Before getting into the content of today's article, I want to say Happy 43rd Birthday to Hemant and to thank him for all he has done for atheism/secularism/humanism.
This asshole said the quiet part out loud. His explicit desires on display here are: 1. Women are less than men. 2. Pro-life does means controlling women and not protecting living humans. 3. "Anyone who disagrees with me is wrong and and enemy deserving of being killed.*
The bloodlust and hunger for power that comes with their belief system is off the charts.
If abortion is so repugnant to the people sponsoring this bill, I want to know why they haven't addressed the biggest abortionist of all: Yahweh. They complain about women terminating their pregnancies, while the god they more than likely worship has wasted potential lives by the BILLIONS. Unimplanted fertilized eggs, miscarriages due to multiple fetal abnormalities, and stillbirths resulting from other irregularities in the gestation process are the clear evidence of Yahweh's attitude toward pregnancy. Were they counted against the comparatively safe and controlled procedures women experience now, the comparison would resemble the volume of the Pacific Ocean against a glass of water.
We all know the reason for this. Put bluntly: control of women. Subjugation of women to second-class status and reassertion of the patriarchy ... by a bunch of insecure, immature men. Makes me embarrassed to be of the same sex as those putzes.
They are badly clone insecure frightened little toddlers (my apologies to toddlers) in men’s suits; trying to act tough and manly, when all their actions scream I AM SOOOO SCARED OF POWERFUL INDEPENDENT WOMEN!
The so-called pro-life community couldn’t care less about the health and well-being of women, they never met a war they didn’t love, they’re pro-death penalty, anti-gun control and quit caring about the child the moment it’s breathing on it’s own. If they’re so pro-life why aren’t they pushing for universal healthcare? This is all about controlling and debasing women in the name of morality. They envy the Taliban.
Those things could lead to promiscuity, and if we just keep teenagers as ignorant as possible there is no possibility of them ever trying to figure things out for themselves. /S
I await the news of Barrett (or any other xtian fanatigelical that supports hideous misogynistic anti-life legislation) to be caught in flagrante delicto with prepubescent boys and/or girls.
If I was a betting person, I would say the odds are very extremely high that these Christian fascist fuckwits will be caught sexually abusing a child (boy or girl)!
Well, if the sinful harlots would just recognize that they are property owned by their menfolk and they can always be replaced with a more compliant 13 year-old little girl from the youth group, the big, strong, righteous menfolk wouldn't have to hurt them so.
Cutting off aid to Africa has murdered over 1 million people mostly women and children, so far. Can Trump supporters in Tennessee be charged with murder? Or is it only murder if they imagine them being white?
It won’t apply to spontaneous abortion/miscarriage unless they can find any excuse whatsoever to blame the woman for the pregnancy loss. Did she have a sip of wine? Is she working? Did she clean the litter box? Maybe she got in a fight and someone shot her causing the fetus to expire. Yes, that really happened and they blamed the pregnant woman for getting shot. Right now they’re arresting and jailing women for not handling the products of conception properly when they, flush them, save them to bring in to the hospital, bury them, throw them in the trash with the pads. So I do not trust that women suffering from doomed pregnancies will be spared being prosecuted for their pregnancy loss.
I don't know whether you read @Jessica Valenti's newsletter? With infuriating regularity she's reporting of women who are being investigated (and sometimes arrested, detained and charged) with offences related to a spontaneous miscarriage.
Such laws as the ones proposed will actually create danger for lots of women, especially those who might have pregnancy complications.
Further Thought: Scenario - Born-again Tennessee legislator comes home to discover that his beloved wife has an ectopic pregnancy. She is in no small amount of pain, and her life is clearly at risk.
So what do you do, Cappy Dick? Get appropriate treatment for the women you love or let her die in agonizing pain for the sake of your misguided ideology?
Here’s the thing with the so called exceptions for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, as played out in real time in Texas and other abortion ban states, they wait until the pregnant person is near death despite not having any course of action for saving the fetus. When a woman goes to the hospital for a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, the pregnancy is already doomed, there are no interventions to save the fetuses, once the bleeding starts the pregnancy is already over, even if there is still a heartbeat. That is why the hospitals are sending the women home, if they could do something to stop the pregnancy from ending they would admit and perform their miracle, but they can’t. So, instead of just ending the pregnancy immediately to avoid pain, suffering, life altering complications, and even death, they wait, and they can’t even observe her until they can do something, they send her home to suffer in silence, and hope she comes back in time. An ectopic pregnancy, by the time it is caught, the development of the zygote is already compromised and it will not develop properly, it’s already dead just not done dying. We can’t just pull it out from where it shouldn’t be and put it where it should, but we can simply remove it. They won’t do that until there’s no other choice, but by then, it can be too late. Same goes for miscarriage. Even “late term” abortions, fetuses that are incompatible with life once born do not deserve to suffer birth and slow death. Anyway, medical science cannot stop the extant miscarriages from continuing, but they refuse to do what it takes to save the living person from suffering and death from it. Like I have said many times, for the religious right/pro-lifers/forced-birthers, if women can’t have a live baby, then they should die. Women are just baby factories and they deserve the pain and suffering involved with that.
Believe me, I've heard those stories, and each one just makes me sick. Politicians tying the hands of doctors, because pro-life, because baby, because irrational reasons that add up to: "We're the MEN and WE tell the women what to do, FULL STOP."
Bunch of limp-dick idiot-children who couldn't SPELL "empathy," let alone practice it.
He will say that his wife doesn’t have an ectopic pregnancy in public, while making damm sure she gets treated for it in another state so his constituents won’t know about it!
Yep this exactly. These rules are for the commoners; wealthy upper-class women can always find a doctor for their 'sickness' or go on a short vacation.
♫♪ Out in the hall they were talking in a whisper / Everybody noticed she was gone awhile / Somebody said she's gone to her sister's / But everybody knew what they were talking about... ♪♫
And what does he do when some investigating reporter comes across this little tidbit and decides to pull Mr. Volunteer State's pants down? The bill says execution for the woman and anyone who helps her.
If you are asking me? I think the legislator will use his money and influence to prevent that story from being published; or try to justify that his wife’s abortion was needed unlike those “other women” who are just COMMON CLASS murders which their abortion wasn’t really “needed”.
I feel sick just writing that! I think I need a strong drink!
Oh, REALLY? Damn! These guys will do anything to allow themselves to skate on their bullshit. Problem is, there are a lot of other conditions during pregnancy which will 1) obviate ANY chance of the fetus surviving and 2) threaten the life of the mother. I reread the article and the language on that topic is vague to me.
"shocking amendment" No surprises here, Tennessee another Bible Belt state with the Christian death cult leading the way.
Intresting how most of the Bible Belt is riddled with poverty, poor education standards, drug overdoses, sever storms, high teen pregnancies and suicides. Looks like the faithful with their omnipotent deities and bat shit crazy superstitions aren't helping. They need to pray more, lol.
I suspect this is because 1) they are perpetually angry, 2) they want to beat something up, literally or metaphorically and 3) they think they can get away with it.
The Christian nationalists are frightened by anything, or anyone that is different; they have been conditioned to hate that which is different either in anything or anyone!
But the widdle bitty jelly bean baby is just such a cutesy little critter! Why would anybody want to murder such a precious tiny mini-winnie doll of a human being? :^|
First, a very happy birthday to Hement Mehta, and thank you so very much for setting up this Substack!
Second, I'm proud to say I am now a paid member of this substack!
Let's be clear about something: the evangelical Christian conservatives and the Christian Nationalists are ANYTHING BUT "pro-life".
If they were "pro-life", they would:
- have support mechanisms in place before and after the mother has delivered and the baby is born;
- have maternal and fetal health care systems in place during and after pregnancy;
- have a national health care system to take care of families;
- have a comprehensive mental health treatment system in place, not just for mothers, but for all citizens;
- enact gun registration, licensing, mandatory training, and liability insurance legislation with severe penalties for people who break these laws; and kids would not have to go to school in fear that the current day might well be their last day;
- support meals in schools so kids don't have to try to focus on learning when their stomachs are empty;
- support Meals on Wheels so the elderly could count on at least one hot meal per day;
- support public and public/private housing initiatives to help prevent homelessness, as well as people living in grossly substandard housing.
Christian conservatives and the Christian Nationalists support NONE of these things.
Once the baby is born, the baby and the mother are on their own. If the mother is single, she becomes a slut and the baby becomes a bastard. If the mother is married (presumably to a man), she is to be dependent on the man, to cater to his every need and whim, and subordinate her will to his. The baby is little more than property, and a potential Republican Voter.
Were Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists actually "pro-life", they would actually DO the things that Jesus Himself said that His followers were to do, to wit:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave me drink;
I was a stranger, and you took me in;
I was naked, and you clothed me;
I was sick, and you visited me;
I was in prison, and you came to me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’
“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
""Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in;
I was naked, and you didn’t clothe me;
I was sick, and you didn't visit me;
and I was in prison, and you didn’t come to me.’
“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’" (Matthew 25:31-45)
Christian conservatives and the Christian Nationalists support NONE of these things. If they don't ignore Jesus' statements outright, their retort is, "Well, that was THEN, and this is NOW." Somehow, people today aren't "supposed" to be hungry, thirsty, immigrants (and by the way, the Holy Family were all immigrants because they escaped to Egypt during Jesus' infancy), in need of clothing, sick, dying, or imprisoned because that doesn't fit the "Christian world view" of these Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists.
And as far as Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists are concerned, if one is hungry, thirsty, an immigrant, needing clothing, sick, dying or in prison -- well, THOSE PEOPLE were PREDESTINED to be the way they are, now; and interfering in any way to assist these people in any way is directly interfering with "God's will" for these people -- and washing one's hands of "the least of these" makes one a True Christian™!
Rounding up immigrants (naturalized, legal or not) and putting them in concentration camps? Racial profiling? Demonizing LGBT, trans people, and atheists? Extensive use of the death penalty for non-white people? The "pro-life" Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists are completely on board with this!
The non-Christians, the secularist and the atheists do a FAR better job of assisting the hungry, thirsty, etc. because they're not laser-focused on maintaining a "proper Christian world view".
I belong to a consciously progressive parish. The area where I live is having a particularly harsh winter, so we've been working alongside other progressive religious organizations across several denominations (including a progressive Catholic church, a synagogue and a mosque) to provide food, clothing and shelter to homeless and low-income people who are having trouble affording food due to sky-high electricity and gas rates due to our cold winter. Now that Trump has cut food and medical assistance to the poor, we're doing it as best we can -- and we're also teaming up with the secularists (and the atheists) to provide assistance.
Let's be perfectly clear: the Christian conservatives and the Christian Nationalists are ANYTHING BUT "pro-life". They care about fetuses, themselves and Their Great and Glorious Leader, Their God and King, Their Lord and Savior, the Returned Messiah DONOLD JOHN TRUMP† -- pretty much in that order.
What absolutely BLOWS MY MIND is that the "Pro-Forced Birth" group has so little empathy for women, and particularly pregnant women, that they force women whose fetuses have died to carry those dead fetuses to term, even when the women become septic! If the woman is in actual danger of dying, as far as the "Pro-Forced Birth" group is concerned -- TOUGH SHIT.
I'm to the point where I cannot be around conservative Christians or Christian Nationalists. My upper limit of what I can tolerate from them is five minutes or less.
“…providing preborn children with equal protection of the laws. By protecting the lives of preborn children with the same laws that protect people who are born,…”
“Under this legislation, murdering anyone would be made illegal for everyone, ensuring that all humans made in the image of God are equally protected”
Except that is not what is happening. You are removing legal protections from born people to provide more rights to the zef than any other being in the world has, and you are taking rights away from pregnant people reducing them to less than the rights of dead people. No one has the right to use the body of any other person. No one. You can’t make a father donate his blood for his child to live. And that is a simple procedure that doesn’t even require a local anesthetic, can be done in an hour, and leaves no lasting effects on the donor. You can’t force a sibling to donate a kidney or liver, you don’t get to harvest organs from a corpse unless you have direct specific permission before that person dies. But a fetus is allowed to drain calcium, iron, hormones, all nutrients from the pregnant person, while damaging the organs and systems throughout the entire body for months. Pregnant people are never recovered from pregnancy, they are just expected to have brain fog, emotional instability, weaker bones and teeth, a lack of flexibility, bladder control issues, and extra fat for the rest of their lives. And that is before the pregnancies that actually cause recognized damage like gestational diabetes, broken ribs or pelvis, autoimmune diseases. But we have to protect autonomy when it comes to donating blood, but definitely not when it comes to giving up your entire body.
The term unborn child is sickening. It may not be born so unborn is true, but it is not a child, nor is it a baby. It is a zygote, embryo or fetus. It must be born to be a baby, it must be over a year old to be a child. We could just as easily call it an unborn adult if we are going to play this game. And the fucker who describes embryos as the jelly bean little babies (or however it was described) is trying to get you to think that it looks like a tiny fully formed baby, which they do not. This is all emotional manipulation to win over people to their side. But the more they push, the less credibility they get, protect the unborn like the born by murdering the born for exercising their bodily autonomy.
As for abolishing abortion, we know it will never happen, they only are going to abolish safe abortion and kill women in the process. And not even pregnant women, but by making abortion illegal it puts all women’s healthcare at risk. Fewer people will pursue ob/gyn practice or even study women’s health, which is already ridiculously understudied by a million miles. They want this as much as they want to punish women for being sexually active or simply for being alive and not submissive. They want us pumping out babies, and if we can’t produce a live child as often as possible, they want us dead. But that’s just the background, I’ve noticed that the stricter the abortion policies the shittier the state/country quality of life. Maybe it’s a question of which causes which, but with what is going on in real time in our country, I feel like the abortion policies are what shapes the quality of life. Knowing that keeping women tied to babies and children, interfering in their opportunities for education and work, is detrimental to society as a whole. I have read plenty of literature noting that when women are afforded opportunities to learn and work for pay, the children become more successful overall, which makes society more successful. But gatekeeping education and paid work for only men, society stagnates. We get the oligarchies and slave states that only ever rewards a tiny fraction of the top of the hierarchy. Third world countries seem to all have very strict abortion restrictions, our worst performing states have always had limited access to abortion and, now Roe is overturned, are quickly sliding into third world societies. But we can’t seem to see the connection. I think the oligarchs in power do and know how they can use this to retain their control. And now that we have this cult of personality in charge being used by the modern oligarchs of the USA, they’re so ready to throw women and children into the trash to keep their gold coin swimming pools full.
And of course the elite members of the Christian fascist movement will be able to get abortion, or will be exempted from the law. It will be the poor, middle class and non-white women that will suffer the most; not the wealthiest elites!
"You can’t force a sibling to donate a kidney or liver, you don’t get to harvest organs from a corpse unless you have direct specific permission before that person dies."
Before getting into the content of today's article, I want to say Happy 43rd Birthday to Hemant and to thank him for all he has done for atheism/secularism/humanism.
I raise my glass to him.
Happy Birthday to you Hemant! May it be joyful and prosperous!
Hear-hear!
It's 5 o'clock somewhere!
16.47 here ...
🍺🍺
"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜-𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤." (𝐴 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛)
"𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑟." (𝐴 𝑏𝑖𝑔𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟)
This asshole said the quiet part out loud. His explicit desires on display here are: 1. Women are less than men. 2. Pro-life does means controlling women and not protecting living humans. 3. "Anyone who disagrees with me is wrong and and enemy deserving of being killed.*
The bloodlust and hunger for power that comes with their belief system is off the charts.
No male representative should be allowed to vote on women’s healthcare issues.
It's what Jesus wants.
But let's shoot the messenger anyway.
If abortion is so repugnant to the people sponsoring this bill, I want to know why they haven't addressed the biggest abortionist of all: Yahweh. They complain about women terminating their pregnancies, while the god they more than likely worship has wasted potential lives by the BILLIONS. Unimplanted fertilized eggs, miscarriages due to multiple fetal abnormalities, and stillbirths resulting from other irregularities in the gestation process are the clear evidence of Yahweh's attitude toward pregnancy. Were they counted against the comparatively safe and controlled procedures women experience now, the comparison would resemble the volume of the Pacific Ocean against a glass of water.
We all know the reason for this. Put bluntly: control of women. Subjugation of women to second-class status and reassertion of the patriarchy ... by a bunch of insecure, immature men. Makes me embarrassed to be of the same sex as those putzes.
They are badly clone insecure frightened little toddlers (my apologies to toddlers) in men’s suits; trying to act tough and manly, when all their actions scream I AM SOOOO SCARED OF POWERFUL INDEPENDENT WOMEN!
Pathetic, ain't it?
Yes, it is!!!!!!!
So pro-life that they'll kill ya for it.
And THAT is your Minimum Daily Requirement of IRONY for today!
The so-called pro-life community couldn’t care less about the health and well-being of women, they never met a war they didn’t love, they’re pro-death penalty, anti-gun control and quit caring about the child the moment it’s breathing on it’s own. If they’re so pro-life why aren’t they pushing for universal healthcare? This is all about controlling and debasing women in the name of morality. They envy the Taliban.
𝐼𝑓 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑖𝑑, 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠
Don't forget the most effective abortion-reducer of all time: good sex ed combined with easy access to prophylactics and birth control.
But no, they won't do that either. It's allllll about culture war.
Those things could lead to promiscuity, and if we just keep teenagers as ignorant as possible there is no possibility of them ever trying to figure things out for themselves. /S
Some of these dopes could USE a little promiscuity. Might loosen their brains a bit, let 'em think a little clearer.
I await the news of Barrett (or any other xtian fanatigelical that supports hideous misogynistic anti-life legislation) to be caught in flagrante delicto with prepubescent boys and/or girls.
If I was a betting person, I would say the odds are very extremely high that these Christian fascist fuckwits will be caught sexually abusing a child (boy or girl)!
Well, if the sinful harlots would just recognize that they are property owned by their menfolk and they can always be replaced with a more compliant 13 year-old little girl from the youth group, the big, strong, righteous menfolk wouldn't have to hurt them so.
(Pukes)
Cutting off aid to Africa has murdered over 1 million people mostly women and children, so far. Can Trump supporters in Tennessee be charged with murder? Or is it only murder if they imagine them being white?
One has to ask: how many pregnancies there could be saved through proper prenatal care ... which may be as rare as hen's teeth in some quarters?
"It would not apply to “a spontaneous miscarriage,”"
So, letting god off the hook. How special.
It won’t apply to spontaneous abortion/miscarriage unless they can find any excuse whatsoever to blame the woman for the pregnancy loss. Did she have a sip of wine? Is she working? Did she clean the litter box? Maybe she got in a fight and someone shot her causing the fetus to expire. Yes, that really happened and they blamed the pregnant woman for getting shot. Right now they’re arresting and jailing women for not handling the products of conception properly when they, flush them, save them to bring in to the hospital, bury them, throw them in the trash with the pads. So I do not trust that women suffering from doomed pregnancies will be spared being prosecuted for their pregnancy loss.
I don't know whether you read @Jessica Valenti's newsletter? With infuriating regularity she's reporting of women who are being investigated (and sometimes arrested, detained and charged) with offences related to a spontaneous miscarriage.
Such laws as the ones proposed will actually create danger for lots of women, especially those who might have pregnancy complications.
Further Thought: Scenario - Born-again Tennessee legislator comes home to discover that his beloved wife has an ectopic pregnancy. She is in no small amount of pain, and her life is clearly at risk.
So what do you do, Cappy Dick? Get appropriate treatment for the women you love or let her die in agonizing pain for the sake of your misguided ideology?
I'm waiting...
Here’s the thing with the so called exceptions for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, as played out in real time in Texas and other abortion ban states, they wait until the pregnant person is near death despite not having any course of action for saving the fetus. When a woman goes to the hospital for a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, the pregnancy is already doomed, there are no interventions to save the fetuses, once the bleeding starts the pregnancy is already over, even if there is still a heartbeat. That is why the hospitals are sending the women home, if they could do something to stop the pregnancy from ending they would admit and perform their miracle, but they can’t. So, instead of just ending the pregnancy immediately to avoid pain, suffering, life altering complications, and even death, they wait, and they can’t even observe her until they can do something, they send her home to suffer in silence, and hope she comes back in time. An ectopic pregnancy, by the time it is caught, the development of the zygote is already compromised and it will not develop properly, it’s already dead just not done dying. We can’t just pull it out from where it shouldn’t be and put it where it should, but we can simply remove it. They won’t do that until there’s no other choice, but by then, it can be too late. Same goes for miscarriage. Even “late term” abortions, fetuses that are incompatible with life once born do not deserve to suffer birth and slow death. Anyway, medical science cannot stop the extant miscarriages from continuing, but they refuse to do what it takes to save the living person from suffering and death from it. Like I have said many times, for the religious right/pro-lifers/forced-birthers, if women can’t have a live baby, then they should die. Women are just baby factories and they deserve the pain and suffering involved with that.
Believe me, I've heard those stories, and each one just makes me sick. Politicians tying the hands of doctors, because pro-life, because baby, because irrational reasons that add up to: "We're the MEN and WE tell the women what to do, FULL STOP."
Bunch of limp-dick idiot-children who couldn't SPELL "empathy," let alone practice it.
He will say that his wife doesn’t have an ectopic pregnancy in public, while making damm sure she gets treated for it in another state so his constituents won’t know about it!
Yep this exactly. These rules are for the commoners; wealthy upper-class women can always find a doctor for their 'sickness' or go on a short vacation.
♫♪ Out in the hall they were talking in a whisper / Everybody noticed she was gone awhile / Somebody said she's gone to her sister's / But everybody knew what they were talking about... ♪♫
-- Bruce Hornsby, "The Long Valley Road"
And what does he do when some investigating reporter comes across this little tidbit and decides to pull Mr. Volunteer State's pants down? The bill says execution for the woman and anyone who helps her.
How say you now, bub?
If you are asking me? I think the legislator will use his money and influence to prevent that story from being published; or try to justify that his wife’s abortion was needed unlike those “other women” who are just COMMON CLASS murders which their abortion wasn’t really “needed”.
I feel sick just writing that! I think I need a strong drink!
I think I'm with you on that one, and I wonder if it's too early in the day to be reaching for the Glenlivet.
And I find myself longing for the days of Mike Wallace and Dan Rather.
"Terminating an ectopic pregnancy is not abortion." I have heard them say that
Oh, REALLY? Damn! These guys will do anything to allow themselves to skate on their bullshit. Problem is, there are a lot of other conditions during pregnancy which will 1) obviate ANY chance of the fetus surviving and 2) threaten the life of the mother. I reread the article and the language on that topic is vague to me.
Damn, but how I positively HATE this shit.
"shocking amendment" No surprises here, Tennessee another Bible Belt state with the Christian death cult leading the way.
Intresting how most of the Bible Belt is riddled with poverty, poor education standards, drug overdoses, sever storms, high teen pregnancies and suicides. Looks like the faithful with their omnipotent deities and bat shit crazy superstitions aren't helping. They need to pray more, lol.
Happy birthday Hemant!
Thanks
"The Moral Culture War" - these people are always at war with something lol
I suspect this is because 1) they are perpetually angry, 2) they want to beat something up, literally or metaphorically and 3) they think they can get away with it.
'Puritanism: the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.'
-Mencken.
Yup ... know that one well ... and I wonder how many men who think like Jody Barrett are genuinely happy ... or happy in any way at all.
The Christian nationalists are frightened by anything, or anyone that is different; they have been conditioned to hate that which is different either in anything or anyone!
More often than not, they're at war with common sense.
". . . we have failed to identify that tiny little, jelly-bean-sized baby as a human being."
No. It is not a "human being" yet. It has the potential to become one, but it is not there yet.
It doesn’t resemble a baby at that point either, barely resembles a jelly-bean. It does represent a deadly threat to the pregnant person, though.
But the widdle bitty jelly bean baby is just such a cutesy little critter! Why would anybody want to murder such a precious tiny mini-winnie doll of a human being? :^|
Barf.
Inside the womb and dependent on the woman to survive: Fetus.
Outside the womb and breathing independently: Baby.
When baby is outside the womb, Christian fascist dumbasses don’t care about mother or baby!
"If you're preborn, you're fine; if you're preschool, you're fucked."
— George Carlin
I miss him, he would have fun at the expense of that ugly orange skunk ape!
Yep, John Stewart came out of retirement for that.
First, a very happy birthday to Hement Mehta, and thank you so very much for setting up this Substack!
Second, I'm proud to say I am now a paid member of this substack!
Let's be clear about something: the evangelical Christian conservatives and the Christian Nationalists are ANYTHING BUT "pro-life".
If they were "pro-life", they would:
- have support mechanisms in place before and after the mother has delivered and the baby is born;
- have maternal and fetal health care systems in place during and after pregnancy;
- have a national health care system to take care of families;
- have a comprehensive mental health treatment system in place, not just for mothers, but for all citizens;
- enact gun registration, licensing, mandatory training, and liability insurance legislation with severe penalties for people who break these laws; and kids would not have to go to school in fear that the current day might well be their last day;
- support meals in schools so kids don't have to try to focus on learning when their stomachs are empty;
- support Meals on Wheels so the elderly could count on at least one hot meal per day;
- support public and public/private housing initiatives to help prevent homelessness, as well as people living in grossly substandard housing.
Christian conservatives and the Christian Nationalists support NONE of these things.
Once the baby is born, the baby and the mother are on their own. If the mother is single, she becomes a slut and the baby becomes a bastard. If the mother is married (presumably to a man), she is to be dependent on the man, to cater to his every need and whim, and subordinate her will to his. The baby is little more than property, and a potential Republican Voter.
Were Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists actually "pro-life", they would actually DO the things that Jesus Himself said that His followers were to do, to wit:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave me drink;
I was a stranger, and you took me in;
I was naked, and you clothed me;
I was sick, and you visited me;
I was in prison, and you came to me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’
“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
""Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in;
I was naked, and you didn’t clothe me;
I was sick, and you didn't visit me;
and I was in prison, and you didn’t come to me.’
“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’" (Matthew 25:31-45)
Christian conservatives and the Christian Nationalists support NONE of these things. If they don't ignore Jesus' statements outright, their retort is, "Well, that was THEN, and this is NOW." Somehow, people today aren't "supposed" to be hungry, thirsty, immigrants (and by the way, the Holy Family were all immigrants because they escaped to Egypt during Jesus' infancy), in need of clothing, sick, dying, or imprisoned because that doesn't fit the "Christian world view" of these Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists.
And as far as Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists are concerned, if one is hungry, thirsty, an immigrant, needing clothing, sick, dying or in prison -- well, THOSE PEOPLE were PREDESTINED to be the way they are, now; and interfering in any way to assist these people in any way is directly interfering with "God's will" for these people -- and washing one's hands of "the least of these" makes one a True Christian™!
Rounding up immigrants (naturalized, legal or not) and putting them in concentration camps? Racial profiling? Demonizing LGBT, trans people, and atheists? Extensive use of the death penalty for non-white people? The "pro-life" Christian conservatives and Christian Nationalists are completely on board with this!
The non-Christians, the secularist and the atheists do a FAR better job of assisting the hungry, thirsty, etc. because they're not laser-focused on maintaining a "proper Christian world view".
I belong to a consciously progressive parish. The area where I live is having a particularly harsh winter, so we've been working alongside other progressive religious organizations across several denominations (including a progressive Catholic church, a synagogue and a mosque) to provide food, clothing and shelter to homeless and low-income people who are having trouble affording food due to sky-high electricity and gas rates due to our cold winter. Now that Trump has cut food and medical assistance to the poor, we're doing it as best we can -- and we're also teaming up with the secularists (and the atheists) to provide assistance.
Let's be perfectly clear: the Christian conservatives and the Christian Nationalists are ANYTHING BUT "pro-life". They care about fetuses, themselves and Their Great and Glorious Leader, Their God and King, Their Lord and Savior, the Returned Messiah DONOLD JOHN TRUMP† -- pretty much in that order.
have support mechanisms in place 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 the mother has delivered, and the baby is born
FIFY
You're right. I need to proofread better. Just inserted your suggested change.
Thank you!
More than a few of us here refer to the soi-disant "Pro-Life" movement as "Pro-Forced-Birth" ... which I think is a LOT more accurate!
What absolutely BLOWS MY MIND is that the "Pro-Forced Birth" group has so little empathy for women, and particularly pregnant women, that they force women whose fetuses have died to carry those dead fetuses to term, even when the women become septic! If the woman is in actual danger of dying, as far as the "Pro-Forced Birth" group is concerned -- TOUGH SHIT.
I'm to the point where I cannot be around conservative Christians or Christian Nationalists. My upper limit of what I can tolerate from them is five minutes or less.
“…providing preborn children with equal protection of the laws. By protecting the lives of preborn children with the same laws that protect people who are born,…”
“Under this legislation, murdering anyone would be made illegal for everyone, ensuring that all humans made in the image of God are equally protected”
Except that is not what is happening. You are removing legal protections from born people to provide more rights to the zef than any other being in the world has, and you are taking rights away from pregnant people reducing them to less than the rights of dead people. No one has the right to use the body of any other person. No one. You can’t make a father donate his blood for his child to live. And that is a simple procedure that doesn’t even require a local anesthetic, can be done in an hour, and leaves no lasting effects on the donor. You can’t force a sibling to donate a kidney or liver, you don’t get to harvest organs from a corpse unless you have direct specific permission before that person dies. But a fetus is allowed to drain calcium, iron, hormones, all nutrients from the pregnant person, while damaging the organs and systems throughout the entire body for months. Pregnant people are never recovered from pregnancy, they are just expected to have brain fog, emotional instability, weaker bones and teeth, a lack of flexibility, bladder control issues, and extra fat for the rest of their lives. And that is before the pregnancies that actually cause recognized damage like gestational diabetes, broken ribs or pelvis, autoimmune diseases. But we have to protect autonomy when it comes to donating blood, but definitely not when it comes to giving up your entire body.
The term unborn child is sickening. It may not be born so unborn is true, but it is not a child, nor is it a baby. It is a zygote, embryo or fetus. It must be born to be a baby, it must be over a year old to be a child. We could just as easily call it an unborn adult if we are going to play this game. And the fucker who describes embryos as the jelly bean little babies (or however it was described) is trying to get you to think that it looks like a tiny fully formed baby, which they do not. This is all emotional manipulation to win over people to their side. But the more they push, the less credibility they get, protect the unborn like the born by murdering the born for exercising their bodily autonomy.
As for abolishing abortion, we know it will never happen, they only are going to abolish safe abortion and kill women in the process. And not even pregnant women, but by making abortion illegal it puts all women’s healthcare at risk. Fewer people will pursue ob/gyn practice or even study women’s health, which is already ridiculously understudied by a million miles. They want this as much as they want to punish women for being sexually active or simply for being alive and not submissive. They want us pumping out babies, and if we can’t produce a live child as often as possible, they want us dead. But that’s just the background, I’ve noticed that the stricter the abortion policies the shittier the state/country quality of life. Maybe it’s a question of which causes which, but with what is going on in real time in our country, I feel like the abortion policies are what shapes the quality of life. Knowing that keeping women tied to babies and children, interfering in their opportunities for education and work, is detrimental to society as a whole. I have read plenty of literature noting that when women are afforded opportunities to learn and work for pay, the children become more successful overall, which makes society more successful. But gatekeeping education and paid work for only men, society stagnates. We get the oligarchies and slave states that only ever rewards a tiny fraction of the top of the hierarchy. Third world countries seem to all have very strict abortion restrictions, our worst performing states have always had limited access to abortion and, now Roe is overturned, are quickly sliding into third world societies. But we can’t seem to see the connection. I think the oligarchs in power do and know how they can use this to retain their control. And now that we have this cult of personality in charge being used by the modern oligarchs of the USA, they’re so ready to throw women and children into the trash to keep their gold coin swimming pools full.
Rant over
And of course the elite members of the Christian fascist movement will be able to get abortion, or will be exempted from the law. It will be the poor, middle class and non-white women that will suffer the most; not the wealthiest elites!
𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒, 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑦, 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒—𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒. 𝐼𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟; 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠ℎ, 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝐵𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑎, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠—𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝑁𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑠.
-- Christopher Hitchens
"You can’t force a sibling to donate a kidney or liver, you don’t get to harvest organs from a corpse unless you have direct specific permission before that person dies."
Are you aware of Judith Jarvis Thompson's defence of abortion -https://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/Phil160,Fall02/thomson.htm