This does seem to be a qualitatively different abortion restriction to previous ones. Being forced to remain pregnant may - but won't definitely - kill you; abortion restrictions forcing you to get an illegal abortion may - but won't definitely - kill you.
There is no plausible deniability here, no fig-leaf of pro-life, no 'best intentions', no defence to the stark fact that in an untreated ectopic pregnancy the foetus will always, always die and if the pregnancy is just left untreated it will develop as far as technically possible and then it will very, very likely kill the woman. I have struggled to find stats on women's mortality in untreated advanced ectopic pregnancies, because why the fuck would you deliberately do that.
So, if it's in your fallopian tube, that will eventually rupture and you will haemorrhage. THEN doctors will try and save you, maybe, unless they're squeamish about the law or the circumstances (remembering poor Savita Halappanavar). That's effectively a death sentence, right? For a pregnancy malfunction that could happen to even the godliest, the whitest, the richest, the saintliest Republican mother of three under five. What the fuck have we come to.
Having typed the above, I see that there is still a sliver of plausible deniability. Ectopic pregnancy is not an immediate death sentence. So, I guess that's how they spin it. Forcing women to play Russian roulette with only one empty chamber instead of only one bullet.
They never talk about the pain, either. It's never happened to me but I have read that it is agonising (I mean, obviously, it's a ruptured internal organ). Let's stop treating people for kidney stones, why don't we? They are as likely to develop into a human baby inside a man as an ectopic pregnancy is inside a woman. Leave 'em in situ till something explodes.
I just hate that we gave into the framing of “pro choice” as this is like choosing a type of pizza because of the fear of the word abortion instead of the framing of rights ie the right to bodily autonomy and the right to life. Again we gave in to the framing of the antiabortionists as “pro life” a tactic I will never understand.
Yes. It's backwards that acknowledging that pregnancy is a major biological event that poses serious, life-long risks to a woman's health and life, gets framed as cavalier. To me that gravity is precisely why we venerate mothers for their courage and sacrifice. The perversity that Jessica elucidates is that the other side seems to think women exist only for this purpose, that otherwise their lives don't matter. Calling that 'pro-life' is gaslighting.
I will never understand why in the balance of the fetus Vs the woman the fetus wins in their eyes. Their opinion is literally that the fetus has a greater right to life than the life supporting it. It is a logical and ethical fallacy. Even if you felt it had an equal right to life you’d have to flip a coin if the mother had a life-threatening illness, right? So why does the fetus always win? I find this vexing.
Haha, no, it's always said their real reason is that it's because the fetus is pure and innocent and without fault, etc. etc. etc. It always comes down to fetuses are morally better than grown women and girls. Conveniently they are never asked to decide whether fetuses are morally better than grown men and boys. The thing about anti-abortion is the more you examine it, the worse it looks, every time. I can only hope that in this moment the public is doing exactly that examination.
Jessica, have you written on conservatorship and how it's young, pretty, and talented women who are subjected to this, and not young men? I see Brittany Spears and Amanda Bynes twisting themselves to look "acceptable" according to the puritanical standards just to be freed from this misogynist prison. I'd appreciate hearing your voice on this.
It is getting so outrageously and ignorantly ridiculous that one day someone is going to want a law putting sick pregnant women in jail to prevent treatment that might possibly harm the fetus. And always I come back to the truth that these are the same people that don’t give a fuck about the well being of children once they are born. Or even be willing to provide good medical care during pregnancy to produce a baby with the best potential to thrive. The hypocrisy is truly malevolent.
I do have concern that too many people seem to be missing something. Texas should have been boycotted months ago; the response to its law seems underwhelming to me (especially considering that the enforcement mechanism is even more diabolical than the ban itself, if that's possible). Will this country give more than a collective shrug when Roe is overturned in June? Are people just not paying attention? Do we need actual martyrs with names and faces and stories? When do we hit bottom?
I agree. I do feel there is a collective shrug about the loss of female bodily autonomy. The republicans won in Virginia and almost won the governorship in New Jersey. Their extremism cost them nothing. Conservatives are more invigorated about the big lie of “election fraud” then women are about the loss of abortion rights.
I hear that - but I also know activists in Texas are asking that people not boycott because of it possibly hurting the people who live there. But you're right, the fact that it's gotten this far is INSANE
Well, yeah, I mean the sanctions are going to hurt the Russian people too! :) It just seems like the American right-wing is going to keep escalating until they're stopped; that's what abusers do. Roe offered protection and maybe a false sense of security and it's clear to me that that's gone.
I have been saying for years that dead women are a feature not a bug in these laws and told I was fear mongering or exaggerating. To religious conservatives the perfect woman is one who dies “to save her baby.”
I'm totally in for becoming part of a reboot of The Janes. Also, if anyone needs to get more angry about reproductive rights, I recommend The Means of Reproduction, by Michelle Goldberg, which I can never ever get out of my mind. It's a great book about the politicization of abortion. I had to put it down several times to just breathe. It's not incendiary on purpose -- it's the truth that is infuriating.
This does seem to be a qualitatively different abortion restriction to previous ones. Being forced to remain pregnant may - but won't definitely - kill you; abortion restrictions forcing you to get an illegal abortion may - but won't definitely - kill you.
There is no plausible deniability here, no fig-leaf of pro-life, no 'best intentions', no defence to the stark fact that in an untreated ectopic pregnancy the foetus will always, always die and if the pregnancy is just left untreated it will develop as far as technically possible and then it will very, very likely kill the woman. I have struggled to find stats on women's mortality in untreated advanced ectopic pregnancies, because why the fuck would you deliberately do that.
So, if it's in your fallopian tube, that will eventually rupture and you will haemorrhage. THEN doctors will try and save you, maybe, unless they're squeamish about the law or the circumstances (remembering poor Savita Halappanavar). That's effectively a death sentence, right? For a pregnancy malfunction that could happen to even the godliest, the whitest, the richest, the saintliest Republican mother of three under five. What the fuck have we come to.
Having typed the above, I see that there is still a sliver of plausible deniability. Ectopic pregnancy is not an immediate death sentence. So, I guess that's how they spin it. Forcing women to play Russian roulette with only one empty chamber instead of only one bullet.
They never talk about the pain, either. It's never happened to me but I have read that it is agonising (I mean, obviously, it's a ruptured internal organ). Let's stop treating people for kidney stones, why don't we? They are as likely to develop into a human baby inside a man as an ectopic pregnancy is inside a woman. Leave 'em in situ till something explodes.
I just hate that we gave into the framing of “pro choice” as this is like choosing a type of pizza because of the fear of the word abortion instead of the framing of rights ie the right to bodily autonomy and the right to life. Again we gave in to the framing of the antiabortionists as “pro life” a tactic I will never understand.
Yes. It's backwards that acknowledging that pregnancy is a major biological event that poses serious, life-long risks to a woman's health and life, gets framed as cavalier. To me that gravity is precisely why we venerate mothers for their courage and sacrifice. The perversity that Jessica elucidates is that the other side seems to think women exist only for this purpose, that otherwise their lives don't matter. Calling that 'pro-life' is gaslighting.
I will never understand why in the balance of the fetus Vs the woman the fetus wins in their eyes. Their opinion is literally that the fetus has a greater right to life than the life supporting it. It is a logical and ethical fallacy. Even if you felt it had an equal right to life you’d have to flip a coin if the mother had a life-threatening illness, right? So why does the fetus always win? I find this vexing.
Oh wait, is it because the fetus might be male? Not kidding and no offense to the good men following.
Haha, no, it's always said their real reason is that it's because the fetus is pure and innocent and without fault, etc. etc. etc. It always comes down to fetuses are morally better than grown women and girls. Conveniently they are never asked to decide whether fetuses are morally better than grown men and boys. The thing about anti-abortion is the more you examine it, the worse it looks, every time. I can only hope that in this moment the public is doing exactly that examination.
Thank you! Of course. Ok, no opportunity for sin yet. Well at least I understand even if I do not agree. Haha. And thank you for being so nice.
Jessica, have you written on conservatorship and how it's young, pretty, and talented women who are subjected to this, and not young men? I see Brittany Spears and Amanda Bynes twisting themselves to look "acceptable" according to the puritanical standards just to be freed from this misogynist prison. I'd appreciate hearing your voice on this.
It is getting so outrageously and ignorantly ridiculous that one day someone is going to want a law putting sick pregnant women in jail to prevent treatment that might possibly harm the fetus. And always I come back to the truth that these are the same people that don’t give a fuck about the well being of children once they are born. Or even be willing to provide good medical care during pregnancy to produce a baby with the best potential to thrive. The hypocrisy is truly malevolent.
YUP exactly
I do have concern that too many people seem to be missing something. Texas should have been boycotted months ago; the response to its law seems underwhelming to me (especially considering that the enforcement mechanism is even more diabolical than the ban itself, if that's possible). Will this country give more than a collective shrug when Roe is overturned in June? Are people just not paying attention? Do we need actual martyrs with names and faces and stories? When do we hit bottom?
I agree. I do feel there is a collective shrug about the loss of female bodily autonomy. The republicans won in Virginia and almost won the governorship in New Jersey. Their extremism cost them nothing. Conservatives are more invigorated about the big lie of “election fraud” then women are about the loss of abortion rights.
I hear that - but I also know activists in Texas are asking that people not boycott because of it possibly hurting the people who live there. But you're right, the fact that it's gotten this far is INSANE
Well, yeah, I mean the sanctions are going to hurt the Russian people too! :) It just seems like the American right-wing is going to keep escalating until they're stopped; that's what abusers do. Roe offered protection and maybe a false sense of security and it's clear to me that that's gone.
I have been saying for years that dead women are a feature not a bug in these laws and told I was fear mongering or exaggerating. To religious conservatives the perfect woman is one who dies “to save her baby.”
YES YES
Thank you. I am, once again, reminded of the necessity of stopping these legal murderers. Permanently.
Truth.
Amen.
I'm totally in for becoming part of a reboot of The Janes. Also, if anyone needs to get more angry about reproductive rights, I recommend The Means of Reproduction, by Michelle Goldberg, which I can never ever get out of my mind. It's a great book about the politicization of abortion. I had to put it down several times to just breathe. It's not incendiary on purpose -- it's the truth that is infuriating.
I will be right there with you for that reboot. Sigh.