doctors would be more outspoken now. The precarious and dangerous situations that women are in in these states is unacceptable in a civil society!
Yes!! When I first saw that I made sure to get his name & then looked him up on X to go & read him the riot act; & guess what? The damned COWARD has comments disabled so that you can’t say anything to him about his stupidity.
I doubt most of them will be of any help. People in the chronic pain community have been begging them to speak up & be advocates for their patients who are suffering since the CDC came out with their prescribing guidelines in 2016 which caused Drs to drastically cut back on opioid prescribing.
This has left millions of people who once had some little quality of life to suffer & be unable to work or care for their families. Our war wounded veterans have been cut off from opioid doses that they were stable on for many yrs. Many pain patients have been left in such agony that they’ve taken their lives.
So far they’ve not done much of anything because of the threat from the DEA to take their licenses, seize all their assets & imprison them.
The situation is absolutely horrible.
Even elderly people dying of cancer or recovering from a fractured hip are being deprived of opioid pain relief. Another example of big govt terrorism
That proposed Alabama law that guarantees the citizen's right to access birth control may be a lot less than meets the eye. It may be interpreted as excluding the birth control pill; Plan B or the IUD because the super majority Republican legislature may define these methods a being abortifacients, (and therefore not birth control) and the conservative courts would back them up. Even though the medical science would be spurious, it would not prevent a legislative pronouncement on the subject. The junk science propounded against Mifepristone has not prevented a serious legal challenge to ban it on spurious health grounds. So the most common and effective birth control methods could be re-criminalized in Alabama even if this bill passes. This reality, I'm sure, would be kept from the public before the next round of legislative elections.
It is a similar situation with Red states that pass Reproductive State constitutional amendments. If the Republicans have super majorities in the legislatures and courts, they could simply ignore the amendment. Even if abortion was permitted, the Republican anti-abortion legislature state like Ohio is already coming up with laws like publicizing the names and addresses of women who get abortions as a deterrent. They know that such a law would not only be humiliating for some women, but would also expose them to serious harassment, and even violence from family members. Such a law might run afoul of federal medical privacy laws, but with the current SCOTUS, abortion could be written out of the law as not being health care, and the State statute would be upheld. My point is that the fight for reproductive freedom is ongoing, and permanent, and that the only way to win decisively for the long term is to throw the Republicans out of office and replace their judges.
The ways you have outlined here that anti abortion legislatures & courts can use to subvert ballot initiatives & the people’s will, really need to be more widely & loudly publicized.
I wish someone who has the ear of the Biden/Harris campaign would get this message to them. We can be certain that they Rs will be launching ads to try & confuse the pro choice R voter.
Thank you for saying this. I keep posting about them using Comstock to ban contraception, because many on the right believe contraception acts as an abortifacient. And you're correct. It doesn't matter what the science says. They will fund a flawed study or find one that suits their purposes.
Project 2025 continually states "Abortion is not healthcare" for this very reason. They are trying to define it that way in part to make invasive tracking possible. If they win, they plan to convert the CDC into a nationwide abortion and transgender tracking unit. I wrote about this here: https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/project-2025-how-christian-nationalist
If we don’t stop Republicans, ALL healthcare for women or girls who look like they are between puberty and menopause will be subject to a unique set of new “pro-life” controls. I am talking about everything from lifesaving treatment to OTC headache remedies. They are already trying to implement interstate travel bans that will impact anyone who would seem to be capable of pregnancy and is found in an airport or on the highway.
Now I am worried about ongoing access to any drug that has not been explicitly tested on pregnant women and fetuses being prohibited for pregnancy-capable women and girls (or just females of the age range associated with fertility).
I had pre-menopausal breast cancer and was well informed before starting chemo that becoming pregnant during my treatment would necessitate an abortion. I signed an acknowledgement and was grateful to my doctor for asking me to consider the ramifications before my first infusion. What happens to someone with pre-menopausal cancer in the misogynist states now? Do patients have to agree in advance to flee the state for an abortion if they get pregnant during treatment or do they just deny all chemo to people who menstruate? Oh, I know. They will only give chemo to a woman or girl who can prove to a magistrate that she’s had a hysterectomy and her breeding days are permanently over, maybe before they even began.
Of course, no drugs are tested on pregnant women unless the purpose of the drug is to treat side effects of pregnancy. I don’t even think Tylenol has been tested on the pregnant cohort and, since pregnant people don’t always know they are pregnant, we will see Republicans arguing that “young women can handle life’s aches and pains without medicines that could harm an INNOCENT life just after conception”..
Publishing the names and addresses of women who get abortions - doesn't that violate HIPPA like something fierce? And is it for women who go out of state? That is just infuriating.
In the book thread, I wrote that I appreciate Jessica's work on this difficult issue in this difficult time which made me think why I wrote 'difficult time.' I mean, if it were not for trump would we be here? If it were some other R, they would probably have reined in the SCOTUS and the states and would have instituted a 15 week boondoggle and we would then be worse off because of the appearance of reasonableness to some voters. With trump, every fucker is emboldened to do their worst for this country and everyone is seeing them for who they really are. To that extent trump really screwed them. The analogy being used everywhere is that the dog caught the car and the car ran over it. I think we need to silence the anti-abortion brigade for good with our votes and legislation and make them crawl back into their 18th century homes.
I have heard that, if Trump doesn't sign a bill, that isn't the same as vetoing the bill and it will become law without his signature after a certain amount of time. Maybe that's how he can say he won't sign an abortion ban bill but one would still go into effect?
I continue to be baffled about why abortions are not more readily available on Indian (sic) reservations.
Hi! This is a different story but I’ve been reading about the Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader who died after the stillbirth of her child at 20 weeks. Wondering if Missouri abortion laws were a factor in impeding her care/developing sepsis. Thoughts?
https://whro.org/local-news/46361-youngkin-vetoes-abortion-related-shield-law-bills
******************
https://richmonddiocese.org/statement-by-bishop-burbidge-and-bishop-knestout-on-governor-youngkins-vetoes-of-abortion-shield-legislation/
Perfect example of some people’s Religion wanting to dictate everyone’s choices.
***************
https://catholicreview.org/virginia-governor-vetoes-approves-abortion-related-measures/#:~:text=Youngkin%20vetoed%20so%2Dcalled%20“shield,up%20through%20the%20second%20trimester. Read 3rd paragraph. This is where our country is… I’m not sure people understand the Rs/Catholics/etc. realize these bills affect medication abortion, much less other care, for example a rape victim.
Mike Luckovich Cartoon:
GOP1: ...perhaps we erred in ending women's reproductive rights...
GOP2: ...without ending women's voting rights...
https://twitter.com/andreagail_k/status/1778764974367887861/photo/1
This IS their conundrum. I am placing my hope in the idea that there are more men willing to stand with all women and girls in the voting booth than there are subservient, co-opted women who will do whatever their pastor or priest tells them to do. Unfortunately, it didn’t play out like that when the Equal Rights Amendment was up for ratification, though. We have to fight for every vote!
Yeah, we’ll they (some of them) have already been caught on video saying they should take away women’s right to vote
Priceless.
I'd like to know why AZ can cherry pick only the one part of the Howell Law that bans abortion. It also bans brown people testifying in court against white people. It also rules that it is okay if you kill your kid or slave. I mean, if the Law is the Law, the whole damn thing should have to be implemented!
Good point.
Congress passed legislation to get food to children from low income homes over the summer. But nearly half of Republican-led states haven't joined the program. FOR SHAME!!! Republicans will force birth but won't help the low income families that are a result of bans. My God, I am so pissed. Vote these sadistic bastards OUT of office.
Here are a few sources on Chris Smith (NJ-04):
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/chris-smith-kenya-abortion-constitution/
https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/qa-pro-life-rep-chris-smith-says-pro-choice-position-has-become-acceptable-bigotry/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/14/ivf-congress-antiabortion-alabama-ruling/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/431
https://patch.com/new-jersey/freehold/chris-smith-forcible-rape-brief-history
I think the role that voters in blue states need to play in 2024 and beyond is not well understood. Sunlight is welcome!
Jessica - I live in NJ which many think is a “safe Blue state”. Meanwhile the HEAD of the Congressional Pro-life Caucus, Chris Smith, has been representing NJ-4 for OVER 40 YEARS!
He does not hold town halls, meet with voters or debate opponents. He accepts campaign money and endorsements from anti-choice organizations like SBA but somehow he just stays under the radar. He’s a headliner at the March for Life every year.
I am trying mightily to raise awareness of his heinous acts and positions (e,g. Forcing African nations to keep “life of the mother” exceptions out of their abortion bans by withholding AIDS funds from them since he’s in Foreign Relations).
If you ever have the time to profile him I believe that would be valuable. NJ-4 can do better for themselves and the nation by kicking him to the curb!
Omg, how monstrous can a person be??!! Withholding AIDS funds if they keep saving the life of the mother as an exception in their abortion bans!! WTAF That is horrific
Somebody in Texas needs to sneak out at night and plaster the faces of GOP legislators over the face of the woman who says SHE is in control of her pregnancy.
Good idea!
My daughter is a physician in Arizona. I’m sending to all of you what she sent to me in its entirety. For those who may be unaware, the margins of victory for Dems in Arizona, including Governor, Attorney General, at least one Senator, and/ of course, Biden/Harris were extremely slim, slim enough that they could be accounted for, or almost entirely accounted for, by the Native-American vote. Here is what she sent me (sorry if the links don’t work):
Hi dear friends,
Many of you have kindly reached out to say WAT AZ?!!?!? the last few days.
For what it is worth, I wanted to offer a few places if you feel able to spare some support that could use your help that are slightly off the beaten track. No obligation of course at all whatsoever, but wanted to offer these up in case you are outraged and looking for a way to send some good vibes this direction.
Northeast Arizona Native Democrats: committed to outreach and building a democratic coalition in native communities - often the "swing" vote in important elections. They are explicitly organizing around pro-choice and abortion issues.
https://neaznativedemocrats.org/
Abortion fund of Arizona: Travel is often a barrier, and for ALL the expenses and coordination required to even get an abortion in Arizona (and then of course, paying for the thing itself), the abortion fund is there.
https://www.abortionfundofaz.org/
And lastly:
Gallup Community Health: A family medicine clinic in Gallup, New Mexico (right over the border with Arizona) that provides same day abortion services. They can't use federal money that they get for the family medicine they provide for ANYTHING related to abortions, so please write abortions or reproductive healthcare in the donations tab and they will earmark and use that money to support reproductive health services for the patients that come to them.
https://gallupcommunityhealth.org/
Thank you, I absolutely will donate.
Also Operation Save Abortion is a National org that assists people needing an abortion with finances & logistics
That’s one I never heard of. I’ll check it out!
Thank you for this 🥰
Thank you. Will donate
One of those bs “I’m in control” billboards is close to my house.
I'd be hard pressed not to throw a can of red paint at it, at three AM.
Love the way you think
Likewise!
Absolutely......... dressed in a black ninja suit and black ski mask....
😉😁
From Yahoo News, in case anyone missed it on Fox:
"A guest on Larry Kudlow’s Fox Business show was slammed on social media after he suggested that women being forced to travel out of their home states to receive an abortion is “not the worst thing in the world.”
... “If someone needs one and they live in Arizona, it just means they’ll have to go to a neighboring state.” “If you had to travel to another state to get an abortion, it’s not the worst thing in the world,” he [Simone] later proclaimed. “Hopefully this is a very rare occurrence in your life, once in your life, maybe you would do it,” he added. “Buying a bus ticket to go somewhere to get it is not the worst thing in the world.”
Did anyone see / read that? Once again I'm just aghast at the ignorance. Forget the money for the ticket for a minute -- the 1-2K Jessica cites in today's edition -- you going to send a woman who is miscarrying on a bus? I can't even begin to react to this guy. I wish doctors would be more outspoken now. The precarious and dangerous situations that women are in in these states is unacceptable in a civil society!
I guess we should commandeer the buses they are using to ship migrants out-of-state and use them to provide needed healthcare to women and girls.
Yes!! When I first saw that I made sure to get his name & then looked him up on X to go & read him the riot act; & guess what? The damned COWARD has comments disabled so that you can’t say anything to him about his stupidity.
'I wish doctors would be more outspoken now.' - Yes. This. What do they need from the rest of us in order to do that?
I doubt most of them will be of any help. People in the chronic pain community have been begging them to speak up & be advocates for their patients who are suffering since the CDC came out with their prescribing guidelines in 2016 which caused Drs to drastically cut back on opioid prescribing.
This has left millions of people who once had some little quality of life to suffer & be unable to work or care for their families. Our war wounded veterans have been cut off from opioid doses that they were stable on for many yrs. Many pain patients have been left in such agony that they’ve taken their lives.
So far they’ve not done much of anything because of the threat from the DEA to take their licenses, seize all their assets & imprison them.
The situation is absolutely horrible.
Even elderly people dying of cancer or recovering from a fractured hip are being deprived of opioid pain relief. Another example of big govt terrorism
Yep, saw that Fox clip. Someone needs to make a montage of all these old men making statements like that.
That proposed Alabama law that guarantees the citizen's right to access birth control may be a lot less than meets the eye. It may be interpreted as excluding the birth control pill; Plan B or the IUD because the super majority Republican legislature may define these methods a being abortifacients, (and therefore not birth control) and the conservative courts would back them up. Even though the medical science would be spurious, it would not prevent a legislative pronouncement on the subject. The junk science propounded against Mifepristone has not prevented a serious legal challenge to ban it on spurious health grounds. So the most common and effective birth control methods could be re-criminalized in Alabama even if this bill passes. This reality, I'm sure, would be kept from the public before the next round of legislative elections.
It is a similar situation with Red states that pass Reproductive State constitutional amendments. If the Republicans have super majorities in the legislatures and courts, they could simply ignore the amendment. Even if abortion was permitted, the Republican anti-abortion legislature state like Ohio is already coming up with laws like publicizing the names and addresses of women who get abortions as a deterrent. They know that such a law would not only be humiliating for some women, but would also expose them to serious harassment, and even violence from family members. Such a law might run afoul of federal medical privacy laws, but with the current SCOTUS, abortion could be written out of the law as not being health care, and the State statute would be upheld. My point is that the fight for reproductive freedom is ongoing, and permanent, and that the only way to win decisively for the long term is to throw the Republicans out of office and replace their judges.
If they succeed in taking down the entire FDA approval process along with Mifepristone at SCOTUS, hormonal birth control will be next.
The ways you have outlined here that anti abortion legislatures & courts can use to subvert ballot initiatives & the people’s will, really need to be more widely & loudly publicized.
I wish someone who has the ear of the Biden/Harris campaign would get this message to them. We can be certain that they Rs will be launching ads to try & confuse the pro choice R voter.
Excellent points.
Thank you for saying this. I keep posting about them using Comstock to ban contraception, because many on the right believe contraception acts as an abortifacient. And you're correct. It doesn't matter what the science says. They will fund a flawed study or find one that suits their purposes.
Project 2025 continually states "Abortion is not healthcare" for this very reason. They are trying to define it that way in part to make invasive tracking possible. If they win, they plan to convert the CDC into a nationwide abortion and transgender tracking unit. I wrote about this here: https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/project-2025-how-christian-nationalist
If we don’t stop Republicans, ALL healthcare for women or girls who look like they are between puberty and menopause will be subject to a unique set of new “pro-life” controls. I am talking about everything from lifesaving treatment to OTC headache remedies. They are already trying to implement interstate travel bans that will impact anyone who would seem to be capable of pregnancy and is found in an airport or on the highway.
Now I am worried about ongoing access to any drug that has not been explicitly tested on pregnant women and fetuses being prohibited for pregnancy-capable women and girls (or just females of the age range associated with fertility).
I had pre-menopausal breast cancer and was well informed before starting chemo that becoming pregnant during my treatment would necessitate an abortion. I signed an acknowledgement and was grateful to my doctor for asking me to consider the ramifications before my first infusion. What happens to someone with pre-menopausal cancer in the misogynist states now? Do patients have to agree in advance to flee the state for an abortion if they get pregnant during treatment or do they just deny all chemo to people who menstruate? Oh, I know. They will only give chemo to a woman or girl who can prove to a magistrate that she’s had a hysterectomy and her breeding days are permanently over, maybe before they even began.
Of course, no drugs are tested on pregnant women unless the purpose of the drug is to treat side effects of pregnancy. I don’t even think Tylenol has been tested on the pregnant cohort and, since pregnant people don’t always know they are pregnant, we will see Republicans arguing that “young women can handle life’s aches and pains without medicines that could harm an INNOCENT life just after conception”..
Yes. They are capable of every bit of this. I worry about these things, too. And the people I love who will be impacted. It’s a lot.
Thank you Andra for your comments here today AND I highly recommend Andra’s Substack to all.
She has a unique insight into how the Christian Nationalists think & how they will act if they gain power.
Agree 100%.
Publishing the names and addresses of women who get abortions - doesn't that violate HIPPA like something fierce? And is it for women who go out of state? That is just infuriating.
In the book thread, I wrote that I appreciate Jessica's work on this difficult issue in this difficult time which made me think why I wrote 'difficult time.' I mean, if it were not for trump would we be here? If it were some other R, they would probably have reined in the SCOTUS and the states and would have instituted a 15 week boondoggle and we would then be worse off because of the appearance of reasonableness to some voters. With trump, every fucker is emboldened to do their worst for this country and everyone is seeing them for who they really are. To that extent trump really screwed them. The analogy being used everywhere is that the dog caught the car and the car ran over it. I think we need to silence the anti-abortion brigade for good with our votes and legislation and make them crawl back into their 18th century homes.
I have heard that, if Trump doesn't sign a bill, that isn't the same as vetoing the bill and it will become law without his signature after a certain amount of time. Maybe that's how he can say he won't sign an abortion ban bill but one would still go into effect?
I thought if an executive, state or federal, then the bill dies; it’s called a pocket veto.
Yep, heard that. These reporters are stupid. Why don't they ask him if he will veto the bill?
Because they have their orders to be his stenographers.
I've seen that billboard driving in Houston. It is quite obvious to me. Disgraceful is what it is.
They are nothing if not deceitful.