Great job Grace, thank you! Curious if anyone has noticed what I view as the very recent D msm media push to pay attention to state legislative candidates in regards to the pro-choice issue & not just federal candidates. I really took note of it last night on multiple stations. It appears Kamala has been tapped to lead this push. Living in VA I was pretty excited that the D party seems to have bumped up prioritizing this agenda, which for too long has not received the attention it deserves. Another positive.
Thank you, Grace. I appreciate reading this superb newsletter devoid of angry outbursts. As it is, abortion news is hugely upsetting to absorb. Thank you both for your commitment to educating us.
A random comment to go with this topic. I've been thinking about this a lot since our conversations on the last newsletter, and I hope this comment will be enlightening or somehow helpful.
I don't think most people on the left realize what those on the right hear about abortion. I've shared how I was forced to watch C. Everett Koop's anti-abortion videos as a child, and Laura Terrell and I have talked about the Adam and Eve connection to their misogyny.
Into my early 30s, I thought only slutty women got abortions, because that's all I heard in that far-right, Christian nationalist world. I never heard about pregnancy complications. Never. We were told over and over and over again that women got abortions to avoid responsibility for their poor choices. The woman was always immoral for having sex when she shouldn't have, for whatever reason. I heard women got an abortion every time they slept around and got pregnant. Or when they had affairs and got pregnant. There was always always always a slutty component to the narrative.
And that's all so many on the right have heard for decades. They're indoctrinated to believe it, and they spew those views automatically.
Which is why I said we need A LOT more stories about pregnancy complications. It's depressing to read those stories, but I always share them because I know how many people from that world still follow me online. I may be giving them the only alternate information they see. Democrats seriously need to recruit anti-choice, red-state women who've had pregnancy complications to help them campaign. We need a firehose of these stories (and I wish we didn't live in a country where the firehose is possible.)
Thank you Andra. I agree with you. That is a great idea to have Dem's recruit anti-choice red state women who've had pregnancy complications and run with it.
I think it might be more constructive to call out this justice system of using children to enforce chastity and its horrifying consequences like infant/child trafficking in the adoption industry/foster care as well as drug addicted babies and incompatibility with life. These extreme stories are important but we can't ignore that this impacts children, too. Anti-abortion is at least right that we focus entirely too much on women and not enough on families and children. It has the impact of proving that women "are selfish" when it's more to do with being able to care for the children they already have since the majority (60%) are already mothers. Of the other 40% many are drug addicted, homeless and/or mentally ill.
I'm sure folks have a busy week ahead of protests & events, but wanted to share invites to what should be an interesting discussion.
Forward Midwifery is hosting a One Year Since Dobbs discussion featuring clinics and abortion funds on the front lines across the US to share their stories, reflect on the past year, and plan to march forward. Check it out -> https://blog.heysuper.com/oneyeardobbs
Digital panel is next Wed the 28th at 5pm ET! Would love to see y'all there.
Right. That is about a one-percent increase, which is hardly a "surge". There are also cases where abortion bans will increase the number of abortions, by stimulating people to go ahead with abortions that they otherwise might or might not have performed, in order to meet an approaching deadline. I'm sure it is difficult to estimate how many of these cases there are.
I am wondering about this phrase in the article: "the healthcare system is not ready for the surge in births in a post-Dobbs world." Has there actually been a surge in births, or did you mean to say "for a surge in births"?
That's what I was wondering. I'm in Texas which was the first state to ban abortion more than a year ago and I haven't heard a peep about hospitals being inundated with a flood of babies. In fact, I've only heard about labor and delivery wards being shut down from terrified women and doctors leaving. So far, it seems like it's just been an advertising campaign for the abortion pill.
All that mean is that, thus far, the majority of women needing care in Tx are finding a way around the law. Also, we haven’t seen actual statistics out of Texas yet for post-roe birth numbers, AFAIK.
I agree. There are no stats on how many women/people are still having abortions in Texas by traveling or by mail. I've read some articles where the access either by Aid Access ( mailing pills) or underground sources have increased access to early abortions.
I have no data to offer but I have a theory about the births... It’s JUST A THEORY but I am guessing that the increase in unplanned pregnancies is being offset by a decrease in planned pregnancies in the misogynist states.
People who might have wanted to try for a baby can’t ALL go ahead knowing that they might be left to go into septic shock. Some fear a possible lifetime of responsibility for a child suffering severe birth defects. People with pre-existing conditions (e.g., diabetes) that guarantee a higher risk pregnancy are becoming more risk averse, especially if they find themselves living nowhere near a practicing OBGYN. Good guys don’t want to take chances with their partners’ lives and both partners think harder about the interests of existing dependents when making a decision to grow their families. Now, that conversation includes what will happen of the father must gone forward as a single parent.
So, couples pull back on reproducing. People accept the idea of an only child or wait until they can move move to this side of the new Mason-Dixon Line before trying to get pregnant.
If a decline in planned births does materialize, we can only expect a general decline in the average quality of life for the entire post-Dobbs generation since there are fewer well prepared people parenting and more poorly prepared ones doing so.
We are talking about more foster kids. We are talking about more kids raised by grandparents and aunts and siblings. We are talking about a higher portion of teen parents. We are talking about more siblings sharing fewer resources.
Have SOLIDARITY to overcome the people doing this to us and our families!
Abortion is health care. When you are planning a pregnancy, it makes sense to plan ahead, as with any health condition: where am I going to give birth, are there facilities near by (and covered by my insurance) with good prenatal care? If something goes wrong with the pregnancy which requires an abortion, will that be available? Whenever the answers to these questions involve doubts, it seems logical to thing that some people who might otherwise have planned to get pregnant will be planning not to, because of the medical risks involved.
Yes. Anyone in their right mind is terrified to be pregnant right now. If you want to raise the fertility rate this isn't the way to do it. You'd have to actually have policies that support families, and that would require a level of redistribution that no one, let alone the Republicans, the party of the selfish and greedy, seems to want to undertake. And anyway there are going to be far too many elderly people to take care of to make room for children (which of course is self-fulfilling).
It doesn't seem likely when women can pay a $100 to buy abortion pills off the internet. I have some sitting in my medicine cabinet that I bought after all this went down. This isn't the 70s and the abortion pill is a game changer.
Agree. Plan B products are also being utilized. I learned a thing or 2 from my children during their hs years about the roll Plan B type products were being used by those who feared any chance of possible pregnancy after sex (protected or unprotected). It is definitely a game changer for those who are educated about reproduction & have funds or have friends with funds. Which is also why anti-choice has targeted this product.
I did see something recently that the births are up in Texas. BUT I think it was due to COVID and the uptick in babies during the lock-down. Sadly, I don't remember the article . I read so many !! LOL
It could also be the surge of people moving there. Seems like the most likely explanation. But that might change in the near future. Seriously want to move personally.
Given that the country is still shaking out from the disruptions of COVID and Dobbs, it seems too soon to predict what any long-term overall change in births might be.
The conferences in red states still being held: This is fascinating and scary. So some of them say they can't get out of the contracts they signed pre-Dobbs. Okay. Yet they issue these statements:
“AGU members can gain significant professional benefits through in-person conference attendance, but pregnant AGU members should not face disproportionate medical risks to do so,”
"Parr has been in touch with medical professionals at local hospitals, who have guaranteed “safe and equitable health care” for attendees."
“We drew a line at the notion that our members could be arrested at a meeting we were having,” says society president Patricia Hernandez, referring to laws that ban providing gender-affirming care, as some potential attendees do for dependents.
If you have to issue statements like this, how about holding press conferences, writing Op-Eds, and not being scared to shake up the local communities, the minority of members who hold these draconian views on women and LGBTQ, and the perceptions that they're abandoning their most marginalized members. Don't acquiesce ! Stand up and fight it and move the meetings! It's just so weak. Where there's a will, there's a way.
My eyes rolled back into my skull at Lindsay Graham's alleged "concern" for fetal pain when they're forcing babies to be born only to die very short, painful deaths gasping for air. These people are unbelievable and my rage is indescribable at their cruelty and hypocrisy.
Great job Grace, thank you! Curious if anyone has noticed what I view as the very recent D msm media push to pay attention to state legislative candidates in regards to the pro-choice issue & not just federal candidates. I really took note of it last night on multiple stations. It appears Kamala has been tapped to lead this push. Living in VA I was pretty excited that the D party seems to have bumped up prioritizing this agenda, which for too long has not received the attention it deserves. Another positive.
Thank you, Grace. I appreciate reading this superb newsletter devoid of angry outbursts. As it is, abortion news is hugely upsetting to absorb. Thank you both for your commitment to educating us.
A random comment to go with this topic. I've been thinking about this a lot since our conversations on the last newsletter, and I hope this comment will be enlightening or somehow helpful.
I don't think most people on the left realize what those on the right hear about abortion. I've shared how I was forced to watch C. Everett Koop's anti-abortion videos as a child, and Laura Terrell and I have talked about the Adam and Eve connection to their misogyny.
Into my early 30s, I thought only slutty women got abortions, because that's all I heard in that far-right, Christian nationalist world. I never heard about pregnancy complications. Never. We were told over and over and over again that women got abortions to avoid responsibility for their poor choices. The woman was always immoral for having sex when she shouldn't have, for whatever reason. I heard women got an abortion every time they slept around and got pregnant. Or when they had affairs and got pregnant. There was always always always a slutty component to the narrative.
And that's all so many on the right have heard for decades. They're indoctrinated to believe it, and they spew those views automatically.
Which is why I said we need A LOT more stories about pregnancy complications. It's depressing to read those stories, but I always share them because I know how many people from that world still follow me online. I may be giving them the only alternate information they see. Democrats seriously need to recruit anti-choice, red-state women who've had pregnancy complications to help them campaign. We need a firehose of these stories (and I wish we didn't live in a country where the firehose is possible.)
Thank you Andra. I agree with you. That is a great idea to have Dem's recruit anti-choice red state women who've had pregnancy complications and run with it.
I think it might be more constructive to call out this justice system of using children to enforce chastity and its horrifying consequences like infant/child trafficking in the adoption industry/foster care as well as drug addicted babies and incompatibility with life. These extreme stories are important but we can't ignore that this impacts children, too. Anti-abortion is at least right that we focus entirely too much on women and not enough on families and children. It has the impact of proving that women "are selfish" when it's more to do with being able to care for the children they already have since the majority (60%) are already mothers. Of the other 40% many are drug addicted, homeless and/or mentally ill.
Thanks so much Grace!
I'm sure folks have a busy week ahead of protests & events, but wanted to share invites to what should be an interesting discussion.
Forward Midwifery is hosting a One Year Since Dobbs discussion featuring clinics and abortion funds on the front lines across the US to share their stories, reflect on the past year, and plan to march forward. Check it out -> https://blog.heysuper.com/oneyeardobbs
Digital panel is next Wed the 28th at 5pm ET! Would love to see y'all there.
Nice going, Grace. Thank you so much for stepping up!
Grace, you did an awesome job! Keep the data coming!
Right. That is about a one-percent increase, which is hardly a "surge". There are also cases where abortion bans will increase the number of abortions, by stimulating people to go ahead with abortions that they otherwise might or might not have performed, in order to meet an approaching deadline. I'm sure it is difficult to estimate how many of these cases there are.
I am wondering about this phrase in the article: "the healthcare system is not ready for the surge in births in a post-Dobbs world." Has there actually been a surge in births, or did you mean to say "for a surge in births"?
That's what I was wondering. I'm in Texas which was the first state to ban abortion more than a year ago and I haven't heard a peep about hospitals being inundated with a flood of babies. In fact, I've only heard about labor and delivery wards being shut down from terrified women and doctors leaving. So far, it seems like it's just been an advertising campaign for the abortion pill.
Laura,
All that mean is that, thus far, the majority of women needing care in Tx are finding a way around the law. Also, we haven’t seen actual statistics out of Texas yet for post-roe birth numbers, AFAIK.
I agree. There are no stats on how many women/people are still having abortions in Texas by traveling or by mail. I've read some articles where the access either by Aid Access ( mailing pills) or underground sources have increased access to early abortions.
Wow. Texas is Ground Zero. You have my sympathy’.
I have no data to offer but I have a theory about the births... It’s JUST A THEORY but I am guessing that the increase in unplanned pregnancies is being offset by a decrease in planned pregnancies in the misogynist states.
People who might have wanted to try for a baby can’t ALL go ahead knowing that they might be left to go into septic shock. Some fear a possible lifetime of responsibility for a child suffering severe birth defects. People with pre-existing conditions (e.g., diabetes) that guarantee a higher risk pregnancy are becoming more risk averse, especially if they find themselves living nowhere near a practicing OBGYN. Good guys don’t want to take chances with their partners’ lives and both partners think harder about the interests of existing dependents when making a decision to grow their families. Now, that conversation includes what will happen of the father must gone forward as a single parent.
So, couples pull back on reproducing. People accept the idea of an only child or wait until they can move move to this side of the new Mason-Dixon Line before trying to get pregnant.
If a decline in planned births does materialize, we can only expect a general decline in the average quality of life for the entire post-Dobbs generation since there are fewer well prepared people parenting and more poorly prepared ones doing so.
We are talking about more foster kids. We are talking about more kids raised by grandparents and aunts and siblings. We are talking about a higher portion of teen parents. We are talking about more siblings sharing fewer resources.
Have SOLIDARITY to overcome the people doing this to us and our families!
Abortion is health care. When you are planning a pregnancy, it makes sense to plan ahead, as with any health condition: where am I going to give birth, are there facilities near by (and covered by my insurance) with good prenatal care? If something goes wrong with the pregnancy which requires an abortion, will that be available? Whenever the answers to these questions involve doubts, it seems logical to thing that some people who might otherwise have planned to get pregnant will be planning not to, because of the medical risks involved.
Yes. Anyone in their right mind is terrified to be pregnant right now. If you want to raise the fertility rate this isn't the way to do it. You'd have to actually have policies that support families, and that would require a level of redistribution that no one, let alone the Republicans, the party of the selfish and greedy, seems to want to undertake. And anyway there are going to be far too many elderly people to take care of to make room for children (which of course is self-fulfilling).
It doesn't seem likely when women can pay a $100 to buy abortion pills off the internet. I have some sitting in my medicine cabinet that I bought after all this went down. This isn't the 70s and the abortion pill is a game changer.
Agree. Plan B products are also being utilized. I learned a thing or 2 from my children during their hs years about the roll Plan B type products were being used by those who feared any chance of possible pregnancy after sex (protected or unprotected). It is definitely a game changer for those who are educated about reproduction & have funds or have friends with funds. Which is also why anti-choice has targeted this product.
While that is true, don’t forget they’re trying to eliminate that.
I wondered the same thing. This source says 40,000-50,000 additional births are expected each year: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cbo-dobbs-birth-rates-abortion_n_63efda2fe4b02c25737cd866
It's been over a year in Texas and haven't heard any news about an increase in births yet. Still waiting...
I did see something recently that the births are up in Texas. BUT I think it was due to COVID and the uptick in babies during the lock-down. Sadly, I don't remember the article . I read so many !! LOL
It could also be the surge of people moving there. Seems like the most likely explanation. But that might change in the near future. Seriously want to move personally.
I found this map of 2022 birth rates by state, color-coded by the percent change from 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/31/health/fertility-rates-still-down-after-pandemic-rebound-dg/index.html
Given that the country is still shaking out from the disruptions of COVID and Dobbs, it seems too soon to predict what any long-term overall change in births might be.
Demonstrates that most women are getting around abortion bans so far though. That's a relief.
Thanks for posting
The conferences in red states still being held: This is fascinating and scary. So some of them say they can't get out of the contracts they signed pre-Dobbs. Okay. Yet they issue these statements:
“AGU members can gain significant professional benefits through in-person conference attendance, but pregnant AGU members should not face disproportionate medical risks to do so,”
"Parr has been in touch with medical professionals at local hospitals, who have guaranteed “safe and equitable health care” for attendees."
“We drew a line at the notion that our members could be arrested at a meeting we were having,” says society president Patricia Hernandez, referring to laws that ban providing gender-affirming care, as some potential attendees do for dependents.
If you have to issue statements like this, how about holding press conferences, writing Op-Eds, and not being scared to shake up the local communities, the minority of members who hold these draconian views on women and LGBTQ, and the perceptions that they're abandoning their most marginalized members. Don't acquiesce ! Stand up and fight it and move the meetings! It's just so weak. Where there's a will, there's a way.
My eyes rolled back into my skull at Lindsay Graham's alleged "concern" for fetal pain when they're forcing babies to be born only to die very short, painful deaths gasping for air. These people are unbelievable and my rage is indescribable at their cruelty and hypocrisy.
Democrat politicians should be reading this newsletter daily. And developing campaign strategy. It's a wealth of input.
Democratic candidates have to make the case at least as well as the comments section here.
Great job Grace!
Good article in the WaPo today showing how wrong Graham is - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/22/europe-abortion-laws-vs-usa/
Thank you for posting
He's wrong about everything.
So grateful for you, Jessica!
Thanks so much for bringing the news to us every day. Reading this is the most important part of the day.