Reminds of the debate about religious shrooms. Re precarious, I do believe the country is coming together in support of abortion rights for the most part. I just hope we don't wait until there are...
Reminds of the debate about religious shrooms.
Re precarious, I do believe the country is coming together in support of abortion rights for the most part. I just hope we don't wait until there are deaths from complicated miscarriages.
Yeah, I'm not terribly optimistic that it won't - in fact I'm sure it's already happened here, just not to the level of impact that Savita's death had in Ireland.
Yeah, I'm not terribly optimistic that it won't - in fact I'm sure it's already happened here, just not to the level of impact that Savita's death had in Ireland.
Americans in enough numbers won't care/our system is rigged effectively enough that it won't matter. Between the 70-80 million people who believe things like Donald Trump is good for the country,...
Americans in enough numbers won't care/our system is rigged effectively enough that it won't matter. Between the 70-80 million people who believe things like Donald Trump is good for the country, the oligarchical control of the system and the general ennui of the every-person who has been ground down by this totalitarian nightmare state it's just not very recoverable at the Federal level...or at least won't be for a very long time. We're in pure harm reduction mode with options like Biden at this point. Then you have the "white moderate" problem. I use this term specifically as it's the term MLK Jr. used in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Between the ones who actively are doing harm and the ones that think they can be reasoned with/disagree with taking the steps necessary for countering the rise of fascism we face a dauntingly uphill battle at this point.
The "not quite a cesspool" to "hey this place is actually livable" states will do their best to protect the bodily autonomy of their residents but the ones mired in the cult of death will continue on with their furtherance of the re-enslavement of women as broodmares for the church/nation-state just as they are continuing their agendas against any and all rights afforded to POC/LGBTQ+/non-believers/etc.
It's not a solution but if someone is in a vulnerable position, these days I see if we can't just get them relocated somewhere that isn't nightmare fuel. I know it can sound defeatist but purely pragmatically a bunch of these locations aren't worth fighting for and those of us with the energy for a fight should concentrate on shoring up the defenses (legal, resource and sadly otherwise) in locations that have sufficient demographics to fend off this Christo-capitalist-fascism or however you choose to describe what's occurring.
a note from an anarchist community organizer/activist
I haven't given up yet. Abortion is an issue that might mobilize enough college students and enough suburban prosperous voters to make a difference, sooner or later.
I haven't given up yet.
Abortion is an issue that might mobilize enough college students and enough suburban prosperous voters to make a difference, sooner or later.
Would be nice if something could actually happen with abortion in DC, though. Feels as though the entire issue is held hostage as a re-election tool, rather than anyone actually enshrining it into...
Would be nice if something could actually happen with abortion in DC, though. Feels as though the entire issue is held hostage as a re-election tool, rather than anyone actually enshrining it into law.
If the abortion issue helps better people get elected, fine. If those elected people cannot get a right to abortion successfully legislated, then the actual issue remains. They're the only chance for it to happen, so as voters, it's still important, it just feels like nearly everything involving congress/DC is futile most of the time
I guess what it comes down to for me personally is, I still will vote because I find it necessary, but my tank of hope is running completely empty
Yeah look, I live in IL and literally was just discussing how a queer community member's estate is being used to house people who are essentially gender affirming care refugees. And the Jane...
Yeah look, I live in IL and literally was just discussing how a queer community member's estate is being used to house people who are essentially gender affirming care refugees. And the Jane Collective exists to help people access abortion. I just... I'm tired, ya know? And I'm always worried about seeming to be falling into that "white moderate" category when honestly I care a lot I just cannot 'do' more right now.
So I just sit and get disheartened at the state of the world.
I believe there already have been. Jessica Valenti at Abortion Every Day has this article about Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick. The whole thing is worth a read -- about why it's hard for doctors...
I believe there already have been. Jessica Valenti at Abortion Every Day has this article about Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick. The whole thing is worth a read -- about why it's hard for doctors to come forward, why it's hard for patients and their families to come forward, how anti-abortion groups make it hard for publications to be forthright about these things. But here is a small bit of it:
We’ve seen it happen already. When The New Yorker reported on the death of Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick, anti-abortion groups wasted no time faulting the doctors and hospital in charge of her care. It’s a tactic they’ve been laying the groundwork for since Dobbs, and one that I’ve warned about.
....
Editors at The New Yorker also did these ghouls a favor by refusing to explicitly say that Texas’ abortion ban killed Yeni. And that’s the last and perhaps most important thing that’s stopping post-Roe deaths from being shared: media cowardice.
The New Yorker piece is a perfect example. Reporter Stephania Taladrid did an amazing job meticulously piecing together what happened to Yeni, telling her story with expertise and care. Taladrid’s reporting also made very, very clear that Texas’ abortion ban killed Yeni. Yet editors refused to say this outright, posing what Taladrid proved as a question in the headline: “Did An Abortion Ban Cost a Young Texas Woman Her Life?”
Anyone who works in journalism can see what probably happened here. At some point in the process of putting this article out into the world—maybe in editing or fact-checking, but most likely when the lawyers weighed in—someone made the decision that The New Yorker wouldn’t conclusively blame Texas’ ban for Yeni’s death.
They had the biggest story in the country—the first reported post-Roe death—and buried it in equivocation.
Full disclosure, I support Abortion Every Day. I think her reporting is amazing, and anyone who cares about this issue should be reading it. It's not a comfortable read, but I don't think it should be because nothing comfortable about what's happening to women's healthcare in the US.
She makes no bones about her position, so I recognize that if someone is anti-abortion, they are going to feel attacked by her writing. But what they might learn if they read it anyway is all the ways these laws are just making it more dangerous to be pregnant or receive healthcare as a woman even if you aren't pregnant.
That's what a lot of modern policies seem to be these days. "My body, my choice". Perfect for why you shouldn't have a mandatory vaccine, "not like that" when it comes to a woman and an abortion.
That's what a lot of modern policies seem to be these days.
"My body, my choice". Perfect for why you shouldn't have a mandatory vaccine, "not like that" when it comes to a woman and an abortion.
And even then, like public health can and should mandate some vaccines in certain venues - school for example, or in emergencies like a pandemic. But no one should hold someone down and force them...
And even then, like public health can and should mandate some vaccines in certain venues - school for example, or in emergencies like a pandemic. But no one should hold someone down and force them to get a vaccine.
Most people don't want these abortion bans. I don't know how to get the conservative politicians to listen to their actual constituents, who actually vote for them.
They don't have to, they can just beat the "gawdless libruls are coming for ur guns" drum and their base will fall in line. It's maddening that people so reliably vote against their own interests.
They don't have to, they can just beat the "gawdless libruls are coming for ur guns" drum and their base will fall in line. It's maddening that people so reliably vote against their own interests.
The major difference is that there's never been a mandatory vaccine. There were restrictions on where unvaccinated people are allowed to go, because they presented a significantly higher risk of...
The major difference is that there's never been a mandatory vaccine. There were restrictions on where unvaccinated people are allowed to go, because they presented a significantly higher risk of infection to everyone else, but no jurisdiction anywhere in the US ever forced people to get a vaccine.
They are forcing women to not get abortions; something that only ever physically affects the woman and the fetus, which even if it had rights as a human being; wouldn't trump the rights of another person's bodily autonomy.
This is one of those "Freedom of Religion! No wait, not like that!" moments for the anti-abortion movement.
It all feels so precarious though
Reminds of the debate about religious shrooms.
Re precarious, I do believe the country is coming together in support of abortion rights for the most part. I just hope we don't wait until there are deaths from complicated miscarriages.
That's what it took to finally legalize abortion in Ireland.
Yeah, I'm not terribly optimistic that it won't - in fact I'm sure it's already happened here, just not to the level of impact that Savita's death had in Ireland.
Americans in enough numbers won't care/our system is rigged effectively enough that it won't matter. Between the 70-80 million people who believe things like Donald Trump is good for the country, the oligarchical control of the system and the general ennui of the every-person who has been ground down by this totalitarian nightmare state it's just not very recoverable at the Federal level...or at least won't be for a very long time. We're in pure harm reduction mode with options like Biden at this point. Then you have the "white moderate" problem. I use this term specifically as it's the term MLK Jr. used in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Between the ones who actively are doing harm and the ones that think they can be reasoned with/disagree with taking the steps necessary for countering the rise of fascism we face a dauntingly uphill battle at this point.
The "not quite a cesspool" to "hey this place is actually livable" states will do their best to protect the bodily autonomy of their residents but the ones mired in the cult of death will continue on with their furtherance of the re-enslavement of women as broodmares for the church/nation-state just as they are continuing their agendas against any and all rights afforded to POC/LGBTQ+/non-believers/etc.
It's not a solution but if someone is in a vulnerable position, these days I see if we can't just get them relocated somewhere that isn't nightmare fuel. I know it can sound defeatist but purely pragmatically a bunch of these locations aren't worth fighting for and those of us with the energy for a fight should concentrate on shoring up the defenses (legal, resource and sadly otherwise) in locations that have sufficient demographics to fend off this Christo-capitalist-fascism or however you choose to describe what's occurring.
a note from an anarchist community organizer/activist
I haven't given up yet.
Abortion is an issue that might mobilize enough college students and enough suburban prosperous voters to make a difference, sooner or later.
Would be nice if something could actually happen with abortion in DC, though. Feels as though the entire issue is held hostage as a re-election tool, rather than anyone actually enshrining it into law.
If the abortion issue helps better people get elected, fine. If those elected people cannot get a right to abortion successfully legislated, then the actual issue remains. They're the only chance for it to happen, so as voters, it's still important, it just feels like nearly everything involving congress/DC is futile most of the time
I guess what it comes down to for me personally is, I still will vote because I find it necessary, but my tank of hope is running completely empty
Yeah look, I live in IL and literally was just discussing how a queer community member's estate is being used to house people who are essentially gender affirming care refugees. And the Jane Collective exists to help people access abortion. I just... I'm tired, ya know? And I'm always worried about seeming to be falling into that "white moderate" category when honestly I care a lot I just cannot 'do' more right now.
So I just sit and get disheartened at the state of the world.
I'm an activist, organizer and educator...trust me, I feel you. We do what we can with what we have. That's it. <3
I believe there already have been. Jessica Valenti at Abortion Every Day has this article about Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick. The whole thing is worth a read -- about why it's hard for doctors to come forward, why it's hard for patients and their families to come forward, how anti-abortion groups make it hard for publications to be forthright about these things. But here is a small bit of it:
Full disclosure, I support Abortion Every Day. I think her reporting is amazing, and anyone who cares about this issue should be reading it. It's not a comfortable read, but I don't think it should be because nothing comfortable about what's happening to women's healthcare in the US.
She makes no bones about her position, so I recognize that if someone is anti-abortion, they are going to feel attacked by her writing. But what they might learn if they read it anyway is all the ways these laws are just making it more dangerous to be pregnant or receive healthcare as a woman even if you aren't pregnant.
That's what a lot of modern policies seem to be these days.
"My body, my choice". Perfect for why you shouldn't have a mandatory vaccine, "not like that" when it comes to a woman and an abortion.
And even then, like public health can and should mandate some vaccines in certain venues - school for example, or in emergencies like a pandemic. But no one should hold someone down and force them to get a vaccine.
Most people don't want these abortion bans. I don't know how to get the conservative politicians to listen to their actual constituents, who actually vote for them.
They don't have to, they can just beat the "gawdless libruls are coming for ur guns" drum and their base will fall in line. It's maddening that people so reliably vote against their own interests.
The major difference is that there's never been a mandatory vaccine. There were restrictions on where unvaccinated people are allowed to go, because they presented a significantly higher risk of infection to everyone else, but no jurisdiction anywhere in the US ever forced people to get a vaccine.
They are forcing women to not get abortions; something that only ever physically affects the woman and the fetus, which even if it had rights as a human being; wouldn't trump the rights of another person's bodily autonomy.