Reproductive Justice Thread

Because while "Abortion Classic or Dud?" is indeed a classic it's a new century.

Fucked up day in the RJ/abortion field as the grand jury indictment of Kermit Gosnell has been picked up by antis (Michelle Malkin got excited about it) who're getting very "WHY ISN'T THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA COVERING THIS?" - meanwhile the case is three years old and RJ advocates have been on it forever

don't read the indictment unless you have a very strong stomach, but do read the women's health news piece - the Gosnell case highlights how denial of abortion access means that the poor - disproportionately women of color - end up in the hands of a monster like Kermit Gosnell.

this is super horrifying and enraging

it's one of the worst things ever, just unspeakable.

yep. the author's point about the care being analogous to underground clinics pre-roe is well-taken

^^^ that's the thing - in light of all these fuckin state-level restrictions, we are going to see more cases like this. or we won't see them, they'll just happen in poor communities that're off other people's radar. it's hard not to be so completely horrified by the actual infanticide taking place at that clinic that you lose sight of the rest of the story: unsanitary conditions, women getting horrific quality-of-care. but the total picture is a picture of the future of abortion services in places that're legislating them out of existence.

Fuck this makes me so angry.

the summary was horrifying, i can't even imagine what the indictment reads like. fucking hell

So here's a thing. Before my parents were married my mother got pregnant and they decided at the time that they weren't able to support a child and she would terminate the pregnancy. She went to her doc somewhere uptown in NYC and he gave her the address of a clinic in LONDON. They scraped together the money for the flight and my mother flew to England, took a cab to an abortion clinic and then flew home the next day. The thing is they were somehow able to afford this and she therefore avoided having to have some back alley unsanitary and possibly deadly procedure. Many many women were not as lucky and the idea that we could return to that kind of a situation where this sort of thing is commonplace makes me pretty sick tbh.

btw one of my friends is doing this bowl-a-thon thing for National Abortion Access and they're almost at their goal but it would be really cool if they could exceed it so if you feel so inclined: http://bowlathon.nnaf.org/nnafbowl/teampage.asp?fundid=1542

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/of-judges-and-judging/?hp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/01/obama-administration-plans-to-appeal-plan-b-ruling/

whatta guy huh

from the AP

Current and former White House aides said Obama’s approach to the issue has been heavily influenced by his experience as the father of two school-age daughters.

obama deigns to stop fighting against the availability of plan B to girls who need it, despite his 'personal views'

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/11/opinion/carroll-morning-after-pill/

in any event, about goddam time

Irish cabinet agree wording on abortion bill

Pretty soon, my evil plan to abort everyone will be complete!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/texas-abortion-bill_n_3501005.html

I was in a car all day (riding, not driving) following the filibuster on Twitter, going completely insane, and was in a motel in time to catch the final two hours on the live stream - the end, when the gallery erupted, was profoundly moving: it was consequent on Senator Van de Putte asking "At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues?” The closing vote/nonvote and the subsequent timestamp shenanigans capped of day of bad faith on the part of the Texas GOP but I went to bed at 2 thinking "of course they're going to do this, that is how they operate." to wake up to (probably temporary: Perry spoke to the Right to Life convention yesterday and will probably call another special session) good news was an unexpected treat.

lots of people inspired by the filibuster, anyhow - there was a real feeling of solidarity yesterday, which is worth something, who knows what, but something

http://gawker.com/model-citizen-bravely-blasts-lawmakers-at-texas-abortio-723731551

This is some bullshit here.

I don't get it, she was just starting to get to the good part

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists gives the TX legislature what-for in an open letter: PDF Link

http://jezebel.com/reuters-catches-male-texas-lawmakers-looking-suuuuper-b-730714285

Supreme Court to review Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/south-dakota-stace-nelson-ban-sex-based-abortions-because-asian-immigrants

...come from ethnic backgrounds that are known to practice sex selection,"

Another slide read, "Ethnic backgrounds that are known to practice sex selection account for up to 3.9% of all abortions in South Dakota."

Ethic backgrounds are not...oh never mind, carry on.

How can a background have an abortion?

Might as well put this here since it's a thing I'm doing with a friend and it's really important:

http://bowlathon.nnaf.org/nnafbowl/participantpage.asp?uid=7819&fundid=1864#.UxdRU0XoVXw.facebook

ugh, I'm kind of annoyed because a certain organization that is definitely in the reproductive justice sphere is having multiple lobbyists quit in different states, mostly due to the fact their new supervisor is not good

my friend is the lobbyist for my state, but I think she's holding on for now...

Hey I'm posting this again because it's really fucking important to me and to the women this might help benefit.

This weekend every donation to my fundraiser will be matched 1:1 by an anonymous donor to a to a new fund in West Texas, the West Fund. This means your money goes twice as far and to a place that really needs it considering that Texas passed a law that made 1/3 of their abortion clinics close in the past 6 months and that thousands of rural TX women now have no legal access to abortion. Anything you can donate counts even $5 (which this weekend is $10). The matching thing is only now through tomorrow so this would be an excellent time to give if you can.

http://bowlathon.nnaf.org/nnafbowl/participantpage.asp?uid=7819&fundid=1864#.UycCQG7E07U.facebook

you will have so much fun too. I don't know if I can bowl with my team (the Reproductive Justice League, don'tcha know) this year but this event is such a great, great thing. We had the entire bowling alley last year. To be in a bowling alley full of people having fun and they're all doing it to fund abortion for people who can't afford it is so inspiring seriously the bowl-a-thon is amazing.

Aw! I'm really excited. :) Something pretty sad though is that they couldn't find a bowling alley big enough that would host us because they all said it was too controversial or against their beliefs. So we're having at this space (that actually does have a couple lanes but not enough) that does shows and stuff and it's gonna be Wii bowling, trivia, and kareoke instead. Should still be so fun.

fair play enbb

tho i read it as triathlon first and i was like "hmm im p sure id a seen a lot more of her on the running/cycling threads"....

lol yeah, no

Also, I got a couple anonymous donations today and I don't know if it was from posting here or fb but if they were from someone on here just thank you so much. :)

don't see my anonymous $10

Awww! When did you do it? Maybe it take a little bit to show up?

last night, just before midnight trying to get the matching funds

huh! did you get a receipt? It definitely should be showing up by now :/

my brain was fried over the weekend so I just doubled down on my donation this morning

arghh didn't go through, forgot I received a call on friday about a (correctly) suspected %950 fraudulent charge and they cancelled my card and are sending one with a new number. I normally use an AmEx card but they don't accept it, so will have to wait a few days, and also double down....

my email acct was hacked into last week too....

Aw, that sucks about the fraud and hacking but thank you (and MH) so much!

Uh fyi visa just called me too WHAT KINDA SCAM IS THIS

dont panic tho it was just part of a pattern check, stand down

I'm gonna be honest I was a little put off that I couldn't use PayPal, didn't want to give my CC info directly

Oh, I will mention that! Are you OC by any chance?

That's not me, I haven't chipped in yet

Oh! OK! I have no idea who that is. Interesting!

Hi guys. So the woman I'm "bowling" with is a former co-worker from when I interned at an organization dedicated to enabling communities to both prevent teen pregnancies and to increase opportunities for youth and young parents. She still works there now and is awesome. While I plan on volunteering with the EMA fund starting in the fall, she does so now and posted this earlier. It's worth sharing.

"The other night I went to a meeting of Eastern Massachusetts Abortion Fund volunteers. We spent a long time talking about difficult situations we had worked through with callers. It reminded me how vital our work is and most people don't know what our callers are dealing with. I'd like to share a few stories.

1. One caller was in her 20s and was in the military. She had been raped at a college party. Because military health insurance doesn't cover abortion, she turned to us. We were able to make her a $200 grant to cover what she couldn't pay for on her own.

2. Another caller was an employee of a Catholic school. Her insurance wouldn't cover the abortion and because she was a single woman, she would be fired if her employer knew she was pregnant. We gave her a grant.

3. A caller I worked with, in her 30s, had just left her abusive husband. She had been laid off from her job. She couldn't use her insurance because her husband was the policyholder and she was afraid for her safety if he found out. With the discount we get from Planned Parenthood, and a grant from us, she was able to have her abortion.

4. Another caller was an African immigrant whose birth control had failed. Because our state health insurance website has been riddled with glitches like Healthcare.gov, she was unable to get enrolled in our state insurance plan in time for the procedure, which was the next day. We gave her a grant.

We fund everyone who needs us, regardless of age, religion, or whether they are pro choice or not (yes, women who are against abortion have abortions and we help them too). We offer a nonjudgmental listening ear. We believe each person makes the best decisions for herself and her family.

Please donate."

http://bowlathon.nnaf.org/nnafbowl/participantpage.asp?uid=7819&fundid=1864#.UycCQG7E07U.facebook

Supported a local Cleveland friend in her Bowlathon fundraising since Ohio has decided to jump on the TRAP train like we don't have any other fucking problems. Sent you something as well this morning, ENBB. Keep fighting the good fight!

Thank you, Phil - I just saw! <3

> Another caller was an employee of a Catholic school. Her insurance wouldn't cover the abortion and because she was a single woman, she would be fired if her employer knew she was pregnant.

That BTW is illegal in every US state. Although employers of course will claim the dismissal was for some other reason; it often takes several similar cases from the same employer before a solid legal case can be made.

She's an employee of a church and they can have morals clauses, can't they?

idk, I was thinking that Catholic schools had some weird exemptions but I might be dreaming that up

state-by-state religious employer exemptions rundown:

http://www.sidley.com/db30/cgi-bin/pubs/final_religious%20institutions%20practice%20group.pdf

In a few states you can legally fire someone for becoming pregnant, but only if pregnancy somehow interferes with doing her job. In most states with religious exemptions, religious institutions and schools are allowed to give preference to people sharing their religious beliefs when hiring or terminating employees, i.e. if a Protestant taught at a Muslim school and routinely advocated Christian tenets or made derogatory statements about Islamic principles, s/he could legally be fired. But employees' personal lives, such as becoming parents, are gernerally considered protected by the constitutional right to privacy. So unless the pregnant Catholic school teacher used her situation to lash out to her students about why Catholicism shouldn't look down on single parenthood, she is in the clear.

good to know!

Hi guys. The triathlon is this week so if you've been meaning to donate time is running out. Also, I'm really close to reaching my goal and I would love to hit it by Thursday. Please donate if you want to and can and thanks to all who have so far!! :D

http://bowlathon.nnaf.org/nnafbowl/participantpage.asp?uid=7819&fundid=1864#.UycCQG7E07U.facebook

Even five bucks is a big help! :)

ugh

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/06/26/supreme-court-buffer-zone-decision-sparks-varying-reactions-outside-clinics/PAnSLlvVf3k3hiKbU1pzzM/story.html

arrrgh

http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/10/court-blocks-abortion-limits-in-texas/

good news

kinda teared up at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQT1jmHEApU&feature=youtu.be

Texas passed a law that made 1/3 of their abortion clinics close in the past 6 months and that thousands of rural TX women now have no legal access to abortion

Some good news on this front:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/29/politics/texas-abortion-clinic-supreme-court/index.html

Not sure how much if any national exposure the story got but a couple weeks ago the Planned Parenthood office in my tiny middle-of-nowhere college town was firebombed and is currently shut down until they can regroup and rebuild.

Anyway, if all the recent bullshit about Planned Parenthood has gotten you riled up and you were thinking of donating money anyway, might I suggest specifically targeting your donation towards this particular branch.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harris-grand-jury-indicts-pair-behind-Planned-6782865.php

so much schadenfreude

I think I got drunk just reading that

Sometimes the right things happen.

This is a good move:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/polish-women-strike-abortion-laws-restrictions-changes-economy-a7339141.html

what a creep

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/03/25/oklahoma-lawmaker-defends-pregnancy-from-rape-and-incest-as-beauty-from-ashes/

But would he volunteer to take full responsibility and ownership of that bit of beauty from the ashes? Including college costs? If he palms off all the responsibility onto God, that really stinks. <- I have that straight from God, incidentally.

I swear to dog . . .

House Republicans saved a front-row seat in the hearing on an abortion ban for ... a sonogram. #NoAbortionBan pic.twitter.com/02dfHcJVan

— NARAL (@NARAL) November 1, 2017

....pre-birthers?