32 Comments

I read the NYT article referenced. It got me thinking that maybe the key to the GTVO efforts on this issue needs to happen at colleges/universities. We know how they tend to vote.

Something for AED to consider: Perhaps creating some kind of fund where subscribers can donate to in order to get AED in the hands of influencers in that demographic who may not be able to afford a subscription? It's been awhile since I have been in college, but is there an org other than PP that really knows how to engage with students. I don't think they are aware of the level of shenanigans and evil taking place around their rights.

Another group to potentially partner with (as I was reading the article) was Walk the Walk. They target very specific districts that are flippable with donations.

Expand full comment

I shared this post on Facebook, as I do every day, but this time it was immediately removed for "violating community standards" on - get this - "cybersecurity." What?? Anyhow, let's see if this becomes a trend.

Expand full comment

Why is it even a question about implantation v no implantation? If it’s a ‘baby,’ does it even matter? Shouldn’t the anti-abortionists be using extremely tiny nets to fish them out of the wastewater? Or shouldn’t we be challenging them on the whole assumption that a fertilized egg is anywhere near a person?

Expand full comment

re: "chemical endangerment", I've been reading Policing the Womb by Michele Goodwin, which I'm sure lots of people here have already read. I can only imagine how rabidly eager the misogynists and racists in the criminal justice system are to apply the precedents they've set with prosecuting women for using illegal drugs during pregnancy to women who are actively seeking to end their pregnancy.

I donated to the GoFundMe linked in the news article about the 13 year old in Mississippi. It's not enough to bring her justice, nothing is, but maybe it'll help.

Expand full comment

Jessica's Twitter/X link loaded for me with this link.

https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/1696907741606887734

Just saw that Musk recently donated 10 million to a 'fertility research project.' His pro-natal agenda is dangerously unchecked.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/16/elon-musk-reportedly-donated-10-million-to-a-fertility-research-project/

Expand full comment

Well, that’s utterly appalling on all counts.

Expand full comment

I love how succinctly the Mississippi mother put it: “Her body done changed.” It’s one of the most infuriatingly detached-from-reality arguments forced-birthers make - that women can just give up the baby to adoption after a pregnancy and their life will go on as normal. Carrying a child leaves permanent changes on a woman’s body, even in cases where the pregnancy and birth were completely healthy: stretch marks, smaller bladder capacity, hemorrhoids, change in body shape (all my fat goes to my belly since my pregnancy). Hormonal changes cause changes to the menstrual cycle. Not to mention the many, many more serious changes that are common: displaced hip; hypoglycemia; fistulas; the list goes on. Carrying a pregnancy to term changes a woman’s body forever, regardless of what happens to the child.

Expand full comment

We ought to be able to make an ad out of this. The public needs constant reminders.

Expand full comment

I cannot say this enough: “Crisis pregnancy centers” are but one prong in their fascist theocratic plan. In Texas, they already perform sting operations to catch men who solicit prostitutes. In lieu of jail, these men pay for “classes to eliminate their lust, which are little more than theocratic fascist propaganda. In Idaho, religiously-affiliated drug treatment homes evict people who “sin by relapse” and require hours of Bible study and prayer per week, among other religious things. (The Guardian profiled both of these programs, but I don’t see much in mainstream media.)

Yes, their plan with these centers is maternity homes and forced adoption, but their ultimate goal is to require this fascist theocratic propaganda everywhere, to totally replace all public assistance, public healthcare and public education. Many Americans do not take this threat seriously because it sounds like hysterical hyperbole.

Expand full comment

None of which should be permitted by the first amendment but as always a constitution is only as good as the people enforcing it, and this country is full of very very bad people.

Expand full comment

Democrats are claiming to want to run on abortion, now that the light bulb finally clicked on that it's a good issue, but are they going to be up to the task? There are tips every day in this column and I expect to see them in political campaigns. For example, "Republican 'birth control' bill redefines contraception as abortion". That's worth two seconds in our ads. So is "Anti-abortion centers misuse billions in taxpayer dollars". If I don't see our talking points here echoed by our politicians out there, then we need to find new politicians to replace them. That's the only way democracy works.

Expand full comment

“She’s no longer a kid in the body” is devastating.

Expand full comment

Yes, no longer a child in her body, heart, mind, or spirit.

Expand full comment

Makes me so angry. Can't even imagine trying to live the rest of your life after something like that at such a young age.

Expand full comment

Hey, it’s Grace Haley, Abortion, Every Day researcher, and I am bringing you today’s newsletter. I learned a new term I wanted to share with you, ‘vasecto-yummies; eligible bachelors who are made attractive by their vasectomies.’ Good one Grace.🤣

Expand full comment

I really am getting the feeling that the taxpayer funded pregnancy centers will be like a new version of the Magdalen Laundries. They are positioned to be baby mills if these laws are not invalidated. We already have precedent with privatized prisons, immigrant cachement and foster care. Doesn’t require much imagination to dredge up the ghost of ceaucescu, who banned abortion and birth control to make more Romanians. He sold babies too.

Expand full comment

My sister-in-law runs a CPC in AL. Before Dobbs, she was riding high on the status and self-importance she felt in 'saving lives.' She used to openly grieve when one of their contacts later chose abortion. The strange thing I wanted to share is that when I visited over the summer, all the talk had turned to helping homeless men? I can't help but wonder if it is less rewarding to help pregnant women 'choose' to give birth now that their choices have already been taken away.

Expand full comment

I've been thinking this since reading an obnoxiously fawning article about one in Texas last summer. Now, whenever one of my conservative relatives mentions crisis pregnancy centers to me as an example of what conservatives are doing to help women, I say, "You mean the New Magdalen Laundries?"

Expand full comment

Great reply. That's exactly what it is.

Expand full comment

It is quite terrifying and beyond enraging. Particularly after Ireland just legalized abortion shortly after the discovery of a mass grave of 800 babies at one of their mother and baby homes. There was another mass grave of mothers (mostly teens) discovered a few miles from there back in the nineties at a Magdalene laundry. A truly barbaric history and it is upsetting not many people seem to know about it which is why we seem to be repeating history at the expense of mothers and babies.

Expand full comment

Thanks a lot Laura. Not just another thing to haunt my dreams, but a reminder of the horrors of the catholic re-education programs for native Americans.

Expand full comment

The Catholic Church is evil incarnate.

Expand full comment

When I was a kid, I knew one priest that seemed to be a good man. Unfortunately, this might be a fantasy considering the sexual abuse by boy scout leaders, religious leaders, coaches, team doctors and many others. One guy really passed off my aunt was Father Coughlin. He was extremely antisemitic and I'm sure against LGBT, probably anti black and who knows who else. Just so so much evil out there.

Expand full comment

Father Coughlin, the radio priest from the 1930s?

Expand full comment

I would guess so. I was just a kid- I'm

66 years old now. I think his church was off of Woodward in Berkeley or Royal Oak Michigan.

Expand full comment

Thanks for the great information. We will conquer the radicals. Just have to turn out to vote.

Expand full comment