Ugh. Liking this feels so wrong. But alas, I know it's good for the algorithm. (...Damn things anyway.) Especially while raising a young daughter, swimming in this soup for us every day must feel so heavy. And we're so, so deeply grateful to you for giving us the tools to understand how to think and talk about abortion. My evolution from thirty+ years of silence after having an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kalamazoo that was firebombed the following year (and targeted again in 2021), and then raising my daughter alone and feeling just as stigmatized as a young single parent as I knew I would be if anyone knew then that I'd had an abortion, and being silent about being su!c!dal as a young single mom; to 2016 happening and knowing that silence was no longer an option; to representing Michigan in 2018 on Planned Parenthood's inaugural class of national storytellers, to running a doomed state senate race in Michigan in 2022 because we had a Reproductive Freedom for All initiative on our ballot, feels daunting, remarkable (sadly), and like nowhere near enough.
"And that’s what I can’t stop thinking about: not the legal jargon, or how this ruling copied and pasted dangerous anti-abortion rhetoric—but that our lives are up for debate at all. I just don’t have it in me to read yet another legal brief calmly discussing my daughter’s right to live another day as if she were a fucking thought experiment.
That’s what conservatives want, after all: for abortion rights to be reduced to court battles and political debates. For Americans to be so distracted with legal and legislative minutiae that women’s lives become theoretical."
A good point. Thinking about what happens when a woman gets pregnant is not the problem, but thinking while believing things that are not true. Knowledge here is power, but in a woman's reproductive capacity there is a lot to know and it is not always simple. There should be no obstacles to discovering the facts and spreading them around, including them in language and narrowing their meaning to points far from superstition and false convictions.
Was thinking about the media this morning and it occurred to me - have we had a single Post or Times Editorial column where the newspaper has collectively come out against what red states are doing and what these courts are deciding in recent months? I assume they did something right after Dobbs, but what about re: Kate Cox? Brittany Watts? This fifth circuit decision?? In anticipation of the supremes looking at mifepristone?? I easily could have missed one, but am wondering if they have been silent and, if so, why.
No, there is not, they have elevated so-called "students for life" Kristan Hawkins (I read she's like 34, so WTF?) false dogma with all the vigor of a dedicated stenographer. I am stunned how ignorant of biology the reporters are.
Regarding the martyring women with cancer, I keep thinking of the made for TV movie in the early 70s called "Sunshine." The John Denver song with that title was in the movie. The plot involved a young woman who was dying recording messages to her child. When I looked it up just now I found a really morbid IMDB page. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070751/reviews/
‘’If we weee good mothers, we’d give up anything for our fetus.’’
No , that’s just being a breeding mare. A good mother is there, alive and present, for their child. Giving birth is hard. But the real work begins after the child is born.
It’s been a full day now and I’m beyond angry that the 5th Circuit ruling that allows hospitals and doctors to kill pregnant women was barely mentioned on MSNBC. Nothing on Ari Melber. Nothing on Joy Reid. Nothing on Chis Hayes. Nothing on Alex Wagner’s show. Finally, on The Last Word, in the last block, a substantial interview with Michelle Goodwin of Georgetown University discussing the ruling. At 11 pm Stephanie Ruhle covered Brittany Watt’s miscarriage which was grossly mishandled by the lousy Catholic hospital she went to. Then she, too, addressed the 5th Circuit ruling. But Joyce Vance, lawyer, said that doctors lack clarity on the law. That’s BS. Saying women are denied abortions for nonviable pregnancies (aka molar pregnancies and ectopic pregnancies) seems very clear to me. These are death sentences.
Sometimes I feel those of us who live here need to have weekly protests no how small they are. Not sure how to do this.
Some days I feel like taking the sign out of my yard that says abortion rights are human rights and stand on a busy street corner. I just might do it one day a week. 💪
I keep thinking of the popular songs from Britain during World War I. As the war dragged on and body counts escalated, the songs went from focus on the soldiers to a focus on mothers. They we so proud that their sons had died for the benefit of others. Little has changed, it seems. Those who have little or no control over their lives are martyred so that those who make the decisions can try to justify them.
This might sound crazy, but I wonder why we can’t make this go to the it’s logical conclusion to show how insane it all is. If the government can force women to sacrifice their health, bodies and family, shouldn’t it force all Americans to take care of their children, no matter what? Shouldn’t fathers be forced then to donate blood to their children? Shouldn’t fathers who have used drugs that might have damaged their sperm be subject to laws against endangering a child? Shouldn’t parents be forced to donate organs when their children need them? Shouldn’t the fathers who know if an abortion takes place be considered accessories to murder? I keep thinking that if men are subject to the same laws that women are, somebody will finally see the insanity and absurdity of it all. I don’t honestly want this to happen, of course. But I don’t see how people couldn’t finally see how hypocritical these fucking laws all are if they were applied to everyone and not just defenseless women and young girls.
Ps. I saw references below to project 2025. I have been afraid to seek it out. I guess I need to know what those monsters have in store. Sigh. So many things to do.
Pps. Christian Nationalism is a big part of this. These horrible ideas are their key tenets. I’m gonna follow up with Christians against Christian Nationalism (I think that’s what they’re called). Being a Christian (Quaker) is not something I go around publicly proclaiming, but man…Jesus said NONE OF THIS CRAP.
I have said more than once but it bears repeating...The only people Jesus ever criticized to their faces were the Pharisees, the religious people of that time. They brought him a woman they claimed was caught in adultery and said the law (Old Testament) called for her to be stoned. Jesus said, “He who is without sin among you may cast the first stone.” They all left him with the woman, and Jesus sent her on her way. Christian nationalists are akin to the Pharisees from Jesus’ day. And yes, they would crucify him again.
I'm not a believer but I come from a Catholic family, and the Jesus I remember had three priorities: tell the truth, be humble, and care for the less fortunate. So, essentially the exact opposite of Republicans. Maybe that's just my interpretation, but I also think these 'Christians' in America are exactly like the religious establishment who were Jesus' main antagonists in that time.
In other words, these 'Christians' would nail present day Jesus to the cross and which they are already doing in thousand cuts to humanity. I have said this before, these 'Christians' are most similar to ISIS, Taliban, Al Queda...using religion to try to hide their barbarism.
Labor & delivery nurse here. EMTALA was written to prohibit emergency rooms and labor & delivery units from withholding care to patients who are uninsured or unable to pay for services. Also, before EMTALA, a community hospital would transfer an unstable patient to the county hospital because they knew they would not get paid for providing care to that uninsured patient. This is called dumping. Of course the patient would not receive proper and timely care as a result.
There are many pregnancy related emergencies that can not be treated without abortion care. I don’t know what I’m trying to say other than I don’t understand how one state can go against a federal mandate. Judges are not doctors. Fetuses are not babies. Women are more than just birthing vessels. What the actual F!
One thing that stands out in the ruling is that in the final statements, part 2 says:
"The defendants may not enforce the Guidance and Letters interpretation of EMTALA both as to when an abortion is required and EMTALAs effect on state laws governing abortion within the State of Texas or against AAPLOGs members and CMDAs members."
NOTE that the ruling does not limit itself to AAPLOG and CMDA members only within Texas. This ruling could affect women ACROSS THE US! We need to know whether our doctors and those working in local hospitals and emergency clinics are members of these seemingly "absolved" organizations.
Footnote 5 in the ruling notes that: "AAPLOG is an organization of 6,000 pro-life physicians, with 300 members in Texas. CMDA is a nonprofit organization [...] with over 12,000 members nationwide and 1,237 members in Texas [...].
Ugh. Liking this feels so wrong. But alas, I know it's good for the algorithm. (...Damn things anyway.) Especially while raising a young daughter, swimming in this soup for us every day must feel so heavy. And we're so, so deeply grateful to you for giving us the tools to understand how to think and talk about abortion. My evolution from thirty+ years of silence after having an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kalamazoo that was firebombed the following year (and targeted again in 2021), and then raising my daughter alone and feeling just as stigmatized as a young single parent as I knew I would be if anyone knew then that I'd had an abortion, and being silent about being su!c!dal as a young single mom; to 2016 happening and knowing that silence was no longer an option; to representing Michigan in 2018 on Planned Parenthood's inaugural class of national storytellers, to running a doomed state senate race in Michigan in 2022 because we had a Reproductive Freedom for All initiative on our ballot, feels daunting, remarkable (sadly), and like nowhere near enough.
"And that’s what I can’t stop thinking about: not the legal jargon, or how this ruling copied and pasted dangerous anti-abortion rhetoric—but that our lives are up for debate at all. I just don’t have it in me to read yet another legal brief calmly discussing my daughter’s right to live another day as if she were a fucking thought experiment.
That’s what conservatives want, after all: for abortion rights to be reduced to court battles and political debates. For Americans to be so distracted with legal and legislative minutiae that women’s lives become theoretical."
A good point. Thinking about what happens when a woman gets pregnant is not the problem, but thinking while believing things that are not true. Knowledge here is power, but in a woman's reproductive capacity there is a lot to know and it is not always simple. There should be no obstacles to discovering the facts and spreading them around, including them in language and narrowing their meaning to points far from superstition and false convictions.
Was thinking about the media this morning and it occurred to me - have we had a single Post or Times Editorial column where the newspaper has collectively come out against what red states are doing and what these courts are deciding in recent months? I assume they did something right after Dobbs, but what about re: Kate Cox? Brittany Watts? This fifth circuit decision?? In anticipation of the supremes looking at mifepristone?? I easily could have missed one, but am wondering if they have been silent and, if so, why.
No, there is not, they have elevated so-called "students for life" Kristan Hawkins (I read she's like 34, so WTF?) false dogma with all the vigor of a dedicated stenographer. I am stunned how ignorant of biology the reporters are.
Regarding the martyring women with cancer, I keep thinking of the made for TV movie in the early 70s called "Sunshine." The John Denver song with that title was in the movie. The plot involved a young woman who was dying recording messages to her child. When I looked it up just now I found a really morbid IMDB page. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070751/reviews/
‘’If we weee good mothers, we’d give up anything for our fetus.’’
No , that’s just being a breeding mare. A good mother is there, alive and present, for their child. Giving birth is hard. But the real work begins after the child is born.
The state of Texas is an outlaw, refusing to abide by multiple laws of the nation.
It’s been a full day now and I’m beyond angry that the 5th Circuit ruling that allows hospitals and doctors to kill pregnant women was barely mentioned on MSNBC. Nothing on Ari Melber. Nothing on Joy Reid. Nothing on Chis Hayes. Nothing on Alex Wagner’s show. Finally, on The Last Word, in the last block, a substantial interview with Michelle Goodwin of Georgetown University discussing the ruling. At 11 pm Stephanie Ruhle covered Brittany Watt’s miscarriage which was grossly mishandled by the lousy Catholic hospital she went to. Then she, too, addressed the 5th Circuit ruling. But Joyce Vance, lawyer, said that doctors lack clarity on the law. That’s BS. Saying women are denied abortions for nonviable pregnancies (aka molar pregnancies and ectopic pregnancies) seems very clear to me. These are death sentences.
I watch Lawrence. He is perhaps the most critical of the media handling of trump and Rs.
I stand corrected. Thanks.
Sometimes I feel those of us who live here need to have weekly protests no how small they are. Not sure how to do this.
Some days I feel like taking the sign out of my yard that says abortion rights are human rights and stand on a busy street corner. I just might do it one day a week. 💪
Where do you live? I’m sure there are others who would join you if you put out the word
I live in Houston. If there are other Houstonians interested in walking around Hermman Park or standing on street corner. You can contact me here
I keep thinking of the popular songs from Britain during World War I. As the war dragged on and body counts escalated, the songs went from focus on the soldiers to a focus on mothers. They we so proud that their sons had died for the benefit of others. Little has changed, it seems. Those who have little or no control over their lives are martyred so that those who make the decisions can try to justify them.
I am spitting nails. Again. Still.
Does anyone *still* wonder why so many of us were terrified the day after the 2016 election? Sigh....
Yep, that night was like somebody died, sat in the darkness of midnight and cried.
Yes, our freedom, it was the beginning of this.
This might sound crazy, but I wonder why we can’t make this go to the it’s logical conclusion to show how insane it all is. If the government can force women to sacrifice their health, bodies and family, shouldn’t it force all Americans to take care of their children, no matter what? Shouldn’t fathers be forced then to donate blood to their children? Shouldn’t fathers who have used drugs that might have damaged their sperm be subject to laws against endangering a child? Shouldn’t parents be forced to donate organs when their children need them? Shouldn’t the fathers who know if an abortion takes place be considered accessories to murder? I keep thinking that if men are subject to the same laws that women are, somebody will finally see the insanity and absurdity of it all. I don’t honestly want this to happen, of course. But I don’t see how people couldn’t finally see how hypocritical these fucking laws all are if they were applied to everyone and not just defenseless women and young girls.
So what do we do? I am so fucking pissed off.
Ps. I saw references below to project 2025. I have been afraid to seek it out. I guess I need to know what those monsters have in store. Sigh. So many things to do.
Pps. Christian Nationalism is a big part of this. These horrible ideas are their key tenets. I’m gonna follow up with Christians against Christian Nationalism (I think that’s what they’re called). Being a Christian (Quaker) is not something I go around publicly proclaiming, but man…Jesus said NONE OF THIS CRAP.
I have said more than once but it bears repeating...The only people Jesus ever criticized to their faces were the Pharisees, the religious people of that time. They brought him a woman they claimed was caught in adultery and said the law (Old Testament) called for her to be stoned. Jesus said, “He who is without sin among you may cast the first stone.” They all left him with the woman, and Jesus sent her on her way. Christian nationalists are akin to the Pharisees from Jesus’ day. And yes, they would crucify him again.
Yes, for being a brown, loving, liberal man, they would definitely kill him.
I'm not a believer but I come from a Catholic family, and the Jesus I remember had three priorities: tell the truth, be humble, and care for the less fortunate. So, essentially the exact opposite of Republicans. Maybe that's just my interpretation, but I also think these 'Christians' in America are exactly like the religious establishment who were Jesus' main antagonists in that time.
Absolutely well said!
His messages all distill down to one theme: "love". Love your neighbor, love yourself, and take care of the poor.
In other words, these 'Christians' would nail present day Jesus to the cross and which they are already doing in thousand cuts to humanity. I have said this before, these 'Christians' are most similar to ISIS, Taliban, Al Queda...using religion to try to hide their barbarism.
🎯🎯🎯
NO he did not! It not New Testament Biblical at all. I'm pissed off too!!
Labor & delivery nurse here. EMTALA was written to prohibit emergency rooms and labor & delivery units from withholding care to patients who are uninsured or unable to pay for services. Also, before EMTALA, a community hospital would transfer an unstable patient to the county hospital because they knew they would not get paid for providing care to that uninsured patient. This is called dumping. Of course the patient would not receive proper and timely care as a result.
There are many pregnancy related emergencies that can not be treated without abortion care. I don’t know what I’m trying to say other than I don’t understand how one state can go against a federal mandate. Judges are not doctors. Fetuses are not babies. Women are more than just birthing vessels. What the actual F!
One thing that stands out in the ruling is that in the final statements, part 2 says:
"The defendants may not enforce the Guidance and Letters interpretation of EMTALA both as to when an abortion is required and EMTALAs effect on state laws governing abortion within the State of Texas or against AAPLOGs members and CMDAs members."
NOTE that the ruling does not limit itself to AAPLOG and CMDA members only within Texas. This ruling could affect women ACROSS THE US! We need to know whether our doctors and those working in local hospitals and emergency clinics are members of these seemingly "absolved" organizations.
Footnote 5 in the ruling notes that: "AAPLOG is an organization of 6,000 pro-life physicians, with 300 members in Texas. CMDA is a nonprofit organization [...] with over 12,000 members nationwide and 1,237 members in Texas [...].
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.212720/gov.uscourts.ca5.212720.134.1.pdf
🔥 🔥 🔥 this whole post. So well articulated.