#abortion mention

aroalloundertaker:

As an aromantic trans man, I’ve seen misogyny accusations weaponized against men like me enough that I’m starting to examine every concept for how it can be used against other marginalized folks and how to shut it the fuck down when I see it.

And it worries me that people can take things like this and use them against others so easily when doing so can delegitimize real and genuine accusations for just causes. I do not want to one day see people having to question every accusation of bigotry with “okay, is the accused person a member of a marginalized group that the accuser is not?” We’re not at that point yet; let’s not get there. (Or maybe we are and I just haven’t seen it? I hope not.)

But look, misogyny is real and it’s a problem. And it’s real quick and easy for anyone who isn’t a transphobe to see the problem with “you’re not a man, you just have so much internalized misogyny that you hate yourself for being a woman,” and it’s real quick and easy for anyone who isn’t an arophobe to see the problem with “you’re just a chauvinist pig who wants to sleep around without actually caring about the women you fuck if you seriously wanna have sex without dating anyone ever.”

But do you know how anxious I am about calling out transphobia when the abortion debate comes up? Of course a bunch of cis men are doing it because they want to control women’s bodies, but they’re transphobes too. If trans people get fucked over by them banning abortions, that’s just a bonus to them! And the cis folks protesting abortion bans while forgetting that trans men and some nonbinary people can get pregnant too, they get their opportunity to perpetuate transphobia with cute little “if men could get pregnant, abortion clinics would be like Starbucks” statements that pretend we don’t exist, and if we call it out, “shut up, this is an attack on women, it’s not about how you ~identify~”. Asking to be included in the pro-choice movement is treated like an act of misogyny even though we’re affected by it too. We’re expected to either go back in the closet or shut up and let everyone pretend we don’t exist. How the fuck am I supposed to advocate for my own issues if I’m not allowed to be myself in the process?

As for being aro, well, most people don’t even know aros exist and when they find out they often resort to either hating us or just not taking any of our concerns seriously. After all, we’re invisible and to some that’s not even, like, real oppression so who cares? And the ones who hate us or don’t even know we exist think statements like “men who want to have sex with women but don’t want to date them are misogynists using women for sex” are perfectly reasonable in all situations. Trying to explain that aro allos exist and we just don’t get romantic feelings towards others while still being attracted to others sexually just gets you “is there something wrong with you” and “do you feel anything at all” and “so you don’t care about anyone”. We’re regarded as sexual predators for our orientation and descriptions of us by people who aren’t us use the most harsh language possible (“he just wants to fuck without caring about anyone”). Surely you can see how hurtful it is to claim someone is a bigot for something they did not choose and cannot control? Surely you can see the problem with saying someone is objectifying women by being attracted to them the wrong way when they can’t control that? (Didn’t talk about aroaces for this because tbh I don’t know how someone could utilize accusations of misogyny against them).

Damnit, I just… I hate that I can be accused of hating women just cause I’m trans and aro and a man. Cause I like to think I’m not a misogynist and I surround myself with people I trust to call me out. I’ve had to watch myself from internalizing this shit, the idea that by my very nature I’m contributing to the oppression of women. It’s making me wary of just how easy it is to weaponize activism against others. And I just wish we talked about this more so people could more quickly spot it and shut it the fuck down on sight.

tundrakatiebean:

curiouscarnifex:

There’s a post with two gifs showing ASL signs for abortion going around, unfortunately while correct the second sign and information along with it was added by a terf.

So here’s the original video by glassmenagerie on TikTok where they explain the two signs for abortion, the issues with one, and go over the signs for immigration as well because there’s a similar right vs left wing sign difference.

[Captions]
Spaces added for readability

Person on screen: Did you know that in ASL certain topics have different signs depending on your political viewpoint? Let’s talk about it.

Fair warning the signs I’m covering are for abortion and immigration. If that’s triggering or you don’t wanna know: just scroll.

So first up, let’s talk about immigration. Specifically the signs used in regards to immigration. So, the correct sign is (right hand holding up four fingers, spread apart, and waving up and down from the left to the right of the screen) immigration, right? However if you’re signing with somebody who is very conservative or anti-immigration you’ll instead see this (signs the same sign with four fingers waving from left to right but with the other hand held parallel to the floor above the waving hand). Technically this (signs second option again) only refers to undocumented immigration. However there is a subsection of people who are so anti-immigration they use this (signs second option) for all of it.

And now for my favorite example. There are several signs for abortion. There’s the full neutral just finger spelling or the more scientific definition which can also be viewed as left-leaning - which would be pregnancy (holds right hand over stomach, domed slightly and pulls it towards the camera away from the stomach) remove (left hand held up perpendicular to the floor with the palm angled towards the body, with thumb and fingers slightly spread, right hand makes a claw like shape and swipes at the top of the left hand towards the floor).

(through a grimace) and then there’s the conservative and/or christian sign choice.

This one can be genuinely triggering so this is an actual warning. Are you ready? (holds up both hands with forefinger and second finger crossed in the sign for ‘R’ and moves them from the center of the body to the outside) The conservative and/or christian sign choice for abortion is baby (stacks hands palms up and makes a rocking motion) throw away (makes loose fists with both hands, opening them both as they move upwards towards the right shoulder).

As awful as that is it presents us with an interesting phenomenon that is absolutely fascinating in terms of linguistics. Talking about these topics in particular tends to be very polarizing within the deaf community. I mean, they’re polarizing everywhere but when signing about these topics the words you use are different. The vocabulary is entirely different. It’s not “abortion sparkle emoji” versus “abortion angry face.” It’s “removing a pregnancy” and “throwing away a baby.”

Do conservatives occasionally call it baby murder in English? Yes, that does happen. The word, the label, at the center of the topic is the same. Whereas in ASL that’s not necessarily the case.

magnetothemagnificent:

soloveitchik:

At this point I don’t care for utilizing religion as a framework in arguments about abortion but banning abortion *is* a violation of Jewish religious freedom. It simply is. Funny how freedom of religion means mandatory compliance to Xtian hegemony.

☝️

In Judaism we are *commanded* to save the life of the mother- which means carrying out an abortion if it is needed. The fetus is literally compared to a potential murderer in the Talmud discussing abortion. Not carrying out an abortion when one is necessary is akin to allowing a murder to take place.

The whole “freedom of religion” from conservatives is bullshit because they keep saying America isn’t a theocracy, but banning abortion is a violation of religious freedom.

chasing-sirius-in-circles:

Plan C: Parsley Tea

Brought to you by A Tired Witch

Some advice I got years ago but which I rarely see circulating has unfortunately become especially relevant this week, so I am writing it down:

Parsley is a gentle natural abortifacient in *early* stages of pregnancy in that it induces menstruation. If you suspect you could be pregnant too late for something like plan B (which is time sensitive to within something like two, at best three, days) or weigh more than 155 pounds, at which point it loses effectiveness, and have arrived at a late or missed period, parsley may provide a safe, easy, stealthy DIY method for flushing out an unwanted zygote. At least, that is the folk wisdom that was shared with me, and it seems to be supported by warnings against over-use of parsley for those who are pregnant and want to stay that way or who are trying to get pregnant on most medical and pregnancy advice sites.

What’s more is that parsley has other herbal benefits, such as containing vitamins K and C and supporting blood and heart health! This both provides an excuse to use it as well as actual health benefits.

To Terminate Pregnancy with Parsley:

Over-consumption is key, making volume and potency essential. I was never taught a specific amount and so I’m not going to just google it and copy the results as if it’s knowledge I can attest to when I can’t, but what I can tell you is that tea is far and away the fastest and easiest way to get large amounts of it into your system in a stealthy, ongoing way. People I know who have used parsley successfully for this purpose have purchased one fresh bundle as it’s sold in most grocery stores–about a handful of stems–to be consumed over the next two or so days.

Once you have your fresh parsley, simply chop it–finer is better, but you hardly need to be Gordon Ramsey–and then place it in a strainer, teabag, or simply drop it in your mug. (You’ll end up drinking little bits of slimy wet leaf this way but that’s harmless, just not pleasant.) Add hot water. Let sit 3-5 minutes at least, drink. If you can, though, leave the parsley in your mug/tumbler. Since concentration is everything, it sitting in there and getting stronger and stronger and stronger can only serve you better. Whenever you are out of tea, refill, adding/replacing with fresh parsley whenever possible, though you can of course try to eek a little more out of the leaves you’ve already used if refilling on the go. Do this until you are out of parsley–it will probably last you two, maybe three days. By then you will hopefully have had a period.

If not, parsley is fairly harmless. You could continue doing this with a fresh batch for quite awhile as far as I’m aware, though I am a witch, not a doctor, and so cannot guarantee that. You should also be mindful, of course, of any allergies you may have.

Other natural abortifacients:

Raspberry is known to strengthen the uterus and ensure healthy menstruation, and is not necessarily harmful when pregnant, but if over-used can become so, particularly in early pregnancy. Doctors recommend no more than one cup a day for those in the early stages of a pregnancy, so in theory three or four cups should have the opposite effect and terminate a pregnancy instead of assisting it. Raspberry leaf teas are sold in stores, sometimes as “pregnancy tea” or as uterine tea.

Beyond that, there are also truly heavy hitters which can be acquired as herbal remedies in some locations (apparently) but which are *NOT* safe to just casually self-administer. Raspberry and parsley almkst certainly won’t hurt you unless you happen to be allergic. Other traditional herbal abortificants potentially will. These include pennyroyal and rue, and I do not recommend their use as they are likely to just outright poison you. They are old standbys despite their serious dangers, however, and so I would remiss not to acknowledge that they’re out there. Do not take this acknowledgement as a personal endorsement of their use–I want no responsibility for hospitalizing any of you.

Abortion access is a basic human right.