I am old enough to remember that we women have ALREADY FOUGHT THESE FIGHTS AND PREVAILED. It is exhausting to revisit. It is difficult to fight the necessary fight, so thank you for your guidance and encouragement 💕
Yes, me, besides the Vietnam war, women’s rights including the right to an abortion. Luckily I lived in Minnesota in the early 70s and we got into the legislative process, and were able to get people elected who would fight for us. I can’t believe, 50 years later I’m having to go out in march on the same things again plus everything else. I’m 78 and here we go again. But I’m ready to do it again, because it’s critical for all the women in the country. Oddly enough we could go to Ireland and get taken care of, which used to be the pariah of abortion rights.
The MAGA Congress cedes its Constitutional powers to the Executive Branch. TRUMP himself! America's renewed complicity in the deepening climate and environmental upheaval. SCOTUS' unaccountable and masked usurpation of its proper constitutional authority. (Speaking of masks, how about ICE??) The savaging of the Federal Civil Service, The arguable incompetence and sycophancy of the "Cabinet." The retrogression of access to the ballot. The attack on science. The assault on American higher education. Need I go on??
In six months America has yielded its standing in the world's eyes . . . and in our own. It is not just embarrassing but profoundly dangerous.
And don’t forget the Civil Rights activity, Martin Luther King, et al. Those were busy times and brought necessary change to this country. I was in MA during those years. Now I’m in FL. If anyone here thinks it’s hard in your state, trying being in FL now! I assure you, it wasn’t like it is now. Thankfully my UU church is on the front lines every single day to advocate for all of this. We received an award from Planned Parenthood for being a hub collecting petitions to restore abortion rights. DeSantis interfered and the amendment lost by just a few percentage points. It was approved by almost 60%, the number required for amendments after a change made by the crowd that had slithered into power.
I’m also from Minnesota and 78. Was on the board of Planned Parenthood … fought daily after we got an abortion clinic through hate and death threats. Thought we were making permanent progress…and can not believe how far backwards we are..right back at it with protests, postcards, phone calls. Good to know you’re out there also!
Me too, Pam! I started in 1969 protesting the Vietnam War and got excited when Ms. Magazine debuted and we passed Roe v. Wade, got birth control pills, IUDs…hell we ought to supply young girls and women with dildos and arrange to get them tuba ligations!
Pam, yes in Ireland it took a couple of stories about real women needing abortions and not getting them that did the job. We need to do a lot of that here with faces of the women, words of their family members and more to get people to see that males controlling or trying to control women's bodies is just plain ridiculous and unacceptable.
We never fully achieved a victory for women. All we got was an amendment that stated voting could not be denied on account of sex. Not even that women had the right to vote. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, a few laws were passed and court cases granted women some rights (including abortion), most people generally began to think of women as having rights. They ran into some opposition to the ERA and many if not most thought, what difference does it make? after all they were sure women's rights couldn't move backwards. Boy were they wrong. If you dropped out of the fight and are now reengaging, or are here for the first time, don't stop until the job is finished. Insist on the ERA.
I had heard that even though the support for the ERA did not materialize until after the deadline, that President Biden could have declared it law. I will never understand why he didn't.
Bidden did declare it passed. But it requires the archivist to agree and he never did publish the ERA. Even if he did there are many questions such as was the congressional time limit enforceable? If it was, could states un-ratify the amendment during that time? After the time limit the threshold of states was reached, but before the time limit was reached several states "took back" their ratification. The main fault was people not pushing it during the 70s because they thought it wasn't needed. They were wrong.
It seems to me that Biden’s policy was in regard to Israel, as United States policy has been since the end of WWII. Early on, Biden thought he could lead the Netanyahu government to a measured reaction to the Hamas atrocity. Netanyahu had other plans, and could not be deterred from the systematic destruction of Gaza and the Palestinian people, and in the process he has badly damaged Israel and the United States. Former Secretary of Defense has stated that he is anti-American.
I'd say Gaza has been damaged quite a bit more than Israel and our reputation. I agree he has NO fondness for Americans - other than to accept all the military aid he can get.
I did not realize that the archivist was male. That may have had something to do with the decision to not publish. Then there are the legal issues, and I know SCOTUS wouldn't approve it. I wonder who thought the ERA wasn't needed? I doubt that the majority of women did.
Pam I cannot agree more. I had such hope back in the 70s. As a young man in my 20s starting my adult life, the end of the war in Vietnam, the burgeoning movement at court case granting rights to women, the beginning of what was called the gay rights movement, a court recognizing that the 14th amendment did indeed apply to all and the general movement towards civil rights to all especially towards the blacks who had been mistreated for many generations in this country.
I can't point to one single event that happened, but it is clear our generation really f*** it up. I won't stop trying but I sure hope the generations after us can fix this mess but from what I see many are willing to be me first and screw the rest of you.
I remember reading about that and I forget what the rationale was at the time but I believed that it was correct. I’ll have to go back and take a look at that because it’s important as a question. I think I would’ve been outraged if it wasn’t up to snuff legally but…
Bill, thank you for setting us all straight on this. As a woman, even one who is long retired and long past child-bearing age, I think it's really sad that we couldn't get that into the constitution, even though it would be ignored by the people in power.
There was a strong anti ERA push as I recall. And one of the major arguments was it’s not needed, after all the 14th amendment provides equal treatment of women. Sure, tell that to the authors of the Dobbs decision.
Yes there was a strong anti ERA push. It was based on two arguments, one it would take away from women the 'right' to be stay at home moms, and rights would be granted to everyone, even those who were 'sexual deviants', todays LGBTQ+. Since it was looking more and more like the ERA would not be needed as women's rights were being granted by law and court case, many stopped pushing for the ERA in the face of the opposition. Having been there I can also same that many bought into the second argument and didn't want 'those people' having rights. At that time many states had laws criminalizing LGBTQ+. Some still have laws allowing discrimination in housing, employment, and many other rights against people of that community.
Women need the ERA but so does everyone else who think more than straight men are people who should have equal rights.
COVERTURE!!!! WOMEN WERE PROPERTY! And maybe things haven’t changed that much. Afghanistan anybody? Women had rights until recently. You think that can’t happen here ? Why not? Indeed, why not?
As a white woman who was born entitled to all that is now lost, I owe the rest of my life to the brave women who fought for those rights and the generations of women of all ethnicities born after me who deserve them back. We are never too old to make good trouble. I have had surgery so I can march again. I have attended Physical Therapy and I can protest hours holding signs. I did these things not around vacation planning but activism participation. It has to be the priority for now.
And current young women sit and home and don't vote in numbers sufficient to over ride the women who hate other women. All that we fought for, and our mothers, grandmothers, women down through the decades, have strived for will go out the window because the every present "Middle School Mean Girl Syndrome" that is so prevalent in white women!
Absolutely. We must reach and mobilize the comfortable on the couch. Not everyone can appear in person. Much can be done from the couch for those who can't mobilize in person. But we need every thinking woman to take action.
Store direct D.C. lines to key GOP in Congress. The calls get easier with practice. Change your script weekly. Be specific in your demands. Be firm amd mad but proper. I cuss sometimes I can't help it.
Truly tragic. To Trump, a woman is to be grabbed, or she’s nasty. He has made sexual harassment normalized … and is now trying to do the same with pedophilia.
With Trump supporters constantly looking the other way, what’s apparent is just glossed over. Sexual misbehavior, continuing lies, greed, fraud—so much the ostrich cult has to ignore.
He gives them his approval to hate the people they wish to hate, and to blame them for every ill and problem. That's all they need from him. Morality and ethics are not necessary. They can make believe all of those.
Thank you—recently there are books in the subject, but very recent. Maybe was considered ancient history if you didn’t know. Bu so many aspects of women’s live still are affected by this.
He should not be a doctor. Period. He could decide he doesn’t approve of any number of things….drug addicts, brown or black people, Jews, Catholics, obese people…absolutely should not be working as a doctor. He should be fired!
On reading your post, my first thought was that she should complain to the medical board in Tennessee. But then I thought, nope, they might support what he did. But if the state is pro-natalist, they should want every child to be born and born healthy (because they will certainly do nothing for it if the child isn't healty). What can I say. Hypocrisy is the Republican brand, the Christian-Nationalist brand, the Trump brand.
Why isn't there disgust nationwide? Maybe FOX NEWS and a host of other far right miss-information, lying, twisted news and so called religious beliefs has a "little" to do with it?
Given the supremely corrupt SCOTUS, what will "stand up" seems like a game of Calvin Ball from the old Calvin and Hobbs cartoon strip: the rules change minute by minute to preserve the winner.
I hope he or she files a discrimination suit. Can you even imagine turning a veteran away from medical care who put it all on the line to serve this country?
Ol’ cadet “bone spurs” hasn’t a clue about what service, dedication, honor, integrity, selflessness or patriotism even are. He deserves a boot in the…
Helps to post a link if you have a source. Then, we can follow the case. A VA that doesn't serve veterans is not so different from the wrecking-ball appointees of agencies to prevent any of them from serving their intended purposes to serve the nation and its people. Each was created because of an established need.
Thanks for writing this. What I wrote is hearsay. I've googled and haven't found a reference to this. My intention was not to spread disinformation! Nevertheless, your point is very well-taken.
GOOD FOR YOU! I love this post. There aren't one in a million on social media who have the courage and ethics to treat it as a peer review journal does: when an author finds a deficiency, they just publish an errata note. How different social media would be if all took a lesson from you.
Yes, join your local Indivisible group and the DNC who are both working extremely hard on the midterms and getting people registered to vote. Lots of opportunities to get involved that fit your abilities. LFG! 💪🏽💙
To all the women out there, please consider joining your local chapter of the League of Women Voters. The fight will be at the ballot box and we need to make sure voters are not disenfranchised by the Save Act!
It isn't all just Trump. It's Project 2025. It's the likes of Stephen Miller and others who prefer--in both words and actions--to spin the hands of the clock backward in so many ways.
I just re-subscribed today, and this column is exactly why. Thank you, Joyce, for saying every day what so many of us are thinking, but saying it far better than we ever could.
As a thank-you, please check out this video in which Bella Abzug relates the story of the Equal Credit Act, which you reference. This came from a conference put on by my then-employer, the Center for American Women and Politics, and I was there as she filmed it. Unforgettable! Fight on in Bella's name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTjIuhY12tY
The guy who falsified the census, gerrymandered legislative districts, closed polling places with Russian bomb threats, lied and cheated during debates, stopped mail-in ballot procedures and had a postmaster who purposely misdirected ballots just to name a few.
JA, you misread the charts from the CAWP for the 2024 Presidential elections. The votes for Harris were women 53% and men 43%. The votes for Trump were women 45% and men 55%.
Bill - "We" didn't "lose" Roe; it was taken from us. And as a result, many blue states enacted legislation to protect the right to abortion. Also, the percentage of women voting vis-a-vis population was HIGHER than the percentage of men. Could we have used more of both men and women voting Democrat? Obviously. But to lay Kamala's loss at the feet of women is unfair and, frankly, sexist.
Come on don’t call me sexist. I’m not. I really expected a tidal wave of women voting blue. That issue alone me thinks, would win the election. How is it sexist to be hopeful that females would not forget. But they did. Just like everybody. When so many go to the polls to vote in a presidential election, they often revenge vote. All reasoning is cast aside. Even though the Biden side screwed everything up, still the women should have been able to put Kamala Harris in office. And you are calling me a sexist. My God…
I think a LOT of women were content with the idea that abortion laws were (theoretically) left up to their individual state. What they didn't reckon with, was that their republican-dominated white male legislatures would decide for them, without their permission. Look at Missouri, where the voters put legal abortion on the ballot, voted in favor, and the legislature has done everything in their power to override the people's decision.
Wait a minute ---- It appears as though you are blaming women..... "we needed YOU" -- "YOU lost Roe" --- "YOU didn't elect a woman to..... protect YOU" ------ Is that what you are doing??
I am so sick of voting “not trump” as if my vote ever matters Someone with some legislative authority had better get on making our votes count…nix gerrymandering, poll watching and get the word out on how to register if your voting right is excluded due to the recent legislation Im beginning to think the nationwide strike would do more good…by the mid terms the regime will have it all wrapped up Every day I get up feeling defeated as I watch our whole government kowtow to Project 25, Israel and Russia Trump is unstable and should be impeached on that basis Our Congress is full of useless wimps and co-conspirators
Some are fighting back like Senators Murphy, Booker, Whitehouse, et al, and quite a few Congresspeople. I've been supporting Leaders We Deserve for the young ones to come up because they have much fresher energy and outlook. And there are quite a lot of them gearing up now. They need our support.
I am not sure why Israel was brought up, but please remember there are two sides to every story and what you hear in the US is not actually what is happening in Israel.
You have no idea of the history and story of Israel. I am not the problem. It is the lack of education with some of the American public and the wrong reporting that has this wrong. I lived there and I know. Yes, Netanyahu is a huge problem, but if you take the time to learn the history, you may change your mind.
Thank you. And there is a lot of history to learn so people should not just jerk off on the little they are hearing. Plenty of info on YouTube for instance. Don't ask for opinions - ask for history. Opinions are only that, they do not substitute for thinking and learning, which is the Jewish way. There are plenty of Israelis who help each other, both Jewish and Muslim. In fact Arabs constitute 40% of the Israeli population and have full voting rights, can serve in the Knesset.
Netanyahu is a huge problem, as is the US government's unequivocal support of the Israeli government. Also highly problematic is the conflating of anti-Zionism with anti-semitism (of which I'm not accusing you). And it is possible to know the history of the State of Israel and still be pro-Palestine.
Well, of course! Misogyny is to be covered by “religious freedom” … along with racism, homophobia and antisemitism. Is the heart of religion a hatred of women, Jews, gays and people of color?
I keep wondering what happened to liberal Christians, who were especially active in the Civil Rights era and during the Vietnam War. We don't hear from them very much now. A couple of groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State have weighed in on unconstitutional actions like requiring the Ten Commandments (King James Version) be posted in schoolrooms. But we need people who are motivated by their faith, if that is the case, to insist that people be treated fairly and equally under the law, not subject to the religious prohibitions of a loud but unrepresentative minority.
All christians get lumped in because they are the current so-called christians who are screaming the loudest, doing the most damage, trying to FORCE their beliefs onto the country (they want our country to be Gilead just like in The Handmaids Tale), created the ideas actually written in the "project 2025" material, and getting revealed for what they are -- they are vile bigots who hate everyone who is not a white-christian(in-name-only-of-course)-heterosexual-veryMacho-male.... and they LOVE the poisonous lowest type of male, who right now is found in the epitome of their Dear Leader God Orange-Turd. This is all merely my humble opinion .... I'm definitely not an expert on religions,,, but I can tell you what my perspective of "all christians" is, and how it is shaped by the craziness of the religious people who spout their religion's rules of hate, carry their book of rules called "The Bible" around, and thrust it out like it's a sword (the Speaker Mike Johnson even proudly touts that his Bible is the only rule-book he needs to do his work in Congress). It is also the video clips of so-called christian "preachers" saying vile hate-filled crap such as all gay people should be shot in the head, that women whose husbands smacks them down should take it because if you - the woman - call the cops, YOU are the one who is evil, the doctor in Tennessee who said he will not give healthcare to a woman unless she is married because of his christian religious beliefs, the insanely RICH christian preachers who have monetized religion and shame people into handing over large chunks of their tiny amount of money at their disposal, the evangelist who cries on TV and tells everyone that God told him he needs a new $10-million-dollar Lear Jet and so all his members and believers should send him enough money to buy it, it's all the priests who are pedophiles and/or rapists and "his" brother-priests cover up for him, the cake baker who refuses to bake a rainbow-colored cake for a same-sex couple's wedding because she wants to hate openly and uses her so-called "christian" beliefs to hide behind ,,, .... and more.... So, my perspective is - there is hardly any other way to see religion. On the other hand,,, yes I know these are only a few examples and that a lot of religious people are basically good people.... but it's time that the "good christians" take back their good religion from the crazies and run them out of their club. ~~~~ That's my Two Cents (while pennies are still legal!!)
Nah -- it's practically ALL religions, and there's over 10,000 known religions .... nearly ALL are invented by men, and men wrote the religion's organization and thus all the club rules.... "my club, my rules" -- I doubt they're going to write rules that do anything but make themselves (men) the highest power, and that everyone else is required to "service" ALL their desires and needs.... the Rump is the perfect example of this.
As a retired physician, I find the denial of care because of the physicians beliefs a breech of medical ethics and should initiate an immediate medical board investigation.
Thank you, Joyce.
I am old enough to remember that we women have ALREADY FOUGHT THESE FIGHTS AND PREVAILED. It is exhausting to revisit. It is difficult to fight the necessary fight, so thank you for your guidance and encouragement 💕
Yes, me, besides the Vietnam war, women’s rights including the right to an abortion. Luckily I lived in Minnesota in the early 70s and we got into the legislative process, and were able to get people elected who would fight for us. I can’t believe, 50 years later I’m having to go out in march on the same things again plus everything else. I’m 78 and here we go again. But I’m ready to do it again, because it’s critical for all the women in the country. Oddly enough we could go to Ireland and get taken care of, which used to be the pariah of abortion rights.
I know! Crazy about Ireland, isn’t it?
Actually, what's CRAZY is America.
The MAGA Congress cedes its Constitutional powers to the Executive Branch. TRUMP himself! America's renewed complicity in the deepening climate and environmental upheaval. SCOTUS' unaccountable and masked usurpation of its proper constitutional authority. (Speaking of masks, how about ICE??) The savaging of the Federal Civil Service, The arguable incompetence and sycophancy of the "Cabinet." The retrogression of access to the ballot. The attack on science. The assault on American higher education. Need I go on??
In six months America has yielded its standing in the world's eyes . . . and in our own. It is not just embarrassing but profoundly dangerous.
Humiliating
great example of religion in gov sucks
And don’t forget the Civil Rights activity, Martin Luther King, et al. Those were busy times and brought necessary change to this country. I was in MA during those years. Now I’m in FL. If anyone here thinks it’s hard in your state, trying being in FL now! I assure you, it wasn’t like it is now. Thankfully my UU church is on the front lines every single day to advocate for all of this. We received an award from Planned Parenthood for being a hub collecting petitions to restore abortion rights. DeSantis interfered and the amendment lost by just a few percentage points. It was approved by almost 60%, the number required for amendments after a change made by the crowd that had slithered into power.
voted into power
They may have been voted in, but they still slithered.
ha ha true !
I’m also from Minnesota and 78. Was on the board of Planned Parenthood … fought daily after we got an abortion clinic through hate and death threats. Thought we were making permanent progress…and can not believe how far backwards we are..right back at it with protests, postcards, phone calls. Good to know you’re out there also!
Me too, Pam! I started in 1969 protesting the Vietnam War and got excited when Ms. Magazine debuted and we passed Roe v. Wade, got birth control pills, IUDs…hell we ought to supply young girls and women with dildos and arrange to get them tuba ligations!
Pam, yes in Ireland it took a couple of stories about real women needing abortions and not getting them that did the job. We need to do a lot of that here with faces of the women, words of their family members and more to get people to see that males controlling or trying to control women's bodies is just plain ridiculous and unacceptable.
We never fully achieved a victory for women. All we got was an amendment that stated voting could not be denied on account of sex. Not even that women had the right to vote. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, a few laws were passed and court cases granted women some rights (including abortion), most people generally began to think of women as having rights. They ran into some opposition to the ERA and many if not most thought, what difference does it make? after all they were sure women's rights couldn't move backwards. Boy were they wrong. If you dropped out of the fight and are now reengaging, or are here for the first time, don't stop until the job is finished. Insist on the ERA.
I had heard that even though the support for the ERA did not materialize until after the deadline, that President Biden could have declared it law. I will never understand why he didn't.
Bidden did declare it passed. But it requires the archivist to agree and he never did publish the ERA. Even if he did there are many questions such as was the congressional time limit enforceable? If it was, could states un-ratify the amendment during that time? After the time limit the threshold of states was reached, but before the time limit was reached several states "took back" their ratification. The main fault was people not pushing it during the 70s because they thought it wasn't needed. They were wrong.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/17/biden-era-amendment-004495
I disagreed so very much with Biden regarding Gaza! Period.
But he did accomplish many good things - and far too many of those good things never were acknowledged! By Democrats!!!!
And for a politician (!) he is a decent man. Not many are.
It seems to me that Biden’s policy was in regard to Israel, as United States policy has been since the end of WWII. Early on, Biden thought he could lead the Netanyahu government to a measured reaction to the Hamas atrocity. Netanyahu had other plans, and could not be deterred from the systematic destruction of Gaza and the Palestinian people, and in the process he has badly damaged Israel and the United States. Former Secretary of Defense has stated that he is anti-American.
I'd say Gaza has been damaged quite a bit more than Israel and our reputation. I agree he has NO fondness for Americans - other than to accept all the military aid he can get.
Before the threshold of states but after the congressional time limit some states "took back" their ratification.
I did not realize that the archivist was male. That may have had something to do with the decision to not publish. Then there are the legal issues, and I know SCOTUS wouldn't approve it. I wonder who thought the ERA wasn't needed? I doubt that the majority of women did.
Well that’s on those of us who were active in them support of it back then. We turned out to be naïve in so many ways in this country.
Pam I cannot agree more. I had such hope back in the 70s. As a young man in my 20s starting my adult life, the end of the war in Vietnam, the burgeoning movement at court case granting rights to women, the beginning of what was called the gay rights movement, a court recognizing that the 14th amendment did indeed apply to all and the general movement towards civil rights to all especially towards the blacks who had been mistreated for many generations in this country.
I can't point to one single event that happened, but it is clear our generation really f*** it up. I won't stop trying but I sure hope the generations after us can fix this mess but from what I see many are willing to be me first and screw the rest of you.
And thank you for doing that research. So I don’t have to!
Yes..according to THE WATERGATE GIRL...Jill Wkne-Banks!!
LOVE this WOMAN!!!
And Jill Wine-Banks IS great, so that gives me a lead on the research.
Jill Wine-Banks is one of my favorite people. Thank you for giving my memory such good support.
hey susan - we WILL prevail - we gotta stay strong and keep up “the fight” - eventually THE TOXIC EVIL will be DEFEATED. WE GOT THIS!!!!
Love the way you think, Dee!!
See Bill Tretheway comments and explanations in this thread. He explains why that happened in good detail. Thanks again Bill
O.M.G. I never heard that. DISGRACEFUL!!
I remember reading about that and I forget what the rationale was at the time but I believed that it was correct. I’ll have to go back and take a look at that because it’s important as a question. I think I would’ve been outraged if it wasn’t up to snuff legally but…
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/17/biden-era-amendment-004495
Bill, thank you for setting us all straight on this. As a woman, even one who is long retired and long past child-bearing age, I think it's really sad that we couldn't get that into the constitution, even though it would be ignored by the people in power.
There was a strong anti ERA push as I recall. And one of the major arguments was it’s not needed, after all the 14th amendment provides equal treatment of women. Sure, tell that to the authors of the Dobbs decision.
Yes there was a strong anti ERA push. It was based on two arguments, one it would take away from women the 'right' to be stay at home moms, and rights would be granted to everyone, even those who were 'sexual deviants', todays LGBTQ+. Since it was looking more and more like the ERA would not be needed as women's rights were being granted by law and court case, many stopped pushing for the ERA in the face of the opposition. Having been there I can also same that many bought into the second argument and didn't want 'those people' having rights. At that time many states had laws criminalizing LGBTQ+. Some still have laws allowing discrimination in housing, employment, and many other rights against people of that community.
Women need the ERA but so does everyone else who think more than straight men are people who should have equal rights.
COVERTURE!!!! WOMEN WERE PROPERTY! And maybe things haven’t changed that much. Afghanistan anybody? Women had rights until recently. You think that can’t happen here ? Why not? Indeed, why not?
"I am WOMEN hear me ROAR..
I'll come back even STRONGER not a novice any longer...."
Let's be reminded of Helen's words...!
Keep n keepin on!!
I am WOMAN
As a white woman who was born entitled to all that is now lost, I owe the rest of my life to the brave women who fought for those rights and the generations of women of all ethnicities born after me who deserve them back. We are never too old to make good trouble. I have had surgery so I can march again. I have attended Physical Therapy and I can protest hours holding signs. I did these things not around vacation planning but activism participation. It has to be the priority for now.
And current young women sit and home and don't vote in numbers sufficient to over ride the women who hate other women. All that we fought for, and our mothers, grandmothers, women down through the decades, have strived for will go out the window because the every present "Middle School Mean Girl Syndrome" that is so prevalent in white women!
Absolutely. We must reach and mobilize the comfortable on the couch. Not everyone can appear in person. Much can be done from the couch for those who can't mobilize in person. But we need every thinking woman to take action.
Store direct D.C. lines to key GOP in Congress. The calls get easier with practice. Change your script weekly. Be specific in your demands. Be firm amd mad but proper. I cuss sometimes I can't help it.
True that!
Truly tragic. To Trump, a woman is to be grabbed, or she’s nasty. He has made sexual harassment normalized … and is now trying to do the same with pedophilia.
... His abuse of 14 -YEAR-OLD-GIRLS!
Who dare not complain. Nor, personally, even understand the extent of their abuse.
Heart breaking.
Truly.
He’s not fussy, he’ll grab them, nasty or not!
But only if they are white.
I would doubt that - "any old port in a storm" - if age does not matter why would race? A pervert? Yes indeed! MAGA = Making America Greatly Ashamed.
Michael Woolf basics says he was an equal rights abuser.
He is a woman hating pervert with a yen for his oldest daughter. That has been apparent since she was a little girl, to anyone at all who was looking.
With Trump supporters constantly looking the other way, what’s apparent is just glossed over. Sexual misbehavior, continuing lies, greed, fraud—so much the ostrich cult has to ignore.
He gives them his approval to hate the people they wish to hate, and to blame them for every ill and problem. That's all they need from him. Morality and ethics are not necessary. They can make believe all of those.
The cult is all-forgiving and smugly content with its ignorance.
COVERTURE. Women are property, just like in the constitution—ignored because property, not human.
She is PROPERTY. Not a person, property, just like the constitution ignored women because they were PROPERTY. It is COVERTURE!!!
Coverture! Excellent! Cuz you can’t rape property, right? Nor is there an age limit on property. The weather’s always sunny in the 18th Century.
Thank you—recently there are books in the subject, but very recent. Maybe was considered ancient history if you didn’t know. Bu so many aspects of women’s live still are affected by this.
I am a doctor. Please, some attorney out there, help this woman sue that fraud! He doesn't deserve the title "doctor".
Thank you for your comment… I was thinking “there MUST be a law against that.”
He must have missed a lot of lessons in Sunday school.
He should not be a doctor. Period. He could decide he doesn’t approve of any number of things….drug addicts, brown or black people, Jews, Catholics, obese people…absolutely should not be working as a doctor. He should be fired!
And you KNOW he would be screaming loudly if anyone denied HIM anything based on their beliefs.
On reading your post, my first thought was that she should complain to the medical board in Tennessee. But then I thought, nope, they might support what he did. But if the state is pro-natalist, they should want every child to be born and born healthy (because they will certainly do nothing for it if the child isn't healty). What can I say. Hypocrisy is the Republican brand, the Christian-Nationalist brand, the Trump brand.
I had the same thoughts about that INSANELY convoluted thinking.
Not just Where is the Outrage … but why isn’t there disgust nationwide.
Why isn't there disgust nationwide? Maybe FOX NEWS and a host of other far right miss-information, lying, twisted news and so called religious beliefs has a "little" to do with it?
Next, people will be denied care because their politics or religion "offends" whatever now passes for a "doctor."
trump just authorized the VA to refuse treatment to Democrats or anyone else they may object to. Unbelievable!
It won’t stand up in court, plus VA doctors stated that they will NOT turn anyone away.
Given the supremely corrupt SCOTUS, what will "stand up" seems like a game of Calvin Ball from the old Calvin and Hobbs cartoon strip: the rules change minute by minute to preserve the winner.
I believe one person has already been turned away. May be wrong about that.
I hope he or she files a discrimination suit. Can you even imagine turning a veteran away from medical care who put it all on the line to serve this country?
Ol’ cadet “bone spurs” hasn’t a clue about what service, dedication, honor, integrity, selflessness or patriotism even are. He deserves a boot in the…
Helps to post a link if you have a source. Then, we can follow the case. A VA that doesn't serve veterans is not so different from the wrecking-ball appointees of agencies to prevent any of them from serving their intended purposes to serve the nation and its people. Each was created because of an established need.
Thanks for writing this. What I wrote is hearsay. I've googled and haven't found a reference to this. My intention was not to spread disinformation! Nevertheless, your point is very well-taken.
GOOD FOR YOU! I love this post. There aren't one in a million on social media who have the courage and ethics to treat it as a peer review journal does: when an author finds a deficiency, they just publish an errata note. How different social media would be if all took a lesson from you.
Wow! I never thought of what I did as anything but normal. How lovely to get an "atta girl"! Thank you!
Yes, the felon in chief actually said that.
We have the ability to help end this war on women. We must organize and vote, AND we must support other women.
Yes, join your local Indivisible group and the DNC who are both working extremely hard on the midterms and getting people registered to vote. Lots of opportunities to get involved that fit your abilities. LFG! 💪🏽💙
To all the women out there, please consider joining your local chapter of the League of Women Voters. The fight will be at the ballot box and we need to make sure voters are not disenfranchised by the Save Act!
Thanks for this reminder, Susan. The LWV is a great organisation. It’s been championing the spread of true information for years.
What will it take? How many women have to die or suffer health and fertility issues?
How many? They don't care. That's irrelevant to those currently in power.
Yep, they just want women, barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen
And apparently in Tennessee, barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen, and married.
Always married, and taking orders from their husband.
Dead is okay too.
Seems so
To people who don't consider women to be fully human, women 's health and lives don't matter. That is the ugly truth.
Maybe it will take a general strike...
One or one million. Women mean nothing to the MAGAts.
It isn't all just Trump. It's Project 2025. It's the likes of Stephen Miller and others who prefer--in both words and actions--to spin the hands of the clock backward in so many ways.
🎯🎯🎯
Harris was not elected for two (2) reasons: 1) Gender, and 2) Race
It is 2025! NO excuses are acceptable.
3. Psy ops.
Actually we wuz robbed. Did Trump admit Musk stole Pennsylvania?
Daniel, I heard him say just that! I’m a Pennsylvanian and nothing is being done about it!
I just re-subscribed today, and this column is exactly why. Thank you, Joyce, for saying every day what so many of us are thinking, but saying it far better than we ever could.
As a thank-you, please check out this video in which Bella Abzug relates the story of the Equal Credit Act, which you reference. This came from a conference put on by my then-employer, the Center for American Women and Politics, and I was there as she filmed it. Unforgettable! Fight on in Bella's name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTjIuhY12tY
Thanks for the link. I am old enough to remember and appreciate Bella Abzug but I don't remember having seen this.
Where were the women last year. We needed you. You lost Roe and you didn’t come out an elect a woman to protect you. This is just so frustrating.
Women (and those who care about them) came out in huge numbers AND voted for Kamala/Walz.
And and and who became president?
The guy who falsified the census, gerrymandered legislative districts, closed polling places with Russian bomb threats, lied and cheated during debates, stopped mail-in ballot procedures and had a postmaster who purposely misdirected ballots just to name a few.
Yikes
Bill, only by rigged elections!
Statistics: 45% women in this country voted for Trump in the last election!
Appalling!
You know what is FAR MORE APPALLING?!?!?!? That FAR, FAR, FAR more "men" in this country voted for Rump ---- Do you agree??????
What's your source for that please?
From
Center for American Women and Politics
“Gender Difference” 2024.
Women 45%. Men 55%. VOTE for Trump
Women 53%. Men 43%. VOTE for Harris
JA, you misread the charts from the CAWP for the 2024 Presidential elections. The votes for Harris were women 53% and men 43%. The votes for Trump were women 45% and men 55%.
Stand corrected. Thank you!
Still appalling! But corrected!
Stats look correct to me the first time around. What did I miss?
JA edited his original post. Substack should show when something’s been edited.
Bill - "We" didn't "lose" Roe; it was taken from us. And as a result, many blue states enacted legislation to protect the right to abortion. Also, the percentage of women voting vis-a-vis population was HIGHER than the percentage of men. Could we have used more of both men and women voting Democrat? Obviously. But to lay Kamala's loss at the feet of women is unfair and, frankly, sexist.
Come on don’t call me sexist. I’m not. I really expected a tidal wave of women voting blue. That issue alone me thinks, would win the election. How is it sexist to be hopeful that females would not forget. But they did. Just like everybody. When so many go to the polls to vote in a presidential election, they often revenge vote. All reasoning is cast aside. Even though the Biden side screwed everything up, still the women should have been able to put Kamala Harris in office. And you are calling me a sexist. My God…
I think a LOT of women were content with the idea that abortion laws were (theoretically) left up to their individual state. What they didn't reckon with, was that their republican-dominated white male legislatures would decide for them, without their permission. Look at Missouri, where the voters put legal abortion on the ballot, voted in favor, and the legislature has done everything in their power to override the people's decision.
What you said. Grrrrrr!
Wait a minute ---- It appears as though you are blaming women..... "we needed YOU" -- "YOU lost Roe" --- "YOU didn't elect a woman to..... protect YOU" ------ Is that what you are doing??
Sadly, in the USA, taking an oath means nothing anymore...look at our "president."
Touché.
It's up to us to make it mean more.
I am so sick of voting “not trump” as if my vote ever matters Someone with some legislative authority had better get on making our votes count…nix gerrymandering, poll watching and get the word out on how to register if your voting right is excluded due to the recent legislation Im beginning to think the nationwide strike would do more good…by the mid terms the regime will have it all wrapped up Every day I get up feeling defeated as I watch our whole government kowtow to Project 25, Israel and Russia Trump is unstable and should be impeached on that basis Our Congress is full of useless wimps and co-conspirators
Some are fighting back like Senators Murphy, Booker, Whitehouse, et al, and quite a few Congresspeople. I've been supporting Leaders We Deserve for the young ones to come up because they have much fresher energy and outlook. And there are quite a lot of them gearing up now. They need our support.
Leaderswedeserve.com.
I am not sure why Israel was brought up, but please remember there are two sides to every story and what you hear in the US is not actually what is happening in Israel.
If you really don’t know why israel was brought up, specifically arming israel then you are the problem
You have no idea of the history and story of Israel. I am not the problem. It is the lack of education with some of the American public and the wrong reporting that has this wrong. I lived there and I know. Yes, Netanyahu is a huge problem, but if you take the time to learn the history, you may change your mind.
Thank you. And there is a lot of history to learn so people should not just jerk off on the little they are hearing. Plenty of info on YouTube for instance. Don't ask for opinions - ask for history. Opinions are only that, they do not substitute for thinking and learning, which is the Jewish way. There are plenty of Israelis who help each other, both Jewish and Muslim. In fact Arabs constitute 40% of the Israeli population and have full voting rights, can serve in the Knesset.
Netanyahu is a huge problem, as is the US government's unequivocal support of the Israeli government. Also highly problematic is the conflating of anti-Zionism with anti-semitism (of which I'm not accusing you). And it is possible to know the history of the State of Israel and still be pro-Palestine.
right now isrile is seen as doing to the gaza people what was done to them...hurt people, hurt people
not too much sympathy for isrile right now.
Well, of course! Misogyny is to be covered by “religious freedom” … along with racism, homophobia and antisemitism. Is the heart of religion a hatred of women, Jews, gays and people of color?
Just some religions, particularly Christian Nationalists,Southern Baptists.
In these cases, “religion” has nothing to do with it save as a cover for bigotry.
So glad you added “Nationalists, Southern Baptists”. I am so tired of all Christians being lumped in with them!
When you really look there's a vast difference as you probably know.
I keep wondering what happened to liberal Christians, who were especially active in the Civil Rights era and during the Vietnam War. We don't hear from them very much now. A couple of groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State have weighed in on unconstitutional actions like requiring the Ten Commandments (King James Version) be posted in schoolrooms. But we need people who are motivated by their faith, if that is the case, to insist that people be treated fairly and equally under the law, not subject to the religious prohibitions of a loud but unrepresentative minority.
All christians get lumped in because they are the current so-called christians who are screaming the loudest, doing the most damage, trying to FORCE their beliefs onto the country (they want our country to be Gilead just like in The Handmaids Tale), created the ideas actually written in the "project 2025" material, and getting revealed for what they are -- they are vile bigots who hate everyone who is not a white-christian(in-name-only-of-course)-heterosexual-veryMacho-male.... and they LOVE the poisonous lowest type of male, who right now is found in the epitome of their Dear Leader God Orange-Turd. This is all merely my humble opinion .... I'm definitely not an expert on religions,,, but I can tell you what my perspective of "all christians" is, and how it is shaped by the craziness of the religious people who spout their religion's rules of hate, carry their book of rules called "The Bible" around, and thrust it out like it's a sword (the Speaker Mike Johnson even proudly touts that his Bible is the only rule-book he needs to do his work in Congress). It is also the video clips of so-called christian "preachers" saying vile hate-filled crap such as all gay people should be shot in the head, that women whose husbands smacks them down should take it because if you - the woman - call the cops, YOU are the one who is evil, the doctor in Tennessee who said he will not give healthcare to a woman unless she is married because of his christian religious beliefs, the insanely RICH christian preachers who have monetized religion and shame people into handing over large chunks of their tiny amount of money at their disposal, the evangelist who cries on TV and tells everyone that God told him he needs a new $10-million-dollar Lear Jet and so all his members and believers should send him enough money to buy it, it's all the priests who are pedophiles and/or rapists and "his" brother-priests cover up for him, the cake baker who refuses to bake a rainbow-colored cake for a same-sex couple's wedding because she wants to hate openly and uses her so-called "christian" beliefs to hide behind ,,, .... and more.... So, my perspective is - there is hardly any other way to see religion. On the other hand,,, yes I know these are only a few examples and that a lot of religious people are basically good people.... but it's time that the "good christians" take back their good religion from the crazies and run them out of their club. ~~~~ That's my Two Cents (while pennies are still legal!!)
everyone knows the bad christians from the good christians by now.
Nah -- it's practically ALL religions, and there's over 10,000 known religions .... nearly ALL are invented by men, and men wrote the religion's organization and thus all the club rules.... "my club, my rules" -- I doubt they're going to write rules that do anything but make themselves (men) the highest power, and that everyone else is required to "service" ALL their desires and needs.... the Rump is the perfect example of this.
Yup, that certainly seems to be the case. If you're not White and male, forget it.
And this is the vaunted Master Race?
There's nothing like crowning yourself about what you imagine you are and must be...
King of the Land of Wishful Thinking.
As a retired physician, I find the denial of care because of the physicians beliefs a breech of medical ethics and should initiate an immediate medical board investigation.