The Pro Publica piece was enraging & revived memories of my first child's birth in 1980. Though nearly 30 at the time I was ambivalent - frankly terrified - at the prospect of assuming complete responsibility for another life. After deciding to continue the pregnancy I set about researching childbirth. Appalled by hospital "best practices" I found a collective of lay midwives & prepared for a homebirth. Baby turned breech in 37th week & refused to move. Lacking experience in breech deliveries, midwives were nervous & I ended up in hospital. There I was lectured for hours by young residents & interns on the dangers of a vaginal birth (brain damage!) & harassed for my "stubbornness". As Pro Publica pointed out, med school in the 70's didn't teach the skills required for a vaginal breech or even acknowledge that such a thing was desirable or even possible. These guys had been trained to cut & that's what they wanted to do. I was only saved by the surprise appearance, in the midst of a raging snowstorm, of the OB/GYN chief. He took one look at my x ray (no routine ultrasounds back in those days) revealing a medium sized baby, my fairly wide pelvis & asserted that I could give birth naturally, no C-Section needed. Apparently chastised, the young guys backed off & I did. Beyond enraging to fight these same battles against a more condescending & vicious opposition 45 years later.
My "Miscarriage of Justice" series here on Substack is focused on exactly this: The lies targeting women and their pregnancy outcomes -- from the cops to the jail staff to prosecutors and beyond. The racism prevalent in our so-called "justice" system gets a lot of (valid) criticism ... But rarely does the misogyny. This absolutely MUST change.
A bit dated, but I thought this was a helpful background document to share for understanding federal law affecting reproductive health services (including abortion) and understanding how the federal programs under these laws operate (especially with respect to abortion).
I've heard too little on the emotional impact on the abortion pt. who has to run the gauntlet of protessters and look at false and horrifying images before they enter the clinic. When I worked @ Planned Parenthood, we had to spend time calming our patients down who were often upset and rattled. Does anyone think this is good prep before a procedure? Would the medical community tolerate this if some extremist religous group harrassed patients right before they went in for a cardiac catheterization or a chemo appointment? I wish someone would make the case that this is not good patient care. It is outrageous.
This is an excellent point and very true. Unfortunately, the harassment is purposeful on their part to shame, punish, and torment people. I strongly believe the first mistake was to ever separate abortion care from other medical care. It should have never happened. It feeds the “it’s controversial” machine, when it really isn’t. Mainstream media also plays into this divisive narrative by refusing to center news stories on real people’s experiences (humanizing) rather than just legality or court cases. These stories are how we destigmatize.
The fanatics probably do that to IVF patients as well. Their medical ignorance is astounding. When I was doing escort duty at my local clinic they surrounded the office supply delivery truck and hooted like apes. One woman screamed "that's where they take your baby away!"
He came out empty handed. I don't know how she reconciled that, but they truly are drooling morons.
The language is so important- coz they want to say we’re baby killers. Nobody wants to kill a baby!!! This is healthcare - this is care for the mother - and I see “baby” all the time - it’s not a baby! We don’t eat baby chickens for breakfast- we eat eggs. That’s because baby chickens and eggs are two different things!!! But they don’t see it like that . And the demonization needs to be recognized
I have long thought we should start a campaign against eating fertilized eggs since the “life begins at conception“ stance would mean you’re frying a chicken alive when you cook a fertilized egg.
One of the good things about smartphones is that everyone now has a video camera with them and this has shown us that "law enforcement" from the police to the FBI to ICE lies as a routine matter of course. If I was on a jury I would never take a cop's word at face value. My default would be to assume they are lying. There would have to be overwhelming physical evidence for me to conclude that their word was anything other than worthless.
another thing that really hacks me off about all of it is the lawyers get paid, the judges get paid, and the cops get paid. everyone else is expected to work for free.
Thank you again for consolidating all these stories.
The Pro Publica piece was enraging & revived memories of my first child's birth in 1980. Though nearly 30 at the time I was ambivalent - frankly terrified - at the prospect of assuming complete responsibility for another life. After deciding to continue the pregnancy I set about researching childbirth. Appalled by hospital "best practices" I found a collective of lay midwives & prepared for a homebirth. Baby turned breech in 37th week & refused to move. Lacking experience in breech deliveries, midwives were nervous & I ended up in hospital. There I was lectured for hours by young residents & interns on the dangers of a vaginal birth (brain damage!) & harassed for my "stubbornness". As Pro Publica pointed out, med school in the 70's didn't teach the skills required for a vaginal breech or even acknowledge that such a thing was desirable or even possible. These guys had been trained to cut & that's what they wanted to do. I was only saved by the surprise appearance, in the midst of a raging snowstorm, of the OB/GYN chief. He took one look at my x ray (no routine ultrasounds back in those days) revealing a medium sized baby, my fairly wide pelvis & asserted that I could give birth naturally, no C-Section needed. Apparently chastised, the young guys backed off & I did. Beyond enraging to fight these same battles against a more condescending & vicious opposition 45 years later.
Being forced to have a c-section is an outcome of women being treated like chattel. Everyone owns your body, except you.
Kudos to the AED reader with the top comment on the AP article quoting AED !
Thank you for your reporting. The women who support this demonization of other women are disgraceful.
My "Miscarriage of Justice" series here on Substack is focused on exactly this: The lies targeting women and their pregnancy outcomes -- from the cops to the jail staff to prosecutors and beyond. The racism prevalent in our so-called "justice" system gets a lot of (valid) criticism ... But rarely does the misogyny. This absolutely MUST change.
https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R46785/R46785.19.pdf
A bit dated, but I thought this was a helpful background document to share for understanding federal law affecting reproductive health services (including abortion) and understanding how the federal programs under these laws operate (especially with respect to abortion).
I've heard too little on the emotional impact on the abortion pt. who has to run the gauntlet of protessters and look at false and horrifying images before they enter the clinic. When I worked @ Planned Parenthood, we had to spend time calming our patients down who were often upset and rattled. Does anyone think this is good prep before a procedure? Would the medical community tolerate this if some extremist religous group harrassed patients right before they went in for a cardiac catheterization or a chemo appointment? I wish someone would make the case that this is not good patient care. It is outrageous.
This is an excellent point and very true. Unfortunately, the harassment is purposeful on their part to shame, punish, and torment people. I strongly believe the first mistake was to ever separate abortion care from other medical care. It should have never happened. It feeds the “it’s controversial” machine, when it really isn’t. Mainstream media also plays into this divisive narrative by refusing to center news stories on real people’s experiences (humanizing) rather than just legality or court cases. These stories are how we destigmatize.
The fanatics probably do that to IVF patients as well. Their medical ignorance is astounding. When I was doing escort duty at my local clinic they surrounded the office supply delivery truck and hooted like apes. One woman screamed "that's where they take your baby away!"
He came out empty handed. I don't know how she reconciled that, but they truly are drooling morons.
the harder they come, the harder they fall. I hope.
is anyone aware of any GoFundMe sites for the two poor women whose abortions have been criminalized?
The language is so important- coz they want to say we’re baby killers. Nobody wants to kill a baby!!! This is healthcare - this is care for the mother - and I see “baby” all the time - it’s not a baby! We don’t eat baby chickens for breakfast- we eat eggs. That’s because baby chickens and eggs are two different things!!! But they don’t see it like that . And the demonization needs to be recognized
I have long thought we should start a campaign against eating fertilized eggs since the “life begins at conception“ stance would mean you’re frying a chicken alive when you cook a fertilized egg.
If they can harass patients, we can harass them.
Squirt guns with cat piss!
Patients should bring bear spray to their appointments, and if those vermin harass them, let them have it.
One of the good things about smartphones is that everyone now has a video camera with them and this has shown us that "law enforcement" from the police to the FBI to ICE lies as a routine matter of course. If I was on a jury I would never take a cop's word at face value. My default would be to assume they are lying. There would have to be overwhelming physical evidence for me to conclude that their word was anything other than worthless.
I told that to the judge when I was selected for jury duty. needless to say I was dismissed post haste.
Yeah I made the mistake of saying my niece was a cop, I got picked.
another thing that really hacks me off about all of it is the lawyers get paid, the judges get paid, and the cops get paid. everyone else is expected to work for free.