[TW for discussion of forced sterilization and racism]
So someone on Feministing (I think) finally made the connection that trans* rights and reproductive rights/abortion are both fundamentally about bodily integrity and autonomy and therefore have many intersections, and proponents of both should be working together (something I’ve been saying since day one, along with many other trans* people before me).
Well radical feminists aren’t having it. Apparently the fact eludes them that forced sterilization and forced birth are two sides of the same antichoice coin. Which brings me to my main point. This so-called “conflict of interest” has happened before (maybe more than once?). During the second wave the interests and reproductive rights of wealthy, white feminists and WoC were going in opposite directions. White women were demanding access to abortion and to voluntary sterilization without restrictions from paternalistic doctors and simultaneously WoC were struggling to: be allowed to have children, not be demonized for having children, not be forcibly sterilized (often without their knowledge or consent), and not be tested on for development of contraception or other medications. Guess who was prioritized. Exactly. There’s a history here and a lot of tension and mistrust (rightfully) still remains because rich, white women made “reproductive rights” synonymous with what they needed access to and completely avoided the fact that the right to have children is as much of a reproductive rights issue as the right to abort/not have children.
My point is we know these radical feminists hate intersectionality because they think sex-based oppression is the only thing that matters (this is racist all on its own) and we know they hate trans* people. The fact that they don’t see how important forced sterilization is now anymore than they did back then has some serious implications considering the intersection of race and trans* status. Forced sterilization affects us all but TWoC are disproportionately the victims of violence and often have an even more precarious and tenuous relationship to the medical establishment, opening them up to all kinds of violations, particularly in regards to reproductive rights. That once again forced sterilization isn’t a priority for radical feminists and reproductive rights activists is further proof of their racism and the fact that White Feminism™ is alive and well, in case you doubted it for a split second.
I would point out it’s not just radscum. Sure, radscum are the most obvious and most extreme but mainstream/liberal feminism still doesn’t really give a shit about reproductive rights as anything but abortion and voluntary sterilisation. Oh, wait, I take it back, they will sometimes mention fistulas and women in the developing countries but it’s still self-centred and paternalistic to other people. White Feminism™ lives in the mainstream as well as the backwater sludge that is the radscum.
Oh, definitely, definitely! I was just a little hyper-focused on them because this was a direct response to some stuff I saw on radical feminist blogs, but you’re absolutely right and I do usually go after mainstream/liberal feminists just as hard on this issue as well. They’re certainly not much better.
[TW for discussion of forced sterilization and racism]
So someone on Feministing (I think) finally made the connection that trans* rights and reproductive rights/abortion are both fundamentally about bodily integrity and autonomy and therefore have many intersections, and proponents of both should be working together (something I’ve been saying since day one, along with many other trans* people before me).
Well radical feminists aren’t having it. Apparently the fact eludes them that forced sterilization and forced birth are two sides of the same antichoice coin. Which brings me to my main point. This so-called “conflict of interest” has happened before (maybe more than once?). During the second wave the interests and reproductive rights of wealthy, white feminists and WoC were going in opposite directions. White women were demanding access to abortion and to voluntary sterilization without restrictions from paternalistic doctors and simultaneously WoC were struggling to: be allowed to have children, not be demonized for having children, not be forcibly sterilized (often without their knowledge or consent), and not be tested on for development of contraception or other medications. Guess who was prioritized. Exactly. There’s a history here and a lot of tension and mistrust (rightfully) still remains because rich, white women made “reproductive rights” synonymous with what they needed access to and completely avoided the fact that the right to have children is as much of a reproductive rights issue as the right to abort/not have children.
My point is we know these radical feminists hate intersectionality because they think sex-based oppression is the only thing that matters (this is racist all on its own) and we know they hate trans* people. The fact that they don’t see how important forced sterilization is now anymore than they did back then has some serious implications considering the intersection of race and trans* status. Forced sterilization affects us all but TWoC are disproportionately the victims of violence and often have an even more precarious and tenuous relationship to the medical establishment, opening them up to all kinds of violations, particularly in regards to reproductive rights. That once again forced sterilization isn’t a priority for radical feminists and reproductive rights activists is further proof of their racism and the fact that White Feminism™ is alive and well, in case you doubted it for a split second.
I was a bit amazed yesterday at how quickly word spread of the comments on a LifeSiteNews article on the firebomb left at a Wisconsin Planned Parenthood.
Obviously, as word spread in the pro-choice community, the anti-choice folks caught wind. Some of the comments, essentially the most openly criminal, have disappeared from the site. Either lifesite took luke-warm action (many comments still exist, included below) or the worst of the commenters, Isaiah541, decided to to try and cover up his/her attempts to incite violence in the anti-choice community.
Below is various screen shots of remaining comments (not nearly as inflamitory as the deleted comments) as well as screen captures showing the official comment count of the story at “29” and the actual comment count in the comment section at “21” indicating that comments have been removed or deleted.
Keep in mind LifeSite has any pro-choice comments deleted within hours of their appearance on the site. LifeSite heavily moderates their comments and they knowingly let the now deleted comments stay posted on their site, visibile to the several people who viewed the page. The story was shared on facebook over 360 times, imagine if each of those shares had a minimum of 50 friends? Easily over 18000 people could have read comments that encouraged violence against abortion care facilities and providers.
I fear for escorts, volunteers, patients, staff, and physicians at facilities around the country (and now more and more abroad in countries where abortion was previously not contested) if the current culture of violence against abortion care goes unchecked and unnoticed.
Below is image showing the official comment count associated with this article.
Now, look at the actual count of comments that are visible. Comments have been either removed from the site or deleted by the author. The count is 21.
Now, a sample of the remaining posts. While they are in no way as incriminating as the original posts, they still suggest that it might be OK to use violence to prevent women from obtaining abortion care.
This last one upsets me, especially when you read the responses One of the commenters shared a story of a female family member who had an abortion under coercion (an unwanted, forced pregnancy choice is a tragedy. Coercion in any form is a tragedy). How is it I, an evil pro-choicer, can feel more sympathy and empathy for than woman than a “loving” anti-choicer?
AGAIN: If you ever witness any sort of comment or discussion where violence against clinics and clinic staff is being encouraged, please take a screen shot and submit an FBI tip. Print a copy of your screen shot or submit it to our blog for a permanent record.
I originally started working on a blog post about the presence of anti-choice sentiments in support of clinic terrorism and had the misfortune of opening up a LifeSiteNews.com article about the bombing. What I discovered in the comments section of the article is deeply troubling.
Of course, I was expecting to see plenty of comments along the lines of “What he did was wrong but, THEY KILL BABIES.” I did NOT expect to see individuals encouraging others to engage in violent acts.
Tip has been submitted to the FBI. This appears to be early attempts at recruitment and organizing. If you ever see this sort of talk going on in public, take a screen shot and submit report to FBI. Save screen shots if needed later.(Or submit to our blog)
This is terrifying but not surprising in the least. People like this really believe they’re engaged in some sort of holy war. I see people like this on twitter all the time. They’re not “brave” or “noble Christians doing god’s work”, they’re terrorists plain and simple. But when it comes time to be punished for their actions they’re more than happy to go the ableist route and claim it’s an “isolated incident” committed by a “nutjob.”
The Georgia legislature passed a new abortion bill (HB 954). Yet another law (it’s only a matter of time before it’s signed) governing the practice of medicine based on nothing resembling science.
The issues:
Fetal pain. The law will make Georgia the seventh state to enact a gestational age limit based on the false belief that a “20 week” fetus can feel pain. The lack of cortical connections as well as the absence of connections between the thalamus and the subplate before 23 weeks means that a 20 week fetus does not have the neural ability to feel pain.
Any abortions after 20 weeks must be done so the fetus has “the best opportunity…to survive” There are 2 ways to perform a 20+ week abortion: a dilation and evacuation (D&E), which is a surgical procedure where the cervix is dilated and the fetus is removed in parts, and an induction of labor, whichcan take several days in the hospital. What this law means is if a woman has an abortion for genetic reasons she must have her labor induced. The life of the mother clause does allow doctors to offer a D and E in specific situations. A fetus can’t survive before viability, so this “best opportunity” seems moot and just another way to make the experience more challenging and expensive, although if you read further it is clearly a set up for…
“Any baby born alive that is capable of sustained life must get medical aid.” Meaning if you have an induction at 22 weeks for a severe congenital anomaly, a pro-life doctor or nurse can swoop in and resuscitate your baby against your wishes. Of course, nowhere does it say the government will pay for this medical care. This medical aid against the parents’ wishes could also be applied to situations where parents have made the difficult decision not to resuscitate their premature baby.
And finally the mistake? Well, I’m not going to disclose it until after it’s signed into law. I had to read the bill multiple times to make sure I was reading, well, what I was reading. This error makes it crystal clear that no one with any basic medical knowledge read the bill.
But hey, it’s only women’s health care we’re talking about.
The Georgia abortion bill HB 954 has been widely promoted in the press as another “20 week” bill, but it isn’t (and this is the mistake in the bill’s wording that I was referring to in yesterday’s post). I think it wants to be a 20 week bill given it’s aimed at “fetal pain”, but if you read the exact wording it appears as if the lawmakers passed a bill that legalizes abortion (outside of life/health of mother issues) up to 22 weeks gestational age.
The Georgia lawmakers go to great lengths to describe how at 20 weeks post fertilization they think a fetus can feel pain (it can’t, BTW). In fact, the definition of a 20 week fetus in Georgia HB 954 is 20 weeks post fertilization, which is inaccurate medical terminology (and why I wrote yesterday that it was clear no doctor read the bill). At 20 weeks after fertilization a fetus is actually 22 weeks gestational age in medical terms.
This is the exact wording from the bill:
“At least by 20 weeks after fertilization” (in reference to fetal pain). This phrase appears 4 times in the 1st section.
“Probable gestational age is an estimate made to assume the closest time to which the fertilization of a human ovum occurred…” also in the 1st section.
And then specifically in Code Section 31-9B-1 gestational age is defined as follows: “the postfertilization age of the unborn child at the time the abortion is planned to be performed or induced, as dated from the time of fertilization of the human ovum.”
Let’s be very clear. Pregnancy is dated from the 1st day of the last menstrual period (LMP) not from fertilization. Even when an ultrasound is performed, the additional 2 weeks pre-conception (if you will) are built into the dating. It’s even on a pregnancy calendar I downloaded and on every single prenatal wheel that OBs use to date pregnancies.
Think of gestational age dated from the LMP/by ultrasound as metric and correct, and think of the post fertilization age in the Georgia bill as an out of date Imperial system that has no scientific meaning (you sure won’t find it in any medical textbook).
Other states, such as Arizona, actually use the correct medical terminology of LMP/ultrasound in their laws. So, in Arizona when HB 2036 reads “Gestational age means the age of the unborn child as calculated first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman,” it means what doctors everywhere call 20 weeks. As much as I disagree with the bill, at least they have their terminology correct.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, which I assume uses the correct medical terminology (i.e. 20 weeks = 20 weeks by LMP/ultrasound), as of April 1, 2012 there are 7 states with a 20 week gestational age limit: Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. Arizona will be the 8th. Despite reports to the contrary, it is clear that Arizona is not imposing the most restrictive gestational age and given the wording in Georgia the Peach State will not be joining Arizona among the 20-week fetal elite.
Imposing gestational age limits is wrong. There are unfortunate circumstances where lethal or very severe anomalies are not detected until the 3rd trimester. I don’t think it’s anyone’s place to tell a woman who is pregnant with a baby who has no brain and a single eye like a cyclops that she has to go to term. I heard one woman in such a devastating situation say, “It was as if a little bit of me died inside every time some stranger asked when I was due to deliver.” Women don’t ever have late-term abortions out of convenience or on some kind of whim, they have them because of horrible, terrible, genetic calamities. Fortunately, with modern prenatal testing these later diagnosis are becoming rare, but they still happen.
I personally think the lawmakers in Georgia were aiming for a “real” 20 week bill, but were so deer-in-the-headlights about fetal pain!and 20 weeks! and life at fertilization! that they forgot to do any basic research. And that’s exactly who you want writing bills, not scholarly lawmakers who have thoughtfully researched a subject and consulted the experts, but douchebags competing to pass the most misogynistic, evidence-baseless legislation in a bizarre game of one-upmanship. It’s even more concerning because lawmakers are encroaching in the practice of medicine with this misinformation.
With states like Georgia using inaccurate terminology discussions can get confusing. But it is essential to make sure we are using the accurate medical terminology so we can all compare apples with apples, because for me pro-choice is pro facts.
KANSAS SPENDS HALF A MILLION DOLLARS DEFENDING ANTI-ABORTION LAWS | The Kansas attorney general has dolled out more than half a million dollars to private law firms for defending anti-abortion laws the state enacted last year, the Associated Press reports. The attorney general’s office paid $317,000 to a private firm for “helping defend a budget provision denying federal family planning dollars for non-abortion services to Planned Parenthood,” spent almost $177,000 on a law imposing new restrictions on abortion providers and expensed $104,000 in tax payer dollars to defend “against a law restricting private insurance coverage for elective abortions.” Kansas faced a $493 million budget shortfall last year and to close the deficit, Gov. Sam Brownback ® proposed $50 million in cuts to education programs.
CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS FILES A LAWSUIT AGAINST OKLAHOMA PERSONHOOD INITIATIVE | The Center for Reproductive Rights is suing over Oklahoma’s ballot initiative for an amendment that would grant “personhood” and legal rights to fertilized eggs at the moment of conception. “This proposed amendment violates the federal constitution and seriously threatens the rights, life, and health of all Oklahoma women,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. A similar version of the personhood bill recently passed 10-1 in a state House committee, and now heads to the House floor where it will likely gain approval. Though, advocates for women’s reproductive rights were able to score a victory of their own when an Oklahoma district judge struck down a mandatory ultrasound law Wednesday. — Fatima Najiy
Freshman Oklahoma state senator Ralph Shortey recently introduced a bill that would ban “the sale or manufacture of food or products which contain aborted human fetuses.” After a collective brow-raise over such a bizarre proposal, Shortey told the Los Angeles Times he got the idea “while doing some research on the Internet.”
Do you see what legislators would do with their time if it weren’t for groups like ALEC?
You know, I graduated form high school in 2006 and in the fall I went to college. As a freshman in college, I was automatically enrolled in a class called “freshman seminar”. Most freshmen are enrolled in a class similar to this at some point, or their core classes cover the material.
In this class, we were basically taught how to use the library’s resources. So we were taught how to use a card catalogue, an online database like JSTOR, how to find a book, check one out, AND HOW TO IDENTIFY RELIABLE WEBSITES.
I think the entirety of elected officials would benefit from such a course or even just a 17-year-old intern named Jared having a sit-down with them about how to use the internet and social media.
Love,
Rabble
How to do research properly is something all elected officials should be required to know how to do. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the line “I got the idea for this [asinine] bill while doing a little research online.” Why do I think the Girl Scouts are evil abortionists? Well, I did a little research online. Why do I think abstinence-only sex ed works? Oh, I did a little research online. Why do I think abortion causes breast cancer and there are aborted fetuses in food? Didn’t you hear? I did a little research online. Yeeeaah. More like you took a gander at Life Site News or got a “memo” from a concerned constituent [read: antichoice think tank]. Because I did actual research and in about five minutes I could prove with peer-reviewed sources that you’re full of shit.
people really love to say “no one is pro abortion” and I’d like to clarify that I’m very pro-abortion. I think abortion is good and we should make it super accesible and easy.
The fact that all “countries” are threatened by low birthrates only proves that women are not citizens. You think this does not concern you, but it does. When they start complaining about “birthrates” they’re complaining about YOU. And they’re looking for a way to turn YOU into a heifer to produce fuel for the war machine, babies, AKA meat shields. *You* are not a part of the nation, you’re the object violated to produce subjects; the “nations” that go on to form “countries”. Abortion bans, birth control restrictions, plan b suddenly becoming inaccessible are only symptoms of this. You can not change this system, because this is what all nations need to survive. No woman can be free under a flag. All nations are dictatorships against all female people.
Birthrates go down when women don’t have husbands who can rape babies into them and when women go after their human aspirations & follow their dreams. Any politician complaining about birthrates is complaining about your humanity.
I feel that wars are extremely disrespectful to women.. women make literally all those people and then men just destroy them, disregarding insane amount of pain, work, sacrifice, love, energy, time it took women to make just one person, and then they go and demand “you have to make more!!!” and we’re like “uh we literally saw what you did to last bunch no thanks” and then they’re offended and call us murderers?? like excuse me I would like to not contribute a human resource for your killing game? And I think you all owe women about thousand apologies? Stop unmaking everything we make and breaking our hearts in the process, and this is even without addressing the rampant violence and sexual aggression towards women in wars, every single war is a crime against women more than anyone else and nothing will change my mind.
Oh wouldn’t this be tragic if word of this spread out everywhere possible?
Oh no…my hand slipped…
Remember if you live somewhere where this is an option you need, you need to be keeping a healthy stock of pregnancy tests and using them regularly to catch the pregnancy early enough. It is incredibly common for people to only find out well past 10 weeks. Of course that can be expensive so look for the paper strip type that doctors use, not the bulky plastic types typically advertised for home use if you can. And dont fall for marketing gimmicks with pregnancy tests, they all work about the same, you don’t need a digital screen and if in doubt do another test tomorrow.
(Also do your test first thing when you wake up for best results)
I would HATE for anyone in Texas to ACCIDENTALLY read this…
The dollar store carries pregnancy tests and they’re just as accurate as the ones from the pharmacy, fyi
Following the recent, horrendous Hobby Lobby decision, I’ve been seeing a spate of articles talking about why so many women need birth control not for controlling birth but for medical issues like irregular periods.
I find this argument not only irritating but detrimental. I think the argument that birth control is not just birth control but medicine SUCKS as an argument. Why should it matter…
Not only are abortions now illegal after six weeks (a time when eighty-five percent of people aren’t aware they’re pregnant), but any private citizen can sue people who violate this law for ten thousand dollars. People who can be sued includes anyone who “aided and abetted” the abortion—including not only doctors and healthcare providers, but the people like the fucking uber driver who drove you to the clinic.
And the Supreme Court has done nothing about it.
I am afraid.
I am angry.
I am in disbelief that a group of people, with full knowledge of the terrifying consequences of their actions, pooled their resources, wealth, and knowledge to launch this assault on abortion rights. Displaying a dearth of empathy, they plotted around Roe v. Wade by employing private citizens as bounty hunters,people they will pay thousands of dollars to report abortions.
They launched a modern-day witch hunt.
It’s hard to sort out my emotions. I feel like a pile of autumn leaves, whipped into a tornado of glacial reds and frothing golds and everything in between, unable to separate the colors, the movement, the chaos.But there are three things I do know.
Also, a clarification: This affects people across the entire gender spectrum. My “I am a woman” line above wasn’t meant as a ubiquitous experience, just my personal one—this law affects anyone who can get pregnant, not just women.
Not only are abortions now illegal after six weeks (which would outlaw at least eighty-five percent of abortions since people can be unaware they’re pregnant at that stage), but any private citizen can sue people who violate this law for ten thousand dollars. People who can be sued includes anyone who “aided and abetted” the abortion—including not only doctors and healthcare providers, but the people like the fucking uber driver who drove you to the clinic.
And the Supreme Court has done nothing about it.
I am afraid.
I am angry.
I am in disbelief that a group of people, with full knowledge of the terrifying consequences of their actions, pooled their resources, wealth, and knowledge to launch this assault on abortion rights. Displaying a dearth of empathy, they plotted around Roe v. Wade by employing private citizens as bounty hunters,people they will pay thousands of dollars to report abortions.
They launched a modern-day witch hunt.
It’s hard to sort out my emotions. I feel like a pile of autumn leaves, whipped into a tornado of glacial reds and frothing golds and everything in between, unable to separate the colors, the movement, the chaos.But there are three things I do know.
Via @easttnharmredux Full article by Michelle Goldberg at the Nation. For pregnant protesters: Tear gas is an abortificient, it can cause spontaneous abortions (miscarriages). Using it in warfare is banned for several reasons, including this. What would you call its use on oppressed populations who are historically the victims of eugenicist policies, non consensual medical experiments, and forced sterilisation?
“Miscarriage” and “abortion” were used interchangeably until the mid 1980s, when they each took on the almost exclusive connotations they have today. Abortion was the clinical term for the early termination of a pregnancy regardless of whether it was facilitated or not, but it has come to carry all the moral weight and judgment conservatives have been working for decades to force people with unwanted pregnancies to feel.
The shift in language was in part initiated by the feminist movement, enabled by ultrasound technology which allowed doctors to distinguish between spontaneous and induced abortions for the first time. “Miscarriage” was lobbied for, in consideration of the parent’s feelings—the aborting person’s feelings seems to have elicited no similar consideration
I have a meeting at 11 and I woke up at midnight and couldn’t get back to sleep
Following the recent, horrendous Hobby Lobby decision, I’ve been seeing a spate of articles talking about why so many women need birth control not for controlling birth but for medical issues like irregular periods.
