Once again Jessica, I am sobbing at my desk knowing all the work I did for years when I worked at Planned Parenthood in Utah is at stake in ways I imagined and hoped would never come to fruition. Thank you for all you do for all of us every day. I am so grateful for your words and your work.
You all were upset about Biden before about abortion but now I am too (though this is not about abortion). trump and his minions have seized on something he said awkwardly... and all the "journos" are jumping on it. I think Biden should stop saying anything but the ordinary. VP has carefully crafted such a well run campaign and we don't need distractions and she has used ex-Rs to criticize trump for maximum impact. Here is a rebuttal to Biden's kerfuffle and other stuff w/ George Conway... expertly put, video in the tweet.
All female animals on this earth may experience a heart-crushing miscarriage that physically and mentally devastates the mother and her family. In 2024, I cannot accept that ignorance is the reason people do not understand the nature of giving birth and the many complications that surround it. A mother cannot control what her body naturally rejects because her body cannot perform its job of delivering a healthy baby due to its role of preserving the life of the mother. When a fetus becomes a threat to the life of a mother, the body rejects the injured fetus. This process is standard for all created animals on Earth. The person who ordered a manslaughter charge against this woman needs to have their head removed from within their body part where the Sun doesn’t shine.
New Post October 30, 2024
A Molar pregnancy whether partial or total is a condition that will not produce a viable human baby, as the cells are distorted and non-functionable, they will not produce normally. Not allowing a mother with this condition an abortion is savagely cruel, inhuman, and psychologically mentally torturing the mother.
Michelle Obama is right to make men understand how quickly and how commonly things go wrong in pregnancy and delivery. I was talking with a family member about the dog that "alerted" to mifepristone. He was clueless about why a woman who'd miscarried might need "abortion" drugs, until he was reminded about a family friend who experienced an incomplete miscarriage. So much ignorance about reproduction is what enables the dismissal of women's health care. Of course, preventing sex education is also on the GOP's agenda of keeping women barefoot and pregnant.
The Washington Post yesterday posted a story of a woman who was arrested, charged with murder and jailed for two years after a miscarriage - while Roe was still law, in 2018, under a Nevada law from 1911.
Sorry, I cannot find a link to share without a paywall:
I’m betting that if we insisted that the guys that passed these laws take a simple quiz about women’s reproductive physiology and anatomy, they would fail every time. What does 6 weeks pregnant mean—6 weeks from what? What does a 12-week-old fetus look like (multiple choice)? When does a fetus develop a heart that can beat (again, multiple choice)?
You're absolutely right - they regularly prove they don't understand what they are talking about. I know Jessica has written about this a lot over the years - remember Senator Clyde Chambliss, who once said a proposed ban would allow for incest victims to obtain abortions "until she knows she’s pregnant.” Wtf?
Why are men (in particular) without medical degrees allowed to pass laws that require medical knowledge??
You can’t do surgery on someone without a medical license - so why are these uncertified men (mostly) making life and death decisions without medical licenses?
That’s probably a good question to address after the election.
Part of fixing the mess left by attempt to overthrow our democracy.
I am from Chicago, and it would be terrible if Chicago became like Alabama. I am glad that it remains an oasis for people in Alabama who need an abortion. It has some of the most progressive abortion laws, for example no parental notification. I wish that more women knew about the resources for getting abortions in Illinois. Let us hope some abortion seekers stumble on your website and learn what they need to from you. your title would hopefully come up in a search.
I just came home from some time spent canvassing in Arizona. So there was this one guy, maybe 20-something, who was a registered D and definitely voting Harris/Walz. When I asked him what he was thinking about the Senate race, he said he wasn’t sure. So I asked him what was important to him and he immediately said “Reproductive rights.” Wondering to myself, “why does this otherwise well-informed guy not know who the pro-choice candidate is?” So I told him that Ruben Gallego was the pro-choice candidate and Kari Lake was a forced birther. That night, out of curiosity, I checked out Kari Lake’s website, and—you’ll never guess—YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW SHE OPPOSED ABORTION. All about giving women options, and about her own excitement about being pregnant. This from a woman who was in favor of a total abortion ban passed in the 1860’s.
The same strategy is happening in Maryland where I live. Maryland's Question 1 enshrines reproductive rights in the state constitution (also without using the word abortion.) However, the anti-1 groups have signs at the polls saying that it permits minors to have sex change operations without parental consent. Which, of course, is not happening anywhere. Virtually all gender-affirming surgeries performed on minors are performed on cisgender male teens with gynecomastia.
The problem is, it's clearly the case that yoking abortion rights and legislation relating to gender identity together means losing support from people who are pro-abortion but not pro-gender ideology. Some people who would otherwise support certain bills enshrining abortion rights will oppose those bills where they include gender stuff which the same people don't like. Unfortunately, anti-abortion activists are making hay from the fact that legislation like Prop 1 is (among many other things) actually going to afford constitutional protections on the grounds of gender identity - so obviously not "sex changes on minors without parental consent", but what some people see as "permitting boys to play in girls' sports". I'm aware the Title IX amendment already does this, but if that's repealed Prop 1 presumably comes into play (not a US lawyer). I rarely see this talked about by those of us who want US women to have reproductive autonomy, but there is a potential loss of support here.
I foresee this US election as the last gasp of desperate Republicans using trans issues to rally their base. Same-sex marriage used to be reliable for that purpose, then the Supreme Court allowed them, and they couldn't reliably use that to rally their base. The battle was lost, and people no longer cared so much. But all the residual homophobia got transferred to attacks on trans people, and here we are.
Same with immigration. If Harris is elected, and Congress can pass a bi-partisan bill, that will prevent that from being used so effectively to rile people up. (TFG knew that, which is why he killed this year's bill.) DEI/CRT and book banning have already crested as reliable threats.
And, of course, be careful what you wish for: they used abortion to rally their base until they "won" by overturning Roe v Wade. Now, it's gone as an issue for them and is now a winning issue for Democrats to rally their voters and bring in new ones.
Once we get to the bottom of what happened leading up to the election, we will see that much of it was fomented by Russian propaganda and Musk. That's exactly what happened during the Olympics with Imane Khelif: the Russian IBA manufactured and amplified that controversy.
The whole "sports" thing has manufactured as a political issue. When trans girls get puberty blockers (which is the recommended treatment that transphobes are trying to block) or other hormonal protocols, their participation in secondary ed sports is no more harmful to cisgender girls than other co-ed play or the difference in physical strength and athletic ability that naturally occurs in sporting competitions. (It's also ridiculous to make trans boys compete as girls, like the Texas wrestler Mack Beggs.)
If the international sporting federations and NCAA want to develop guidelines consistent with scientific data on *competitive advantage,* as opposed to bias, like the IOC has, then they can do so. But let's not kid ourselves that it's coming from any place but transphobia and the political frenzy looking to exploit it for votes. Most of the people so riled up about it don't know a single trans person and don't have any trans kids looking to compete in their schools.
I played roller derby in a women's league, and the trans women in the league were well within the range of athletic ability that you would expect in a competitive sports league: their body type and speed made the most difference (as did everyone else's.) As a whole generation of out trans kids grow up and enter society as workers and community members, over the next years, it's going to be pretty ho hum. We're there already with them: you're gay or you're trans, so what? My parents might care, but I don't: that's silly.
The same thing is happening in NYS where the vote for Proposition 1 is on the ballot. Disinformation that voting yes on it will allow gender-affirming surgeries without parental consent. One ad suggests it will happen while your children at school. As a public health nurse and colleague to school nurses, most schools nationally don't have a school nurse, they are over worked and under paid, also not clinically trained to do surgery. (snark intended).
Thank you Jessica. This was a very powerful read. I agree and like what you said, "I would love to know what the fuck a ban actually is. Because according to conservative politicians, it doesn’t seem to exist at all." Insane!! The quote from Michelle Obama stopped my breath! Before Roe women were dying from botched abortions. As you said now it from lack of care. I am always cautiously hopeful. I attended the rally with Harris in Houston. It was amazing. Praying that women and men vote for reproductive freedom.
I think we need to start clearly messaging that fetuses are are not babies. They are not. These people are invading people's private lives. They believe they have a right to. How do we get them out?!
I also think photos of babies with fetal abnormalities need to be shown to the public. I saw a post on IG by a doctor. There was a picture of the abnormality without a skull. That hit me hard. Pictures speak louder than words. I'm sure the medical journals have plenty of them. We need to get them out. Just like you showed the various stages of an embryo. People were shocked.
I think you're right - it's awful, but if people won't listen to words (anencephaly, condition incompatible with life, etc), maybe it needs to be seen to be understood? Much like when people are shown what a fetus ACTUALLY looks like at 6 weeks, so they know it's a tadpole/blob whose "rights" they're advocating for and not a tiny baby.
Jessica, you have encouraged us a few times to watch Zurawski.v Texas, but all I can find is the trailer and a list of theater screenings: https://www.zurawskivtexas.com/screenings
It was available through a link on Jessica’s website, but only last weekend. Maybe she can arrange to have it streamed again—or link us to someone who is doing that. I would think it would be a good investment for someone like Reproductive Rights for all (formerly NARAL) to pay to have it streamed—I’m betting if they coupled it with a fund-raising pitch, they would more than recoup their money. My husband and I stayed up until 2 am watching it last weekend (because we had no other time) and it was——-I have no words. But it humanized the players in a way that you just aren’t getting from the news, or even from AED. These women, and some men—the plaintiffs, the lawyers—are all beyond heroic. Someday there should be a reproductive rights Hall of Fame and Jessica and the lawyers and plaintiffs in this case should be in it.
These anti tactics are total fascism.....exactly who the Republican party is. It's not just repro healthcare but all policies that affect our lives. They don't care what majority wants. They are the Lord's, we are the peasants.
Although the majority of molar pregnancies are benign, they can be cancerous. WTF? In my clinical rotation in nursing school in 1984 I was in the OR during a surgery to remove a molar pregnancy. I will never forget what the tissue looked like. Heartbreaking.
Once again Jessica, I am sobbing at my desk knowing all the work I did for years when I worked at Planned Parenthood in Utah is at stake in ways I imagined and hoped would never come to fruition. Thank you for all you do for all of us every day. I am so grateful for your words and your work.
You all were upset about Biden before about abortion but now I am too (though this is not about abortion). trump and his minions have seized on something he said awkwardly... and all the "journos" are jumping on it. I think Biden should stop saying anything but the ordinary. VP has carefully crafted such a well run campaign and we don't need distractions and she has used ex-Rs to criticize trump for maximum impact. Here is a rebuttal to Biden's kerfuffle and other stuff w/ George Conway... expertly put, video in the tweet.
https://x.com/cspanwj/status/1851624297992782274
old post
All female animals on this earth may experience a heart-crushing miscarriage that physically and mentally devastates the mother and her family. In 2024, I cannot accept that ignorance is the reason people do not understand the nature of giving birth and the many complications that surround it. A mother cannot control what her body naturally rejects because her body cannot perform its job of delivering a healthy baby due to its role of preserving the life of the mother. When a fetus becomes a threat to the life of a mother, the body rejects the injured fetus. This process is standard for all created animals on Earth. The person who ordered a manslaughter charge against this woman needs to have their head removed from within their body part where the Sun doesn’t shine.
New Post October 30, 2024
A Molar pregnancy whether partial or total is a condition that will not produce a viable human baby, as the cells are distorted and non-functionable, they will not produce normally. Not allowing a mother with this condition an abortion is savagely cruel, inhuman, and psychologically mentally torturing the mother.
Michelle Obama is right to make men understand how quickly and how commonly things go wrong in pregnancy and delivery. I was talking with a family member about the dog that "alerted" to mifepristone. He was clueless about why a woman who'd miscarried might need "abortion" drugs, until he was reminded about a family friend who experienced an incomplete miscarriage. So much ignorance about reproduction is what enables the dismissal of women's health care. Of course, preventing sex education is also on the GOP's agenda of keeping women barefoot and pregnant.
The Washington Post yesterday posted a story of a woman who was arrested, charged with murder and jailed for two years after a miscarriage - while Roe was still law, in 2018, under a Nevada law from 1911.
Sorry, I cannot find a link to share without a paywall:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/abortion-law-nevada-arrest-miscarriage/?itid=sr_1_34f3f5ac-6f9f-4fbe-8f7d-f0cba3ee9eee
Here’s a link without the paywall:
https://wapo.st/4eUGKyd
I’m betting that if we insisted that the guys that passed these laws take a simple quiz about women’s reproductive physiology and anatomy, they would fail every time. What does 6 weeks pregnant mean—6 weeks from what? What does a 12-week-old fetus look like (multiple choice)? When does a fetus develop a heart that can beat (again, multiple choice)?
You're absolutely right - they regularly prove they don't understand what they are talking about. I know Jessica has written about this a lot over the years - remember Senator Clyde Chambliss, who once said a proposed ban would allow for incest victims to obtain abortions "until she knows she’s pregnant.” Wtf?
This one is a classic if you want to rage-laugh https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/25/womens-bodies-cant-perform-feats-of-magic
"when you swallow a pill, it doesn't end up in the vagina", said the doctor to the congressman...
Why are men (in particular) without medical degrees allowed to pass laws that require medical knowledge??
You can’t do surgery on someone without a medical license - so why are these uncertified men (mostly) making life and death decisions without medical licenses?
That’s probably a good question to address after the election.
Part of fixing the mess left by attempt to overthrow our democracy.
I am from Chicago, and it would be terrible if Chicago became like Alabama. I am glad that it remains an oasis for people in Alabama who need an abortion. It has some of the most progressive abortion laws, for example no parental notification. I wish that more women knew about the resources for getting abortions in Illinois. Let us hope some abortion seekers stumble on your website and learn what they need to from you. your title would hopefully come up in a search.
I just came home from some time spent canvassing in Arizona. So there was this one guy, maybe 20-something, who was a registered D and definitely voting Harris/Walz. When I asked him what he was thinking about the Senate race, he said he wasn’t sure. So I asked him what was important to him and he immediately said “Reproductive rights.” Wondering to myself, “why does this otherwise well-informed guy not know who the pro-choice candidate is?” So I told him that Ruben Gallego was the pro-choice candidate and Kari Lake was a forced birther. That night, out of curiosity, I checked out Kari Lake’s website, and—you’ll never guess—YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW SHE OPPOSED ABORTION. All about giving women options, and about her own excitement about being pregnant. This from a woman who was in favor of a total abortion ban passed in the 1860’s.
Thank you for setting this guy straight.
The same strategy is happening in Maryland where I live. Maryland's Question 1 enshrines reproductive rights in the state constitution (also without using the word abortion.) However, the anti-1 groups have signs at the polls saying that it permits minors to have sex change operations without parental consent. Which, of course, is not happening anywhere. Virtually all gender-affirming surgeries performed on minors are performed on cisgender male teens with gynecomastia.
The problem is, it's clearly the case that yoking abortion rights and legislation relating to gender identity together means losing support from people who are pro-abortion but not pro-gender ideology. Some people who would otherwise support certain bills enshrining abortion rights will oppose those bills where they include gender stuff which the same people don't like. Unfortunately, anti-abortion activists are making hay from the fact that legislation like Prop 1 is (among many other things) actually going to afford constitutional protections on the grounds of gender identity - so obviously not "sex changes on minors without parental consent", but what some people see as "permitting boys to play in girls' sports". I'm aware the Title IX amendment already does this, but if that's repealed Prop 1 presumably comes into play (not a US lawyer). I rarely see this talked about by those of us who want US women to have reproductive autonomy, but there is a potential loss of support here.
I foresee this US election as the last gasp of desperate Republicans using trans issues to rally their base. Same-sex marriage used to be reliable for that purpose, then the Supreme Court allowed them, and they couldn't reliably use that to rally their base. The battle was lost, and people no longer cared so much. But all the residual homophobia got transferred to attacks on trans people, and here we are.
Same with immigration. If Harris is elected, and Congress can pass a bi-partisan bill, that will prevent that from being used so effectively to rile people up. (TFG knew that, which is why he killed this year's bill.) DEI/CRT and book banning have already crested as reliable threats.
And, of course, be careful what you wish for: they used abortion to rally their base until they "won" by overturning Roe v Wade. Now, it's gone as an issue for them and is now a winning issue for Democrats to rally their voters and bring in new ones.
Once we get to the bottom of what happened leading up to the election, we will see that much of it was fomented by Russian propaganda and Musk. That's exactly what happened during the Olympics with Imane Khelif: the Russian IBA manufactured and amplified that controversy.
The whole "sports" thing has manufactured as a political issue. When trans girls get puberty blockers (which is the recommended treatment that transphobes are trying to block) or other hormonal protocols, their participation in secondary ed sports is no more harmful to cisgender girls than other co-ed play or the difference in physical strength and athletic ability that naturally occurs in sporting competitions. (It's also ridiculous to make trans boys compete as girls, like the Texas wrestler Mack Beggs.)
If the international sporting federations and NCAA want to develop guidelines consistent with scientific data on *competitive advantage,* as opposed to bias, like the IOC has, then they can do so. But let's not kid ourselves that it's coming from any place but transphobia and the political frenzy looking to exploit it for votes. Most of the people so riled up about it don't know a single trans person and don't have any trans kids looking to compete in their schools.
I played roller derby in a women's league, and the trans women in the league were well within the range of athletic ability that you would expect in a competitive sports league: their body type and speed made the most difference (as did everyone else's.) As a whole generation of out trans kids grow up and enter society as workers and community members, over the next years, it's going to be pretty ho hum. We're there already with them: you're gay or you're trans, so what? My parents might care, but I don't: that's silly.
Same happened here in Michigan when we voted to enshrine Abortion rights in our State Constitution. Sounds like it’s their standard ploy.
I guess there should be pre-printed signs and ads calling out their bull💩.
The same thing is happening in NYS where the vote for Proposition 1 is on the ballot. Disinformation that voting yes on it will allow gender-affirming surgeries without parental consent. One ad suggests it will happen while your children at school. As a public health nurse and colleague to school nurses, most schools nationally don't have a school nurse, they are over worked and under paid, also not clinically trained to do surgery. (snark intended).
Thank you Jessica. This was a very powerful read. I agree and like what you said, "I would love to know what the fuck a ban actually is. Because according to conservative politicians, it doesn’t seem to exist at all." Insane!! The quote from Michelle Obama stopped my breath! Before Roe women were dying from botched abortions. As you said now it from lack of care. I am always cautiously hopeful. I attended the rally with Harris in Houston. It was amazing. Praying that women and men vote for reproductive freedom.
Tamara Costa's story is heartbreaking and terrifying.
I think we need to start clearly messaging that fetuses are are not babies. They are not. These people are invading people's private lives. They believe they have a right to. How do we get them out?!
I also think photos of babies with fetal abnormalities need to be shown to the public. I saw a post on IG by a doctor. There was a picture of the abnormality without a skull. That hit me hard. Pictures speak louder than words. I'm sure the medical journals have plenty of them. We need to get them out. Just like you showed the various stages of an embryo. People were shocked.
I think you're right - it's awful, but if people won't listen to words (anencephaly, condition incompatible with life, etc), maybe it needs to be seen to be understood? Much like when people are shown what a fetus ACTUALLY looks like at 6 weeks, so they know it's a tadpole/blob whose "rights" they're advocating for and not a tiny baby.
Start by voting blue, and then read Jessica 's book, get book clubs reading it.
Push back when reporters cover abortion and reproductive issues badly.
Jessica, you have encouraged us a few times to watch Zurawski.v Texas, but all I can find is the trailer and a list of theater screenings: https://www.zurawskivtexas.com/screenings
Do you know where we can stream it???
It was available through a link on Jessica’s website, but only last weekend. Maybe she can arrange to have it streamed again—or link us to someone who is doing that. I would think it would be a good investment for someone like Reproductive Rights for all (formerly NARAL) to pay to have it streamed—I’m betting if they coupled it with a fund-raising pitch, they would more than recoup their money. My husband and I stayed up until 2 am watching it last weekend (because we had no other time) and it was——-I have no words. But it humanized the players in a way that you just aren’t getting from the news, or even from AED. These women, and some men—the plaintiffs, the lawyers—are all beyond heroic. Someday there should be a reproductive rights Hall of Fame and Jessica and the lawyers and plaintiffs in this case should be in it.
Amanda Zurawski will forever be one of my heroes.
Roe is just a slow start. Democrats should be pounding the table to go well past Roe. FFS.
The words of Michelle Obama are heart wrenching. This is our country today.
These anti tactics are total fascism.....exactly who the Republican party is. It's not just repro healthcare but all policies that affect our lives. They don't care what majority wants. They are the Lord's, we are the peasants.
Is there some sort of Go Fund me campaign to help these people out, or have their medical expenses been otherwise paid for already.
Although the majority of molar pregnancies are benign, they can be cancerous. WTF? In my clinical rotation in nursing school in 1984 I was in the OR during a surgery to remove a molar pregnancy. I will never forget what the tissue looked like. Heartbreaking.
Yes, in the horror stories discussed in the OR, when I was a student, those stories featured prominently.