I was just thinking about this. Why does the fact that their wives had miscarriages defend their pro-life stance. Same goes for my representative here in Virginia, Rob Wittman, who is "100% Pro-Life" because he was adopted. And Nikki Haley saying she is pro-life because her husband was adopted. The women who gave their babies up for adoption made that choice. Are Nikki Haley and Rob Wittman assuming that all women with unwanted pregnancies would choose abortion? They believe that women who would choose abortion are wrong, so are they assuming their biological mother and mother-in-law would have made the "wrong" decision?
Also, with DeSantis and Ramaswamy, does the fact that their wives lost wanted pregnancies justify forcing other women to have unwanted pregnancies? Forcing those women to give birth isn't going to bring their babies back. And it doesn't make them seem like they understand anything about the women who are unhappy about being pregnant and what they could possibly be going through. All they care about is the baby and the assholes who support them who think they will go to heaven as long as they do whatever they can to make sure unwanted pregnancies result in humans, whether those humans are adopted or not, whether those humans grow up in a loving family that can support them or in a family that is struggling, or if those humans grow up in foster care or being raised by a parent or parents with mental health or substance abuse issues or just by a parent who doesn't want them.
(1) Spontaneous miscarriages means God is killing babies;
(2) Did Casey DeSantis and Apoorva Ramaswamey go to the hospital after their miscarriages? How would it have been if the medical personnel had treated them with suspicion and declined to help them?
Still thinking about this today and still full of rants - one more thing that makes me furious: an experience with miscarriage should truly make you realize that not all pregnancies can or should be forced to go forward. This idea that they want to “fight for every life” goes against the very reality of what pregnancy is. What pregnancy is a *quarter* of the time according to many recent miscarriage stats. These are the dumbest of the dumb people - so uninformed, so idiotic, so lacking in empathy.
I hate these assholes SO MUCH! Thank you for all your hard work and reporting! In other news listen to Ursula K. Le Guin talk about her illegal abortion (read from her book) in this documentary. She was a true pioneer and total badass: https://lithub.com/watch-ursula-k-le-guin-on-her-illegal-abortion-in-1950/
They'll never call it that, a D&C (dilation and curettage) is usually required, which they'll deny is an abortive procedure. (It does have other purposes too, polyp removal for example). On the other hand they label most contraceptives "abortifacients" that simply are not. They have trouble with reality as they don't live there.
For at least two years before the SC "fetal heartbeat" ban was ruled as "constitutional" (6 months after being decided as UNconstitutional), I testified many times in committee hearings about the impact of their proposed abortion bans on the ability to receive services for miscarriage. I'd had two and had used misoprostol to manage them at home. My doctors prescribed it and.pharmacists filled the prescriptions (which. BTW, was never guaranteed. They could have refused). I emphasized that if their bans were in place today, I'd be terrified to have a miscarriage. Fast forward- we now have a ban in place. A friend is having a miscarriage. The doctor tells her she's lucky that it's happening now because if the pregnancy had advanced another week, he wouldn't have been able to help her. He gives her misoprostol but doesn't tell her how to use it. Nothing happens. He says she has to have a D&C but there's no open surgery times so she'll have to wait another two weeks. That's bullshit. There are other solutions.
Bless you. I don't know how you can spend time in Columbia. It is so hurtful to dredge up private pain, suffering and agony for a bunch of people who lack both empathy and humanity. I'm so sorry for your friend.
Thank you for doing this work. I shouldn’t be surprised to see these politicians stooping to this level, but somehow they always find a new shocking low. I hope the press hold them to account and ask the important questions you posed.
I can only feel relief for the two potential souls who were spared having the DeSantises and Vivek Ramaswamy as parents. I'd say they dodged a bullet.
As the offspring of Republicans, I can testify that it's bad enough having relatively sane Republican parents. I can't imagine what it must be like to be raised by MAGA lunatics.
This isn't related to Jessica's enraging article, but this community is the most supportive re: these fucked up abortion bans and I just really need to share. I just found out that my niece's fetus has anencephaly. Because we live in GA, she is being denied her full range of options. Now it's my understanding that she wants to try to carry to term anyway, just because she's already attached to her fetus, but it infuriates me that she doesn't get all of the healthcare options she deserves. And if something goes even more catastrophically wrong, will she be one of these women denied care and turned away from a hospital??
Your niece should have options. Not too long ago, she would have, without needing to travel. If she needs options, this will be a good space to brainstorm. Peace and strength to your niece and to you.
Shame on them. I would be horrified if a family member used such a traumatic experience for political gain. And, once again, the horrible way women are treated when having a miscarriage is not a matter of abortion (except in the clinical sense) and everything to do with a right to basic healthcare. If men could miscarry insurance would fully cover Rolls Royce level care, an eek in the Bahamas and 6 months paid leave. As someone said years ago, “if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”
What horrible men, exploiting their wives’ private suffering and medical info publicly for political gain. I had two miscarriages back in my 30s and would have died without medical intervention both times. I’d hate to be a young woman today. We need to preserve our rights and never elect another Republican!
Sadly we, don't. The lazy people who can't be bothered to research them, vote for them, and the gerrymandered rest of have to deal with their lunacy. I agree with your solution 100%.
FYI there will be even more women's harrowing stories this Tuesday at 9:00 am cst on the Texas state supreme courts you tube channel. This will be live. These are part of the oral arguments being presented to the court in response to the state's appeal of the last judge. Please support these brave women and for the center for reproductive rights who is representing women everywhere seeking justice on freedom to choose our own reproductive healthcare.
I was just thinking about this. Why does the fact that their wives had miscarriages defend their pro-life stance. Same goes for my representative here in Virginia, Rob Wittman, who is "100% Pro-Life" because he was adopted. And Nikki Haley saying she is pro-life because her husband was adopted. The women who gave their babies up for adoption made that choice. Are Nikki Haley and Rob Wittman assuming that all women with unwanted pregnancies would choose abortion? They believe that women who would choose abortion are wrong, so are they assuming their biological mother and mother-in-law would have made the "wrong" decision?
Also, with DeSantis and Ramaswamy, does the fact that their wives lost wanted pregnancies justify forcing other women to have unwanted pregnancies? Forcing those women to give birth isn't going to bring their babies back. And it doesn't make them seem like they understand anything about the women who are unhappy about being pregnant and what they could possibly be going through. All they care about is the baby and the assholes who support them who think they will go to heaven as long as they do whatever they can to make sure unwanted pregnancies result in humans, whether those humans are adopted or not, whether those humans grow up in a loving family that can support them or in a family that is struggling, or if those humans grow up in foster care or being raised by a parent or parents with mental health or substance abuse issues or just by a parent who doesn't want them.
So, here are my takeaways:
(1) Spontaneous miscarriages means God is killing babies;
(2) Did Casey DeSantis and Apoorva Ramaswamey go to the hospital after their miscarriages? How would it have been if the medical personnel had treated them with suspicion and declined to help them?
It seems wrong to "like" this report, because it is so horrendous, but this is the reality we are living in.
Still thinking about this today and still full of rants - one more thing that makes me furious: an experience with miscarriage should truly make you realize that not all pregnancies can or should be forced to go forward. This idea that they want to “fight for every life” goes against the very reality of what pregnancy is. What pregnancy is a *quarter* of the time according to many recent miscarriage stats. These are the dumbest of the dumb people - so uninformed, so idiotic, so lacking in empathy.
I would add: power-mad and sadistic, control of the women, where the cruelty is the point. Especially in their weird martyrbation cult.
To be clear - no pregnancy should *ever* be forced to go forward. But I know we all know that.
I hate these assholes SO MUCH! Thank you for all your hard work and reporting! In other news listen to Ursula K. Le Guin talk about her illegal abortion (read from her book) in this documentary. She was a true pioneer and total badass: https://lithub.com/watch-ursula-k-le-guin-on-her-illegal-abortion-in-1950/
Have to ask - what kind of treatment did their wives receive? Is it possible they had abortions as part of their miscarriage healthcare?
They'll never call it that, a D&C (dilation and curettage) is usually required, which they'll deny is an abortive procedure. (It does have other purposes too, polyp removal for example). On the other hand they label most contraceptives "abortifacients" that simply are not. They have trouble with reality as they don't live there.
For at least two years before the SC "fetal heartbeat" ban was ruled as "constitutional" (6 months after being decided as UNconstitutional), I testified many times in committee hearings about the impact of their proposed abortion bans on the ability to receive services for miscarriage. I'd had two and had used misoprostol to manage them at home. My doctors prescribed it and.pharmacists filled the prescriptions (which. BTW, was never guaranteed. They could have refused). I emphasized that if their bans were in place today, I'd be terrified to have a miscarriage. Fast forward- we now have a ban in place. A friend is having a miscarriage. The doctor tells her she's lucky that it's happening now because if the pregnancy had advanced another week, he wouldn't have been able to help her. He gives her misoprostol but doesn't tell her how to use it. Nothing happens. He says she has to have a D&C but there's no open surgery times so she'll have to wait another two weeks. That's bullshit. There are other solutions.
Bless you. I don't know how you can spend time in Columbia. It is so hurtful to dredge up private pain, suffering and agony for a bunch of people who lack both empathy and humanity. I'm so sorry for your friend.
Thank you for doing this work. I shouldn’t be surprised to see these politicians stooping to this level, but somehow they always find a new shocking low. I hope the press hold them to account and ask the important questions you posed.
The RAGE I feel. THE RAGE
I can only feel relief for the two potential souls who were spared having the DeSantises and Vivek Ramaswamy as parents. I'd say they dodged a bullet.
As the offspring of Republicans, I can testify that it's bad enough having relatively sane Republican parents. I can't imagine what it must be like to be raised by MAGA lunatics.
You raise an excellent point, would that all fanatics were sterile.
This isn't related to Jessica's enraging article, but this community is the most supportive re: these fucked up abortion bans and I just really need to share. I just found out that my niece's fetus has anencephaly. Because we live in GA, she is being denied her full range of options. Now it's my understanding that she wants to try to carry to term anyway, just because she's already attached to her fetus, but it infuriates me that she doesn't get all of the healthcare options she deserves. And if something goes even more catastrophically wrong, will she be one of these women denied care and turned away from a hospital??
Oh Catie, I am so sorry for you and your niece. Sending you love.
Thank you.
Your niece should have options. Not too long ago, she would have, without needing to travel. If she needs options, this will be a good space to brainstorm. Peace and strength to your niece and to you.
Thank you.
Sending so much strength to you and your niece.
Thank you.
Much appreciated.
Shame on them. I would be horrified if a family member used such a traumatic experience for political gain. And, once again, the horrible way women are treated when having a miscarriage is not a matter of abortion (except in the clinical sense) and everything to do with a right to basic healthcare. If men could miscarry insurance would fully cover Rolls Royce level care, an eek in the Bahamas and 6 months paid leave. As someone said years ago, “if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”
Reading about how these women were treated enrages me.
What horrible men, exploiting their wives’ private suffering and medical info publicly for political gain. I had two miscarriages back in my 30s and would have died without medical intervention both times. I’d hate to be a young woman today. We need to preserve our rights and never elect another Republican!
Sadly we, don't. The lazy people who can't be bothered to research them, vote for them, and the gerrymandered rest of have to deal with their lunacy. I agree with your solution 100%.
FYI there will be even more women's harrowing stories this Tuesday at 9:00 am cst on the Texas state supreme courts you tube channel. This will be live. These are part of the oral arguments being presented to the court in response to the state's appeal of the last judge. Please support these brave women and for the center for reproductive rights who is representing women everywhere seeking justice on freedom to choose our own reproductive healthcare.
Substack comments need to support memes. I have so many rage I want to channel into stupid gifs.