If you want Roe v Wade overturned, but don’t support:
Comprehensive sexual education in schools
Easy and affordable access to contraception
Access to adequate and affordable prenatal care
Paid parental leave
Subsidized childcare
CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program)
WIC,
Then you don’t actually care about reducing abortions or protecting children. You just want to punish women for having sex.
Additionally, forced birth is a great way to reinforce the cycle of poverty on historically disenfranchised (often BIPOC) folks.
So if you call yourself ‘Pro-life’ but are against expanding Medicaid, WIC/SNAP/Foodstamps, welfare benefits, and offering free childcare and paid parental leave, maybe you need to examine some things about yourself.
All of this
Also, the following are some of repulsive comments I read on an article highlighting women who have died due to being denied an abortion (I could not bring myself to save the exact verbiage so I wrote out the gist)
-At least the women got to live part of their lives.
-But these countries have substandard healthcare (Ireland?!?!?!? But, also… The US has an abysmal maternal and neonatal mortality rate considering we are a “first world” country. Don’t even get me started on the way insurance works here)
-Shoulda used contraception and kept their pants up (All but one appears to have been a wanted pregnancy, and she died trying to give herself an abortion. One was ectopic, and at least two were untreated miscarriages. But also, no contraception/vasectomy is 100% effective. And I thought abortion was about protecting “the babies”? A comment like this makes it sound like these women were merely punished for having sex )
-Adoption exists! (Again… Most of these were wanted pregnancies… but this also ignores the issues with our foster care system, etc)
-Abortion won’t be banned outright! It’ll be put back in the hands of the states, where it should be! You can just go to another state. (Can I? Even if I can afford to travel, take time off work, arrange child care for other kids… Many of these trigger laws include felony charges….)
Because this isn’t long enough, I wanted to add that I am a triage nurse and have worked through COVID. I have spoken to patients who have contracted COVID three times; who may never recover their sense of smell and/or taste and food doesn’t taste right anymore; who still can’t work because their brain doesn’t work right or they are so constantly fatigued they can’t get through a work day; who are in their 50’s and are now dependent on oxygen, some of whom had to be rehospitalized due to hypoxia (low oxygen); who had multiple family members/friends die; who lament their decision to not get vaccinated while I am directing them back to the ER because they are struggling to breath.
My primary care doc told me of his patients in the hospital begging for the vaccine when it’s already too late.
Why am I bringing up COVID in a post about abortion?
Because the virus which did all of the above currently has more Government-protected reproductive rights in states like Texas than those with uteruses, including children.
In states like Texas, dead people have more bodily autonomy than those with uteruses.
In states like Texas, a clump of cells, which may or may not actually become a baby someday, is deemed to be more important to society than the person carrying it (until it’s born, at least. Then its importance kinda depends on the color of its skin, wealth of its parents, and its gender)
There certainly is a problem in this country, but access to safe abortion ain’t it.
Digital illustration of an Asian woman with long black hair with a shaved side part. She’s wearing a purple skater dress and holding a chubby baby. The baby is wearing a green striped onesie and holding a panda toy. They are among a leafy background and there’s a speech bubble that reads, ‘motherhood by choice, not force.’
Digital illustration of a devil fem wearing a red fringe dress. There’s a ribbon banner wrapping around her body that reads ‘raise hell for abortion rights.’ At her boots are flames and along with little devil spirits with fireballs.
I did my thesis on eugenics and forced sterilization in Canadian history (indigenous specific) and the next cis woman to say that men should collectively be forced to get vasectomies for points on some kind imaginary scoreboard of rights is getting sent a copy of the records I had to sift thru of men, mostly indigenous, racialized, developmentally disabled, or poor men, being sterilized against their wills and often without their knowledge.
I once again must remind people that “don’t like abortion, get a vasectomy” isn’t the gotcha you think it is, and that reproductive justice means supporting people who are targeted by the state both for forced birth AND for sterilization and child apprehension, as they’re linked closely.
“News coverage of digital forensics often celebrates its role in prosecuting serious felonies. But when it comes to reproductive rights, Conti-Cook says, the same tools “will be a powerful [asset] to police and prosecutors in a more criminalized landscape” for abortion seekers.” [Mother Jones]
“Unlike medical records held by doctors and hospitals, the information collected by health-focused apps isn’t covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a 1996 federal law that limits where healthcare providers can share your health information.
That means health app makers are mostly free to do what they want with the data they collect. […]
What’s more, even when your data is de-identified by removing identifiable information such as your name or email address, it can be combined with other information—such as your location, contacts, or unique identifiers in your phone—and traced back to you, research suggests.” [Consumer Reports]
Twitter thread from user @nandoodles about men in adtech who want to sell your period app data to law enforcement:
If you don’t think these people won’t use your data against you, I advise you to reconsider in light of Texas’s offering bounties. And that there’s other states considering offering bounties and vigilantism as well.
I’m sorry, this is not fair and I know it’s a pain in the ass to have to note all your info yourself in a journal, but it’s better to NOT give these people another tool to exert control over the bodies of people possessing the potential (regardless of how remote) for pregnancy.
Anyone using a period tracker app needs to very strongly consider deleting it. Not now, but RIGHT NOW!
Your personal data that is being collected can and has already been mined and sold to marketing firms and law enforcement. You don’t need to be Margaret Atwood to imagine who your private information might be sold to, or what period-tracking data might be used for in a Republican state, or in a conservative court of law.
I really hate to sound alarmist, but this is Christofascist America in 2022, please protect yourself and act accordingly.
I cannot get over the dissonance of neoliberals going: “WE MUST PROTECT ROE AT ANY COST” and then turning around making up every excuse under the sun for Democrats who either worked with anti-abortionists, supported anti-abortionists, or straight up elected them—but then still blaming Susan Sarandon for Roe getting overturned.
And whenever you try talking to these sycophants, and show them actual receipts of when Biden tried to remove the contraception mandate from Obamacare, or when Bined supported the Hyde amendment until June of 2020, or when he voted to allow states to disregard Roe, or when Biden did literally anything over the past 4 decades that materially weakened the pro-choice movement—these liberal sycophants turn into one of those androids on WestWorld. You’re showing them the receipts, and they just keep repeating:
It’s a fucking cult, man.
They don’t want to protect Roe half as much as they want to protect literally anybody with the letter “D” behind their name. Even when that “Democrat” does NOT support Roe v. Wade.
Like JFC, Idk how to say it any clearer: supporting anti-abortion candidates will result with MORE, not less, anti-abortion legislation. This is how we got here. And no, Democrats are not “playing 3-dimensional chess” by courting and supporting anti-abortion candidates; no, Democrats are not helping the pro-choice movement by “strategically helping” anti-abortion candidates. Jesus.
Recognize the game: saying they want to ban all birth control might make completely banning abortion seem a tad bit less extreme, but the truth is both things are extreme, and make no mistake—conservatives DO want both things; they want forced birth and they want those born into poverty to be ignorant, desperate and compliant.
No affordable, nationalized healthcare.
Protests banned.
Militarized, widely unaccountable police forces.
Book bans.
Erasure of LGBTQ people in schools.
Revisionist history of racism and slavery in schools.
Abortion bans.
Contraception bans.
Forced births.
This is the Republican Party.
And never forget: they did not get here without some help along the way.
Look, I’m not here for all of that Red vs. Blue bullshit, okay? Imma people over party kinda brutha. The Republican Party is irredeemably, thoroughly and completely evil. Anyone with an iota of common sense and a hint of morality knows that, and if they don’t, you aren’t going to convince them to be good people with a sternly worded social media post. So that’s not my priority.
But conservative Democrats are not without blame. Idgaf if you naively believe they’ve “changed” or had an epiphany or something. All I know is, things would not be as bad as they are if leadership in the Democratic Party actually didn’t fucking help Republicans along the way.
Anyway, if voting is your bag, then vote in the primaries and vote for the most progressive, leftist candidate out there. And don’t fall for the neoliberal okie doke of “Vote Blue No Matter Who.” That’s how we end up with conservative Democrats doing everything in their power to get Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court (looking directly at you, Joe Biden).
It’s nothing less than BIG government, forced birthing. This is evil and draconian. People argue that America is already a late stage capitalist oligarchy, but if SCOTUS repeals Roe, it will be remembered as the turning point when America actually turned the corner and really became a fully Christofascist state—because conservatives won’t stop at overturning Roe v. Wade. The leak included references to to the landmark LovingandObergefellcases.
Please recognize this for what it is. A complete grab for control by an illegitimate rightwing court.
SN: Please, do not add any #VBNMW fuckery to this post—that kind of blind sycophancy is exactly how we ended up with misogynistic anti-abortionists like Clarence Thomas,Joe Manchin,Henry Cuellar,Dan Lipinski, and too many others.
Reminds me of one of my favourite ever SCOTUS briefs: “To the world, I am an attorney who had an abortion, and, to myself, I am an attorney because I had an abortion.” Email received from an Amicus, an appellate court attorney, December 18, 2015.
This Friday, I’m doing the second-ever First Friday Fiction Stream, where I write terrible, terrible fanfic at your request! There’s incentives like “add the word ‘moist’ to the next sentence” or “the next scene has to take place on the moon”. If you want to see what we wrote last time, here’s Stede’s Time Travel Adventure.
The twist this time is that 100% of proceeds will be going to charity!
YOUR DONATIONS to the National Network of Abortion Funds will change the story I write–and the story for the millions at risk of losing access to abortion services if Roe vs. Wade is overturned. You can watch and donate on my channel from 2-6 PM Pacific Time on Friday May 6th.
Even if you can’t donate, please reblog to signal boost this post!
As Rebecca Traister writes this week in an excellent piece in New York Magazine, there’s a wide gulf between enjoying a relatively secure middle-class life, and having sufficient money to safely flout or circumvent the law.
And, she notes, it’s bad political strategy to tell women of means that they’re not in this fight, because they’re the ones most likely to vote in this year’s midterm elections.
According to Planned Parenthood’s website, a first-trimester abortion costs up to $750. If Roe falls, the closest destinations for legal abortion will be Illinois and New York State.
(Some have suggested that Canada would be a reasonable destination for women in southeast Michigan. But entry to Canada has been complicated by changing COVID-19 restrictions. It also requires an enhanced driver’s license or a passport. Just 37% of Americans have a valid passport, and around 38% say they’ve never had one at all. Obtaining a passport takes weeks or months, not days. For a woman who plans to terminate a pregnancy, time is of the essence.)
This kind of trip won’t have the luxury of a two- or three-week advance fare. Per Google Flights, airfare to Chicago next week runs $261 to $337. A flight to Buffalo, where Michigan women often traveled pre-Roe, starts at $346. (It might be cheaper to fly to New York City — anywhere from $218 to $349 — but the higher price of accommodations, transportation and meals in the city would likely negate any savings.)
With a reliable car, it’s a much cheaper trip. But it’s still a five-hour-plus drive to either destination. Gas is at a record high of $4.36 a gallon, and prices continue to climb.
Most abortions performed in this country now are pharmaceutical, requiring two doses of medication. Generally, the initial dose is taken at a doctor’s office or clinic, and the second within 24 to 48 hours. Under Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban, prosecutors I’ve talked to speculate that ambiguous wording about who may be held criminally responsible means a woman who obtains the needed medication lawfully in another state but takes her second dose after returning to Michigan could subject to prosecution.
Regardless, medicine abortions cause bleeding and cramping, and it might not be possible for a woman who has taken either round of medication to hop on a plane or drive five hours while experiencing such symptoms. So throw in at least one night’s stay in a hotel room, plus meals on the road.
Add in time off work (if the woman even has paid time off), a babysitter or other childcare arrangements if the woman already has children, and travel costs for a partner or friend, and I figure the cost of traveling out of state for an abortion to be at least $1,000. That’s driving directly to Chicago and back, with no additional expenses like meals or an overnight stay. If it’s a plane flight, with a hotel room for one or more nights, that’s $1,500 or more.
For some women, these costs wouldn’t be prohibitive. For others — those with multiple kids, out-of-work partners, or heavy student loan debt — it’s a daunting prospect.
I’m a middle-class, college-educated woman who has held professional jobs since 1998, and I’m not ashamed to admit that for all of my 20s, most of my 30s, and some of my 40s, coming up with a thousand dollars on short notice would have been challenging, if not impossible. And I’m not alone: Just 41% of Americans say they could come up with $500 cash in an emergency.
