A general comment about abortion bans. I feel the narrative needs to change. The anti-abortion people are good about getting misinformation out via bill boards, CPC's, and other media sources.
I am not a human rights attorney but what pregnant people are going through is TORTURE. Plain and simple. There must be laws in this country that address the mistreatment of people. The emotional, physical and mental pain is horrible. There must be a way to label this as torture because it is.
I don't know how to address this or where to go with this but we see more compassion for animals being abused and mistreated than we do for pregnant people. Just feeling mad and frustrated today. Thanks for reading/listening.
I’m a little confused by the Vicki Ringer quote. I’ve heard anti-abortion activists argue that abusers will force their victims to have an abortion to destroy evidence of the crime. It seems like she’s saying the exact inverse, that abusers will force their victims to remain pregnant -- even though the baby is then living DNA proof of what happened.
I know abusers aren’t a monolith and may make different decisions, but the parallel struck me as interesting.
I'll admit, my first impulse is to make fun of the "but what about the MEN???" line of argument. I did that yesterday, and I will probably continue to make sarcastic comments privately with my friends. But I think Jessica is 100% correct that we need to keep an eye on this argument. These people simply do not want us to have the freedom to make choices about our own bodies and lives, and they'd jump at the chance to once again make us the legal appendage of a husband or father.
The impact to men argument is an interesting one to me. I have said many times that my belief in a woman’s right to abortion was fully solidified after having kids. I am married to a man who on most scales would be considered a good father. But my kids (19,16,16) don’t go to him, or call from college, when they need help. It was not him up at 6am this morning making sure my twins knew that storms were moving in so to drive carefully. It is not him who buys their clothes, makes their doctors appointments or buys all their presents. All of this and more while having a full time job. So do I think a man can feel profound sadness if a woman terminates a pregnancy? Yes, I do. But it’s her life on the line to carry that baby and her life (most of the time) that will bear the majority of the burden in raising the baby.
Other than the Kentucky woman (obviously awful) my breakdown point this newsletter was Youngkin having set aside funds to prosecute women and doctors. Wow. Talk about "do no harm." That is evil ! So he anticipated going after women. Jeepers.
So to cheer myself up, I decided to read the letter from the National Catholic Bioethics Center to the FDA regarding the OTC birth control pill, which they argue should "do no harm." It is quite funny. I did laugh. They say that the pill will cause every malady under the sun, and this was the kicker - that taking it does not prevent STDs. Well duh. We knew that. But in seriousness, I can see a day where one of these groups might try a Kacsmaryk on hormonal birth control pills.
Is this the same ABC/WP sample that found Biden well behind both Trump and Taliban Ron? Same dates, same number of respondents. These people say Trump's a criminal and they seem to agree more with Democrats on the issues, but then they also think Trump is magically better on the economy? WTF? It makes me want to stick a power drill in my head. Now I still think the most likely outcome with the same two candidates again is to get the same result, but people REALLY don't think Biden's fit for the job. The rest of the Democratic party needs to watch this very closely and not be afraid to dump him. Because jesus fucking christ if we find a way to lose this election we're better off begging Putin to nuke us and put us out of our misery.
That poll is curious. I don't understand people's thinking. Saw a news spot a few years ago with potential voters and one middle class guy said he was voting for Trump because "he's like me." It's just insane.
The people pushing these bans, despite the suffering they are causing like to that poor woman in Kentucky, are ghouls...just truly despicable, despicable people.
This spousal permission before anything reminds me......I got a tubal ligation at 26yrs old in 2009. Only after being married & already having the 2 kids of different genders, did I qualify. (Gross) I only was even offered this as an option because I had many medical professionals urging me to do so for my pre-existing health issues. I had to get a signature from my then husband, (now ex husband) and jump thru soooooo many hoops with finding a hospital to deliver my 2nd kid via c-section & get the tubal then. It was soooooo hard in Texas to find one that wasn't funded by the Church, & would agree to let my Dr do it there. I finally was honest bout my abusive domestic situation with my OB at the end of my 2nd pregnancy. I told him my ex would never sign for me to get sterilized, that cops don't help but make it worse & leave me with the wolf to be punished......He sighed and got real quiet then said "but you've been married for awhile right? I'm sure you have seen his signature....." he handed me a pen & told me to grab some donuts for the office staff down the street & come right back with it signed & told me to only hand it to a specific lady. They saved my life & made it possible to leave him a couple yrs later. During the C-section, the Dr urged my Ex to follow the baby out of the room and we would be right behind him. He waited to see my ex leave the surgery unit to do the tubal. He leaned over the sheet wall to wink at me right beforehand! That Dr. has obviously saved millions by now with that kind of help! I'll be 40 this year and I am so grateful to have crossed paths with him.
Amazing comment! Thank you! Yes, those were The Rules. I first asked a doctor to sterilize me in 1970, just before my 18th birthday. (The age of majority was 21). I was told I had to be married, be at least 30, have at least 3 kids, and to get my (putative) husband's written permission. That was what I got told, every time I asked,, about every couple of years, til I started to go through menopause 25 years later. All the docs assured me that I'd want marriage and kids "someday" and that I'd regret such a move. They were wrong. I knew by age 13 I didn't want kids and found the idea of marrying some guy to be revolting, no matter *who* tried to push it. I'm 70 now, never married, no kids, and no regrets. You were so very lucky to discover such an ally!
I couldn't agree more! If he didn't help me I know I would have gotten pregnant again. It takes that Advocacy and actually breaking the law to get help in the South & it's so disgusting! Yep, those rules are ridiculous breeding terms like we don't have our own minds & ambitions for life outside of a brood mare!
How disgusting is Dannenfelser? She was happy to make a deal with a sexual abuser as long as she can sell other women up the river and she praises him to top it off. Filth. A disgusting excuse for a woman.
They're all despicable - the so-called moral majority who held their noses and voted for this pig of a man, all so they can subjugate us. Our subjugation means more to them than the harm he has done, the things he has said, and the destruction he'll bring to this country if he wins. He's "their retribution." He said he'd turn the military on his own citizens. But as long as they can subjugate us, this is all okay.
The woman is 56. Of course she got to live in an era where her rights were protected and then immediately worked to rescind those rights for younger generations as soon as she no longer needed them after hitting menopause. Outrageous!
Oh, it *is* trafficking, it absolutely is. I wonder if the reason it's not called trafficking is because those homes are typically religiously-affiliated (as are the anti-abortion centers.) And Christian privilege is strong in this country. It's religion (especially Christianity) getting away with actions that would get people who are not church-affiliated imprisoned, or secular non-profits losing their tax exempt status if they engaged in the same behavior. There's a double standard, clearly.
What's especially enraging is reading the history of these maternity homes (and laundries). A lot of dead mothers and babies. I was dumbfounded to find they still exist.
Yup, Catholic privilege in Ireland. Treating (unmarried, especially) women and their "illegitimate" (sic) babies like the trash the church considered them to be. I certainly grew up knowing that if I somehow "got into trouble", I'd be sent to such a place, if I wasn't beaten to death first. It reminds me of the silence that surrounded the death of a girl at my junior high school who died from an illegal abortion. Her mom had taken her to Mexico and, well, she never came back. After her death, a few brave teachers lowered the school flag to half-mast in her memory--until they were stopped about ten minutes later. She was really a nice kid, well liked by students and teachers alike. But, the silence was stifling. Which was the whole point.
My mother told me about these homes before Roe v Wade when she was in JUNIOR HIGH! That was her "sex education" that she'd be sent to one if she found herself "in that way."
Yes, the girl in my junior high school died in 1965, I think it was. 8th grade. I'd been in the same classes as she was since first grade, so I am absolutely certain that her sex education at school was exactly the same as mine: a badly done film strip, about 7 minutes long, which was basically an ad for Kotex, made in 1956, which we saw in 6th grade. (Mama Dr Jones showed and commented on a slightly later version of it--from 1959, I think she said--on her channel.) Given that the girl was from a Catholic family, my guess is that she got zero education about her body at home, just like me.
A general comment about abortion bans. I feel the narrative needs to change. The anti-abortion people are good about getting misinformation out via bill boards, CPC's, and other media sources.
I am not a human rights attorney but what pregnant people are going through is TORTURE. Plain and simple. There must be laws in this country that address the mistreatment of people. The emotional, physical and mental pain is horrible. There must be a way to label this as torture because it is.
I don't know how to address this or where to go with this but we see more compassion for animals being abused and mistreated than we do for pregnant people. Just feeling mad and frustrated today. Thanks for reading/listening.
I’m a little confused by the Vicki Ringer quote. I’ve heard anti-abortion activists argue that abusers will force their victims to have an abortion to destroy evidence of the crime. It seems like she’s saying the exact inverse, that abusers will force their victims to remain pregnant -- even though the baby is then living DNA proof of what happened.
I know abusers aren’t a monolith and may make different decisions, but the parallel struck me as interesting.
I'll admit, my first impulse is to make fun of the "but what about the MEN???" line of argument. I did that yesterday, and I will probably continue to make sarcastic comments privately with my friends. But I think Jessica is 100% correct that we need to keep an eye on this argument. These people simply do not want us to have the freedom to make choices about our own bodies and lives, and they'd jump at the chance to once again make us the legal appendage of a husband or father.
I keep saying this but the end goal is to bring back coverture which was effectively slavery for women.
The impact to men argument is an interesting one to me. I have said many times that my belief in a woman’s right to abortion was fully solidified after having kids. I am married to a man who on most scales would be considered a good father. But my kids (19,16,16) don’t go to him, or call from college, when they need help. It was not him up at 6am this morning making sure my twins knew that storms were moving in so to drive carefully. It is not him who buys their clothes, makes their doctors appointments or buys all their presents. All of this and more while having a full time job. So do I think a man can feel profound sadness if a woman terminates a pregnancy? Yes, I do. But it’s her life on the line to carry that baby and her life (most of the time) that will bear the majority of the burden in raising the baby.
And yes, I love my husband!
I think they can it emotional labor. I don't know why women even bother to marry if they're doing most of the work anyway. Another paycheck I guess?
Other than the Kentucky woman (obviously awful) my breakdown point this newsletter was Youngkin having set aside funds to prosecute women and doctors. Wow. Talk about "do no harm." That is evil ! So he anticipated going after women. Jeepers.
So to cheer myself up, I decided to read the letter from the National Catholic Bioethics Center to the FDA regarding the OTC birth control pill, which they argue should "do no harm." It is quite funny. I did laugh. They say that the pill will cause every malady under the sun, and this was the kicker - that taking it does not prevent STDs. Well duh. We knew that. But in seriousness, I can see a day where one of these groups might try a Kacsmaryk on hormonal birth control pills.
Is this the same ABC/WP sample that found Biden well behind both Trump and Taliban Ron? Same dates, same number of respondents. These people say Trump's a criminal and they seem to agree more with Democrats on the issues, but then they also think Trump is magically better on the economy? WTF? It makes me want to stick a power drill in my head. Now I still think the most likely outcome with the same two candidates again is to get the same result, but people REALLY don't think Biden's fit for the job. The rest of the Democratic party needs to watch this very closely and not be afraid to dump him. Because jesus fucking christ if we find a way to lose this election we're better off begging Putin to nuke us and put us out of our misery.
That poll is curious. I don't understand people's thinking. Saw a news spot a few years ago with potential voters and one middle class guy said he was voting for Trump because "he's like me." It's just insane.
By "just like me", does he mean washed up misogynistic white guy?
The people pushing these bans, despite the suffering they are causing like to that poor woman in Kentucky, are ghouls...just truly despicable, despicable people.
This spousal permission before anything reminds me......I got a tubal ligation at 26yrs old in 2009. Only after being married & already having the 2 kids of different genders, did I qualify. (Gross) I only was even offered this as an option because I had many medical professionals urging me to do so for my pre-existing health issues. I had to get a signature from my then husband, (now ex husband) and jump thru soooooo many hoops with finding a hospital to deliver my 2nd kid via c-section & get the tubal then. It was soooooo hard in Texas to find one that wasn't funded by the Church, & would agree to let my Dr do it there. I finally was honest bout my abusive domestic situation with my OB at the end of my 2nd pregnancy. I told him my ex would never sign for me to get sterilized, that cops don't help but make it worse & leave me with the wolf to be punished......He sighed and got real quiet then said "but you've been married for awhile right? I'm sure you have seen his signature....." he handed me a pen & told me to grab some donuts for the office staff down the street & come right back with it signed & told me to only hand it to a specific lady. They saved my life & made it possible to leave him a couple yrs later. During the C-section, the Dr urged my Ex to follow the baby out of the room and we would be right behind him. He waited to see my ex leave the surgery unit to do the tubal. He leaned over the sheet wall to wink at me right beforehand! That Dr. has obviously saved millions by now with that kind of help! I'll be 40 this year and I am so grateful to have crossed paths with him.
Wow! Reading that was very emotional ! I can't imagine what you went through. Thank goodness for that doctor.
Absolutely! He obviously had seen others in my situation & knew how it would end... Forever grateful 🥲
Amazing comment! Thank you! Yes, those were The Rules. I first asked a doctor to sterilize me in 1970, just before my 18th birthday. (The age of majority was 21). I was told I had to be married, be at least 30, have at least 3 kids, and to get my (putative) husband's written permission. That was what I got told, every time I asked,, about every couple of years, til I started to go through menopause 25 years later. All the docs assured me that I'd want marriage and kids "someday" and that I'd regret such a move. They were wrong. I knew by age 13 I didn't want kids and found the idea of marrying some guy to be revolting, no matter *who* tried to push it. I'm 70 now, never married, no kids, and no regrets. You were so very lucky to discover such an ally!
I couldn't agree more! If he didn't help me I know I would have gotten pregnant again. It takes that Advocacy and actually breaking the law to get help in the South & it's so disgusting! Yep, those rules are ridiculous breeding terms like we don't have our own minds & ambitions for life outside of a brood mare!
How disgusting is Dannenfelser? She was happy to make a deal with a sexual abuser as long as she can sell other women up the river and she praises him to top it off. Filth. A disgusting excuse for a woman.
They're all despicable - the so-called moral majority who held their noses and voted for this pig of a man, all so they can subjugate us. Our subjugation means more to them than the harm he has done, the things he has said, and the destruction he'll bring to this country if he wins. He's "their retribution." He said he'd turn the military on his own citizens. But as long as they can subjugate us, this is all okay.
The woman is 56. Of course she got to live in an era where her rights were protected and then immediately worked to rescind those rights for younger generations as soon as she no longer needed them after hitting menopause. Outrageous!
Absofuckinlutely
"...especially articles that focus on the relationship these ‘homes’ have with for-profit adoption agencies. What a fucking nightmare."
I keep asking this but how is this not trafficking?
Oh, it *is* trafficking, it absolutely is. I wonder if the reason it's not called trafficking is because those homes are typically religiously-affiliated (as are the anti-abortion centers.) And Christian privilege is strong in this country. It's religion (especially Christianity) getting away with actions that would get people who are not church-affiliated imprisoned, or secular non-profits losing their tax exempt status if they engaged in the same behavior. There's a double standard, clearly.
What's especially enraging is reading the history of these maternity homes (and laundries). A lot of dead mothers and babies. I was dumbfounded to find they still exist.
Yup, Catholic privilege in Ireland. Treating (unmarried, especially) women and their "illegitimate" (sic) babies like the trash the church considered them to be. I certainly grew up knowing that if I somehow "got into trouble", I'd be sent to such a place, if I wasn't beaten to death first. It reminds me of the silence that surrounded the death of a girl at my junior high school who died from an illegal abortion. Her mom had taken her to Mexico and, well, she never came back. After her death, a few brave teachers lowered the school flag to half-mast in her memory--until they were stopped about ten minutes later. She was really a nice kid, well liked by students and teachers alike. But, the silence was stifling. Which was the whole point.
My mother told me about these homes before Roe v Wade when she was in JUNIOR HIGH! That was her "sex education" that she'd be sent to one if she found herself "in that way."
Yes, the girl in my junior high school died in 1965, I think it was. 8th grade. I'd been in the same classes as she was since first grade, so I am absolutely certain that her sex education at school was exactly the same as mine: a badly done film strip, about 7 minutes long, which was basically an ad for Kotex, made in 1956, which we saw in 6th grade. (Mama Dr Jones showed and commented on a slightly later version of it--from 1959, I think she said--on her channel.) Given that the girl was from a Catholic family, my guess is that she got zero education about her body at home, just like me.
I love Mama Dr Jones 💕