A woman died because The Supreme Court gave the election to GW Bush. A woman died because Mitch McConnell stole a seat on the Supreme Court from President Obama. A woman died because Donald Trump put guaranteed anti Roe justices on the Supreme Court. A woman died because of the conservative members of the Supreme Court as surely as if they had collectively shot her. Her six year old son is an orphan. I hope those responsible are happy. Remember when Donald Trump, in an interview we saw, said that there had to be some sort of punishment for the woman. Is death good enough, Donald.
Chicago 1962 I am a student nurse at Michael Reese Hospital, a Catholic woman patient can’t use contraception, bleeding out from botched abortion, asking me to pray for her. Asking me to forgive her. For what? For being too poor to afford another child? We can’t go back to those days.
With her blood on my shoes, I go to waiting room, to tell her husband and children that mommy will not be coming home.
I cannot click on the "Like" button, Molly, but I too am old enough to remember life pre-Roe v. Wade. I also remember the old feminist slogan: scratch a woman, get a rage. Well, we are enraged, and we are Not. Going. Back.
Molly, this is so crushing. I am a nurse and cannot imagine how you could bear it. I was a student nurse in 1972 in Michigan, and volunteered at a free clinic. One of my jobs was to help young women who wanted an abortion to get an appointment in New York state, and to arrange for their bus fare and other expenses from donations. We never lacked for donations, thank goodness, but WE CAN'T GO BACK.
Thank you for your advice about scratching a “like” for that horrible recollection so I followed you and scratched your “like” instead! Oh what danger we are in and we must work harder and harder. I appreciate the desire to do something so many are writing postcards, but I honestly hope that all who read Joyce’s strong commentary will please go to www.TurnUp.US and contribute tonight or tomorrow rather than send another politician money that will be wasted on TV which will motivate very few or direct mail which will go directly into the waste basket!
I respectfully suggest after 65 years in politics that we must spend our hard earned money to register younger voters ONLY IN “TRUELY COMPETITIVE” congressional districts and a few Senate elections!!
That is how we will produce an additional 4,000 or 5,000 young voters to change the result in those very close contests based on abortion,gun safety and fighting climate change!!! Thank you!!
Ira, I write in reply to the criterion “truly competitive congressional districts.” Considering MAGA’s principal strategy is to foment sufficient chaos resulting in neither presidential candidate receiving 270 electoral votes, thus throwing the election to the House, I believe a critical factor is determining which state delegations (each would have 1 vote) we most likely could flip to ensure Democrats would hold the majority. As you might know, currently Republicans control 25 delegations, Democrats 23, and 2 (MN & NC) are tied. Moreover, I would clarify, were the election decided by the House, the decision would rest with House members seated on January 3, 2025.
In light of the foregoing, setting aside the impact of probable Republican machinations, MN & NC would be obvious targets for flipping, which would produce a tie of 25 Rs and 25 Ds. Seeing I don’t know whether current VP Harris could cast a tie-breaking vote, I would suggest also targeting Arizona (6Rs, 3Ds) where only 2 seats need to be flipped and, despite recent election board rule changes which hopefully will be overturned, maybe Georgia (9Rs, 5Ds) where a 2 seat change would result in a tie and thus a Republican loss.
I would note there is 1 more complication, namely the need also to protect every existing Democratic majority delegation, particularly the close ones like Alaska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and, especially, Virginia where 2 Democrats will be retiring.
Ira, or anyone else for that matter, if you believe I’ve raised a critical matter, please don’t hesitate to pass on which state delegations we most likely could flip.
There are only two AZ districts possible as “truly competitive” 01 and 06 and www.TurnUp.US needed $20k each to register more 18 to 29s in each CD based on abortion rights! Similarly there are two CDs in VA 02 and 07 which are “truly competitive” and we need $20k in each of those so Barbara and anyone else please introduce me to folks who are capable of such donations? Many thanks and the others that you mentioned are covered!
Ira, I very much appreciate learning precisely which districts in critical states to target to help flip a majority of House delegations to Democratic control. Moreover, while TurnUp is among the causes to which I donate, as with others on this thread, I remain confident that donating judiciously combined with a host of other GOTV initiatives collectively will enable us to win races up and down the ballot.
FT 6 sent 2 million texts the last 2 days to unregistered people who trend Democratic . FT 6's new short term goal is to raise another million dollars to reach out to 15 million people, and deliver 4.5 million new voters to swing states and districts!
Aslo, As someone who both phone banks and writes postcards, I appreciate you writing. As for postcarding, I understand their impact, particularly in a tight election, is meaningful. Moreover, I imagine, if our cards are both substantive and attractive, they likely get posted on people’s fridge.
Barbara, I've been writing my postcards in 10 different colors of ink. They're pretty and will get attention. OH! How I hope some of mine will end up on the refrigerator!
Postcards are definitely a good add on. I reminded someone to vote in WI's 2023 Supreme Court election and she told me that she received a postcard. That helped because when she received my private voting reminder message, she already knew what I was talking about.
omg. that's so awful. We cannot go back to this. I was 11 in 1962. My Grandmother left the Catholic church when her priest wanted her to go to bed and die rather than walking the floor to naturally abort a toxic pregnancy. Thank goodness, because her next pregnancy resulted in my Mom. For years my grandmother and my Mom volunteered at Planned Parenthood andfirmly believed in a woman's right to choose.
Thank you for posting of yours and your patient's experience. I am so deeply sorry that both of you were forced into this situation...in this country, at this time. Akin to the dark ages....
Yes, I am 85. Most of us can tell heart-breaking stories about what we witnessed. It is gut wrenching to have to go through this again. I understand the anti-abortion sincere concerns. But, compared to the things I saw, we simply cannot choose 'what could be' over 'what is.'
I have to think that rather than a moral presence & conviction; these people are simply women haters, misogynists that hide their amoral/immoral hearts behind a false “christianity”…
Too Many are also “transactional” like their Orange False God. Transaction — a business deal, I’ll give you this - you give me that”. It’s all about money and greed. Elect me and I’ll make those women suffer, elect me and I’ll let you pollute all you want, elect me and you can fight and kill anyone you want! Those are his promises- give me your $$$$$ and power AND I’ll make sure you don’t pay your just Taxes for your Greed, your misogyny (rape & brutality) will be ignored, give me what I want to stay out of jail And you can hate & destroy all you want!!
Once again…”christians”…acting transactional Just like Jesus did all through the New Testament.
I never learned to be transactional. As a nurse, I am a giver, a helper. Whoever needs my help receives my help. That is who I am. That’s who nurses are. We are nurses till we die.
Molly, that is how I feel about being a teacher and also a minister. I feel it is not right to judge people and I am happy to work with whoever comes into my circle, even if they are not officially "mine." I honor you for living that way too.
Hi Beverly, I have know many kind, compassionate, women loving people who disagree with me on a woman's right to make this decision, because they think it is murder. To discount their concerns is a disservice to helping them think deeper and broader. And it is a disservice to keeping abortion legal. We cannot wait for an unwanted pregnancy to happen to them or a loved one, for them to see what is involved in babies being born who cannot be loved and cared for. Eventually society has to decide this complicated issue and stop letting it be used as a political football.
Please keep fighting, but I'd like your arguments to help keep abortion legal. Thank you for your comments.
Each woman must be an autonomous being in her own right. She and she alone must decide what is best for her. It is her life after all and she will live it. Abortion is an option no one should ever be forced to have an abortion nor should anyone be forced to bear a child. If it offends your religious beliefs, don’t have an abortion. It is just that simple.
Alas, Molly, the issue is not specifically abortion, but control of women. Men are scared nearly all the time they will be seen as inadequate, unmanly, so they want to make women and people of color feel that inadequacy. Control the source of new life, then those men think they can control the society. Perhaps they can, but it is not going to go well, as the Taliban of Afghanistan are learning. Their country is falling apart because they think only men can run things when those men's only skill is doing harm to women and other men. I wish we could help the women rise, but when we didn't arm and train the women and teach them self-defense etc., our chance to help may have passed.
Hi Molly, While I totally agreed with your above comment, and started to give this reply a heart, I stopped. No one is an autonomous being. We live on an isolated planet as social beings totally dependent on each other to survive. Sometimes one person's rights deprive another person of their rights. So we make laws to try to sort these complications out as fairly as possible. While I agree with your statement, "Abortion is an option no one should ever be forced to have an abortion nor should anyone be forced to bear a child." , putting that into practice is not simple... unless we have a dictator who decrees his version. Thank you for commenting.
Lynn, my grandmother told my sister of a "back alley" abortion she had at age 16 and the fear, but desperation she felt. She became an instant supporter of a woman's right to safe abortion and she said that was back in 1920. She said she was afraid to talk about her abortion until she was an "old lady." She was so happy that Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in this country. She would have been appalled at knowing there were so many ignorant people who wanted to take us back to the "dark times," as she referred to the time before. I am angry on behalf of her and all the women who had to live through hell, that a bunch of mostly men, desperate for power have decided putting women's lives at risk is acceptable so they could have a cause. It's disgusting and unacceptable!
Yeah, Molly, don't you just love that hypocrisy and total ignoring of the teaching of the Christian leader. I guess it is best for some christians to pick and choose which scriptures they will go along with and force other people to do as they do, even if it is wrong. Amazing!
Hi Ruth, Your grandmother was one of the lucky one, as horrid as that sounds. Within my small circle -- young girls were forced into prostitution, parents died, forced adoptions, babies born to children (with no chance at a good life), and boys quit school to marry at 14 years old. -- all because of a pregnancy. I didn't know of anyone who found an abortionist then, unfortunately.
Lynn, in the case of my grandmother, she lived in a rather closed community but one in which women kind of took care of each other and she mentioned that a friend of her mother's knew someone who knew someone. I suspect that is the way it went for a lot of women.
Hello Molly, I was a student nurse in the UK from 1968-1971. It shouldn't have been your job as a student nurse to inform relatives when patients had died. I had to do it when I was qualified, and it is the hardest thing in the world to do. Everyone should understand that. We view Republicans attitudes towards abortion as horrific - I now live in Australia. I'm not sure where Republicans live. It certainly doesn't sound like a civilised place, where people care about each other. We are all hoping here that Kamala wins the election, for everybody's sake.
Well I was asked to do it more than once. I cannot shake those experiences nor of the horrendous deaths of these women. Any thing that I can do to protect a woman’s right to control and choose what is right for her body I will do. I am not less a person or citizen because I am a woman. Thank you Sister for your kind words.
I can understand that completely. You were put in an unenviable position. I thought that (since the Pill became widely available) the choice a woman made about whether she wanted children or not, was between her partner and her obstetrician or gynaecologist. It certainly has nothing to do with politicians or Supreme Court judges. By the way, I am a childless cat lady. You are either up early in the morning, or going to bed late. Here it is 7.15pm on Sunday evening.
Molly, your kindness and empathy shown for these "victims" and their families would certainly have been remembered forever. Those young women had to be so scared! It breaks my heart to know that we, as women, are destined to no longer have a say-so about our own health.
I want so desperately to write more, just because you were there for them, but I can't do it after all! Thanks, Molly, for being yourself.
Oh thank you for reading my experiences. My heart breaks for all women who suffer and die because we have not fought for their and our rights as human beings.
My maternal grandmother died in about 1921 from an illegal abortion. My grandfather had TB and was in a sanatorium. She had been accused by his family of neglecting him so she went on a conjugal visit and became pregnant. She was already supporting my mother and my uncle by scrubbing floors in a movie theater and didn't see how she could continue to support them with a new baby (I guess his family wasn't offering her any material support, just criticizing her). As a result, they were orphaned, and separated, as they were farmed out to different relatives. My mother wasn't even 7 years old. This is the future that the Republicans want for us.
I hit the ‘like’ button but it seems counterintuitive. I don’t like that this happened. I don’t like that this woman died needlessly.. I don’t like that you lived through this horrific tragedy. I don’t like that this woman’s family wouldn’t have mom at home to watch them grow up. Perhaps there should be some kind of button that indicates that I’m glad you shared this but it shouldn’t have been that way. Thank you for sharing.
Dear Molly, I spent 17 years as an abortionist's assistant. Two of them actually.
One, an OBGYN, the other a Perinatologist.
I held over 5000 hands through abortions and selective reductions. I wept along with each patient - whatever their reason for being there. Fatal fetal anomalies. IVF with too many fertilized eggs. The imbecile in a life long care facility, raped in her incapacitated state - only noticed because her abdomen enlarged. The young woman of 20 with a 9 year olds mentality. The many number of minors who were raped by a family member - being careful to collect DNA. The women recently diagnosed with cancer, the women on life saving meds
adverse to pregnancy and lastly, though not intentionally, women and girls who just couldn't/wouldn't/weren't able to give birth or become mothers. Everyone of them was thankful they had the right to choose what was best for their lives and families.
The current scenario in 26 states terrifies and sickens me. I lived through bomb threats and watched my sisters be murdered at their receptionists watch around the USA. My mother used to implore that it wasn't worth my life. I tenderly and full throatedly disagreed. She was proud of me but terrified none the less.
I'm still here and so is she at 87!
The deaths are already mounting. We are already "back" but we will not stay here.
Your courage astounds me. You are/were brave and kind. We are not here to judge. We are here to be kind, to bring support and understanding and to bring love to those who need our help. I admire you and am grateful for your being there.
Had the same experience at Pres. St Lukes as a new graduate nurse. This was 1967. Some things you never forget. Any woman who doesn't vote for Kamala is a fool.
Thank you for your validation. At 81, I have always voted with a woman’s right to choose as my guiding light. We women must protect each other. To have no control over your own body is slavery.
Lawrence O'Donnell in a "Last Word" segment this past week precisely connected the dots between the GW Bush SCOTUS appointees and the Trump appointees, with all the pro-dark-money and anti-voter-rights decisions in between and ongoing. His story of his own mother's entirely undisputed D&C after a miscarriage when he was 6 years old, compared to a 6-year-old whose mother died a few weeks ago of sepsis because her doctors feared prosecution for performing a D&C on her after she had miscarried but hadn't passed all the uterine lining, until it was too late to save her. O'Donnell had to pause and collect himself halfway through his discourse on these abominable laws. The cool-headed, intellectual, analytical Lawrence O'Donnell nearly reduced to tears. Only the most vile situation could have that effect.
Women died and no one except their families, friends and those of us who fought to try and save them knew… I doubt that there are accurate records of their deaths. As a young woman, I knew I could have a death like that and it was terrifying. And they call themselves prolife?!?
Women are not just dying because of the loss of Roe v Wade, but because of the general infiltration of Project 2025 into our states particularly Red States. Gun laws are abominable. We need to have better ones so that our children, whom we CHOOSE to have, have a chance to make it to adulthood. Trump's plan is to turn us into a Christian National Theocracy, which is all about women suffering like women in Iran do under the Taliban.
Molly, IMO pro-life means taking care of the mother (while she is still alive) AND taking care of babies that result from pregnancies, especially ones where the mother can't afford to have the child, or she carried a rapist's child to term. They don't believe in any of that; they just believe in total control over women. I also feel compelled to point out that if a woman dies while pregnant, before 24 (I think that's correct) weeks of gestation, the baby dies too.
This is about control not compassion. If Trump and the Prolife folks cared about babies there would be generous leave for new parents, food, well baby care, shelter and all the needs for every baby born in the United States. Prolife sounds better than antiabortion, a PR or marketing change.
I know, Molly. The marketing change is just another lie, and I feel sick every time I hear a male person say "I'm pro life all the way", when I know they aren't.
What happens to a pregnant woman’s body is no one’s business except hers with the advice of her physician. To not have the autonomy of one’s own body, that is slavery.
And so do I. I could listen to his calming voice every day. And night. Sorry that I missed that episode. I'm going to search for it, and grab some Kleenex, just in case.
The episode reminded me of my own entirely unremarkable D&C back in 1965 after a miscarriage when I didn’t even know I was pregnant. A slightly late and very crampy and clotty period. Unusual. So I went to see a doctor. How often that happens! And now it’s life threatening. One of my daughters had an ectopic pregnancy, another a molar one, a third two miscarriages before they all had healthy children. I think it must be a very small percentage of women who get pregnant and have healthy children without any issues. I don’t know of any in my family or circle of friends. And this doesn’t even address rape and incest and simply the wrong time. Joyce is right. The felon is a *lunatic* who knows diddly squat but presumes to tell us what to do and how to feel, killing us in the process.
Trude, Yes, it was a remarkable episode on the Last Word. It reminded me of my own mother’s need for a D&C in the early 60s. I shared Lawrence’s feelings.
This unfortunate tragedy of a death happened two years ago, not a few weeks ago. There is a two year lag in the processing of medical reviews (which in and of itself is abhorrent) and that is why we are just finding this out now. I saw that episode and it was powerful and moving. Republican or democrat….any woman who can vote for the felon is not a friend of mine. He and Junior felon are two of the most despicable people on earth…IMHO.
I didn't see his show. Thank you for sharing it. It should be played and replayed. He is, as you said, very cool-headed, low key, and intelligent. But sometimes emotions become overwhelming. I'm so glad he shared his perspective and experience and that you passed it along!
Sadly, Molly, Donald Trump doesn't care if anyone lives or dies. This is the sad truth. The "Horrible Six" (as I refer to them) of SCOTUS doesn't care if a woman dies leaving her child without a mother. Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society doesn't care if a woman dies. Not one member of the Heritage Foundation cares if a woman dies. They are all heartless, callous, cruel, and misogynistic. I'm sure they are already discussing firing up the ovens....Heil Hitler, Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jun Yung, and all remaining despots.
I believe what you say that that group does not have a single care about someone dying, not one little bit. They are all sociopathic cult members, and winning more power is the only thing that matters. I honestly may have to leave this country.
Trying to get a passport in time is not as easy as I thought. If/when the time comes for US to become immigrants, I wonder if there will even BE a country that will welcome us with open arms?
Knowing his obsessive hatred for real humans, and not his followers, I'm inclined to think it would be the second choice. It seems like yesterday, but I still recall how the only way to get out of the U.S.S.R. was if you were fortunate enough to be an Olympic athlete or the member of a very well-known musical orchestra. The same for East German residents.
It's hard to keep up with a lot of countries these days, because of name changes and their most up-to-date rules. Did Cuba relax their laws? Sorry for the digression, but just the idea of being prisoners in our own country --- or state, if Trump had his way --- is beyond my compression and thus makes my brain hurt.
If I could have one dollar for every time I've seen or heard Trump announce to everyone how much he loves CHY-NA's leader, Putin, and the rest of our adversarial leaders, I might be able to finally buy another used car before my 19-year-old one dies.
As of today, I still haven't taken a peek at the 2025 version of The Bible According to Trump's followers (but not him????). I don't think I can handle that much carnage, but it does make me wonder if there is a section among that foreshadowing/threatening document that addresses this particular issue.
After all the stupidity tfg has already pulled,I wouldn't put anything past him.Too many of his lil buddies have locked/sealed borders,and he is so jealous of these nimrods having no rules but they can just make up rules as they go along,and he wants what they have.It is up to us to put a dead stop to his antics.Don't let his minions take away our vote or scare us into not voting.And vote BLUE,no matter who!
Chris, I never thought about that! I've been going through my papers so I can start a passport application this week. Looks as if we'll be staying here after all.
Yeah, so let's talk about American carnage. The arrogance (I'm being nice) of this horrible person is unbelievable. What planet does he live on? And who are these people (I just had dinner with one of them tonight who told me it would be better if I don't vote at all if I don't vote for him, who is the savior of our country. I wanted to retch.) that think he has anyone else's happiness/rights/safety in mind and will fix it? I am stunned, angry, appalled and can't even think straight right now. Who can believe this?
I'm right there with you. This "carnage" was the furthest thing on my mind not that many years ago.
I keep thinking that I'm having a really bad nightmare from eating too late at night or watching old science fiction movies on TV --- those were reasons my mother always gave us --- but not even the alarm clock or the neighbors' dogs can get me to wake up.
I'll soon be 77 years old, and know for sure I won't ever live long enough to see Trump serve one hour behind bars. I worry and pray for my grandkids and their kids, because I can't see any kind of "survivable future" for them.
I can't believe I'm bringing up Religion in one of these blogs/chat rooms, but how can God, or a higher power worshipped by others, EVER allow Trump to treat our country with such DISRESPECT???
Reader/Writer: i feel your disgust. I am appalled by the number of people in this country who believe the felon’s crap. I find that very scary. To know that there are people who live around me that share and accept the felon’s hateful rhetoric, without question, is so disgusting it breaks my heart. I often worry that I will literally not survive this election due to the stress level the news brings to me. I am outraged by being treated as a second class citizen because I am a woman. It is an embarrassment that we DO NOT have an EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT in this country. Any woman who can actually vote for the felon and his junior-in-training needs to have their head examined!!!!
I, too, am so sick of being stressed out because of this sick, angry, callous, narcissistic POS. I thought this nightmare would have ended nearly four years ago. How wrong I was. I am so dreading Nov 5. I know it's going to be a torturous day. Including the following days, even if Kamala wins, because you know that awful man and his followers are going to cause so much disruption, chaos, and violence in our towns and cities. I'm trying to savor the days before 11/5.
Thank you for your comments, Christine, and just wanted to let you know I share your concerns, disgust, and broken heart. And stand with you in solidarity. May you survive this and thrive after Kamala wins!
That whole post is one of the most degrading misogynistic disgusting pieces of bullshit I have ever seen. Trump has outdone himself with this. The post "talks" to women as if we are just a collective herd of cattle with no brains. I am so enraged, and I did not think I could be *more* enraged by this useless excuse for a human being.
Yes, WE. ARE. NOT. GOING. BACK.
I sincerely believe this won't happen but if that motherf***er somehow cheats his way into...I can't even say it....people have to take some sort of action, within the law (a concept no trumpist has) to get rid of him - immediate impeachment, the 25th amendment, whatever other legal recourse including removing 6 supremely corrupt Supreme Court justices during Biden's lame duck days - this person cannot ever be allowed power again and I no longer want to even know anyone who casts a vote for him. They are aiding and abetting a traitor to this country and its founding ideals.
Attention should also be brought to the fact that Lindsay Graham, a senator from south Carolina is going to Nebraska to try and get them to change the way they allot their Electoral votes, so as to give trump another way to subvert the majority.
I am with you. Trump can never hold any power again. Lindsey hooked his star to anyone who threatened to expose him as a homosexual, as if we haven’t known forever.
I just finished reading D Earl Stephen 's post from today - which explains why the polls are still so close. According to him (and I have no reason to dispute him) it's white men and some white women who are hell- bent on electing Trump again.
I cannot fathom why anyone, and especially women, would vote against their own interests, putting aside what he is and Vance is just as bad. That last rant of his about taking care of women shredded the last semi- good nerve I had.
And yeah, if Lindsey thinks Trump is holding outing him as a gay man over his head, he's dumber than I thought
About Lindsey, denial (the Nile) is not just a river in Egypt
The white men and women, Trumpers, have been conned. Trump is a conman on top of his many “attributes”. The mark of the conman cannot admit that they were fooled and must (to protect their own ego) cling even harder to the conman. Trump is counting on this.
I agree. I'm counting on him losing and going to jail at some point. That's probably naive (the jail part, not the losing). Hope springs eternal, which was the only thing left in Pandora's box after he let everything else out.
When you say these specifics out loud we are justifiably horrified! I am grateful that his utter insanity is on full display for those who still weren't sure. It never in our wildest imaginations occurred to us that we as women are so utterly demeaned by him and the forces that support him. Never, never, never, never...
What happens to a pregnant woman’s body is no one’s business except hers with the advice of her physician. To not have the autonomy of one’s own body, that is slavery.
Thank you for speaking up throughout the comments in this edition of Civil Discourse. I am sorry for you as the 18 year old student nurse who had to see so much horror with women dying from botched abortions and lack of reproductive care. I have been a lifelong supporter of Planned Parenthood for decades and it was unbelievable and outrageous when Roe vs Wade was overturned. It is critical that we elect Harris/Walz and vote downballot for all Dems, to prevent the dystopian nightmare that is being planned for our country, especially for the women.
Coincidentally today is International Daughter's Day.
I got pregnant in 1972 and had to have an abortion. It was illegal in almost all of the states except New York. So Planned Parenthood arranged one for me. I was 19 and terrified. I flew by myself to New York, had the abortion and flew home. I will never forget it. I don't want us to EVER go back.
With Trump back in the "White House" apparently women will be so happy again because men will be able to grab them by the P**sy = they'll let men do it to them because they're so happy to have Trump as president again. Yikes! (Read Project 2025 - at least as far as you can - I made it to page 100 and didn't need anymore)
Amber was murdered by all the people who made it possible to revoke Roe, who did the revoking, signed it (Trump), the state legislatures who criminalized abortion. They all have her blood on their hands. My heart hurts for Amber, for her suffering and death. Too many women have died.
I think when all is said and done in November it'll be women that voted against Trump that will stand out the most. We're not going back and it is time for a woman to be President.
The irony here is that 45 will have pushed women into this corner and their predictable reactions and he still doesn’t have a clue.. I don’t think he has female advisors who “get it”, either.
One last thought- Can anyone here imagine what would happen if a man was: told to get a vasectomy, refused viagra, told he could go to jail if he impregnated a woman, involuntary serialization? No offense to the good men on this site. 🫠☺️
I don't think he has the mental capacity, being a sociopath/psychopath, to have a clue about any other's feelings or beliefs or intentions. It is always and forever about him and only him. And I truly believe that he is a convenient cover for far more nefarious psychopaths.
It doesn't matter whether they "get it" or not. He certainly doesn't listen to his male advisors (at least the sane ones, not the Whack-Pack that's been following him around to his rallies). What makes you think he would listen women (with the possible exception of Laura Loony)?
Spot on...the die has been cast, and this evil, foul, malignant reprobate will be resoundingly defeated. He sealed his own fate, he's doubled- and tripled-down on vicious misogynism and naked racism, the orange filth has shrunk his "base" to incels, anti-Semites, white racists, and radical cultists. That's it, that's the sum and substance of this MAGA rabble who comprise his voting bloc....sorry, not sorry, but YOU LOSE, mate.
Joyce: I wish you would add to your list: Women simply have a right to decide whether they will have a baby. Obviously the horror stories are moving, of women dying or being disabled because they can’t get reproductive health care if it includes terminating a pregnancy.
But most cases are not like that, and they may make it seem that if the exceptions were drawn broadly enough, if doctors weren’t threatened with prosecution, etc. it wouldn’t be that bad.
Let’s say the fundamental principle out loud: a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy if she doesn’t want to have a baby. A fetus isn’t a baby. Abortion isn’t murder.
And Trump is a deranged liar when he claims babies are being executed after birth. Let him identify one doctor who has allegedly done that so he can lose another defamation case.
Yes yes yes. It’s fine to tell these dire stories, but hundeds of thousands of women get abortions every year BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO HAVE A BABY!!! Whatever her reason, it is her decision. And someone who has a belief, based on their religion, that the state can deny her autonomy over her own body, sounds a lot like burning witches to me. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!!
Please give me an actual medical reason to ban abortions, a medical procedure. As a nurse I know there is no medical reason to ban abortions. Since we have freedom of religion, that can’t be the reason. Since abortions don’t threaten the government, that can’t be the reason.
If a woman cannot control her own body because it offends someone else’s religion, we are already in the “Handmaiden’s Tale”. Separation of church and state is also protection from religion. No scientific reason to outlaw abortion. Safe medical procedure.
Before Roe, Women died by bleeding out from botched abortions, many were married, Catholic (nobirth control), mothers and good people. I got to tell their family mommy is dead with her blood on my shoes. The crime is not providing safe medical care. There are no medical reasons for prohibiting abortion. The only reason is religious beliefs. The Constitution gives us freedom of and from religion. Prohibiting abortion is unconstitutional.
Molly, there is no medical reason. As you frame it, the “life at conception” is based on religion, and is unconstitutional. The over-arching reason for most of these politicians is power overall. Trump has declared himself Definer in Chief. As he has repeatedly bragged, “If I say it, they believe it.” He started defining “others” - “Muslim countries”, “African countries”, “South and Central American” countries, “Black, Brown and multi-racial people”, “LGBTQ+ people”, “trans people, including children and their parents”, “patriots”, “women”, “children”, “woke” libs, “criminal immigrants” and more. The only person who has successfully defied his attempted definition is Kamala Harris. This Trump statement shows fear and frustration. “I am telling you who you are now, how you feel now, what your life is like now. You must not be listening. When you realize I am in control, you will feel better. Your life will be better. You will understand how I have set this up for you.” He is shouting - look at all the caps! He is realizing that women are more determined in their stand for freedom than the boys he rallied to charge the capitol on January 6th. I wonder if this “battered woman” brain-washing is part of his predator behavior. I think he may be worried that women will not allow his plans for “adjusting” the election in his favor to become a reality. He is worried about the future.
As we have experienced lately, our Constitution is entirely subjective. Subject to the whims of SCOTUS justices who claim to be "originalists". There is no mention of abortion in our Constitution, yet they feel compelled to regulate it. The is mention of the separation of church and state, but they are (de)regulating that with their decisions, too. Too many Conservatives discount the separation of church and state, claiming that the clause doesn't mean what it says... same thing they do with the 2nd Amendment. They pick and choose from our Constitution in the same way they do with their bibles - interpreting clauses and phrases in whatever way justifies their mindset... and toss the rest out as trash.
What has really gotten to me is that doctors are afraid to give necessary medical care to finish off a natural miscarriage, or to save a woman's life or health, And I just read somewhere today about a condition that is treated by mifepristone that has nothing to do with pregnancy. I looked it up and remembered that I read it in On Health, a Consumer reports newsletter. It is used to control cortisol levels. If the Heritage Foundation has its way and gets the FDA to rescind its approval of the drug, that would hurt many people, and not just women.
I think we should care about both. The issue with cortisol is about older people, of which I am one. I agree with you that women should have the right to decide when and/or if to have a baby. Women have value no matter what their motherhood status is.
Women also have rights to contraception including tubal ligations. Mine, in 1973 at 26, no children, took psychiatric permission x 3 to secure. Today I’ve heard from younger friends with children who want no more and whose husbands won’t get vasectomies, they need the written consent of their husbands.
I have a friend whose daughter (also a friend) knew at 16 or so she would be a horrible mother. She’s had mental/emotional issues her entire life and DID NOT WANT CHILDREN. She asked for her first tubal ligation at 18. She finally talked a doc into it at 30. An adult woman couldn’t get a ligation.
Of course back in the early 1900s, because of a eugenics movement spurred by ever evolving knowledge (including some wrong or incomplete ‘knowledge’) Virginia pushed a case through to the US Supreme Court to get permission to incarcerate and perform surgeries on women to end their child bearing abilities. For decades and decades the first woman to undergo that surgery in VA was held in an institution even though she was perfectly smart and able to live independently. I think HCR has mentioned this in one of her newsletters. I forgot the woman’s name. But I had first read about it in a medical history book by S Mukherjee called The Gene. Scientists who pushed for creating a better society then encouraged this. Hitler used some from this network of scientists to advise him. And that led to the atrocities of WWII
I shudder to think what more atrocities are around the corner for the US and the world should he win. This must be stopped. We need to stop the historical patterns of repression and control. Who knows if we can. I hope we can.
Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia. Federal regulations prohibit that kind of control and say it is against the law, but these three states seem to have taken the position that federal regs are advisory. Note the state of Georgia.
What surprises me is that no one has called him on "post-birth abortion." Even Kamala waffled a little bit during the debate, when she muffed the chance to call it what it would be, i.e. "murder." To the best of my knowledge, murder is illegal in all 50 states. Identify one doctor? He couldn't even identify one state where a "post-birth abortion" took place.
The VP has actually addressed this topic, as have many others. Perhaps we need to be LOUDER about it! It is totally absurd that people believe it to begin with.
Thank you for your stark words. So many of us know the truth. Going back is not an option. I will admit, I settled into complacency. I figured that Roe v Wade was settled law. I never thought that I would have less rights in middle age than I had when I was born. And I never thought my own daughters would have to live in that world. I hope we can all share our stories so that others can recognize what is truly going on... This is an op-ed I wrote about my own experience with reproductive rights. I hope it will encourage others to share their stories.
I have faith that women will come out in droves like never before voting for Kamala Harris and be the force that will save our country from DJT. But we can't take any chances, we need a Harris/Walz landslide! We all need to get out and do our part, call 5 friends in swing states and share the facts about DJT and JDV! Work the polls, everyone must get involved in being an activist, no matter how young or old. It is up to us!
I don’t know why chump thinks we are dumb enough to fall for this load of crap. He’s just trying to baffle us with bs because he certainly can’t dazzle us with brilliance!
I'm pretty sure she is almost as warped as he is, due to her privileged upbringing and his lack of morals and boundaries. What father states publicly (in front of her, no less) that he wants to bang his daughter? And talks about her beautiful body? And hugs her on a national stage by putting his hands on her hips and upper butt? There are photos of them all over the internet from when she was a teenager, and the way he touches/holds her is totally inappropriate. If someone were to claim that Ivanka knows what the love of a good man is, I'd tell them they're off their rocker! She is just as transactional as her father, and appears to not have enough self-respect to push his hands away. Ick.
You may be missing T's purpose. I believe he wants all American fathers and husbands to have talking points to use with their daughters and wives to convince them to vote for T, their savior. Translation: if you want to have happy wives and daughters, Vote for T!
By the way - so far TWO women have died in Georgia because their physicians didn't give them the D&C they needed to get the remnants of fetal tissure out of their uterus. I had a miscarriage - medically called a spontaneous abortion - 38 years ago and spent three days frantic about having dead tissue stuck inside of me while my doc waited for my "body to eject the rest of it"!
If you have never had dead fetal tissue rotting inside of you, you cannot identify with this.
Frankly, I think death is too easy. I want to see him suffer--in a non-posh prison with no amenities. I want him to eat prison food and look in a mirror, when the opportunity presents itself, and see an ugly old bald man with a sallow complexion. I want him to have a violent cell mate and prison guards of various ethnic minorities. I want him to see his ex-wife living high with a series of gigolos. And any other horrible condition that would make his life a living hell.
We must not forget him and the things he has done. He can be a lesson if we choose to abstract and study him as a deadly specimen under the historical microscope. Yet, the desire for active revenge, as described, is so tempting! THAT temptation is the very proof that it must be resisted. As the sad, psychologically tormented and lonely person that he probably is, fading away in ignominy and obscurity might be a just end. Fathers everywhere -- please remember Trump's father, a real mover and shaker, molder and destroyer.
TFG is losing his mind and the race and throwing ketchup to see which brand sticks best. (He wouldn’t touch spaghetti cause it’s not meat and taters). He can’t find a way to out message her, he’s desperate and his ugliness is only gonna get worse including his shallow promises (lower credit card interest, lower insurance premiums, IVF paid for by insurance, etc). None of that benefits him so if he’s flapping his lips then he’s lying.
Stomach churning scary insanity. Exactly the point he doesn’t get, no state should have the right to control a woman’s body. It’s the stuff of sci-fi made real.
Will he give women of all ages health care? Will he give them fair and equal wages? Will he give them less stress about sending their children to school and institute fair gun laws/ lock-ups/ background checks/ no automatic weapons? Will he give them clean air and water so their children are healthy and can play outside? Will he give women safe medicines, safe and nutritious food, vaccines so their children don't get whooping cough, measles, or tetanus? Will he give women good housing they can afford, that are sustainably built? Can he give them childcare, for those that want to, or must, work. Can he give them schools, with big libraries, and science labs, and math corners, and all the arts and sports? Can he give them world peace, in the Ukraine, in Gaza and Israel, in the Sudan and elsewhere? Can he allow us to pray or sing where we want, in whatever fashion we want?
And can he give voting rights to all? So that they participate in our democracy? And can he give us freedom, to live life to the fullest?
Women are the infrastructure that a fetus needs to grow. I am forever curious how policy makers turn away from assuring consistent access to the significant resources every family needs to grow a human being.
Here is Trump’s American woman:
A woman died because The Supreme Court gave the election to GW Bush. A woman died because Mitch McConnell stole a seat on the Supreme Court from President Obama. A woman died because Donald Trump put guaranteed anti Roe justices on the Supreme Court. A woman died because of the conservative members of the Supreme Court as surely as if they had collectively shot her. Her six year old son is an orphan. I hope those responsible are happy. Remember when Donald Trump, in an interview we saw, said that there had to be some sort of punishment for the woman. Is death good enough, Donald.
“Murder most foul”
To give you context, in my life age 18…
Chicago 1962 I am a student nurse at Michael Reese Hospital, a Catholic woman patient can’t use contraception, bleeding out from botched abortion, asking me to pray for her. Asking me to forgive her. For what? For being too poor to afford another child? We can’t go back to those days.
With her blood on my shoes, I go to waiting room, to tell her husband and children that mommy will not be coming home.
I want to scream and can’t.
I cannot click on the "Like" button, Molly, but I too am old enough to remember life pre-Roe v. Wade. I also remember the old feminist slogan: scratch a woman, get a rage. Well, we are enraged, and we are Not. Going. Back.
Never
Oh Molly. That is so sad.
I lived it. I was a teenager. I was a student nurse.
Thank you.
My heart screams for all we've lost.
Molly, this is so crushing. I am a nurse and cannot imagine how you could bear it. I was a student nurse in 1972 in Michigan, and volunteered at a free clinic. One of my jobs was to help young women who wanted an abortion to get an appointment in New York state, and to arrange for their bus fare and other expenses from donations. We never lacked for donations, thank goodness, but WE CAN'T GO BACK.
Thank you for your advice about scratching a “like” for that horrible recollection so I followed you and scratched your “like” instead! Oh what danger we are in and we must work harder and harder. I appreciate the desire to do something so many are writing postcards, but I honestly hope that all who read Joyce’s strong commentary will please go to www.TurnUp.US and contribute tonight or tomorrow rather than send another politician money that will be wasted on TV which will motivate very few or direct mail which will go directly into the waste basket!
I respectfully suggest after 65 years in politics that we must spend our hard earned money to register younger voters ONLY IN “TRUELY COMPETITIVE” congressional districts and a few Senate elections!!
That is how we will produce an additional 4,000 or 5,000 young voters to change the result in those very close contests based on abortion,gun safety and fighting climate change!!! Thank you!!
I’ve done 600 postcards! Every time I write ‘Dear (their name), I feel like I’m talking to them personally. It’s very therapeutic!
Me, too! Blue Wave Postcards are fabulous!!
Ira, I write in reply to the criterion “truly competitive congressional districts.” Considering MAGA’s principal strategy is to foment sufficient chaos resulting in neither presidential candidate receiving 270 electoral votes, thus throwing the election to the House, I believe a critical factor is determining which state delegations (each would have 1 vote) we most likely could flip to ensure Democrats would hold the majority. As you might know, currently Republicans control 25 delegations, Democrats 23, and 2 (MN & NC) are tied. Moreover, I would clarify, were the election decided by the House, the decision would rest with House members seated on January 3, 2025.
In light of the foregoing, setting aside the impact of probable Republican machinations, MN & NC would be obvious targets for flipping, which would produce a tie of 25 Rs and 25 Ds. Seeing I don’t know whether current VP Harris could cast a tie-breaking vote, I would suggest also targeting Arizona (6Rs, 3Ds) where only 2 seats need to be flipped and, despite recent election board rule changes which hopefully will be overturned, maybe Georgia (9Rs, 5Ds) where a 2 seat change would result in a tie and thus a Republican loss.
I would note there is 1 more complication, namely the need also to protect every existing Democratic majority delegation, particularly the close ones like Alaska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and, especially, Virginia where 2 Democrats will be retiring.
Ira, or anyone else for that matter, if you believe I’ve raised a critical matter, please don’t hesitate to pass on which state delegations we most likely could flip.
There are only two AZ districts possible as “truly competitive” 01 and 06 and www.TurnUp.US needed $20k each to register more 18 to 29s in each CD based on abortion rights! Similarly there are two CDs in VA 02 and 07 which are “truly competitive” and we need $20k in each of those so Barbara and anyone else please introduce me to folks who are capable of such donations? Many thanks and the others that you mentioned are covered!
Ira, I very much appreciate learning precisely which districts in critical states to target to help flip a majority of House delegations to Democratic control. Moreover, while TurnUp is among the causes to which I donate, as with others on this thread, I remain confident that donating judiciously combined with a host of other GOTV initiatives collectively will enable us to win races up and down the ballot.
You sound very confident in this group. Are you working with them? I guess I’ll save any questions for them. Thank you. Yes I will donate now.
Done. I guess I was already registered under one of their names. I also expressed an interest to volunteer in eastern Pennsylvania.
Bill, thank you for your support❤️
I am working very closely with them. Fabulously effective group led by brilliant Harvard students! Thank you for your contribution!
FT 6 sent 2 million texts the last 2 days to unregistered people who trend Democratic . FT 6's new short term goal is to raise another million dollars to reach out to 15 million people, and deliver 4.5 million new voters to swing states and districts!
https://www.fieldteam6.org/fund-the-mission
Thank you for helping. ❤️
Thank you for your shout out for www.TurnUp.us. I was not aware of this organization. The youth vote is so important. Donation made.
Aslo, As someone who both phone banks and writes postcards, I appreciate you writing. As for postcarding, I understand their impact, particularly in a tight election, is meaningful. Moreover, I imagine, if our cards are both substantive and attractive, they likely get posted on people’s fridge.
Barbara, I've been writing my postcards in 10 different colors of ink. They're pretty and will get attention. OH! How I hope some of mine will end up on the refrigerator!
I love that image of my postcard sent, on someone's fridge as a reminder and call to vote!
Postcards are definitely a good add on. I reminded someone to vote in WI's 2023 Supreme Court election and she told me that she received a postcard. That helped because when she received my private voting reminder message, she already knew what I was talking about.
Thank you for your efforts❤️
omg. that's so awful. We cannot go back to this. I was 11 in 1962. My Grandmother left the Catholic church when her priest wanted her to go to bed and die rather than walking the floor to naturally abort a toxic pregnancy. Thank goodness, because her next pregnancy resulted in my Mom. For years my grandmother and my Mom volunteered at Planned Parenthood andfirmly believed in a woman's right to choose.
They should add “agree”/“disagree” buttons. There are definitely times when “like” is not how I want to respond.
Good point but one does not like something they disagree with.....
Never
Thank you for posting of yours and your patient's experience. I am so deeply sorry that both of you were forced into this situation...in this country, at this time. Akin to the dark ages....
Yes, I am 85. Most of us can tell heart-breaking stories about what we witnessed. It is gut wrenching to have to go through this again. I understand the anti-abortion sincere concerns. But, compared to the things I saw, we simply cannot choose 'what could be' over 'what is.'
I have to think that rather than a moral presence & conviction; these people are simply women haters, misogynists that hide their amoral/immoral hearts behind a false “christianity”…
Too Many are also “transactional” like their Orange False God. Transaction — a business deal, I’ll give you this - you give me that”. It’s all about money and greed. Elect me and I’ll make those women suffer, elect me and I’ll let you pollute all you want, elect me and you can fight and kill anyone you want! Those are his promises- give me your $$$$$ and power AND I’ll make sure you don’t pay your just Taxes for your Greed, your misogyny (rape & brutality) will be ignored, give me what I want to stay out of jail And you can hate & destroy all you want!!
Once again…”christians”…acting transactional Just like Jesus did all through the New Testament.
I never learned to be transactional. As a nurse, I am a giver, a helper. Whoever needs my help receives my help. That is who I am. That’s who nurses are. We are nurses till we die.
Molly, that is how I feel about being a teacher and also a minister. I feel it is not right to judge people and I am happy to work with whoever comes into my circle, even if they are not officially "mine." I honor you for living that way too.
I try that is all we can do, being human. I try to remember Henry James comment on the three important things in life.
“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”
Yup.
Hi Beverly, I have know many kind, compassionate, women loving people who disagree with me on a woman's right to make this decision, because they think it is murder. To discount their concerns is a disservice to helping them think deeper and broader. And it is a disservice to keeping abortion legal. We cannot wait for an unwanted pregnancy to happen to them or a loved one, for them to see what is involved in babies being born who cannot be loved and cared for. Eventually society has to decide this complicated issue and stop letting it be used as a political football.
Please keep fighting, but I'd like your arguments to help keep abortion legal. Thank you for your comments.
Each woman must be an autonomous being in her own right. She and she alone must decide what is best for her. It is her life after all and she will live it. Abortion is an option no one should ever be forced to have an abortion nor should anyone be forced to bear a child. If it offends your religious beliefs, don’t have an abortion. It is just that simple.
Alas, Molly, the issue is not specifically abortion, but control of women. Men are scared nearly all the time they will be seen as inadequate, unmanly, so they want to make women and people of color feel that inadequacy. Control the source of new life, then those men think they can control the society. Perhaps they can, but it is not going to go well, as the Taliban of Afghanistan are learning. Their country is falling apart because they think only men can run things when those men's only skill is doing harm to women and other men. I wish we could help the women rise, but when we didn't arm and train the women and teach them self-defense etc., our chance to help may have passed.
Hi Molly, While I totally agreed with your above comment, and started to give this reply a heart, I stopped. No one is an autonomous being. We live on an isolated planet as social beings totally dependent on each other to survive. Sometimes one person's rights deprive another person of their rights. So we make laws to try to sort these complications out as fairly as possible. While I agree with your statement, "Abortion is an option no one should ever be forced to have an abortion nor should anyone be forced to bear a child." , putting that into practice is not simple... unless we have a dictator who decrees his version. Thank you for commenting.
Lynn, my grandmother told my sister of a "back alley" abortion she had at age 16 and the fear, but desperation she felt. She became an instant supporter of a woman's right to safe abortion and she said that was back in 1920. She said she was afraid to talk about her abortion until she was an "old lady." She was so happy that Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in this country. She would have been appalled at knowing there were so many ignorant people who wanted to take us back to the "dark times," as she referred to the time before. I am angry on behalf of her and all the women who had to live through hell, that a bunch of mostly men, desperate for power have decided putting women's lives at risk is acceptable so they could have a cause. It's disgusting and unacceptable!
Many women have never told about their abortion for fear. As a non Christian I love this teaching from their Bible: “Judge not least ye be judged.”
Yeah, Molly, don't you just love that hypocrisy and total ignoring of the teaching of the Christian leader. I guess it is best for some christians to pick and choose which scriptures they will go along with and force other people to do as they do, even if it is wrong. Amazing!
It is sad. The teaching of love and compassion and giving is so wonderful.
Hi Ruth, Your grandmother was one of the lucky one, as horrid as that sounds. Within my small circle -- young girls were forced into prostitution, parents died, forced adoptions, babies born to children (with no chance at a good life), and boys quit school to marry at 14 years old. -- all because of a pregnancy. I didn't know of anyone who found an abortionist then, unfortunately.
Lynn, in the case of my grandmother, she lived in a rather closed community but one in which women kind of took care of each other and she mentioned that a friend of her mother's knew someone who knew someone. I suspect that is the way it went for a lot of women.
Thank you for sharing, for caring when caring mattered.
I thank you. Now boy Blue to save our democracy and the lives of women that Trump would doom to death.
We aren't going back!!!! Vote Blue!!!
Hello Molly, I was a student nurse in the UK from 1968-1971. It shouldn't have been your job as a student nurse to inform relatives when patients had died. I had to do it when I was qualified, and it is the hardest thing in the world to do. Everyone should understand that. We view Republicans attitudes towards abortion as horrific - I now live in Australia. I'm not sure where Republicans live. It certainly doesn't sound like a civilised place, where people care about each other. We are all hoping here that Kamala wins the election, for everybody's sake.
Well I was asked to do it more than once. I cannot shake those experiences nor of the horrendous deaths of these women. Any thing that I can do to protect a woman’s right to control and choose what is right for her body I will do. I am not less a person or citizen because I am a woman. Thank you Sister for your kind words.
I can understand that completely. You were put in an unenviable position. I thought that (since the Pill became widely available) the choice a woman made about whether she wanted children or not, was between her partner and her obstetrician or gynaecologist. It certainly has nothing to do with politicians or Supreme Court judges. By the way, I am a childless cat lady. You are either up early in the morning, or going to bed late. Here it is 7.15pm on Sunday evening.
Molly, your kindness and empathy shown for these "victims" and their families would certainly have been remembered forever. Those young women had to be so scared! It breaks my heart to know that we, as women, are destined to no longer have a say-so about our own health.
I want so desperately to write more, just because you were there for them, but I can't do it after all! Thanks, Molly, for being yourself.
Oh thank you for reading my experiences. My heart breaks for all women who suffer and die because we have not fought for their and our rights as human beings.
My maternal grandmother died in about 1921 from an illegal abortion. My grandfather had TB and was in a sanatorium. She had been accused by his family of neglecting him so she went on a conjugal visit and became pregnant. She was already supporting my mother and my uncle by scrubbing floors in a movie theater and didn't see how she could continue to support them with a new baby (I guess his family wasn't offering her any material support, just criticizing her). As a result, they were orphaned, and separated, as they were farmed out to different relatives. My mother wasn't even 7 years old. This is the future that the Republicans want for us.
Our vote is our power. We refuse this future; we are strong and will vote for a future of freedom and democracy.
I hit the ‘like’ button but it seems counterintuitive. I don’t like that this happened. I don’t like that this woman died needlessly.. I don’t like that you lived through this horrific tragedy. I don’t like that this woman’s family wouldn’t have mom at home to watch them grow up. Perhaps there should be some kind of button that indicates that I’m glad you shared this but it shouldn’t have been that way. Thank you for sharing.
Perfectly put. No one should die like that. No one.
Dear Molly, I spent 17 years as an abortionist's assistant. Two of them actually.
One, an OBGYN, the other a Perinatologist.
I held over 5000 hands through abortions and selective reductions. I wept along with each patient - whatever their reason for being there. Fatal fetal anomalies. IVF with too many fertilized eggs. The imbecile in a life long care facility, raped in her incapacitated state - only noticed because her abdomen enlarged. The young woman of 20 with a 9 year olds mentality. The many number of minors who were raped by a family member - being careful to collect DNA. The women recently diagnosed with cancer, the women on life saving meds
adverse to pregnancy and lastly, though not intentionally, women and girls who just couldn't/wouldn't/weren't able to give birth or become mothers. Everyone of them was thankful they had the right to choose what was best for their lives and families.
The current scenario in 26 states terrifies and sickens me. I lived through bomb threats and watched my sisters be murdered at their receptionists watch around the USA. My mother used to implore that it wasn't worth my life. I tenderly and full throatedly disagreed. She was proud of me but terrified none the less.
I'm still here and so is she at 87!
The deaths are already mounting. We are already "back" but we will not stay here.
No way. No how.
Your courage astounds me. You are/were brave and kind. We are not here to judge. We are here to be kind, to bring support and understanding and to bring love to those who need our help. I admire you and am grateful for your being there.
I cannot like this. That is an awful experience to have had.
You can do something powerful… Vote straight Democratic ticket. Protect all Americans from Trump and his minions. Thank you… I truly thank you.
I am a 69 year old southern white male.
We need Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the helm, before the MAGA pirates sink this ship with all of us aboard.
Use the oligarchs for anchors, burn the Project 2025 flag, and take the longboats in to rout the House and the Senate of the far right!
It is time to fight like the true Patriots we are!
VOTE BLUE, because we ain't going back!
Thank you, we need all our brothers, fathers, husbands and male friends we can get! ❤️🙏🏽
Had the same experience at Pres. St Lukes as a new graduate nurse. This was 1967. Some things you never forget. Any woman who doesn't vote for Kamala is a fool.
Thank you for your validation. At 81, I have always voted with a woman’s right to choose as my guiding light. We women must protect each other. To have no control over your own body is slavery.
Thank you for sharing this story. You are so right in every way.
The Pope must read this.
oh my god.
Lawrence O'Donnell in a "Last Word" segment this past week precisely connected the dots between the GW Bush SCOTUS appointees and the Trump appointees, with all the pro-dark-money and anti-voter-rights decisions in between and ongoing. His story of his own mother's entirely undisputed D&C after a miscarriage when he was 6 years old, compared to a 6-year-old whose mother died a few weeks ago of sepsis because her doctors feared prosecution for performing a D&C on her after she had miscarried but hadn't passed all the uterine lining, until it was too late to save her. O'Donnell had to pause and collect himself halfway through his discourse on these abominable laws. The cool-headed, intellectual, analytical Lawrence O'Donnell nearly reduced to tears. Only the most vile situation could have that effect.
Women died and no one except their families, friends and those of us who fought to try and save them knew… I doubt that there are accurate records of their deaths. As a young woman, I knew I could have a death like that and it was terrifying. And they call themselves prolife?!?
Women are not just dying because of the loss of Roe v Wade, but because of the general infiltration of Project 2025 into our states particularly Red States. Gun laws are abominable. We need to have better ones so that our children, whom we CHOOSE to have, have a chance to make it to adulthood. Trump's plan is to turn us into a Christian National Theocracy, which is all about women suffering like women in Iran do under the Taliban.
I call them "Talibangelists" 😠
How apt Kris!
Molly, IMO pro-life means taking care of the mother (while she is still alive) AND taking care of babies that result from pregnancies, especially ones where the mother can't afford to have the child, or she carried a rapist's child to term. They don't believe in any of that; they just believe in total control over women. I also feel compelled to point out that if a woman dies while pregnant, before 24 (I think that's correct) weeks of gestation, the baby dies too.
This is about control not compassion. If Trump and the Prolife folks cared about babies there would be generous leave for new parents, food, well baby care, shelter and all the needs for every baby born in the United States. Prolife sounds better than antiabortion, a PR or marketing change.
I know, Molly. The marketing change is just another lie, and I feel sick every time I hear a male person say "I'm pro life all the way", when I know they aren't.
What happens to a pregnant woman’s body is no one’s business except hers with the advice of her physician. To not have the autonomy of one’s own body, that is slavery.
Lawrence's comments were so moving! I was in tears listening to his show that night. I just adore his good heart.
And so do I. I could listen to his calming voice every day. And night. Sorry that I missed that episode. I'm going to search for it, and grab some Kleenex, just in case.
Lawerence on Trump’s Deadly Abortion Ban: ‘Women are dying. They got what they wanted.’
https://youtu.be/KMaHAI5tGUI
Lawerence on Trump’s Deadly Abortion Ban: ‘Women are dying. They got what they wanted.’
https://youtu.be/KMaHAI5tGUI
We need to support Laurence for his truth telling and not being afraid to show emotion. Women are dying.
I do too peaceful Mary T
The episode reminded me of my own entirely unremarkable D&C back in 1965 after a miscarriage when I didn’t even know I was pregnant. A slightly late and very crampy and clotty period. Unusual. So I went to see a doctor. How often that happens! And now it’s life threatening. One of my daughters had an ectopic pregnancy, another a molar one, a third two miscarriages before they all had healthy children. I think it must be a very small percentage of women who get pregnant and have healthy children without any issues. I don’t know of any in my family or circle of friends. And this doesn’t even address rape and incest and simply the wrong time. Joyce is right. The felon is a *lunatic* who knows diddly squat but presumes to tell us what to do and how to feel, killing us in the process.
Similar experience in 1978.
Trude, Yes, it was a remarkable episode on the Last Word. It reminded me of my own mother’s need for a D&C in the early 60s. I shared Lawrence’s feelings.
This unfortunate tragedy of a death happened two years ago, not a few weeks ago. There is a two year lag in the processing of medical reviews (which in and of itself is abhorrent) and that is why we are just finding this out now. I saw that episode and it was powerful and moving. Republican or democrat….any woman who can vote for the felon is not a friend of mine. He and Junior felon are two of the most despicable people on earth…IMHO.
Lawerence on Trump’s Deadly Abortion Ban: ‘Women are dying. They got what they wanted.’
https://youtu.be/KMaHAI5tGUI
Thank you
Lawrence O'Donnell is a national treasure.
I didn't see his show. Thank you for sharing it. It should be played and replayed. He is, as you said, very cool-headed, low key, and intelligent. But sometimes emotions become overwhelming. I'm so glad he shared his perspective and experience and that you passed it along!
You should include the link to Lawrence O’Donnell
It's posted a few times here, Marlo.
Sadly, Molly, Donald Trump doesn't care if anyone lives or dies. This is the sad truth. The "Horrible Six" (as I refer to them) of SCOTUS doesn't care if a woman dies leaving her child without a mother. Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society doesn't care if a woman dies. Not one member of the Heritage Foundation cares if a woman dies. They are all heartless, callous, cruel, and misogynistic. I'm sure they are already discussing firing up the ovens....Heil Hitler, Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jun Yung, and all remaining despots.
I call them the Injustices 6.
I believe what you say that that group does not have a single care about someone dying, not one little bit. They are all sociopathic cult members, and winning more power is the only thing that matters. I honestly may have to leave this country.
Trying to get a passport in time is not as easy as I thought. If/when the time comes for US to become immigrants, I wonder if there will even BE a country that will welcome us with open arms?
I have wondered about this too.Where indeed can we go to get away from Tfg's clutches and actually be free from him,should that need arise?
Also,all his talk of closing our borders.Is it to keep people out,or to keep us from leaving?
Knowing his obsessive hatred for real humans, and not his followers, I'm inclined to think it would be the second choice. It seems like yesterday, but I still recall how the only way to get out of the U.S.S.R. was if you were fortunate enough to be an Olympic athlete or the member of a very well-known musical orchestra. The same for East German residents.
It's hard to keep up with a lot of countries these days, because of name changes and their most up-to-date rules. Did Cuba relax their laws? Sorry for the digression, but just the idea of being prisoners in our own country --- or state, if Trump had his way --- is beyond my compression and thus makes my brain hurt.
If I could have one dollar for every time I've seen or heard Trump announce to everyone how much he loves CHY-NA's leader, Putin, and the rest of our adversarial leaders, I might be able to finally buy another used car before my 19-year-old one dies.
As of today, I still haven't taken a peek at the 2025 version of The Bible According to Trump's followers (but not him????). I don't think I can handle that much carnage, but it does make me wonder if there is a section among that foreshadowing/threatening document that addresses this particular issue.
After all the stupidity tfg has already pulled,I wouldn't put anything past him.Too many of his lil buddies have locked/sealed borders,and he is so jealous of these nimrods having no rules but they can just make up rules as they go along,and he wants what they have.It is up to us to put a dead stop to his antics.Don't let his minions take away our vote or scare us into not voting.And vote BLUE,no matter who!
I keep seesawing on this same idea. My profession could take me anywhere to make a living, but where?
I don’t think there is a safe place on this planet from the disease that has beset humanity.
Most of us just can't afford to leave.
Chris, I never thought about that! I've been going through my papers so I can start a passport application this week. Looks as if we'll be staying here after all.
"and all remaining despots." Including Donald John Trump, if he gets the chance. We must not allow it to be given to him!
Not even notice.
Of course not. Trump hates women.
Yeah, so let's talk about American carnage. The arrogance (I'm being nice) of this horrible person is unbelievable. What planet does he live on? And who are these people (I just had dinner with one of them tonight who told me it would be better if I don't vote at all if I don't vote for him, who is the savior of our country. I wanted to retch.) that think he has anyone else's happiness/rights/safety in mind and will fix it? I am stunned, angry, appalled and can't even think straight right now. Who can believe this?
I'm right there with you. This "carnage" was the furthest thing on my mind not that many years ago.
I keep thinking that I'm having a really bad nightmare from eating too late at night or watching old science fiction movies on TV --- those were reasons my mother always gave us --- but not even the alarm clock or the neighbors' dogs can get me to wake up.
I'll soon be 77 years old, and know for sure I won't ever live long enough to see Trump serve one hour behind bars. I worry and pray for my grandkids and their kids, because I can't see any kind of "survivable future" for them.
I can't believe I'm bringing up Religion in one of these blogs/chat rooms, but how can God, or a higher power worshipped by others, EVER allow Trump to treat our country with such DISRESPECT???
I pray you DO live long enough to see Trump spend years behind bars, Dianne.
How did God allow the halocaust, Spanish inquisition, American Indian genocide, slavery, Coke formula to be changed, etc. humans have free will.
Reader/Writer: i feel your disgust. I am appalled by the number of people in this country who believe the felon’s crap. I find that very scary. To know that there are people who live around me that share and accept the felon’s hateful rhetoric, without question, is so disgusting it breaks my heart. I often worry that I will literally not survive this election due to the stress level the news brings to me. I am outraged by being treated as a second class citizen because I am a woman. It is an embarrassment that we DO NOT have an EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT in this country. Any woman who can actually vote for the felon and his junior-in-training needs to have their head examined!!!!
I, too, am so sick of being stressed out because of this sick, angry, callous, narcissistic POS. I thought this nightmare would have ended nearly four years ago. How wrong I was. I am so dreading Nov 5. I know it's going to be a torturous day. Including the following days, even if Kamala wins, because you know that awful man and his followers are going to cause so much disruption, chaos, and violence in our towns and cities. I'm trying to savor the days before 11/5.
Thank you for your comments, Christine, and just wanted to let you know I share your concerns, disgust, and broken heart. And stand with you in solidarity. May you survive this and thrive after Kamala wins!
That whole post is one of the most degrading misogynistic disgusting pieces of bullshit I have ever seen. Trump has outdone himself with this. The post "talks" to women as if we are just a collective herd of cattle with no brains. I am so enraged, and I did not think I could be *more* enraged by this useless excuse for a human being.
Yes, WE. ARE. NOT. GOING. BACK.
I sincerely believe this won't happen but if that motherf***er somehow cheats his way into...I can't even say it....people have to take some sort of action, within the law (a concept no trumpist has) to get rid of him - immediate impeachment, the 25th amendment, whatever other legal recourse including removing 6 supremely corrupt Supreme Court justices during Biden's lame duck days - this person cannot ever be allowed power again and I no longer want to even know anyone who casts a vote for him. They are aiding and abetting a traitor to this country and its founding ideals.
Attention should also be brought to the fact that Lindsay Graham, a senator from south Carolina is going to Nebraska to try and get them to change the way they allot their Electoral votes, so as to give trump another way to subvert the majority.
I am with you. Trump can never hold any power again. Lindsey hooked his star to anyone who threatened to expose him as a homosexual, as if we haven’t known forever.
I just finished reading D Earl Stephen 's post from today - which explains why the polls are still so close. According to him (and I have no reason to dispute him) it's white men and some white women who are hell- bent on electing Trump again.
I cannot fathom why anyone, and especially women, would vote against their own interests, putting aside what he is and Vance is just as bad. That last rant of his about taking care of women shredded the last semi- good nerve I had.
And yeah, if Lindsey thinks Trump is holding outing him as a gay man over his head, he's dumber than I thought
About Lindsey, denial (the Nile) is not just a river in Egypt
The white men and women, Trumpers, have been conned. Trump is a conman on top of his many “attributes”. The mark of the conman cannot admit that they were fooled and must (to protect their own ego) cling even harder to the conman. Trump is counting on this.
I agree. I'm counting on him losing and going to jail at some point. That's probably naive (the jail part, not the losing). Hope springs eternal, which was the only thing left in Pandora's box after he let everything else out.
For what it's worth, Nebraska rejected Lindsey Graham's efforts...From what I heard reported.
I heard that also, but I also heard he's still trying. I keep thinking, There must be a law...
Silly me
That’s today in red America. The war on women has got to stop
I agree with you completely, though I would prefer to see "conservative" in quotes when applied to right wing extremists.
When you say these specifics out loud we are justifiably horrified! I am grateful that his utter insanity is on full display for those who still weren't sure. It never in our wildest imaginations occurred to us that we as women are so utterly demeaned by him and the forces that support him. Never, never, never, never...
What happens to a pregnant woman’s body is no one’s business except hers with the advice of her physician. To not have the autonomy of one’s own body, that is slavery.
Thank you for speaking up throughout the comments in this edition of Civil Discourse. I am sorry for you as the 18 year old student nurse who had to see so much horror with women dying from botched abortions and lack of reproductive care. I have been a lifelong supporter of Planned Parenthood for decades and it was unbelievable and outrageous when Roe vs Wade was overturned. It is critical that we elect Harris/Walz and vote downballot for all Dems, to prevent the dystopian nightmare that is being planned for our country, especially for the women.
Coincidentally today is International Daughter's Day.
Thank you Vote and encourage every woman you know to vote!
So we'll put.
I got pregnant in 1972 and had to have an abortion. It was illegal in almost all of the states except New York. So Planned Parenthood arranged one for me. I was 19 and terrified. I flew by myself to New York, had the abortion and flew home. I will never forget it. I don't want us to EVER go back.
With Trump back in the "White House" apparently women will be so happy again because men will be able to grab them by the P**sy = they'll let men do it to them because they're so happy to have Trump as president again. Yikes! (Read Project 2025 - at least as far as you can - I made it to page 100 and didn't need anymore)
It shows his depravity that he says it openly and proudly.
Molly, that was a powerful truth you wrote here. Thanks!
Perhaps if women knew how bad it was before Roe they would vote in mass for Harris.
Amber Thurman?
Amber was murdered by all the people who made it possible to revoke Roe, who did the revoking, signed it (Trump), the state legislatures who criminalized abortion. They all have her blood on their hands. My heart hurts for Amber, for her suffering and death. Too many women have died.
Pimp Talk.
"I'm the only one who loves you."
"I'm the only one who can protect you."
"And if you leave me, you'll be sorry."
Pimp Talk happens on the streets and in the home.
No woman needs to believe it.
Love yourself.
Protect yourself.
Leave The Pimp behind. You won't be sorry.
It’s abuser talk. Flat out.
And psychopathic talk too. So standard for a cult leader.
Excellent!
I wish I’d known and understood when I was 19.
You are spot on!!! Pimp talk.
🎯🎯🎯🎯 ! ! ! !
Pimp talk, indeed. Perfectly framed, Donel.
Donel, well said.
Damn... you're right! Creepy...
I think when all is said and done in November it'll be women that voted against Trump that will stand out the most. We're not going back and it is time for a woman to be President.
The irony here is that 45 will have pushed women into this corner and their predictable reactions and he still doesn’t have a clue.. I don’t think he has female advisors who “get it”, either.
"I will fix all of that, and fast!" Perhaps on Day One?
Simple strategy: control, terrify, and then offer "salvation."
In about two weeks. There's a concept of a plan.
One last thought- Can anyone here imagine what would happen if a man was: told to get a vasectomy, refused viagra, told he could go to jail if he impregnated a woman, involuntary serialization? No offense to the good men on this site. 🫠☺️
Sterilization.
I don't think he has the mental capacity, being a sociopath/psychopath, to have a clue about any other's feelings or beliefs or intentions. It is always and forever about him and only him. And I truly believe that he is a convenient cover for far more nefarious psychopaths.
It doesn't matter whether they "get it" or not. He certainly doesn't listen to his male advisors (at least the sane ones, not the Whack-Pack that's been following him around to his rallies). What makes you think he would listen women (with the possible exception of Laura Loony)?
I like the "Whack Pack"
He may have coherent female advisors but I'm sure he's not listening to them.
And it is time to identify Trump as a LUNATIC. Thank you for that, Joyce.
Patricia, you are so right! We are NOT going back!
Spot on...the die has been cast, and this evil, foul, malignant reprobate will be resoundingly defeated. He sealed his own fate, he's doubled- and tripled-down on vicious misogynism and naked racism, the orange filth has shrunk his "base" to incels, anti-Semites, white racists, and radical cultists. That's it, that's the sum and substance of this MAGA rabble who comprise his voting bloc....sorry, not sorry, but YOU LOSE, mate.
And do you know how they will spin that into another stop the steal? Unending.
Joyce: I wish you would add to your list: Women simply have a right to decide whether they will have a baby. Obviously the horror stories are moving, of women dying or being disabled because they can’t get reproductive health care if it includes terminating a pregnancy.
But most cases are not like that, and they may make it seem that if the exceptions were drawn broadly enough, if doctors weren’t threatened with prosecution, etc. it wouldn’t be that bad.
Let’s say the fundamental principle out loud: a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy if she doesn’t want to have a baby. A fetus isn’t a baby. Abortion isn’t murder.
And Trump is a deranged liar when he claims babies are being executed after birth. Let him identify one doctor who has allegedly done that so he can lose another defamation case.
Yes yes yes. It’s fine to tell these dire stories, but hundeds of thousands of women get abortions every year BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO HAVE A BABY!!! Whatever her reason, it is her decision. And someone who has a belief, based on their religion, that the state can deny her autonomy over her own body, sounds a lot like burning witches to me. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!!
Please give me an actual medical reason to ban abortions, a medical procedure. As a nurse I know there is no medical reason to ban abortions. Since we have freedom of religion, that can’t be the reason. Since abortions don’t threaten the government, that can’t be the reason.
If a woman cannot control her own body because it offends someone else’s religion, we are already in the “Handmaiden’s Tale”. Separation of church and state is also protection from religion. No scientific reason to outlaw abortion. Safe medical procedure.
Before Roe, Women died by bleeding out from botched abortions, many were married, Catholic (nobirth control), mothers and good people. I got to tell their family mommy is dead with her blood on my shoes. The crime is not providing safe medical care. There are no medical reasons for prohibiting abortion. The only reason is religious beliefs. The Constitution gives us freedom of and from religion. Prohibiting abortion is unconstitutional.
Molly, there is no medical reason. As you frame it, the “life at conception” is based on religion, and is unconstitutional. The over-arching reason for most of these politicians is power overall. Trump has declared himself Definer in Chief. As he has repeatedly bragged, “If I say it, they believe it.” He started defining “others” - “Muslim countries”, “African countries”, “South and Central American” countries, “Black, Brown and multi-racial people”, “LGBTQ+ people”, “trans people, including children and their parents”, “patriots”, “women”, “children”, “woke” libs, “criminal immigrants” and more. The only person who has successfully defied his attempted definition is Kamala Harris. This Trump statement shows fear and frustration. “I am telling you who you are now, how you feel now, what your life is like now. You must not be listening. When you realize I am in control, you will feel better. Your life will be better. You will understand how I have set this up for you.” He is shouting - look at all the caps! He is realizing that women are more determined in their stand for freedom than the boys he rallied to charge the capitol on January 6th. I wonder if this “battered woman” brain-washing is part of his predator behavior. I think he may be worried that women will not allow his plans for “adjusting” the election in his favor to become a reality. He is worried about the future.
As we have experienced lately, our Constitution is entirely subjective. Subject to the whims of SCOTUS justices who claim to be "originalists". There is no mention of abortion in our Constitution, yet they feel compelled to regulate it. The is mention of the separation of church and state, but they are (de)regulating that with their decisions, too. Too many Conservatives discount the separation of church and state, claiming that the clause doesn't mean what it says... same thing they do with the 2nd Amendment. They pick and choose from our Constitution in the same way they do with their bibles - interpreting clauses and phrases in whatever way justifies their mindset... and toss the rest out as trash.
What has really gotten to me is that doctors are afraid to give necessary medical care to finish off a natural miscarriage, or to save a woman's life or health, And I just read somewhere today about a condition that is treated by mifepristone that has nothing to do with pregnancy. I looked it up and remembered that I read it in On Health, a Consumer reports newsletter. It is used to control cortisol levels. If the Heritage Foundation has its way and gets the FDA to rescind its approval of the drug, that would hurt many people, and not just women.
They don’t care.
I don't care so much about its other uses,
Women have the right to decide to have a baby, or not.
I think we should care about both. The issue with cortisol is about older people, of which I am one. I agree with you that women should have the right to decide when and/or if to have a baby. Women have value no matter what their motherhood status is.
Exactly!!! Well put!
Women also have rights to contraception including tubal ligations. Mine, in 1973 at 26, no children, took psychiatric permission x 3 to secure. Today I’ve heard from younger friends with children who want no more and whose husbands won’t get vasectomies, they need the written consent of their husbands.
I have a friend whose daughter (also a friend) knew at 16 or so she would be a horrible mother. She’s had mental/emotional issues her entire life and DID NOT WANT CHILDREN. She asked for her first tubal ligation at 18. She finally talked a doc into it at 30. An adult woman couldn’t get a ligation.
Unbelievable.
Of course back in the early 1900s, because of a eugenics movement spurred by ever evolving knowledge (including some wrong or incomplete ‘knowledge’) Virginia pushed a case through to the US Supreme Court to get permission to incarcerate and perform surgeries on women to end their child bearing abilities. For decades and decades the first woman to undergo that surgery in VA was held in an institution even though she was perfectly smart and able to live independently. I think HCR has mentioned this in one of her newsletters. I forgot the woman’s name. But I had first read about it in a medical history book by S Mukherjee called The Gene. Scientists who pushed for creating a better society then encouraged this. Hitler used some from this network of scientists to advise him. And that led to the atrocities of WWII
I shudder to think what more atrocities are around the corner for the US and the world should he win. This must be stopped. We need to stop the historical patterns of repression and control. Who knows if we can. I hope we can.
In what state is this?!
Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia. Federal regulations prohibit that kind of control and say it is against the law, but these three states seem to have taken the position that federal regs are advisory. Note the state of Georgia.
I suppose I shouldn’t be astonished, but this seems so seventeenth century.
MAGAS murder WOMEN! They don’t care !!!!!!
So why does ANYONE vote for this scum?
What surprises me is that no one has called him on "post-birth abortion." Even Kamala waffled a little bit during the debate, when she muffed the chance to call it what it would be, i.e. "murder." To the best of my knowledge, murder is illegal in all 50 states. Identify one doctor? He couldn't even identify one state where a "post-birth abortion" took place.
The VP has actually addressed this topic, as have many others. Perhaps we need to be LOUDER about it! It is totally absurd that people believe it to begin with.
Thank you.
We've gotten so defensive about this right we're falling into the trap of "exceptions", as if that's the answer.
NO.
Women have the right to decide if they will have a baby.
Full Stop.
Roe, Roe, Roe the Vote!
Spread this Civil Discourse along with this most excellent The Last Word segment:
Lawerence on Trump’s Deadly Abortion Ban: ‘Women are dying. They got what they wanted.’
https://youtu.be/KMaHAI5tGUI
Thank you for your stark words. So many of us know the truth. Going back is not an option. I will admit, I settled into complacency. I figured that Roe v Wade was settled law. I never thought that I would have less rights in middle age than I had when I was born. And I never thought my own daughters would have to live in that world. I hope we can all share our stories so that others can recognize what is truly going on... This is an op-ed I wrote about my own experience with reproductive rights. I hope it will encourage others to share their stories.
https://danismart.substack.com/p/permission-denied
Your post is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever read. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Dani.
Von trump never stopped lying from day one. Never trust this deranged narcissic delusional fascist convicted conman. Vote blue! Forza Kamala
Va bene.
I have faith that women will come out in droves like never before voting for Kamala Harris and be the force that will save our country from DJT. But we can't take any chances, we need a Harris/Walz landslide! We all need to get out and do our part, call 5 friends in swing states and share the facts about DJT and JDV! Work the polls, everyone must get involved in being an activist, no matter how young or old. It is up to us!
God, I hope you're right.
Totally unfair and RIGGED! As a man, I need to know how to feel, but he only addressed women. Please advise.
Too funny!
If you have a woman in your life - wife , sister, mother, friend - ask HER how you should feel!
Good advice. I asked my wife and she told me I was being hysterical and to calm down
Same words so many of us have heard concerning a multitude of conditions we have sought medical care for.
Omg, Robert. I nearly died laughing!
Sarcasm is sometimes subtle.
On this subject, our skin (women’s) isn’t thin it is raw.
That's really rich coming from a rapist who brags about assaulting women. Why don't we ask E. Jean and Mary Trump how happy he makes us?
I don’t know why chump thinks we are dumb enough to fall for this load of crap. He’s just trying to baffle us with bs because he certainly can’t dazzle us with brilliance!
One word: Ivanka
I'm pretty sure she does NOT share his beliefs.
I wouldn’t be so sure.
Why do you think that? I ask seriously.
I think this maybe where she and her step mother, Melania agree. "I don't care, do you?"
He's their meal ticket.
If you’re addressing me I’ll answer - or Amy Parker?
Actually, I'm answering Joan Eisenstodt.
I'm pretty sure she is almost as warped as he is, due to her privileged upbringing and his lack of morals and boundaries. What father states publicly (in front of her, no less) that he wants to bang his daughter? And talks about her beautiful body? And hugs her on a national stage by putting his hands on her hips and upper butt? There are photos of them all over the internet from when she was a teenager, and the way he touches/holds her is totally inappropriate. If someone were to claim that Ivanka knows what the love of a good man is, I'd tell them they're off their rocker! She is just as transactional as her father, and appears to not have enough self-respect to push his hands away. Ick.
You may be missing T's purpose. I believe he wants all American fathers and husbands to have talking points to use with their daughters and wives to convince them to vote for T, their savior. Translation: if you want to have happy wives and daughters, Vote for T!
By the way - so far TWO women have died in Georgia because their physicians didn't give them the D&C they needed to get the remnants of fetal tissure out of their uterus. I had a miscarriage - medically called a spontaneous abortion - 38 years ago and spent three days frantic about having dead tissue stuck inside of me while my doc waited for my "body to eject the rest of it"!
If you have never had dead fetal tissue rotting inside of you, you cannot identify with this.
I had the same experience. And nearly bled out when it didn't expel completely. They had to do a D&C.
God help us all. Had the same situation roughly the same time ago and was fortunately able to have a D&C,
Inaugural address 2017 - trump American carnage
I was going to tell her
I just want him dropped from a plane mid-Atlantic with an anvil chained to his ankles. Like what happened to the other terrorist, Bin Laden.
Frankly, I think death is too easy. I want to see him suffer--in a non-posh prison with no amenities. I want him to eat prison food and look in a mirror, when the opportunity presents itself, and see an ugly old bald man with a sallow complexion. I want him to have a violent cell mate and prison guards of various ethnic minorities. I want him to see his ex-wife living high with a series of gigolos. And any other horrible condition that would make his life a living hell.
Just being ignored and forgotten by the world would do him in.
We must not forget him and the things he has done. He can be a lesson if we choose to abstract and study him as a deadly specimen under the historical microscope. Yet, the desire for active revenge, as described, is so tempting! THAT temptation is the very proof that it must be resisted. As the sad, psychologically tormented and lonely person that he probably is, fading away in ignominy and obscurity might be a just end. Fathers everywhere -- please remember Trump's father, a real mover and shaker, molder and destroyer.
Defenestration would do 😈
As long as it's permanent and final.
TFG is losing his mind and the race and throwing ketchup to see which brand sticks best. (He wouldn’t touch spaghetti cause it’s not meat and taters). He can’t find a way to out message her, he’s desperate and his ugliness is only gonna get worse including his shallow promises (lower credit card interest, lower insurance premiums, IVF paid for by insurance, etc). None of that benefits him so if he’s flapping his lips then he’s lying.
He HAS LOST THE SICK MIND HE HAD. HEVIS A RAVING LUNATIC!
Stomach churning scary insanity. Exactly the point he doesn’t get, no state should have the right to control a woman’s body. It’s the stuff of sci-fi made real.
Not true. I agree with him.
Your comment is very unclear 1/5 for lack of clarity.
Will he give women of all ages health care? Will he give them fair and equal wages? Will he give them less stress about sending their children to school and institute fair gun laws/ lock-ups/ background checks/ no automatic weapons? Will he give them clean air and water so their children are healthy and can play outside? Will he give women safe medicines, safe and nutritious food, vaccines so their children don't get whooping cough, measles, or tetanus? Will he give women good housing they can afford, that are sustainably built? Can he give them childcare, for those that want to, or must, work. Can he give them schools, with big libraries, and science labs, and math corners, and all the arts and sports? Can he give them world peace, in the Ukraine, in Gaza and Israel, in the Sudan and elsewhere? Can he allow us to pray or sing where we want, in whatever fashion we want?
And can he give voting rights to all? So that they participate in our democracy? And can he give us freedom, to live life to the fullest?
Not to women.
Not. At. All.
Of course not. He's going to make them happy, not free. Presumably you will be included in the general hilarity.
Wonderfully said.
Women are the infrastructure that a fetus needs to grow. I am forever curious how policy makers turn away from assuring consistent access to the significant resources every family needs to grow a human being.