I truly believe this election and 2028 are going to show these ghouls the country is not on board. Sarah Longwell issued a newsletter about the state of abortion in the minds of voters in Texas and Iowa from her focus groups and they are not happy about these laws.
This focus on reaching Republicans and middle ground voters doesn't bear nearly the same dividends as focusing on low-turnout and disenchanted voters. I wish Reproductive Freedom for All would work on building an excited new base of pro-choice voters instead of the same old strategy we have seen again and again.
It was a one-year political hit job against reproductive health care, designed to punish Planned Parenthood, destabilize clinics, and make it harder for low-income patients to access contraception, cancer screenings, STI testing, abortion care, and basic preventive services.
And even if the provision expires, the harm does not magically disappear. A year of defunding can close clinics. It can force staff layoffs. It can delay care. It can leave entire communities without providers.
Republicans may not have the votes to keep the policy alive, but they already got what they wanted: chaos, fear, disruption, and another reminder that when they say “defund,” what they really mean is deny care.
Abortion and reproductive freedom is not only a healthcare issue, but an economic one. It would be wise for candidates who support these freedoms to frame it as such and more broadly in the coming elections where people are struggling to pay rent and buy food. We need to stop letting anti-abortion folks define the narrative. What makes this difficult is mainstream media and status quo politicians want to keep the “it’s controversial” myth alive. It’s not. Don’t believe the hype.
Re: Abortion as an election issue, here is one of Any Acton's priorities, from her website: "Every Ohioan deserves the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions, free from government interference, plain and simple. As Governor, I will protect reproductive freedom so that every woman can access safe, legal abortion care, contraception, fertility treatments, and miscarriage care." Talarico website: "Restore reproductive freedom with federal legislation to codify Roe v. Wade and protect access to contraception and IVF..."
Abortion is anything but dead as a campaign issue. Reproductive freedom is central. It's the first question in the minds of most women. Does she/he support repro freedom? A woman's absolute right to bodily control? Most Americans support this. The nerve of the Supreme court thinking that they know better, and overturning Rowe vs Wade. I wonder what woman's issue the court will take on next. In vitro fertilization and birth control pills is the word on the street.
Let's be clear about the whole "equal protection" argument. Women in the United States do not enjoy equal protection under the law. Women in the Revolution called for that, but the patriarchal founding fathers laughed at the very idea.
The argument that zygotes and fetuses deserve "equal protection" is a slap in the face to each and every woman in America. It would elevate them above pregnant women/people - and babies born female would instantly lose such protection on birth. We are not protected under the 14th Amendment - Justice Scalia was clear about that, and his protégés on the Supreme Court now believe it when he said:
“Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t. Nobody ever thought that’s what it meant.”
Of course women were still PROPERTY under the law in 1868, without voting rights, when the 14th was ratified.
The Equal Rights Amendment has met all the requirements of Article 5 of the Constitution. It would protect our right to bodily autonomy. The 'deadline' was put in the preamble to the amendment, unlike the other amendments with binding deadlines - compare those amendments with the ERA language. I believe we've all been sold a false bill of goods with the ERA "deadline."
I truly believe this election and 2028 are going to show these ghouls the country is not on board. Sarah Longwell issued a newsletter about the state of abortion in the minds of voters in Texas and Iowa from her focus groups and they are not happy about these laws.
This focus on reaching Republicans and middle ground voters doesn't bear nearly the same dividends as focusing on low-turnout and disenchanted voters. I wish Reproductive Freedom for All would work on building an excited new base of pro-choice voters instead of the same old strategy we have seen again and again.
Keep the great info coming
It was a one-year political hit job against reproductive health care, designed to punish Planned Parenthood, destabilize clinics, and make it harder for low-income patients to access contraception, cancer screenings, STI testing, abortion care, and basic preventive services.
And even if the provision expires, the harm does not magically disappear. A year of defunding can close clinics. It can force staff layoffs. It can delay care. It can leave entire communities without providers.
Republicans may not have the votes to keep the policy alive, but they already got what they wanted: chaos, fear, disruption, and another reminder that when they say “defund,” what they really mean is deny care.
Abortion and reproductive freedom is not only a healthcare issue, but an economic one. It would be wise for candidates who support these freedoms to frame it as such and more broadly in the coming elections where people are struggling to pay rent and buy food. We need to stop letting anti-abortion folks define the narrative. What makes this difficult is mainstream media and status quo politicians want to keep the “it’s controversial” myth alive. It’s not. Don’t believe the hype.
Re: Abortion as an election issue, here is one of Any Acton's priorities, from her website: "Every Ohioan deserves the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions, free from government interference, plain and simple. As Governor, I will protect reproductive freedom so that every woman can access safe, legal abortion care, contraception, fertility treatments, and miscarriage care." Talarico website: "Restore reproductive freedom with federal legislation to codify Roe v. Wade and protect access to contraception and IVF..."
Abortion is anything but dead as a campaign issue. Reproductive freedom is central. It's the first question in the minds of most women. Does she/he support repro freedom? A woman's absolute right to bodily control? Most Americans support this. The nerve of the Supreme court thinking that they know better, and overturning Rowe vs Wade. I wonder what woman's issue the court will take on next. In vitro fertilization and birth control pills is the word on the street.
Let's be clear about the whole "equal protection" argument. Women in the United States do not enjoy equal protection under the law. Women in the Revolution called for that, but the patriarchal founding fathers laughed at the very idea.
The argument that zygotes and fetuses deserve "equal protection" is a slap in the face to each and every woman in America. It would elevate them above pregnant women/people - and babies born female would instantly lose such protection on birth. We are not protected under the 14th Amendment - Justice Scalia was clear about that, and his protégés on the Supreme Court now believe it when he said:
“Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t. Nobody ever thought that’s what it meant.”
Of course women were still PROPERTY under the law in 1868, without voting rights, when the 14th was ratified.
The Equal Rights Amendment has met all the requirements of Article 5 of the Constitution. It would protect our right to bodily autonomy. The 'deadline' was put in the preamble to the amendment, unlike the other amendments with binding deadlines - compare those amendments with the ERA language. I believe we've all been sold a false bill of goods with the ERA "deadline."
Amen
Yes that certainly is a slap in our face. Again. Who on earth believes that the Supreme court has the final say in any of this?