41 Comments

PP is a literal lifesaver for students, and low-income families, and the women that raise them.

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I was a patient at PP for basic care in college when I had no money or health insurance. They were an absolute lifeline for me and allowed me to continue on and receive an education that changed my life. I have had my fair share of health issues including what I now know is endometriosis. I will never forget the incredible care I got there and the kindness I received from PP doctors. Their focus on education is admirable and opened my eyes to the fact that there is a major lack of research and funding into women’s healthcare in general. It’s inexcusable that PP has been fearlessly and tirelessly filling in the gaps to a broken system. When I started my first job, I decided to donate to them monthly for 10 years to say thank you and give back. We must fight with everything we have.

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There's a long history, in many countries, of trafficking babies. The countries that immediately come to mind are Spain (late 1930s and throughout the Franco dictatorship), Argentina and Chile (late 1970s and throughout the dictatorships there). In all of these cases the babies were taken from "unfit" mothers (often leftist women who were imprisoned, and then murdered after they gave birth) and sold to/"adopted by" "acceptable" (often military) families. That's what the mothers and grandmothers of the disappeared movement was all about. And, yes, the church was neck-deep in the trafficking. Don't expect it to be any different here.

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3dEdited

Yes, Diana,there is a history in other countries yet we have our own US history.

I was one of those babies in the US born to a birth mother “who went away”.We are now going back and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are mandatory closed adoptions,denied access to original birth certificates and forever sealed adoption records.Of course with the secrecy will be the shame supported by all those “Christian” Nationalists.At least we now have DNA testing…or maybe there will be an Executive Order to abolish those once they all realize their country of origin is not their beloved US.

https://www.thegirlswhowentaway.com/

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Yes! The specific details were/will be different, but the general outlines and rationales the same. Thank you, Kathy.

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Sooooo..... They're really following through the "pregnant people as broodmares" schtick.

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They've been planning it for decades, that's why the christian nationalists took over many state adoption agencies.

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Thank you for adding an ‘action items’ section to your long list of things you’re doing to support women’s reproductive rights, Jessica! Yesterday I had the incredible good fortune to hear Jess Craven and Robert Hubble speak in SF - one of their key themes was, every single action we take to protect our rights/Deomcracy, etc. is important! Just like every drop of water chips away at stone and the smallest pebble can divert a mighty stream…so, Thank You!!

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So, um, the repubs have gone into the baby mill business. Wouldn't that qualify as human trafficking? What next? Legally redefining women as cattle/chattel? Oh, wait. I do seem to recall many conversations, over my 74 years, where the actual humanity of women is brought into question. Philosophy professors would sometimes wax poetic/nostalgic about the good old days when we girls new our place. Seriously, though, this is a HUGE step towards such a redefinition. I am going to say something here that I said on another substack - If you are a woman or a family who respects the women in it, and you live in a red state, move to a blue state, if you can. One part of that strategy is for you and yours to be safe. Another part is political. Your residence in a red state adds to their tax base. Leaving means that their tax base shrinks. Shrink it far enough and either the state collapses or laws are challenged and changed. And now a rant. I have spent my life fighting the patriarchal insistence that women stop being who we are and accept the roles and realities chosen for is by penised persons of patriarchal persuasion. I am FUCKING SICK OF THE GAME!!! Why on earth would the sons born of women feel driven to deny us who we are, in favor of accepting whatever shit they decide to hand us? Well, I think they want mommies to serve them and kiss away their little boo boos for them. Mommies who adore their little poops and never, ever question or criticize. ARRGH!!! Lysistrata had the right of it. Give them nothing - no sex, no dinner, no kids, no nice home to come home to. Too many of them DO NOT DESERVE US! Okay. End of rant. For now, ;)

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Oh dear God -- that Missouri bill is directly out of "The Handmaid's Tale." Next up: a registry of "vulnerable" fertile women whose sexual history MUST be monitored. To protect them, of course. Think it can't happen? If I can imagine it, some misogynist ideologue is out there planning it.

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Missouri, the state that has low ratings in many quality-of-life issues and the legislature keeps showing us why.

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Welcome back Jessica! We are so grateful for you and your tireless defense of our rights. Thanks particularly for your comments on the NYT article which succinctly pointed out the issues with it from a skilled and astute journalist. So glad we are in this together!

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Holy crap! This is so hideous! There must be so many young women in these states who are wondering how they can relocate if they want to have families or not.

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Jessica, thank you for your corrective on the PP NYT piece. Over the years I have had serious concerns about Planned Parenthood and how they operate, including issues with union busting and competing with independent clinics. So I found myself nodding along with the article, confirmation bias at work. Then I read your critique and I'm angry at myself for not seeing through more of the poor word choices and biased coverage. This is such hard work, when even the (supposedly) most well informed and ardent supporters can find ourselves swayed. You set me straight!

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Right there with you, Elizabeth. Grr.

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“e-Harmony for babies” and “maternity homes” are so disgusting, how is that not just forced and unpaid surrogacy??

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It is gestational slavery and against the constitution.

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I don't see it as surrogacy, because that implies some amount of consent on the part of the woman. It is slavery, pure and simple.

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I agree. It seems like a scheme to create a baby selling industry. Tax payer money funds the CPC where the women go for help. The targets are identified and charges are brought for unfit parent because of immorality or negligence. A buyer is located and the sale is made. The intermediary is the church. It could happen.

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You don't have to create a baby-selling industry. The private adoption industry and the family regulation systems both already exist and function exactly this way.

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So perhaps it would be more accurate to say ‘expand the baby selling industry ‘.

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👆👆🎯Yes that is why the christian nationalists have taken over the state adoption agencies. Remember the Jewish couple that had to sue, because they were selling babies to white so-called "christian" people only?

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That's it. And people will allow it because we all know who deserves care and compassion and who doesn't in the Republican sphere. The consequences of this will be horrific. You can't just unwind something like that.

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Welcome back, Jessica. Hope you had a good rest. Happy to hear about the action items.

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Yay for action items. Thank you.

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Anxious to see how MO will determine who makes the “at risk “ list. People turning pregnant women in? Friends, parents? Ministers? Disgruntled boyfriends? Doctors or nurses in violation of HIPPA laws? Will those laws be rescinded for pregnancies?

****Are men being required to support babies financially that they help create in MO or any other anti-choice state? Texas?****. This is critical to know imo.

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Agree, but the “at risk” list implies that the state has already been told that a woman is pregnant and that woman has been placed on a “pregnancy registry” This entire scheme is beyond dystopian. So, how would this work? Would Missouri enact a law saying that….if a woman buys a pregnancy test she has to pee on the spot and if it’s positive the store calls a state registry and reports the pregnancy? Or, every health care provider must report each and every pregnancy to the state pregnancy registry and if they don’t criminal charges will be brought?

What you and I have described is beyond belief. Yet, here we are.

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3dEdited

No. It's worse. But you said it, for the woman to be deemed at risk she needs to be known to those running this scheme which means she's likely seeking care and help and then being turned in. Listen, I struggle with woman who are pregnant and use or who have kids and neglect them. I have devoted my life to working with children and these kids are often collateral damage, then they grow up and repeat the cycle.

But and there's a big but here, this still means that this woman needed help at some point and we failed her. Our social safety net needs to be comprehensive enough that we have systems of care and prevention as well as humane responses. My biggest fear that Jessica has covered is all of these laws or attempt at laws are going to make it easier for abusers to control the woman they are abusing.

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It 💯 % leads to abusers having more control over women. Thats the point, control. As if women’s healthcare and social safety nets weren’t already in a dire place to begin with.

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The control of women is the point, along with the cruelty that is their real joy. And it has been for thousands of years. We are, in industrial terms, merely the means by which men reproduce themselves. We are the means of reproduction...simply assembly lines for new boys. We screw up and often have girls, which is why there have been lots of efforts over the years to create artificial wombs. Quality and sex control, don't you know. The military and others even conducted research on the viability of using DNA from gorillas and other great apes to create a stronger soldier. One part of this was attempting to remove the nucleus of the gorilla egg, replacing it with human nucleus and fertilizing the result with human sperm and implanting it in the gorilla. Didn’t work, but the reasoning behind it is what bothers me. They also thought that having gorillas carry human babies to term might solve the woman problem, being that we talk back and all. Saw a PBS documentary on these, and more, back in the 1980's. Turns out, their work didn't, so maybe they have given up.

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That’s flabbergasting. I’d have lost my marbles had I seen that.

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They can’t control the scary godless world at large, but by God they will control “their” women in MO. I’m dying to know male responsibility by law, if any.

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Missouri already has a law that forbids divorce if the woman is pregnant.

But what this is is intimidation. They couldn't lie enough to voters to kill the abortion bill, so now they're resorting to stuff like this.

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“ I don’t believe any pro-choice group should be immune from criticism” I do every last one of them. Acquiescing to right wing criticism is wrong and a courtesy they would never extend to us.

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Yes, it's usually bullshit, anyway. They'll have a right-wing nutjob go in and say things like they're selling baby parts, here is a video. (James O'Keefe and his poorly stitched together fake sting.)

No group is perfect, as long as they give the best care, to as many people possible, anything else can be worked out.

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You do realize that she was criticizing the NYT right? They apparently “tried” to write a pro choice piece, & she was criticizing it for falling short.

I agree with her criticism because, as she said, it will encourage anti choice groups to pounce on those poor wordings

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It's as if the NYT deliberately went out of their way to write a hit piece on Planned Parenthood clinics.

Did the reporters bother to do any research about those clinics being the main or only healthcare facilities in some areas? I doubt it.

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I don't know where they are getting their "reporters" these days, but it is like they just hatched from an egg. Each story is an isolated incident, and they never know the history behind it, or connect the dots for the reader.

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