"Come November, the GOP may come to deeply regret having ever gotten what it wished for by stripping away 50 years of abortion rights."
It is my fervent hope! I was a gut punch to lose our rights... It's about dictatorship or democracy in this election. We MUST get out the vote or we will lose everything. 💙💙💙💙
Dobbs was the voice of the patriarchy telling women where their place in society really lies. I hope people turn out in November to tell the patriarchs their time has passed.
One of the main features the anti-abortion laws in the U.S. has been that they are anti-poor laws. My mother was born in 1916 and she always said a wealthy woman could always get an abortion, frequently diagnosed as a DNC during part of the mid 1900s and later. Anti-abortion laws were also a proven method to keep the non-wealthy "in their place".
I cannot tell you how very much I hope/ pray the vast majority votes Democrat for preservation of our individual rights & our Democracy!! It is absolutely on the ballot & in jeopardy!
The only way to right this ship is to vote these republicans out, and it can't stop with the 2024 election. We must continue to vote against them, because if they ever get back in they will keep trying to change the law back. They have nothing to run on except hate and division.
The Constitution and our laws will need updates so that the 'Rule of Law' is more firmly established. For example: pass the ERA amendment with a healthcare clause. Repeal the all of the Comstock act. Reform the SCOTUS. Impeachment inquiry into Clarence Thomas. And more.
I am a fellow believer, and I agree. These people say they believe in life, but they support the death penalty and the Second Amendment. They are anti women, not pro life.
100%. Their hypocrisy spans all walks of life. While their leaders march against women's rights, their pastors and priests prey on young kids, they get deep into polygamy, open or otherwise (and hey, do what you want there, but don't preach marriage sanctity while you're doing it), the list goes on and on. I'm really tired of this.
And the lengths some churches will go to shield the church against credible allegations of child abuse by members. They will protect the church at any cost while sacrificing children for money and reputation.
Seriously, if these people really want to track down "child sacrifice," these places are the first to look. It's all a ruse, of course. Deflection from their deep malaise.
Well, that is exactly what the first phrase of the first amendment states. However, Christo-Nationalists act as if that part of the amendment has been overturned. Which it probably will be if any more right wing judges get into the Supreme Court.
I can see the Alito-written ruling now: "The constitution states 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof'; and we rule that those who attempt to deny the (Trump) administration's imposition of Christian Sharia Law are prohibiting the executive branch's free exercise thereof."
I agree. As a devout Christian, I focus primarily on the words of Jesus, who never ever mentioned abortion. He was a devout Jew, a rabbi, and accounting Jewish law, a baby is not considered alive until it is born and takes its first breath. Until that happens it is considered a part of the mother’s body.
Likewise, I don’t consider the Ten Commandments to be anything more than an ancient relic from thousands of years ago. All one needs to know right from wrong is to read what Jesus said and did.
Realistically, even if ca. 65% of Floridians vote for abortion protection, only a very small percentage would change their presidential and down-ballot vote to D. I think people are vesting too much hope that this one particular issue could change Red > Purple.
You know Jay, I live in FL, and no one will ever admit voting for Voldemort, yet somehow he squeaked in, by less than a percentage point. There was an automatic recount it was so close. So was the governor's race that year.
I think part of the deal, though, especially in swing states where significant numbers of electoral votes are decided by hundreds or thousands of votes out of hundreds of thousands or millions, part of the game is driving turnout. For example, there has been concern that some Dem voters, especially young ones, may be lukewarm on Biden and not particularly inclined to vote at all. However, if something like an abortion measure brings them to the polls, they will almost certainly vote Dem.
Well, recent voting in KS and OH suggest strong abortion-protect sentiment, but equally strong pro-R as well. I expect the same for the FL votes in November.
Kansas re-elected a democratic female governor in 2022.
Generally, recent voting in areas impacted by abortion have gone well across the country for Democrats. Jay has written quite a bit on this topic. Democrats have dominated special elections since Dodd overturned Roe.
Charles, a Dem gov in KS is sort of a "tradition" recently, especially a woman governor, but in no bloody way will KS vote D for prez, or senator. Again, a special, single-district election is no indicator of state-wide sentiment, especially in Red/Reddish states, so I strongly maintain that regardless of how Floridians vote to support abortion rights, tRump takes the EV, and down-ballot Rs hold their respective seats.
Thank you for this. It's absolutely imperative that everyone - especially women - pay attention to the reality and consequences of losing their reproductive rights. Although abortion rights are front and center, it is so much bigger than that. I also hope folks will tell their personal stories to help change the narrative that those seeking abortions are bad people who need to be controlled. I wrote this op-ed about my own experience in hopes that it will encourage others to tell their stories.
Excellent read! I too had a decision to make at 16 and I too am past child bearing years but am doing what I can to fight for the right of every female in this country. Abortion and gender affirming care now, what next? We live in scary times where we are definitely not seeing a separation of church and state, a time when "Christianity" is being rammed down our throats. None of it is right, we can't remain silent.
I was talking to a 30ish type guy and he was amazed when I told him that the kinds of protests where they are sending police at colleges happen all the time at "abortion clinics" (my preferred phrase is below, but I used that word to make a point) on a much, much worse level of harassment and potential (and sometimes realized) violence. I said, "I don't know if there is a clinic in America where a woman can enter the premises without getting harassed."
"Really?" he asked. No idea.
They're hassling college kids for speaking out about genocide, but goons protest in threatening ways every day at women's fertility and healthcare clinics.
I have been a clinic escort and can confirm, clinics have been fiirebombed and grafitied, and shot up by the crazy acolytes of the anti-abortion nutters. Reproductive healthcare is personal, and they should have no say in it.
Just a quick story to illustrate my point: An office supply truck rolled up to make a delivery, while I was outside the clinic. The driver clearly identified by his company badge walked into the clinic carrying a package. They all mumbled among themselves, until one lady ranted "That's how they take your baby away!" The driver came out, empty-handed and drove away. These people are not playing with a full deck.
Wow, this is the kind of story that makes me think some mass psychosis event has taken place. I guess it's just a form of brainwashing, but it's creepy as can be.
Tell me about it, they also periodically would run into the clinic calling us all by name, to show us they knew who we were (they had a local cop run our licence plates.)
WOW! I honestly just don't get the mentality of pushing your belief on someone else. I also don't get how people get so brainwashed that they resort to this kind of stuff just to push their beliefs on others. It's a scary place out there right now :(
I’m glad you said everyone! Men, pay attention and I would like Jay to also find men to quote who are harmed by forced birth and denial of right to abortion. Few women got pregnant without a man. There’s that. No man needs to become a father to an unwanted child. No father of sons and daughters should worry that they will become parents when they aren’t ready.
It’s so obvious, especially if men care about the health and wellbeing of the women they know.
I’m a man. I have daughters and a son. I want the best for them. Being able to choose when to have a family is a big deal for me.
I really love the way you started this article out (finally got a chance to read it). It made me wonder. Why do *I* fight? On the surface, I've got nothing to really worry about. The things you said, but more. I'm not a woman. I've never had to deal with a fight over my body.
I'm an old white guy. I could just shrug my shoulders and just move on. And frankly, if the kids skip the election, I just may do that. If they don't care if their planet burns, it really will be their problem.
But I know myself too well. If Trump wins, I may go underground if I have to. I may become a stone thrower. I really don't know why. I'll have to think about that more. It's not like we've had anything close to perfect justice before, but maybe this sense I got the day Obama was elected that this nation was, finally, for once, sort of growing up and becoming a mature, rational nation, and then having that pulled out from under me, is what has fired me up.
I don't know, but food for thought. Like I said, I will need to think more on my motivations, because at this point they aren't particularly personal.
Interesting sidebar: My substack is called "Ruminato" — a made up word that means "Ruminations" in my secret language, lol. I'm transitioning away from substack, though, to Ghost, where it will just be ruminato.com.
As a man it's good for you to join the fight. You are not a woman but do you have daughters or grand daughters? And even if you don't it's never wrong to fight for the rights of others. That's why you fight. When you start talking about body autonomy it's not just abortion it's also gender afferming care. It's about if they can take these rights what's next? It honesly isn't just about women or the LGBTQ community, it's about all of us really. It's about being forced into a hard core, bible thumping "Christian" way of life in a country where we are supposed to have a separation of church and state. Nothing wrong with being a devout Christian, everything wrong with thinking the entire country should fall in line with your line of thinking.
I don't have any daughters or granddaughters, but I think women are amazing in a trillion ways (not in a Don Juan kind of way, but in a "if I tried to have a baby I'd be yelling for my momma" kind of way). Just a lot of respect and appreciation.
So I'm sure that's part of it. My mom was kind of a lost soul and drug addict, so it's not that I'm a momma's boy, either. It's been more about my exposure to a lot amazing women in all walks of life over the years. As for what happens to me personally, I care, I guess, but in all honesty, I don't care enough to accept a Trump win. By that I'll mean I will join whatever kind of resistance forms. I don't know what that will look like, and hopefully it's not something I'll need to worry about. But even though I might say, "if the kids don't vote, I'll walk away," I know that is just me blustering. I'll fight on, somehow.
The Time Magazine interviews reinforced what I already knew. The "nuclear clock" on American democracy is at about 11:59.
If the GOP isn't stopped, it won't be long before the only citizens in this country who have any rights at all will be white men. Which I believe is entirely their goal.
As an old white guy, I gotta say, that sounds like hell on earth. But I'll also add that white men should be at the forefront of this resistance. Per the WW2 quote:
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
It won't just be white men left. It will be white men with an agenda that would make even Margaret Atwood shudder.
Oh, it absolutely is. When this country was founded, the ONLY people who had power were white males - who owned property. Women, Blacks (who were nearly all slaves of course), poor sharecropping or wage-earning whites - no voting for you. The current crop of "Conservatives" have been trying for decades to return us to that state of affairs, and they are closer than they have ever been. I am 75 years old, and do not believe there has been a more crucial election in my lifetime.
It is hard to put into words what I am trying to say. Basically whether we think abortion is right or wrong, we must turn to the secular approach where our "Lassez Faire", "the pursuit of happiness" and all the other statements that allow us, as a free nation, a free people, to arrive at our own conclusion. It's not about my right, personally, or my opinion-its about the principals of our Democratic society. This opportunity to grow and become morally responsible isn't allowed in tyrannical Sharia Law type governments.
The Republican legislature in Florida is rather notorious for doing everything it can to subvert the will of the people after constitutional amendments are passed. Most recent examples include the amendments to allow ex-cons to vote and to legalize medical marijuana. If the abortion rights amendment passes look for them to do the same.
It's odd, given how deeply Republicans care about unborn children, you would think that they would do more to make quality pre-natal care readily available. But, these draconian bans are driving off OB/Gyn doctors making it hard for women who want to be pregnant to get proper care. It's almost like they're a bunch of lying weasels who are really pursuing a religious agenda and don't actually give a damn about children.
Did the religious nut jobs in the legislature know that the Nazis performed sterilization experiments on women in the concentration camps? That women were forced to have abortions if found pregnant? That is, if they weren’t sent to the gas chamber first. Nobody is forcing women today to have abortions. They have their reasons for wanting one and none of them include your opinion.
I didn’t burn my bra and work for Planned Parenthood for nothing! The Injustice 6 must feel heat when Biden wins. We should insist on the SC to be expanded and then we can put the VRA back on the books, get rid of the racist electoral college, put Roe v. Wade back where she belongs, and demand that no state allow religion to enter their mouths when in session. In fact, let there be a bill denouncing that churches, mosques, and temples get a tax break. That would destroy Leonard Leo’s plans to have a religious autocrat running our nation.
“The anti-abortion activists jeered her. “Come on!” “This is a disgrace!” “One day you will face a just and holy God!” they cried.”
I’m tired of conservatives using this lame argument against abortion. They act as if God somehow loves children. If they had actually read the Bible they would know that God dashed babies on rocks. God killed first borns. God killed children for mocking a bald man.
They would also know there is a passage where a man can take his wife to a priest who can administer the bitter waters. Those bitter waters induce an abortion. So yes, the Bible condones abortion, even though it notes that only a man can have it done to his wife.
The thing about abortion is if you don’t want one, or it goes against your beliefs, you don’t have to get one. I’m tired of conservatives pushing their religious agenda on the rest of us. They are free to not get abortions. No one is stopping them from living their lives the way they want to, but I don’t have to live my life the way they want me to.
And let's not forget that IF the referendum passes in Florida, the state Supreme Court has winked and nodded that they will rule the referendum unconstitutional under a "fetal personhood" argument.
Can we the people put a referendum up for a national vote that rules that SCOTUS has become unconstitutional under a “lacking in personhood” argument??
The very people who determine that corporations have the same right’s of people actually have no personhood of their own and should not rule over other persons!!!
This is a very separate topic, but re: the Supreme Court, I'd like to see Biden jail Ginny Thomas, just for the hell of it, to get his point across about the dangers of granting full immunity to presidents. And just for ducks, he should say he's acting as a private citizen by making a "request" to the Justice Department to have her incarcerated. I guess to make my fantasy come true, the Dems need a Bill Barr type as AG. Sad!
Heck, there is likely a good legal reason to jail Ginny. If we want to make a point about POTUS having immunity why wouldn’t we just jail Clarence himself?
I don’t see MAGA grasping much that doesn’t knock them up the side of their heads!!
I am not a lawyer, but my understanding from the articles I've read is that fetal personhood isn't something that will be passed. It's something the state supreme court will use as the justification to invalidate the amendment as unconstitutional.
And even if it doesn't legally invalidate the amendment, I think under fetal personhood, the courts would have to rule that abortion is a homicide. The "right to an abortion" would become functionally meaningless because the doctor could be criminally charged... even if the mother is protected by the amendment.
Not my area of expertise, but I understood the point to be that passing #4 could be entirely meaningless if the court decides to invalidate it. It only passed the test to be on the ballot by a 3-2 decision based on the legal test "is the text clear". The ruling expressly laid out that the judges were begging, should it be passed, for it to be challenged on the fetal personhood question so they could shoot it down.
I misread it as a last shot to get past that, but why would republicans play by the rules, and the will of the people, especially now when the forced birthers have had a taste of blood.
This is where I got that from.:
"But an ominous current lurked beneath the rulings: Six of the court’s seven justices appeared to endorse fetal personhood under the state constitution as it stands now, expressing support for—as one justice put it—“the unborn’s competing right to life” over the patient’s right to bodily autonomy. The majority’s rhetoric indicates that if the pro-choice amendment fails this fall, the Florida Supreme Court remains ready to grant fetuses and embryos a constitutional right to life that prohibits the Legislature from legalizing abortion in the future...This second ruling might seem to temper the majority’s hostility toward reproductive freedom. Not quite: Piecing together the fractured opinions, it becomes clear that six justices stand ready to institute fetal personhood under existing state law. The disagreement among this far-right supermajority comes down to tactics, timing, and deference to democracy. Three are prepared to now wield fetal personhood as a sword against any expansion of abortion, even by constitutional amendment. Three are waiting to impose personhood if the upcoming amendment fails and will not weaponize the doctrine today to keep the initiative off the ballot. (All but one of these justices were appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.) Just a single justice, Jorge Labarga—who dissented from the court’s first decision gutting the right to privacy—declined to board the personhood train.."To Muñiz, Canady, and Couriel, however, this solicitude for fetuses’ rights must yield to “the people,” in whom “all political power is inherent.” If the people wish to strip personhood from fetuses by constitutional amendment, Muñiz suggested, the court has no power to stop them...These opinions add up to an alarming revelation: Six Florida justices want to constitutionalize fetal personhood in the state right now. Three of them—Grosshans, Sasso, and Francis—are so devoted to the principle that they would use it to prevent Floridians from legalizing abortion via ballot initiative. Three more—Muñiz, Canady, and Couriel—are reluctantly willing to let the people overturn fetal personhood by popular vote, at a 60 percent threshold, if they so choose. But the fact remains that all six believe that personhood is the law of Florida today.
Considering our supreme court here in Florida is packed with only one judge that seems to actually rule by the law, Jorge Labarga. Five of the seven were appointed by deathSantis for the purpose of doing his unholy bidding. the other judge was appointed by Charlie Crist, while at least one has open ties to the anti-abortion associations. (Charles Canaday) One is married to the Attorney that wrote the abortion bans. It is friggin incestuous here.
Here in FL, we collected over a million signatures to get the tragic new abortion law repealed and on the ballot in November. Unfortunately, we will need 60% majority for it to pass. Even if it does pass, one can be sure that DeSantis & the supermajority GOP legislature here will do everything in their power to drag their heels in repealing it. So many women & their children will die. It was a day of mourning here yesterday.
For whatever reason, Republicans want poor women to remain poor and shackled with children they can't afford. Is it because those children will get poor educations and, this, have to go fight Republican wars? Do they want gullible people they can manipulate into voting for them, as they do now? Do they want unskilled, uneducated folks to do their dirty work in low paying jobs which will perpetuate the poverty cycle in our country? Republicans are scum.
Yes, they want wage slaves, and poorly educated serfs, who never question their corporate overlords. And cannon fodder, and unhappy people will always vote republican, if they vote at all.
"Come November, the GOP may come to deeply regret having ever gotten what it wished for by stripping away 50 years of abortion rights."
It is my fervent hope! I was a gut punch to lose our rights... It's about dictatorship or democracy in this election. We MUST get out the vote or we will lose everything. 💙💙💙💙
Dobbs was the voice of the patriarchy telling women where their place in society really lies. I hope people turn out in November to tell the patriarchs their time has passed.
The Patriarchy desparately needs a punch in the scrotum.
One of the main features the anti-abortion laws in the U.S. has been that they are anti-poor laws. My mother was born in 1916 and she always said a wealthy woman could always get an abortion, frequently diagnosed as a DNC during part of the mid 1900s and later. Anti-abortion laws were also a proven method to keep the non-wealthy "in their place".
My most fervent hope as well.
I cannot tell you how very much I hope/ pray the vast majority votes Democrat for preservation of our individual rights & our Democracy!! It is absolutely on the ballot & in jeopardy!
The only way to right this ship is to vote these republicans out, and it can't stop with the 2024 election. We must continue to vote against them, because if they ever get back in they will keep trying to change the law back. They have nothing to run on except hate and division.
The Constitution and our laws will need updates so that the 'Rule of Law' is more firmly established. For example: pass the ERA amendment with a healthcare clause. Repeal the all of the Comstock act. Reform the SCOTUS. Impeachment inquiry into Clarence Thomas. And more.
And none of those updates will happen until, as mentioned above, Republicans get voted out.
Ultimately, the mess we're in is because Democrats did not win enough elections.
🎯
Awesome, almost thrilling summary, because my takeaway is that, despite the common assumption that Florida is lost, Roevember will turn it around.
As for AZ (also not lost):
"They quoted the Bible and made direct appeals to God from the Senate floor."
As a believer in God, my God is openly giving them the finger, and turning the tables at their temple of hate upside down.
I am a fellow believer, and I agree. These people say they believe in life, but they support the death penalty and the Second Amendment. They are anti women, not pro life.
100%. Their hypocrisy spans all walks of life. While their leaders march against women's rights, their pastors and priests prey on young kids, they get deep into polygamy, open or otherwise (and hey, do what you want there, but don't preach marriage sanctity while you're doing it), the list goes on and on. I'm really tired of this.
And the lengths some churches will go to shield the church against credible allegations of child abuse by members. They will protect the church at any cost while sacrificing children for money and reputation.
Seriously, if these people really want to track down "child sacrifice," these places are the first to look. It's all a ruse, of course. Deflection from their deep malaise.
Bingo, it is truly about controlling women.
Personally, I believe the church should not be invoked in matters of state.
Well, that is exactly what the first phrase of the first amendment states. However, Christo-Nationalists act as if that part of the amendment has been overturned. Which it probably will be if any more right wing judges get into the Supreme Court.
I can see the Alito-written ruling now: "The constitution states 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof'; and we rule that those who attempt to deny the (Trump) administration's imposition of Christian Sharia Law are prohibiting the executive branch's free exercise thereof."
That's just about how twisted they are.
I agree. As a devout Christian, I focus primarily on the words of Jesus, who never ever mentioned abortion. He was a devout Jew, a rabbi, and accounting Jewish law, a baby is not considered alive until it is born and takes its first breath. Until that happens it is considered a part of the mother’s body.
Likewise, I don’t consider the Ten Commandments to be anything more than an ancient relic from thousands of years ago. All one needs to know right from wrong is to read what Jesus said and did.
I find it helpful to remember that not all activist Christians are working for the enemy.
https://sojo.net/articles/student-encampments-echo-jesus-parable-annoying-powerful
Thank you for sharing this! “The Media” has not even mentioned this, so people do not see the complexity of who are these protesters.
Realistically, even if ca. 65% of Floridians vote for abortion protection, only a very small percentage would change their presidential and down-ballot vote to D. I think people are vesting too much hope that this one particular issue could change Red > Purple.
Rick Scott remains somewhat vulnerable. We’ll have to see if big D turnout can unseat him. Long shot but within the realm of possible.
You know Jay, I live in FL, and no one will ever admit voting for Voldemort, yet somehow he squeaked in, by less than a percentage point. There was an automatic recount it was so close. So was the governor's race that year.
I think part of the deal, though, especially in swing states where significant numbers of electoral votes are decided by hundreds or thousands of votes out of hundreds of thousands or millions, part of the game is driving turnout. For example, there has been concern that some Dem voters, especially young ones, may be lukewarm on Biden and not particularly inclined to vote at all. However, if something like an abortion measure brings them to the polls, they will almost certainly vote Dem.
I don't think there is any way to know.
Well, recent voting in KS and OH suggest strong abortion-protect sentiment, but equally strong pro-R as well. I expect the same for the FL votes in November.
????
Kansas re-elected a democratic female governor in 2022.
Generally, recent voting in areas impacted by abortion have gone well across the country for Democrats. Jay has written quite a bit on this topic. Democrats have dominated special elections since Dodd overturned Roe.
Charles, a Dem gov in KS is sort of a "tradition" recently, especially a woman governor, but in no bloody way will KS vote D for prez, or senator. Again, a special, single-district election is no indicator of state-wide sentiment, especially in Red/Reddish states, so I strongly maintain that regardless of how Floridians vote to support abortion rights, tRump takes the EV, and down-ballot Rs hold their respective seats.
Temple of hate. 👏🏻
❤️
Thank you for this. It's absolutely imperative that everyone - especially women - pay attention to the reality and consequences of losing their reproductive rights. Although abortion rights are front and center, it is so much bigger than that. I also hope folks will tell their personal stories to help change the narrative that those seeking abortions are bad people who need to be controlled. I wrote this op-ed about my own experience in hopes that it will encourage others to tell their stories.
https://open.substack.com/pub/danismart/p/permission-denied?r=1c5095&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Excellent read! I too had a decision to make at 16 and I too am past child bearing years but am doing what I can to fight for the right of every female in this country. Abortion and gender affirming care now, what next? We live in scary times where we are definitely not seeing a separation of church and state, a time when "Christianity" is being rammed down our throats. None of it is right, we can't remain silent.
I was talking to a 30ish type guy and he was amazed when I told him that the kinds of protests where they are sending police at colleges happen all the time at "abortion clinics" (my preferred phrase is below, but I used that word to make a point) on a much, much worse level of harassment and potential (and sometimes realized) violence. I said, "I don't know if there is a clinic in America where a woman can enter the premises without getting harassed."
"Really?" he asked. No idea.
They're hassling college kids for speaking out about genocide, but goons protest in threatening ways every day at women's fertility and healthcare clinics.
I have been a clinic escort and can confirm, clinics have been fiirebombed and grafitied, and shot up by the crazy acolytes of the anti-abortion nutters. Reproductive healthcare is personal, and they should have no say in it.
Just a quick story to illustrate my point: An office supply truck rolled up to make a delivery, while I was outside the clinic. The driver clearly identified by his company badge walked into the clinic carrying a package. They all mumbled among themselves, until one lady ranted "That's how they take your baby away!" The driver came out, empty-handed and drove away. These people are not playing with a full deck.
Wow, this is the kind of story that makes me think some mass psychosis event has taken place. I guess it's just a form of brainwashing, but it's creepy as can be.
Tell me about it, they also periodically would run into the clinic calling us all by name, to show us they knew who we were (they had a local cop run our licence plates.)
WOW! I honestly just don't get the mentality of pushing your belief on someone else. I also don't get how people get so brainwashed that they resort to this kind of stuff just to push their beliefs on others. It's a scary place out there right now :(
Mind boggling isn't it?
I’m glad you said everyone! Men, pay attention and I would like Jay to also find men to quote who are harmed by forced birth and denial of right to abortion. Few women got pregnant without a man. There’s that. No man needs to become a father to an unwanted child. No father of sons and daughters should worry that they will become parents when they aren’t ready.
It’s so obvious, especially if men care about the health and wellbeing of the women they know.
I’m a man. I have daughters and a son. I want the best for them. Being able to choose when to have a family is a big deal for me.
I really love the way you started this article out (finally got a chance to read it). It made me wonder. Why do *I* fight? On the surface, I've got nothing to really worry about. The things you said, but more. I'm not a woman. I've never had to deal with a fight over my body.
I'm an old white guy. I could just shrug my shoulders and just move on. And frankly, if the kids skip the election, I just may do that. If they don't care if their planet burns, it really will be their problem.
But I know myself too well. If Trump wins, I may go underground if I have to. I may become a stone thrower. I really don't know why. I'll have to think about that more. It's not like we've had anything close to perfect justice before, but maybe this sense I got the day Obama was elected that this nation was, finally, for once, sort of growing up and becoming a mature, rational nation, and then having that pulled out from under me, is what has fired me up.
I don't know, but food for thought. Like I said, I will need to think more on my motivations, because at this point they aren't particularly personal.
Interesting sidebar: My substack is called "Ruminato" — a made up word that means "Ruminations" in my secret language, lol. I'm transitioning away from substack, though, to Ghost, where it will just be ruminato.com.
As a man it's good for you to join the fight. You are not a woman but do you have daughters or grand daughters? And even if you don't it's never wrong to fight for the rights of others. That's why you fight. When you start talking about body autonomy it's not just abortion it's also gender afferming care. It's about if they can take these rights what's next? It honesly isn't just about women or the LGBTQ community, it's about all of us really. It's about being forced into a hard core, bible thumping "Christian" way of life in a country where we are supposed to have a separation of church and state. Nothing wrong with being a devout Christian, everything wrong with thinking the entire country should fall in line with your line of thinking.
I don't have any daughters or granddaughters, but I think women are amazing in a trillion ways (not in a Don Juan kind of way, but in a "if I tried to have a baby I'd be yelling for my momma" kind of way). Just a lot of respect and appreciation.
So I'm sure that's part of it. My mom was kind of a lost soul and drug addict, so it's not that I'm a momma's boy, either. It's been more about my exposure to a lot amazing women in all walks of life over the years. As for what happens to me personally, I care, I guess, but in all honesty, I don't care enough to accept a Trump win. By that I'll mean I will join whatever kind of resistance forms. I don't know what that will look like, and hopefully it's not something I'll need to worry about. But even though I might say, "if the kids don't vote, I'll walk away," I know that is just me blustering. I'll fight on, somehow.
The Time Magazine interviews reinforced what I already knew. The "nuclear clock" on American democracy is at about 11:59.
If the GOP isn't stopped, it won't be long before the only citizens in this country who have any rights at all will be white men. Which I believe is entirely their goal.
As an old white guy, I gotta say, that sounds like hell on earth. But I'll also add that white men should be at the forefront of this resistance. Per the WW2 quote:
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."
It won't just be white men left. It will be white men with an agenda that would make even Margaret Atwood shudder.
You need to make that straight white Christian men to accurately capture their goal.
Keep in mind, though, that a lot of straight white Christian men aren't all that straight... they're only hiding in a closet of their own making.
Which is very sad, everyone should be free to be themselves.
Oh, it absolutely is. When this country was founded, the ONLY people who had power were white males - who owned property. Women, Blacks (who were nearly all slaves of course), poor sharecropping or wage-earning whites - no voting for you. The current crop of "Conservatives" have been trying for decades to return us to that state of affairs, and they are closer than they have ever been. I am 75 years old, and do not believe there has been a more crucial election in my lifetime.
It is hard to put into words what I am trying to say. Basically whether we think abortion is right or wrong, we must turn to the secular approach where our "Lassez Faire", "the pursuit of happiness" and all the other statements that allow us, as a free nation, a free people, to arrive at our own conclusion. It's not about my right, personally, or my opinion-its about the principals of our Democratic society. This opportunity to grow and become morally responsible isn't allowed in tyrannical Sharia Law type governments.
Not only that but in our culture today, we don't say 'mind your own business' nearly enough.
Especially since Facebook crashed into our lives.
Amen!
The Republican legislature in Florida is rather notorious for doing everything it can to subvert the will of the people after constitutional amendments are passed. Most recent examples include the amendments to allow ex-cons to vote and to legalize medical marijuana. If the abortion rights amendment passes look for them to do the same.
One battle at a time, but yes.
That is how they changed it to 60%. Because we passed those things they did not want.
It's odd, given how deeply Republicans care about unborn children, you would think that they would do more to make quality pre-natal care readily available. But, these draconian bans are driving off OB/Gyn doctors making it hard for women who want to be pregnant to get proper care. It's almost like they're a bunch of lying weasels who are really pursuing a religious agenda and don't actually give a damn about children.
You can drop the "almost."
"In the key states of Florida and Arizona, abortion is front and center again. And that’s bad news for the GOP."
Alternatively, as the NYT might term it, "Why abortion front and center may spell trouble for Biden".
You’re so right.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/06/will-the-biden-campaign-regret-telling-pro-life-voters-to-drop-dead-in-2024/
Did the religious nut jobs in the legislature know that the Nazis performed sterilization experiments on women in the concentration camps? That women were forced to have abortions if found pregnant? That is, if they weren’t sent to the gas chamber first. Nobody is forcing women today to have abortions. They have their reasons for wanting one and none of them include your opinion.
I didn’t burn my bra and work for Planned Parenthood for nothing! The Injustice 6 must feel heat when Biden wins. We should insist on the SC to be expanded and then we can put the VRA back on the books, get rid of the racist electoral college, put Roe v. Wade back where she belongs, and demand that no state allow religion to enter their mouths when in session. In fact, let there be a bill denouncing that churches, mosques, and temples get a tax break. That would destroy Leonard Leo’s plans to have a religious autocrat running our nation.
That sounds like democracy!
“The anti-abortion activists jeered her. “Come on!” “This is a disgrace!” “One day you will face a just and holy God!” they cried.”
I’m tired of conservatives using this lame argument against abortion. They act as if God somehow loves children. If they had actually read the Bible they would know that God dashed babies on rocks. God killed first borns. God killed children for mocking a bald man.
They would also know there is a passage where a man can take his wife to a priest who can administer the bitter waters. Those bitter waters induce an abortion. So yes, the Bible condones abortion, even though it notes that only a man can have it done to his wife.
The thing about abortion is if you don’t want one, or it goes against your beliefs, you don’t have to get one. I’m tired of conservatives pushing their religious agenda on the rest of us. They are free to not get abortions. No one is stopping them from living their lives the way they want to, but I don’t have to live my life the way they want me to.
And let's not forget that IF the referendum passes in Florida, the state Supreme Court has winked and nodded that they will rule the referendum unconstitutional under a "fetal personhood" argument.
Can we the people put a referendum up for a national vote that rules that SCOTUS has become unconstitutional under a “lacking in personhood” argument??
The very people who determine that corporations have the same right’s of people actually have no personhood of their own and should not rule over other persons!!!
This is a very separate topic, but re: the Supreme Court, I'd like to see Biden jail Ginny Thomas, just for the hell of it, to get his point across about the dangers of granting full immunity to presidents. And just for ducks, he should say he's acting as a private citizen by making a "request" to the Justice Department to have her incarcerated. I guess to make my fantasy come true, the Dems need a Bill Barr type as AG. Sad!
Heck, there is likely a good legal reason to jail Ginny. If we want to make a point about POTUS having immunity why wouldn’t we just jail Clarence himself?
I don’t see MAGA grasping much that doesn’t knock them up the side of their heads!!
It's the Florida State Supreme Court that I'm talking about here.
Gotcha. The legalese is beyond me. I’m guessing my comment is a far fetched dream.
Preferring science I never had a mind for legal language but now in 2024, I’m pretty sure I would have tried my hardest had I foreseen the future. TY.
I love this!
If we do not pass #4, they will pass the fetal personhood, this is our last chance to overturn this heinous effluent.
I am not a lawyer, but my understanding from the articles I've read is that fetal personhood isn't something that will be passed. It's something the state supreme court will use as the justification to invalidate the amendment as unconstitutional.
And even if it doesn't legally invalidate the amendment, I think under fetal personhood, the courts would have to rule that abortion is a homicide. The "right to an abortion" would become functionally meaningless because the doctor could be criminally charged... even if the mother is protected by the amendment.
Not my area of expertise, but I understood the point to be that passing #4 could be entirely meaningless if the court decides to invalidate it. It only passed the test to be on the ballot by a 3-2 decision based on the legal test "is the text clear". The ruling expressly laid out that the judges were begging, should it be passed, for it to be challenged on the fetal personhood question so they could shoot it down.
Crap you are right.
I misread it as a last shot to get past that, but why would republicans play by the rules, and the will of the people, especially now when the forced birthers have had a taste of blood.
This is where I got that from.:
"But an ominous current lurked beneath the rulings: Six of the court’s seven justices appeared to endorse fetal personhood under the state constitution as it stands now, expressing support for—as one justice put it—“the unborn’s competing right to life” over the patient’s right to bodily autonomy. The majority’s rhetoric indicates that if the pro-choice amendment fails this fall, the Florida Supreme Court remains ready to grant fetuses and embryos a constitutional right to life that prohibits the Legislature from legalizing abortion in the future...This second ruling might seem to temper the majority’s hostility toward reproductive freedom. Not quite: Piecing together the fractured opinions, it becomes clear that six justices stand ready to institute fetal personhood under existing state law. The disagreement among this far-right supermajority comes down to tactics, timing, and deference to democracy. Three are prepared to now wield fetal personhood as a sword against any expansion of abortion, even by constitutional amendment. Three are waiting to impose personhood if the upcoming amendment fails and will not weaponize the doctrine today to keep the initiative off the ballot. (All but one of these justices were appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.) Just a single justice, Jorge Labarga—who dissented from the court’s first decision gutting the right to privacy—declined to board the personhood train.."To Muñiz, Canady, and Couriel, however, this solicitude for fetuses’ rights must yield to “the people,” in whom “all political power is inherent.” If the people wish to strip personhood from fetuses by constitutional amendment, Muñiz suggested, the court has no power to stop them...These opinions add up to an alarming revelation: Six Florida justices want to constitutionalize fetal personhood in the state right now. Three of them—Grosshans, Sasso, and Francis—are so devoted to the principle that they would use it to prevent Floridians from legalizing abortion via ballot initiative. Three more—Muñiz, Canady, and Couriel—are reluctantly willing to let the people overturn fetal personhood by popular vote, at a 60 percent threshold, if they so choose. But the fact remains that all six believe that personhood is the law of Florida today.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/florida-november-abortion-vote-desantis.html
Considering our supreme court here in Florida is packed with only one judge that seems to actually rule by the law, Jorge Labarga. Five of the seven were appointed by deathSantis for the purpose of doing his unholy bidding. the other judge was appointed by Charlie Crist, while at least one has open ties to the anti-abortion associations. (Charles Canaday) One is married to the Attorney that wrote the abortion bans. It is friggin incestuous here.
Here in FL, we collected over a million signatures to get the tragic new abortion law repealed and on the ballot in November. Unfortunately, we will need 60% majority for it to pass. Even if it does pass, one can be sure that DeSantis & the supermajority GOP legislature here will do everything in their power to drag their heels in repealing it. So many women & their children will die. It was a day of mourning here yesterday.
For whatever reason, Republicans want poor women to remain poor and shackled with children they can't afford. Is it because those children will get poor educations and, this, have to go fight Republican wars? Do they want gullible people they can manipulate into voting for them, as they do now? Do they want unskilled, uneducated folks to do their dirty work in low paying jobs which will perpetuate the poverty cycle in our country? Republicans are scum.
Yes, they want wage slaves, and poorly educated serfs, who never question their corporate overlords. And cannon fodder, and unhappy people will always vote republican, if they vote at all.