#to be clear i am pro-choice and pro-bodily autonomy all the way | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

algaedo · 2 years

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Sincerely I never want to put politics into my social medias. However. I’m tired of just sitting here and pretending not having a political opinion of my own. So please, let me speak while I still have the right to.

- I am pro choice. I am of the opinion that pro choice, in terms of abortion care, is to be your choice whether or not you would have an abortion. If it’s not something that you agree with, or something that is against your religion, that’s your deal, but you cannot tell anyone what to do with their bodies.

- people say they’re pro life but are they really pro life, or pro birth? Do they believe in abolishing the death penalty? What about creating a better mental health system with outlets to directly combat mass shooting? What’s wrong with putting strict regulations on guns and how you obtain them? Are you a vegetarian or vegan? If you support all life, why do we still allow hunting? Why don’t we have a better sexual education? Why is the US health care system so expensive if we should value life?

I can answer all of these questions and more.

1. No they do not believe in abolishing the death penalty because many people see it as justice or bettering the publics safety.

2.&3. Because mental health and guns aren’t the problem with mass shootings. No no. Abortions are some how the issue with this, according to congressman Billy Long. Why restrict guns when we can restrict woman’s bodily autonomy??

4.&5. because veganism/vegetarianism isn’t the life style you want, right? But aren’t animals a form of life? By that argument you shouldn’t eat plants and animals at all. Because you’re killing a living thing, didn’t you know?

6. “We already have a sexual education curriculum put into place.” Do you remember your sexual education program? What did it teach you? Because I don’t remember it teaching me that I have control of my own sexuality. I don’t remember my education telling me that I’m not the only person to blame. That I’m not the only person responsible.

7. Because that’s not how it works. At least not in such a greedy capitalist country that could not care less about its people. But why, if we are supposed to care so much about the life a human that hasn’t been born yet, do we not care about those of us that are already here and are struggling to take care of ourselves? Greed.

I have and always will say; our current pro lifers, in and out of office, only care about a life up until it’s born.

This is my own opinion and it does not reflect the opinion of anything or anyone associated with me, but I am not ashamed of it. I am not ashamed to speak up for my own bodily autonomy, for my rights and for the rights of everyone else.

They will not stop at Roe v Wade. Judge Clarence Thomas made it abundantly clear that he wishes to challenge Obergefell v Hodge, Lawrence v Texas and even Griswold v Connecticut.

If you don’t this overturn doesn’t affect you, think again. Forcing young girls and young women to become mothers prematurely will force young boys and young men to become fathers prematurely. It paves the way for unsafe and unregulated abortions. On top of all of that, it creates more people to feed, more people to circulate money, and more people into the housing market. More people means more need for housing, which means higher taxes and higher cost of living and higher prices for houses and apartments, as well as more supply chain shortages due to half the population aka anyone with a uterus, having to take off for maternity leaves or any kind of prenatal appointment, and more. Also supply chain shortages and recalls are currently in menstruation products, baby formula, peanut butter and poplar foods that kids like. Is this really the time to be encouraging people to keep children they didn’t want in the first place?

I am going to stop there, and as much as I would like to say I rest my case, I can’t. There are endless arguments and points I could make.

It’s a scary place right now. Please stay safe everyone.

Much love,

Jordan.

#roe v wade #roe overturned

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lejaybleu · 1 year

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the fuck is this blog

wow i'm so glad you asked!

i've spent a longggg ass time on this site (long enough i can't say how long exactly in case you know how to subtract. whoops.) and haven't made a proper intro post for the whole duration. this is it! this is the one. have fun reading this? i guess?

basics

i'm kind of a fandom blog, kinda not? i mostly reblog and don't post original stuff often, but i do occasionally, and that stuff is either just my thoughts or sometimes fandom content. i am part of many, many different fandoms, so if you came here for one thing, expect to see other stuff too! also, i do engage in discourse and post politics. i do understand that some people come here to escape the world we live in, and that is 100% valid, but as an 18 year old american student with not much income to speak of, engaging in civil discourse online is one of the ways i stay politically active since that's accessible to me. if that bothers you, this probably isn't the blog for you!

triggers, tone indicators and nsfw

i'm not going to share my triggers for my own personal safety, and also because they are the kind of thing that get tagged for being fucked up anyways. i am totally willing to tag for triggers myself (i usually use "// [thing]" as a trigger tag, so if you don't have that blocked for the trigger in question, do that!), and usually i remember to tag common triggers. if you have a less common/more general trigger or just one you've seen me not tag for, PLEASE feel free to dm me/send me an ask and i will absolutely start tagging that for you! if you're an existing follower and i post things with your trigger without tagging for it and you'd like me to start tagging, please also feel free to let me know. i'm trying to become better about tagging for triggers and i understand it's important, so just reach out if you have any concerns in that department.

as for tone indicators/tone tags, i sometimes use them and i sometimes don't. if you'd like me to use them more or for specific things, just shoot me a dm or an ask, but know that i am often very forgetful when it comes to tone tags specifically so i can't guarantee anything

i do sometimes reblog nsfw content. i always tag for it- if you have "nsfw"/"// nsfw" blocked you should be all good if that's not stuff you wanna see- but please take this into account before following me and follow at your own discretion. you have been warned

politics

i am a queer radical leftist and a trans-inclusive feminist!! i am primarily a socialist, but anarchocommunism is neat too. i believe all people are people and are deserving of respect, resources they need to live, and resources they need to be happy. i'm pro-choice, pro-bodily autonomy in general for all people (including disabled folks), pro-queer, pro-trans, pro-woman, pro-inclusion and pro-respectful dialogue. i am anti-capitalism, anti-language/label policing, anti-generalization of any group of people, anti-exclusion, anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-bigotry, and anti-reactionism. i want to be clear i am not anti people- i do my best to respect everyone regardless of their views, but while i respect every individual, i believe i have no obligation to respect every individual's/group's beliefs.

as for the very prominent discourse on tumblr about shipping fictional characters, i think it's really fucking stupid that people feel so strongly about others finding solace in imagining certain fictional characters kissing or fucking or whatever. if you are one of these people: go outside, touch grass, and funnel that anger into issues that actually affect people's real lives (e.g. reproductive rights being taken away, the policing system, the healthcare system... stuff like that.)

also, please be aware these are my views NOW, as of the date on this post. as i've said i've been on this website for a hot minute and my views have shifted and changed over that time period, so if you find something from like 2019 that totally contradicts what i've said here, that is why.

dni

i don't believe in not interacting with people purely based on their beliefs or random characteristics about them (this is a personal thing. i don't think there's anything morally bad about having a dni) if you are capable of having a civil dialogue and respecting me and my identity, i'm happy to have a good faith discussion about pretty much anything, no matter what your views are. that being said, if you are not in fact capable of that, please leave me alone thanks. also if i fall into your dni, do yourself a favor and don't interact with me

fandoms

if it has a * next to it, i used to be into it and am not really now

life is strange

miraculous ladybug*

voltron: legendary defender*

dream smp/new mcyts*

heartstopper

killing eve

young royals

stitchers

shadowhunters*

winx club

andi mack*

glee*

the arcana

detroit: become human

buzzfeed unsolved/watcher

unus annus

the stormlight archives

heathers (the musical)

dear evan hansen (the musical)*

be more chill (the musical)

a lot of broadway and off-broadway musicals to be honest

personal stuff

if you've read my bio, you already know the drill: i'm jay, i'm a bi trans dykeboy, i'm 18 and i'm south asian american. i'm currently a full time university student double majoring in neuroscience and theatre design (feel free to send me asks about either i will go crazy). in my free time i sing, play guitar, write (or stare at blank google docs for hours), and hang out with cats. i don't exactly know what i want to do other than parenting. i have adhd and that makes life sucky sometimes but it's also very much a vital part of who i am (for me personally). otherrr than that, i can't think of anything, but if you wanna know something my asks are always open! i will not share identifying information though for obvious reasons.

so yeah that's me! if there's anything i forgot just let me know. thanks for reading :)

#blue jay chirps #intro post

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silvermoon424 · 2 years

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This might be controversial, but I feel like some pro-choicers can be kinda... aggressive when they talk about fetuses?

Let me make it unequivocally clear, I am staunchly pro-choice and I support a woman's right to choose. Abortion should be legal, safe, and widely available. That being said, sometimes I'll be reading a pro-choice discussion and someone will say something like "I support a woman's choice to abort the parasite that invaded her body and is leeching off her."

Idk, it just feels really mean-spirited to demonize a fetus like that and it bothers me. It may not be human yet, but it has the potential to be one. The fetus is not maliciously parasitizing its mother, it's undergoing gestation the way all placental mammals do. Parasitic lifeforms leech off the host without giving anything back; in reproduction, the mother is passing on her genes and continuing the species (which is, from a purely biological standpoint, the purpose of life).

I understand this is a pushback to the pro-life narrative of "fetuses are actually innocent babies you're killing in the womb," but I don't think it's necessary to go to the other extreme. We don't need to demonize fetuses as malicious parasites to still stress the importance of bodily autonomy.

#abortion #pro choice

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glittergelf · 5 years

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My Base

My blog has been through a lot of phases, including almost 2 years of inactivity when I ditched tumblr for facebook because it has better memes.

But I’m back now, and I want to talk about our reproductive rights. Below is a small list of my beliefs and the basis for them. feel free to ask me to elaborate

Not all people who can get pregnant are women

There are literally infinite reasons a person may choose abortion and they are all valid

I do not believe in exceptions for rape and incest, because life is complicated and no situation is the same as another

I’ll say it again, any reason for choosing abortion is a valid reason

literally any reason

“Late-term abortions” literally aren’t abortions - at least in the sense that they aren’t just the murder of a viable baby on a whim

No one chooses to wait until they’re 6 months pregnant then decide to kill their baby just because they don't want to be pregnant anymore

Abortions at this point in pregnancy are often out of medical necessity

these are painful emotional situations no one other than the person experiencing it can understand

seriously, your judgement and criticism is not wanted here

Abortions past 8-9 months literally aren't abortions

At this point, they're labor inductions

aka birth

“pro-life” isn’t real. the accurate term is “pro-birth”

to me, being “pro-choice” means supporting every person’s right to make their own choices about their pregnancy

whether that choice be abortion, adoption, or parenting, that choice is theirs

The only person allowed to make these choices is the pregnant person

“men shouldn’t be making laws about women’s bodies”

I’ll say it again, not all pregnant people are women

It’s not just men making these laws - the full ban in Alabama was proposed by a woman

“If you don't want to get pregnant then don't have sex”... where do I even begin on this one

giving birth should not be a punishment for having sex

sex exists for more than just procreation and people are going to have it if they want it

“well you should have used birth control”

absolutely! birth control is a great way to prevent unwanted pregnancy!

It should even be free and easily accessible!

But, did you know that no form is 100% effective?

Or that new laws are allowing insurance plans not to cover it, and that birth control without insurance can be quite expensive

Comprehensive sex education needs to be enhanced and enforced in all schools

Religion has no place in government

Pregnancy is not for everyone

Adoption is not for everyone

Parenting is not for everyone

There’s a higher health risk associated with wisdom teeth removal than with an average abortion

Banning abortions will not stop them. It will only make them dangerous

Why do you think Ireland decided to lift their total ban and even made it free

A fetus is not the same as a one year old child so don't use pictures of them as emotional manipulation to support your argument

“What if you had been aborted?”

gross... what kind of question is this

like how selfish can you be to think this

I love my mom and if she had wanted to abort me, that would have been her right

Don't you dare compare abortion to the holocaust

seriously...

don't fricken dare

I will repeatedly cite the case of McFall v. Shrimp to support my stance on bodily autonomy

no one has the right to use someone else’s body without their consent

This case is important, look it up

To be clear, I have never been pregnant or had an abortion, and am aware that this limits my ability to truly understand the personal effects of choosing.

A few memes might get mixed in, but the majority of my blog is going to be focusing on abortion from here on out. While I am open to discussion, I am not open to circular debates or emotional manipulation.

***EDIT*** This post is getting A LOT more attention than I expected! Though I will not change the origional content as the basic idea behind it still stands, my flawed wording on late-term abortions has been pointed out. abortion is defined as “The removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy”. By this definition, giving birth naturally at full-term is still an abortion. I will do more research to better understand late-term abortions.

Though not all people who can get pregnant are women, this is a women’s rights issue. This is also a trans rights issue. Each group is affected in different ways.

I am not perfect and neither is anyone else, so I will be the first to acknowledge theese are not all blanket statements and multiple of them have exceptions.

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calunavulgaris · 5 years

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I’d like to think that anyone who knows me knows that I am 100% pro-choice, but in case it needs to be said: I am unapologetically, completely, irrevocably pro-choice.

There are two main reasons for this, the first being that I have known from a very early age that I never wanted to be pregnant or give birth. The idea is beyond horrifying to me. The second is much less personal. I have never encountered an anti-choice argument that wasn’t laughably easy to dismantle. I’ve been vocally pro-choice for roughly 30 years now (thanks, Mom) and in that time one thing has become painfully evident: anti-choicers have nothing but tenuous, easily debunked “arguments” that are based solely on emotional manipulation, anecdotes, and pseudo-science. They’re also dreadfully unoriginal and repetitive. It gets dull, let me tell you.

But what the hell, just for fun let’s go through some of them here:

“Abortion is MURDER!”

Nope. Murder is a legal term with a clear, concise definition. Abortion does not meet the criteria. Go ahead and look that up, it’s pretty easy to find.

“Abortion KILLS BABIES!”

It’s funny how those who claim to be on the side of science (which is ridiculous on its own) resort to unscientific terms when their goal is to evoke a purely emotional response, isn’t it? “Killing babies” packs more of a manipulative punch than “a medical procedure involving the removal of fetal tissue.” Believe it or not, I sympathize if the termination of a fetus squicks you. I get it. Being that I’m pro-choice, I will always defend your right not to ever undergo the procedure with the same fervour I employ when defending the choice to obtain an abortion. That’s what it means to be pro-choice.

“The fetus is innocent and has a right to life!”

By definition, the fetus can’t be innocent or guilty, it is purely neutral. The “right to life” does not grant anyone the right to use any part of another person’s body for their survival, no matter how “innocent” that person may be. The person carrying the fetus also has the right to life and bodily autonomy, and having sex/being pregnant isn’t something one can be “guilty” of, as neither is a crime. If we want to talk about innocence, let’s start there.

“What about the rights/autonomy of the fetus?”

For starters, the fetus has no autonomy. Its survival is completely dependent on the person whose body it’s inhabiting. That person is fully autonomous and must consent to their body being used and occupied by the fetus.

I know this is repetitive, but it seems to need repeating: There is no human right granted to anyone to use any part of another human’s body, living or dead, for their survival. If you’re in need of an organ transplant, and someone has just died with the organ you need, that doesn’t grant you the right to take what you need from them unless they consented to it before their death. You don’t have the right to take their completely viable organs that they are no longer using if that person did not sign up to be a donor, and it doesn’t matter if you will die as a result. If I’ve been stabbed and am bleeding out, and will die unless given a blood transfusion, no one can be legally compelled to give me their blood to save my life. Not even my own mother. Not even if she was the one who stabbed me in the first place.

If no one has the right to a dead person’s organs or their mother’s blood, what right does a fetus have to another person’s entire body?

“You shouldn’t get to kill a baby just because you’re too lazy to use contraception!”

Please, tell me which form of contraception is 100% effective 100% of the time. Even a minuscule failure rate (based on perfect use) means that unintended conception will occur. I have personally met several people who conceived/were conceived themselves despite multiple forms of contraception being used. It happens. If someone uses two or three methods in tandem, I think they’re making it pretty clear that they do NOT wish to conceive, don’t you? And sure, some do decide to continue with the pregnancy (I think the best reaction I ever heard along these lines was “I need to meet the person who could get past all that!). Again, that’s their choice.

Yes, some people conceive because they neglected to use contraception, for whatever reason. Those reasons are no one’s business but their own. Having unsafe sex is not a crime and isn’t something people need to be punished for. More on that coming up in the next point.

“Abstinence is 100% effective! You made the choice to have sex, deal with the consequences!”

Electing to have an abortion is one way to deal with the consequences. It’s just one that some find immoral, or icky, or selfish. Thankfully, morals are subjective, and it isn’t a crime to be selfish or icky. Even if it were, using forced pregnancy (which the UN defines as a form of torture) as a punishment is unconscionable and inhumane.

Also, what do you suggest for childfree couples? Believe it or not, there are people in long-term, committed, loving, healthy relationships who don’t wish to have children. Should they be condemned to lifelong abstinence because there’s a chance they might conceive? Have fun trying to sell that one.

Consent to sex does not equal consent to pregnancy. Now, imagine that it wasn’t consensual to begin with. (This is where they like to bring up the statistic of abortions as a result of rape, because they live in a world where every instance of sexual assault is reported, and every victim discloses how they came to be pregnant.)

We don’t deny medical care to those who develop lung cancer due to their 20-year pack-a-day habit, or those who drink themselves into liver failure. If a drunk driver causes a collision, we don’t stand by and let them die from their injuries, even if the collision caused the death of others. But somehow, there are those who think a person with a uterus should literally be tortured and have their human rights revoked if a fetus is inhabiting that uterus. That is terrifying.

“What about the father? The fetus is 50% his so he should have a say!”

It may be 50% his genetic material, but it is 100% inhabiting another person’s body, which is why that person gets to make the final call.

Let’s break down what’s being implied here: If a couple conceives and the pregnant person wants to abort, they should obtain permission from their partner in order to do so. If he disagrees, they should respect that and carry the pregnancy to term. That doesn’t seem very 50-50 anymore, does it? I think it’s funny that this argument only seems to work under the assumption that the father would want to continue with the pregnancy. If he felt it would be best to terminate and his partner disagreed, would they still argue that his vote somehow carries more weight? I doubt it.

“You shouldn’t have an abortion just because pregnancy is inconvenient!”

“Inconvenient?!” Dude. A hangnail is inconvenient. Missing a parcel delivery and having to go to the post office is inconvenient. Your cat’s preference for hacking up hairballs on your clean laundry instead of the tile floor is inconvenient. To call pregnancy “inconvenient” is absurd in the extreme. Pregnancy, even under the best conditions, permanently alters a person’s body. I dare you to tell someone who has been through pregnancy and labour that it was merely “inconvenient.” Seriously, look up third-and-fourth degree tears, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, abdominal separation, etc. just for starters, and then tell me it’s just inconvenient.

“Post-abortive women suffer from depression and mental illness!”

Find me an unbiased source to back that up, please. It simply isn’t true, the majority of people who have undergone an abortion report feeling relieved. Also, what kind of an effect do you imagine forcing an unwanted pregnancy and birth on an unwilling person has on their mental health? Hell, wanted pregnancies can take a huge toll on a person’s mental health, but I don’t see anyone using postpartum depression to argue against pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood.

“Doctors don’t know everything! I knew someone whose doctor said their pregnancy was unviable and they should terminate, but they didn’t and now they have a beautiful, perfect child!”

Cool story. I’m glad this person was able to make that choice for themselves and that things turned out okay. I’m still gonna trust the advice of someone who invested their time and money into getting a medical degree over the anecdote of an internet stranger, but that’s me.

“Infertile couples would be so happy to have your baby! Just give it up for adoption!”

I don’t know if you’re aware, but there is no shortage of children in need of families. There is, however, a shortage of people willing to adopt older children, or non-white babies/children, children and babies who are born addicted, HIV+, severely disabled/medically fragile... I could go on.

Getting back to the “Doctors don’t know everything!” point, it may be worth noting that I used to work in a foster home with severely disabled children. It was by far the hardest, most heartbreaking and exhausting job I’ve ever had. I have seen firsthand what these kids go through, how much around-the-clock care they require, how forgotten some of them are by their families, and how they are considered “undesirable” as far as adoption goes. I have seen how they suffer. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it would have been better for any of them if they hadn’t been born, but I fully understand if someone is simply not up to the task of devoting their life to caring for a child who will be completely dependent on them for everything for however long they live, which sadly isn’t long for many of them. I’m glad I did it, but not everyone can, and there is nothing wrong with admitting that.

All of that aside, adoption is only an alternative to parenthood, not pregnancy. No one owes you the use of their uterus to house a fetus you want just because you’re unable to make your own.

This is already longer than I originally intended, but I think I’ve covered the most commonly recycled arguments. The rest mainly boil down to “Abortion goes against my personal theological/philosophical beliefs or moral code!” and all I can say in response to that is that I’m so glad I don’t have to live by anyone’s concept of morality and am allowed my own. It’s pretty great.

I won’t be complacent, however. I have never been more terrified in my life as a uterus-bearing person as I am right now, and I know I’m not alone in that. We cannot allow our rights to be revoked. We cannot afford to lose the ground those before us fought so hard to gain. I will do all I can to keep that from happening.

If the right to our bodies isn’t worth fighting for, I don’t know what is.

#abortion #pro choice

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hope-for-olicity · 5 years

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I have been thinking, like so many people this week, about rage. Who I’m mad at, what that anger’s good for, how what makes me maddest is the way the madness has long gone unrespected, even by those who have relied on it for their gains.

For as long as I have been a cogent adult, and actually before that, I have watched people devote their lives, their furious energies, to fighting against the steady, merciless, punitive erosion of reproductive rights. And I have watched as politicians — not just on the right, but members of my own party — and the writers and pundits who cover them, treat reproductive rights and justice advocates as if they were fantasists enacting dystopian fiction.

This week, the most aggressive abortion bans since Roe v. Wade swept through states, explicitly designed to challenge and ultimately reverse Roe at the Supreme Court level. With them has come the dawning of a broad realization — a clear, bright, detailed vision of what’s at stake, and what’s ahead. (If not, yet, full comprehension of the harm that has already been done).

As it comes into view, I am of course livid at the Republican Party that has been working toward this for decades. These right-wing ghouls — who fulminate idiotically about how women could still be allowed to get abortions before they know they are pregnant (Alabama’s Clyde Chambliss) or try to legislate the medically impossible removal of ectopic pregnancy and reimplantation into the uterus (Ohio’s John Becker) — are the stuff of unimaginably gothic horror. Ever since Roe was decided in 1973, conservatives have been laboring to roll back abortion access, with absolutely zero knowlege of or interest in how reproduction works. And all the while, those who have been trying to sound the alarm have been shooed off as silly hysterics.

Which is why I am almost as mad at many on the left, theoretically on the side of reproductive rights and justice, who have refused, somehow, to see this coming or act aggressively to forestall it. I have no small amount of rage stored for those in the Democratic Party who have relied on the engaged fury of voters committed to reproductive autonomy to elect them, at the same time that they have treated the efforts of activists trying to stave off this future as inconvenient irritants.

This includes, of course, the Democrats (notably Joe Biden) who long supported the Hyde Amendment, the legislative rider that has barred the use of federal insurance programs from paying for abortion, making reproductive health care inaccessible to poor women since 1976. During health-care reform, Barack Obama referred to Hyde as a “tradition” and questions of abortion access as “a distraction.” I’ve spent my life listening to Democrats call abortion a niche issue — and worse, one that is somehow repellent to voters, even though support for Roe is in fact among the most broadly popular positions of the Democratic Party; seven in ten Americans want abortion to remain legal, even in conservative states.

You can try to tell these Democrats this — lots of people have been trying to tell them for a while now — but it won’t matter; they will only explain to you (a furious person) that they (calm, wise, knowledgeable about politics) understand that we need a big tent and can’t have a litmus test and please be reasonable: we shouldn’t shut anyone out because of a difference on one issue. (That one issue that we shouldn’t shut people out because of is always abortion). Every single time Democrats come up with a new strategy to win purple and red areas, it is the same strategy: hey, let’s jettison abortion! (If you object to this, you will be told you are standing in the way of the greater progressive project).

I grew up in Pennsylvania, governed by anti-abortion Democrat Bob Casey Sr.; his son Bob Jr. is Pennsylvania’s senior senator now, and though he’s getting better on abortion, Jr. voted, in 2015 and 2018, for 20-week abortion bans. Maybe my rage stems from being raised with this particularly grim perspective on Democratic politics: dynasties of white men united in their dedication to restricting women’s bodily autonomy, but they’re Democrats so who else are you going to vote for? Which reminds me of Dan Lipinski, the virulently anti-abortion Democratic congressman — whose anti-abortion dad held his seat before him. The current DCCC leader, Cheri Bustos, is holding a big-dollar fundraiser for Lipinski’s reelection campaign, even though it’s 2019 and abortion is being banned and providers threatened with more jail time than rapists and there is someone else to vote for: Lipinski is being challenged in a primary by pro-choice progressive Democrat Marie Newman. And still, Bustos, a powerful woman and Democratic leader, is helping anti-choice Lipinski keep his seat for an eighth term. So I’ve been thinking about that part of my anger too.

Also about how, for years, I’ve listened to Democratic politicians distance themselves from abortion by calling it tragic and insisting it should be rare, instead of simply acknowledging it to be a crucial, legal cornerstone of comprehensive health care for women, people with uteruses, and their families. I have seethed as generations of Democrats have argued that if we could just get past abortion and focus instead on economic issues, we’d be better off. They never seem to get that abortion is an economic issue, and that what they think of as economic issues — from wages and health care to housing and education policy — are at the very heart of the reproductive justice movement, which understands access to abortion to be one (pivotal!) part of a far broader set of circumstances that determine if, when, under what circumstances, and with what resources human beings might have and raise children.

And no, of course it’s not just Democrats I’m mad at. It’s the pundits who approach abortion law as armchair coaches. I can’t do better in my fury on this front than the legal writer Scott Lemieux, who in 2007 wrote ablistering rundown of all the legal and political wags, including Ben Wittes and Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Cohen and William Saletan, then making arguments, some too cute by half, about how Roe was ultimately bad for abortion rights and for Democrats. Some like to cite an oft-distorted opinion put forth by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has said that she wished the basis on which Roe was decided had included a more robust defense of women’s equality. Retroactive strategic chin-stroking about Roe is mostly moot, given the decades of intervening cases and that the fight against abortion is not about process but about the conviction that women should not control their own reproduction. It is also true that Ginsburg has been doing the work of aggressively defending reproductive rights for decades, while these pundits have treated them as a parlor game. As Lemieux put it then, it was unsurprising, “given the extent to which affluent men safely ensconced in liberal urban centers dominate the liberal pundit class,” that the arguments put forth, “greatly understate or ignore the stark class and geographic inequites in abortion access that would inevitably manifest themselves in a post-Roe world.”

Or, for that matter, that had already manifested themselves in a Roe world.

Because long before these new bans — which will meet years of legal challenge before they are enacted — abortion had grown ever less accessible to segments of America, though not the segments that the affluent men (and women) who write about and practice politics tend to emerge from. But yes, thanks to Hyde and the TRAP laws and the closed clinics and the long travel distances and paucity of providers and the economically untenable waiting periods, legions of women have already suffered, died, had children against their will, while columnists and political consultants have bantered about the necessity of Roe, and litmus tests and big tents. In vast portions of this country, Roe might as well not exist already.

And still those who are mad about, have been driven mad by, these injustices have been told that their fury is baseless, fictional, made of chewing gum and recycled copies of Our Bodies Ourselves. Last summer, the day before Anthony Kennedy announced his resignation from the Supreme Court, CNN host Brian Stelter tweeted, in response to a liberal activist, “We are not ‘a few steps from The Handmaids’ Tale.’ I don’t think this kind of fear-mongering helps anybody.” When protesters shouted at Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings a few weeks later, knowing full well what was about to happen and what it portended for Roe, Senator Ben Sasse condescended and lied to them, claiming that there have been “screaming protesters saying ‘women are going to die’ at every hearing for decades” and suggesting that this response was a form of “hysteria.”

It was the kind of dishonesty — issued from on high, from one of those Republicans who has inexplicably earned a reputation for being “reasonable” and “smart,” and who has enormous power over our future — that makes you want to pull the hair from your head and go screaming through the streets except someone would just tell you you were being hysterical.

And so here we are, the thing is happening and no one can pretend otherwise; it is not a game or a drill and those for whom the consequences — long real for millions whose warnings and peril have gone unheeded — are only now coming into focus want to know: what can be done?

First, never again let anyone tell you that the fury or determination to fight on this account is invalid, inappropriate, or inconvenient to a broader message. Consider that this is also what women and marginalized people are told all the time about their anger in general: that they should not express it, not let it out, because to give voice to their rage will distract from their aims, undermine them; that it will ultimately be bad for them. This messaging is strategic. It is designed to get angry people to keep their mouths shut. Because if they are successfully stifled, they will remain at the margins, isolated, alone in their fury. It is only if they start letting it out and acting on it and working in tandem with others who share their outrage that they might begin to form networks, coalitions, the building blocks of movements; it is when the anger is let loose that the organizing happens in earnest.

Second, seek the organizing that is already underway. In the days since this new round of state abortion bans have begun to pass and make headlines, secret Facebook groups have begun to form, in which freshly furious women have begun to talk of forming networks that would help patients evade barriers to access. Yet these organizations already exist, are founded and run by women of color, have long been transporting those in need of reproductive care to the facilities where they can get it; they are woefully underfunded. The trick is not to start something new, but to join forces with those who have long been angry about reproductive injustice.

“Abortion funds have been sounding the alarm for decades,” said Yamani Hernandez, who runs the National Network or Abortion Funds, which includes 76 local funds in 41 states, each of them helping women who face barriers getting the abortion care they need, offering money, transportation, housing, and help with logistics. Only 29 of the funds have paid staff; the rest are volunteer-run and led with average budget sizes of $75,000, according to Hernandez, who said that in 2017, 150,000 people called abortion funds for help — a number up from 100,000 in 2015, thanks to the barrage of restrictions that have made it so much harder for so many more people. With just $4 million to work with, the funds were able to help 29,000 of them last year: giving abortion funds money and time will directly help people who need it. Distinguishing the work of abortion funds from the policy fights in state houses and at the capitols, Hernandez said, “whatever happens in Washington, and changes in the future, women need to get care today.”

And whatever comes next, she said, it’s the people who have been doing this work for years who are likely to be best prepared to deal with the harm inflicted, which is a good place for the newly enraged to start. “If and when Roe is abolished,” said Hernandez, “the people who are going to be getting people to the care they need are those who have largely been navigating this already and are already well suited for the logistical challenges.”

The fights on the ground might be the most current and urgent in human terms, but there is also energy to be put into policy fights. In 2015, California Congresswoman Barbara Lee authored the EACH Woman Act, the first serious congressional challenge to the Hyde Amendment, which came after years of agitation and activism, especially by All Above All, a grassroots organization led by women of color and determined to make abortion accessible to everyone. Those who are looking for policy fights to lean into can call and write your representatives and candidates and demand that they support the EACH Woman Act.

Rage works. It takes time and numbers and a willingness to express it, but it is among the most reliable catalysts of social and political change. That’s the story of how grassroots activism can compel Barbara Lee to compel her caucus to take on Hyde. Her willingness to tackle it, and the righteous outrage of those who are driven to end the harm it does to poor women and women of color, in turn helped to compel Hillary Clinton to come out against Hyde in her 2016 primary campaign; opposition to Hyde is now — for the first time since it was passed in 1976 — a part of the Democratic Party’s platform.

In these past two years, fury at a Trump administration and at the Republican Party has driven electoral activism. And at the end of 2018, the Guttmacher Institute reported that 2018 was the first year since at least 2000 in which the number of state policies enacted to expand or protectabortion rights and access, and contraceptive access, outnumbered the number of state restrictions. Why? Because growing realization of what was at stake — and resulting anger and activism, pressure applied to state legislatures — led representatives to act.

Of course: vote.

Vote, as they say, as if your life depended on it, because it does, but more importantly: other people’s lives depend on it. And between voting, consider where to aim your anger in ways that will influence election outcomes: educate yourself about local races and policy proposals, as well as the history of the reproductive rights and reproductive-justice movements. Get engaged not just on a presidential level — please God, not just at a presidential level — but with the fights for state legislative power, in congressional and senate elections, all of which shape abortion policy and the judiciary, and the voting rights on which every other kind of freedom hinges. Knock doors, register voters, give to and volunteer with the organizations that are working to fightvoter suppression and redistricting and expand the electorate; as well as to those recruiting and training progressive candidates, especially women and women of color, especially young and first-time candidates, to run for elected office.

You can also protest, go to rallies. Join a local political group where your rage will likely be shared with others.

Above all, do not let defeat or despair take you, and do not let anyone tell you that your anger is misplaced or silly or in vain, or that it is anything other than urgent and motivating. It may be terrifying — it is terrifying. But this — the fury and the fight it must fuel — is going to last the rest of our lives and we must get comfortable using our rage as central to the work ahead.

#abortion rights #politics #power #the body politic #women #reproductive rights

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xtruss · 3 years

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Texas Has Assaulted the Constitutional Right to Abortion | Opinion

— Jessica Mason Pieklo | Newsweek | 9/21/21

The following is a lightly edited transcript of remarks made by Jessica Mason Pieklo during a Newsweek podcast debate on Texas' new abortion law.

First of all, thank you so much for having me on and for the opportunity to talk about what is going on with the assault on abortion rights and access across the country.

So, Lila offered up a couple points that I would really love to jump into. First of all, she said that the Texas law is an important moment to protect all children at birth. And I absolutely agree that all children at birth should be protected. I would point out that abortion is not about protecting birth. We were talking about developing pregnancies here and, at six weeks old, we don't even have an embryo yet. The science is very clear about what is happening, biologically speaking. And I'm sure we're going to have plenty of time to talk about the science behind these restrictions here, and the junk science that is promoting them.

Pro-choice supporters and staff of Planned Parenthood hold a rally outside the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center in St. Louis, Missouri, May 31, 2019, the last location in the state performing abortions, after a US Court announced the clinic could continue operating. Saul Loeb/AFP Via Getty Images

But Lila brought up the 14th Amendment and I'm really hoping we have an opportunity to do a deep dive into this because on the 14th Amendment, the courts have had a lot of history and time to talk about what it means to be a person, as far as the Constitution is concerned. And they look at this question a lot and they have answered it many, many times. And they have said that there is one category of events that has to happen first, before the Constitution recognizes full personhood, and that is birth. And that also aligns with a lot of faith traditions, which I'm hoping we get the opportunity to talk about today as well, because a lot of faith traditions recognize personhood—the act of becoming a full human being—at the moment of birth. So that is also very important, as we are talking about public perceptions around abortion and the current debate.

Lila also mentioned something really important, which is, the moments of when life begins and conception, because what we have at the Supreme Court is a case in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health that attempts to ban abortion at 15 weeks—and that's before pregnancy is deemed viable. That's an important constitutional marker, but that's not the marker that Ms. Rose brought up here—she brought up a very different marker, which is life at conception. And so already, there is goalpost-moving that's happening here. And so I think that's important. I really am looking forward to a robust debate around these issues, because I think that the public does deserves and is entitled to it. But I also want to be very clear what we're talking about here.

— Jessica Mason Pieklo is senior vice president and executive editor of Rewire News Group, and co-host of the "Boom! Lawyered" podcast. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

Texas Has Taken a Big Step To Protect Innocent Human Life | Opinion

— Lila Rose | 9/21/21 | Newsweek

The following is a lightly edited transcript of remarks made by Lila Rose during a Newsweek podcast debate on Texas' new abortion law.

Texas' law is a big step in the right direction toward protecting human rights. There's no reason that we should treat children at the moment of birth different than children before birth. They are still human beings. Human life starts—the science is clear when human life begins—it begins at the moment of fertilization: sperm, egg fusion. You have a unique, individual human being and they deserve legal protection, just like anybody else. That's not just a general argument for human rights; it's based on our own Constitution. The 14th Amendment says that all people should have equal protection under the law and that no state should deprive anyone of their right to life without due process.

The Texas State Capitol is seen on the first day of the 87th Legislature's third special session on September 20, 2021 in Austin, Texas. Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images

So we need due process for these preborn children. They're innocent. They deserve life, and abortion is not advancing women: It's actually another act of violence against not just that child, but that woman. So we applaud Texas for banning abortion after six weeks, when the heartbeat can be detected. Ultimately, all humans deserve legal protection, even before six weeks, from the very beginning. But this is a step in the right direction. And because of Texas' law, it's estimated that over 100 children are living to see another day, as the daily Texas abortion rate is between 100 and 150 children killed daily. So that is a tremendous victory, which we applaud.

I'm certainly going to address abortion as a private medical decision, but I think you have to address it in the context of not just a woman's right to privacy, which I fully agree with. As a woman, I believe in my own bodily autonomy—I think these are very important values. But when your privacy involves another human life and another human being—in this case, with pregnancy, a preborn child—it's not just what you do with your body in the privacy of your own home. It's also about the life of another individual. And I think that's what Roe v. Wade got terribly wrong. I think it was a lack of acknowledging the science, which is crystal clear about when human life begins. Even a former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun, who penned the majority decision in Roe v. Wade, said that this was a poorly decided case. It doesn't hold, and that's because the way that it was decided completely ignored the humanity of this other individual, the child.

— Lila Rose is the founder and president of Live Action, a leading nonprofit human rights organization reaching millions of people each day with education on abortion and human dignity. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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dirtyrottensocialist · 3 years

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Vaccines: the Bodily Autonomy Argument

My body, my choice. A slogan often touted in pro-choice arguments, now co-opted by anti-vaxxers as an argument against required vaccinations, seemingly as a “gotcha” to the liberal and left proponents of vaccines. A “what now libtards! aren’t you all supposed to be in favor of having absolute control over your own body?” Let’s deconstruct this a bit.

Bodily autonomy is an incredibly important concept. It states that your body is yours and yours alone. No one can touch you, use your body, force you to carry pregnancy to term, etc. without your consent. The trauma caused by having your body used without your consent is very real and very damaging, so it’s important to acknowledge that bodily autonomy is indeed a human right, but within reason. I have every right to drink myself into oblivion, beat myself up, stand on my head, run around until I puke, whatever other damaging thing I want to do to my own body because it’s my own. That right stops when what I want to do with my body endangers other people in society.

This is where pro-lifers will jump in with “a-ha! so you admit that your right to bodily autonomy doesn’t include pregnancy” and no, that’s not correct. You don’t get to tell me that a fetus is a person. Your religion may tell you that, but maybe mine doesn’t. I have as much freedom of religion as you do. So I am referring to people who have already been born, those who have legal personhood by issuance of a birth certificate. Any debate beyond that is a different argument for a different time.

Moving on, I cannot decide to drive drunk because of bodily autonomy. My right to do what I want with my body ends there, because it puts others in danger. I can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater. I can’t swing my fists wildly while surrounded by people. There are rules we must follow in society to keep people safe. There are also things I can only do in certain situations. I can perform CPR, but only on an unconscious person who appears to need it, and because I’m CPR certified. I can travel to another country, but only if I have a passport and am not carrying any weapons. I can drive a car, but only if I have a valid license. If I don’t want to do any of these prerequisites, I can choose not to perform those acts.

Hopefully it’s fairly obvious where I’m going with this. There are lot’s of things that you can’t do with your body without first doing something to insure that other people are not put in danger by it. It just so happens that during a global pandemic, being around large groups of people without being vaccinated and/or masked puts them in danger, and can therefore become a restricted activity. Want to work in a school? You can do that, if you get vaccinated. Want to go to a concert? You can do that, if you get vaccinated. Want to keep your job that makes you interact with the public regularly? You can, if you get vaccinated. If you’d rather not get vaccinated, you can make that choice, but you then fail to meet the requirements to be a full participant in society. Those are the consequences of your choices. Throwing a fit about it won’t make it less dangerous. Keeping people safe must be the #1 priority. Yes, sometimes personal freedoms have to be sacrificed for this. You’ve been doing it your whole life already, this is just one more thing.

Furthermore, since this particular group of people seem to think that their right not to get a shot or two outweighs the unalienable right to life of hundreds of thousands of others, I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way past this will be to make them required everywhere. Want to go somewhere other than your house? Proof of vax required. Gain your freedom through a shot. Those of us who have been acting selflessly throughout this past year and a half are so far beyond exhausted with the lies and outright vitriol of those who hold personal freedoms above all else. Healthcare workers have been pushed to the edge once again with this variant. Countless people on hospitalized are begging their loved ones to get the shot, and still we have protests and rallies and disinformation everywhere. It’s clear that rational argument has failed. I and many others are simply out of patience. It’s time to make it mandatory.

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feministsagainstviolence · 7 years

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Hey! Just wanted to start off but saying that I love your page. Even though I am pro-choice, it's really cool to see a pro-life feminist blog because I didn't know that was a thing. I don't want to sound rude, but I was wondering if you could explain to me how you view pro-life feminism. It's not that I think you're wrong but I just haven't seen it from this side before, and I want to be more educated on both sides of the debate. I'm sorry if you've been asked this before. Thanks for your help!

Aw, you’re good! Thanks for the love! ♡

Basically, my impetus for feminism is a belief in nondiscrimination and equity for all human beings. With that I push for equal pay, equal treatment in the workforce, ending violence against women and others, promoting body positivity, demanding justice and human rights for all, and many other facets of feminism.

Because of this motivation, and especially because of the way women and PoC and other marginalized groups have historically been treated, it doesn’t make sense for me to then turn around and treat preborn children as disposable human beings. Strictly speaking from biology, the preborn are whole, living human beings from the moment of fertilization. Who am I to say that because they are smaller and much more dependent that they don’t have equal worth? In my eyes, their bodily autonomy began the moment their body began to exist. I live by a consistent ethic of nonviolence, and so I believe that all human beings — no matter their gender, age, dependency, or ability — have the right to live a life free from violence.

Hopefully that clears it up a little. :) Thank you for the kind question!

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honeybeelily · 7 years

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A question was asked....

....of me over the weekend. I have no idea in what way the comment was meant as it was via lovely Facebook but it has been bothering me. I did not reply back. I have not said anything still. However I have spent a great deal thinking about this small, insignificant comment.

“Has anyone told you the election is over.”

I was awake watching the results on November 8th. I was there with fellow Americans, the nation, and the world watching the results unfold with bated breath. I was one of the 65,800,000+ Americans that was devastated by the results, unable to catch my breath.

Yes, I know the election is over.

I was angry. I was disappointed. I was disgusted. A man who had no problem saying "I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything." was elected of the free world.

To be fair, Hillary wasn’t my original candidate either. Yet we aligned on many different topics the most. The longer Cheeto ran, the more I desired her to win for I felt she stood more for democracy than he did. But that didn’t matter, did it? Even though she was the more popular candidate she still lost the election.

After a while, politically I went quiet. I retreated from the news and social media to digest the loss as much as I could. To focus on the things I could directly control like the safety of my staff against hate and abuse. Yet even that came under scrutiny. “Then just move.” Yes, because I can just pack up and move to some magical place that racism, hate, bigotry, sexism, misogyny, and ignorance doesn’t exist. Like I don’t have responsibilities and obligations that I can just drop and move. You know, a husband and career.

I shed tears when I heard the electoral college voted Cheeto into office. Again I was angry but I tried to keep quiet. “Give him a chance.” I thought. “Maybe it was all a show and he will actually do right by America. Maybe I was wrong.” I hoped and prayed more than I ever have in my entire life. After a very long and painful 2016, I prayed that 2017 would be kinder, wiser, and more loving than any year before.

Then January 20th, 2017 happened.

The day I gave up any form of faith as I watched how Melanie show clear signs of abuse. Something I am unfortunately intimately familiar with. The day I watched the first President I had ever voted for leave the oval office for the final time. The day I felt that everything negative about humanity had won. The day we became the most divided.

Within 24 hours my greatest fears for this nation were confirmed. Our President accused that millions voted illegally for Hillary even though there is zero proof to support this (Actually, some woman did illegally vote, for him). Betsy DeVos was announced as the choice for Education Secretary. You seriously think this woman deserves to head education? We are already struggling with educating our young and we want to condemn them further? I remember public school and there are far worse school’s than mine.

Executive action to repeal the ACA which will end up restricting health insurance to millions of people from the man that wants to reinstate “Pre Existing Conditions” back into play. This would effect my family just like the millions around the country. Oh, don’t forget there is no replacement plan on the table last I heard.

However the bad news didn’t stop there, did it? Scott Pruitt to head the EPA. Climate change removed from the White House Website while scientists are being silenced about it (You know, national parks setting up alternate twitter accounts to continue to inform people of science facts.) Not to mention the other multiple federal agencies ordered not to speak to the press. Instead we are getting “Alternate Facts” which are utter bullshit.

He pledged to sign FADA, a legalized form of discrimation against the LGBTQ community. The ban on Green Card & Visa holders from 7 middle east countries and detaining them from their families and responsibilities for “The Security Of The Nation” while conveniently leaving out Saudi Arabia where he has a business and, where one could argue, many terrorists can come from too. It also supports discriminating against a person’s faith. Don’t forget the Muslim register that could go into effect. *Cough* Like the persecution of Jews *Cough*

The Senate wanting to strip away a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and the health care associated with it. Pushing the Pro-Life agenda without having any plan in place to support the children you are forcing us to have. And don’t you dare give me the bullshit about keeping my legs closed when there are studies showing that sexual activity builds a closer and healthier relationship with your spouse. Or the long term environmental effects each life has. You know, the fact this planet cannot sustain life if we continue down the path we are currently on.

Keystone XL & Dakota Access pipelines are going forward again. Cheeto and cabinet members still using their personal electronics for government duties and responsibilities. Wasn’t that what you were all upset about with Hillary? #Thefuckingwall. Not only is this one of the dumbest things he wants to implement, it does not foster any good will with other countries which we really need. I would rather spend my tax dollars on education, infrastructure, health, and science.

I’m sure I’m missing several other key pieces of information but I think you get the idea. If you voted for Cheeto, for whatever reason, I do not hate, dislike, or unlove you. I respect you used your American privilege to vote for who you thought was right. I will not attack, torment, or be prejudice of you. But I do not have to respect him as many of you did not respect Obama. I will not say his name, he has not earned it in my book. Yes, I know the election is over. But did you know…

In the words of Agent Carter “..Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides something WRONG is something RIGHT. This nation was founded on the one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or consequences…..When the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world. ‘No, YOU move.’ “

I will not stand quietly by as people’s rights are taken away out of fear. I will not quietly stand as a dictator tries to silence the people, which violates our most sacred amendment, the first amendment. I will not stand by as our rights are attempted to be taken away by a proven Nazi (Bannon). I will not stand for injustice, racism, hate, bigotry, sexism, misogyny, and ignorance. I will not fear.

I will march. I will call my representative. I will read and educate myself. I will have discussions. I will advocate for every man, woman, child regardless of the color of their skin or the choice of religious faith. I will stand for your right to your opinion even if they are on the opposite sides. I will be peaceful in my protest but I will also refuse to move. Let me be the first to say that I’m sure I don’t have all the facts. I’m sure there is more to everything than we will ever know. I’m sure more information will continue to come out and we will all have to navigate the waters of journalism and decide what is truth nor will we all agree. But I will fight for you, myself, friends, family, strangers, and mostly importantly our future.

“A day may come when the courage of men fails, When we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, But it is not this day.

An hour of woes and shattered shields, When the age of men comes crashing down, But it is not this day…..this day we fight.” -Aragorn

Yes, I know the election if over. But do you know the #Resistance is revived?

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