I sent that interactive NYT piece to my former students and members of my feminism club and told them to spread the word. I sent it to anyone I knew with a reach. The South Carolina doctor’s story was so powerful and sickening. You could hear the derision she received for caring for a 13 year old rape victim. My fear is that too many people don’t know. I’ve had a rough week with misogyny at work and reading the horror women are being put through and I’ve reiterated this to a few close friends who are definitely aware but not to the degree that I am because they are bad newsed out. You can see in their faces, they think they understand but they actually have no idea how bad it is. They are paying attention but they are missing the details. If life long liberals in Massachusetts aren’t hearing these stories, it’s hard to hope others will. The focus group story illustrates that perfectly.
It’s hard to believe that it’s this close. It’s hard not to feel that we are going to be sacrificed because social media and Fox News get to just lie and manipulate. I’m worried that not enough bad shit has happened to women yet and the consequences of that will be even worse shit because we didn’t have enough time to wake people the fuck up. How sick is that?
If a doctor is prescribing miso than they should have it in their office to give to the
patient for whatever the reason. Doctor's in red states know better but then make their
patients run around trying to get it and feel like dirt. Whatever happened to doctor's offices and hospitals having basic drugs to give to their patients?
"I really do believe that anyone with the ability to get pregnant should have abortion medication on hand. Pregnancy is dangerous, and we don’t know what the next few months or years will bring—no matter where you live. Knowing I have abortion medication makes me feel just a little bit more secure."
This caution should also include pregnancy testing kits. Women shouldn't wait for a missed period if they think that birth control might have failed somewhere. Start testing right away so that they might address the problem as early as possible.
Pregnancy testing kits are not just for women who want to get pregnant. They should be considered a powerful tool in reproductive rights as has all emergent technologies like mifepristone. At one time a woman had to go to a doctor to determine if she was pregnant early in the pregnancy.
Every person who, even occasionally, has sexual activity that might result in pregnancy should always have condoms and emergency contraception on hand, and should have a plan for exactly what steps they will take if they want an abortion. They should also track their menstrual cycle on a PAPER calendar (i.e., one that can't be tracked online) to be able to establish that pregnancy fits within the state limits if it does. and, as Paul says, have pregnancy test kits on hand.
PSA: Don't watch Abby Phillips's show on CNN (runs at 10PM)! It is the same 2016 version of bothsidesing that will give you a heart attack. Abby is so ineffective in moderating the discussion... it is disgusting. Shame on her and her producers!
A person does not know what will happen to their body if they get pregnant. A minor example—the texture of a person’s hair or skin could change. More serious examples—a previously unknown heart condition could be discovered, gestational diabetes could develop and possibly become permanent. These situations are only a few of the many, many things that can happen to a pregnant woman. Pregnancy can be deadly, and is WAY TOO COMPLICATED TO LEGISLATE.
I want to know who is paying for all the post-natal care of babies born to die? Even if they live a day, a week, a month, the hospital bill would be outrageous! In those states without medicaid expansion (I think almost 50% or more pregnancies are covered through medicaid), the financial devastation would be tremendous. The bills should be sent to SCOTUS and the GOP.
I haven't read any news on Jessica's substack about an Indiana woman who died a week ago for an ectopic pregnancy. She went to her local hospital but they had closed their labor and delivery unit. She died before she could reach a hospital that could treat her. I tried to reach Jessica but I got a message that she's behind on her emails.
Out of curiosity, how can you attempt to reach Jessica? Having read her memoir, I fully understand that access to her must be guarded given threats and the like. But I’ve wanted to write her a letter and I would be happy if it needs to be screened. I have only good things to say and want at least a chance that she could read it.
They want to take us back to a time that's unimaginable. In January 1951, my mother had a stillbirth with her first pregnancy. In November, her second pregnancy ended in a very premature birth. The first baby died; the second survived, but was blind and had major cognitive and physical disabilities. Abortion and most contraception methods were illegal. (Condoms were prescription-only.) Most prenatal testing methods were far into the future. My mom, as it turned out, was Rh negative--a condition that put her at high risk during all her pregnancies, but wasn't understood until the 1960s. My mom died in 2009, at age 93. A couple of years before her death, I found out about what had happened in 1951. The reason that she went into weeks-long depressions every January finally became clear. Bottom line: mom, and women of her generation, had little to no control over their bodies. Mom, and women like her, suffered for the rest of their lives, and many grieved for those lost babies for decades after. That's where the cruelty comes in: they had the temerity to be born female, so they just got to suffer. That's what we're seeing now. The cruelty, as you've said, Jessica, is the point.
I’m am so sorry for your mother’s pain and the pain that inevitably impacts the family. As a history teacher I think of the women of the past a lot and how they endured their situations and what the world could have been had they not had to.
That's one thing the women's health movement (which I was involved in, in the mid-1970s) did: it made some topics, some circumstances of our lives, ummm, speakable, whereas before it was--at best--impolite to talk about them, to use certain words. For example, I remember how difficult it was to speak out when we were trying to set up a rape hotline in my college town. People kept saying, 'You can't *say* that!" We had to make up new words and phrases so that we could discuss some things, like sexual harrassment. I remember when Del Martin and Phyllis Lyons' book "Battered Wives" came out--another thing people didn't talk about. I could go on and on. Mom was a woman of her generation and she didn't talk about miscarriages, childbirth, breast cancer (which killed my paternal grandmother), and lots of other things. Which at least partially explains why I didn't find any of this out til much too late to find help for her. I honestly think we are healthier (mentally, at least) now that we *can* talk about such things. I wish it'd happened earlier.
I am simply heartbroken and so angry that women are now being forced to carry doomed pregnancies to term knowing that their newborn will die, or be stillborn.
Of course, for the forced birth crowd the cruelty is the point.
I sent that interactive NYT piece to my former students and members of my feminism club and told them to spread the word. I sent it to anyone I knew with a reach. The South Carolina doctor’s story was so powerful and sickening. You could hear the derision she received for caring for a 13 year old rape victim. My fear is that too many people don’t know. I’ve had a rough week with misogyny at work and reading the horror women are being put through and I’ve reiterated this to a few close friends who are definitely aware but not to the degree that I am because they are bad newsed out. You can see in their faces, they think they understand but they actually have no idea how bad it is. They are paying attention but they are missing the details. If life long liberals in Massachusetts aren’t hearing these stories, it’s hard to hope others will. The focus group story illustrates that perfectly.
It’s hard to believe that it’s this close. It’s hard not to feel that we are going to be sacrificed because social media and Fox News get to just lie and manipulate. I’m worried that not enough bad shit has happened to women yet and the consequences of that will be even worse shit because we didn’t have enough time to wake people the fuck up. How sick is that?
Is there a way to get that interactive NYT article as a gift link?
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/17/opinion/dobbs-roe-abortion-stories.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UU4.Pg3m.cwXdTr_crMb6&smid=url-share
Here’s the link, Aly.
Thank you SO MUCH Lesley! What a piece, really.
If a doctor is prescribing miso than they should have it in their office to give to the
patient for whatever the reason. Doctor's in red states know better but then make their
patients run around trying to get it and feel like dirt. Whatever happened to doctor's offices and hospitals having basic drugs to give to their patients?
Speaking of important things to watch, the Center for Reproductive Rights is broadcasting a documentary on Zurawski v. Texas on Saturday October 26 and Sunday the 27th; virtual live Q&A on Sunday at 7. Link to sign up: https://click.everyaction.com/k/95577595/507187756/-1755481614?sourceid=1149928&nvep=ew0KICAiVGVuYW50VXJpIjogIm5ncHZhbjovL3Zhbi9DRlJSL0NGUlIvMS85NTk4MiIsDQogICJEaXN0cmlidXRpb25VbmlxdWVJZCI6ICI3NGJjZGY1NS05NzkwLWVmMTEtODQ3NC0wMDBkM2E5OGZhNmIiLA0KICAiRW1haWxBZGRyZXNzIjogImRzaGlsbGluZ0B2ZXJpem9uLm5ldCINCn0%3D&hmac=gEtBmY4kDZ7ZXdYF97fu2u8w1JH6xWpRa48qngPFMbo=&emci=6ebcdf55-9790-ef11-8474-000d3a98fa6b&emdi=74bcdf55-9790-ef11-8474-000d3a98fa6b&ceid=640131
"I really do believe that anyone with the ability to get pregnant should have abortion medication on hand. Pregnancy is dangerous, and we don’t know what the next few months or years will bring—no matter where you live. Knowing I have abortion medication makes me feel just a little bit more secure."
This caution should also include pregnancy testing kits. Women shouldn't wait for a missed period if they think that birth control might have failed somewhere. Start testing right away so that they might address the problem as early as possible.
Pregnancy testing kits are not just for women who want to get pregnant. They should be considered a powerful tool in reproductive rights as has all emergent technologies like mifepristone. At one time a woman had to go to a doctor to determine if she was pregnant early in the pregnancy.
Every person who, even occasionally, has sexual activity that might result in pregnancy should always have condoms and emergency contraception on hand, and should have a plan for exactly what steps they will take if they want an abortion. They should also track their menstrual cycle on a PAPER calendar (i.e., one that can't be tracked online) to be able to establish that pregnancy fits within the state limits if it does. and, as Paul says, have pregnancy test kits on hand.
"If you missed this incredible interactive project from The New York Times, make sure to check it out now."
The link here is behind a paywall. The link is repeated here,
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/17/opinion/dobbs-roe-abortion-stories.html
PSA: Don't watch Abby Phillips's show on CNN (runs at 10PM)! It is the same 2016 version of bothsidesing that will give you a heart attack. Abby is so ineffective in moderating the discussion... it is disgusting. Shame on her and her producers!
A person does not know what will happen to their body if they get pregnant. A minor example—the texture of a person’s hair or skin could change. More serious examples—a previously unknown heart condition could be discovered, gestational diabetes could develop and possibly become permanent. These situations are only a few of the many, many things that can happen to a pregnant woman. Pregnancy can be deadly, and is WAY TOO COMPLICATED TO LEGISLATE.
To this cops threatening and intimidating that brave pediatric gynecologist in South Carolina- f*ck off forever! ACAB 🥀
I want to know who is paying for all the post-natal care of babies born to die? Even if they live a day, a week, a month, the hospital bill would be outrageous! In those states without medicaid expansion (I think almost 50% or more pregnancies are covered through medicaid), the financial devastation would be tremendous. The bills should be sent to SCOTUS and the GOP.
I do food security work, and I'd like to know who is going to feed babies born to people who don't want and/or can't afford them.
I haven't read any news on Jessica's substack about an Indiana woman who died a week ago for an ectopic pregnancy. She went to her local hospital but they had closed their labor and delivery unit. She died before she could reach a hospital that could treat her. I tried to reach Jessica but I got a message that she's behind on her emails.
Out of curiosity, how can you attempt to reach Jessica? Having read her memoir, I fully understand that access to her must be guarded given threats and the like. But I’ve wanted to write her a letter and I would be happy if it needs to be screened. I have only good things to say and want at least a chance that she could read it.
Jessica@substack.com
Jessicavalenti@gmail.com
This site covers the story. The reference to the the death of 26-year-old Taysha Wilkinson-Sobieski from her ectopic pregnancy is about 1/3 down: https://www.greenfieldreporter.com/2024/10/18/too-big-to-care-how-an-indiana-hospital-chain-took-over-a-region-and-jacked-up-prices/
Here is her obituary with a photo. She had a one year old son.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/260682822/taysha_m-wilkinson_sobieski
Also Ms. Magazine appears to have reported the story. It is a few scrolls down:
https://msmagazine.com/2024/10/01/life-death-mother-children-no-parent-abortion-ban-miscarriage-ectopic/
They want to take us back to a time that's unimaginable. In January 1951, my mother had a stillbirth with her first pregnancy. In November, her second pregnancy ended in a very premature birth. The first baby died; the second survived, but was blind and had major cognitive and physical disabilities. Abortion and most contraception methods were illegal. (Condoms were prescription-only.) Most prenatal testing methods were far into the future. My mom, as it turned out, was Rh negative--a condition that put her at high risk during all her pregnancies, but wasn't understood until the 1960s. My mom died in 2009, at age 93. A couple of years before her death, I found out about what had happened in 1951. The reason that she went into weeks-long depressions every January finally became clear. Bottom line: mom, and women of her generation, had little to no control over their bodies. Mom, and women like her, suffered for the rest of their lives, and many grieved for those lost babies for decades after. That's where the cruelty comes in: they had the temerity to be born female, so they just got to suffer. That's what we're seeing now. The cruelty, as you've said, Jessica, is the point.
I’m am so sorry for your mother’s pain and the pain that inevitably impacts the family. As a history teacher I think of the women of the past a lot and how they endured their situations and what the world could have been had they not had to.
That's one thing the women's health movement (which I was involved in, in the mid-1970s) did: it made some topics, some circumstances of our lives, ummm, speakable, whereas before it was--at best--impolite to talk about them, to use certain words. For example, I remember how difficult it was to speak out when we were trying to set up a rape hotline in my college town. People kept saying, 'You can't *say* that!" We had to make up new words and phrases so that we could discuss some things, like sexual harrassment. I remember when Del Martin and Phyllis Lyons' book "Battered Wives" came out--another thing people didn't talk about. I could go on and on. Mom was a woman of her generation and she didn't talk about miscarriages, childbirth, breast cancer (which killed my paternal grandmother), and lots of other things. Which at least partially explains why I didn't find any of this out til much too late to find help for her. I honestly think we are healthier (mentally, at least) now that we *can* talk about such things. I wish it'd happened earlier.
I am simply heartbroken and so angry that women are now being forced to carry doomed pregnancies to term knowing that their newborn will die, or be stillborn.
Of course, for the forced birth crowd the cruelty is the point.