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Roe v Wade is on deck

While a lot of attention is being paid to the US House and Senate, the big thing that happen in 2010 could potentially reoccur to some level in 2022, and that is a wave in the State Legislatures. That was the thing that allowed so much right-wing gerrymandering. And now, with Dobbs, there is a potential for even heavily gerrymandered state districting to become under threat from an unpredictable anti-abortion ban turnout. While the districts in rural areas will be safe, anything touching the suburbs could be at risk.

Man, it'd be something if the red wave turned into a blue tsunami. Dobbs has the influence to do just that. And it is outright cowardice that the GOP is verbally running away from abortion bans as fast as they can, even though they were (and would be) moving towards post 2022.
 
apnews.com

Michigan election board rejects abortion rights initiative

Michigan’s state Board of Canvassers has rejected a ballot initiative seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
apnews.com apnews.com
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan elections board on Wednesday rejected an abortion rights initiative after its two Republican (fuckers) board members voted against putting the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

The two Democrats on the Board of State Canvassers voted in favor, but getting the measure on the ballot required at least three votes of the four-member board. The Reproductive Freedom for All campaign, which gathered signatures to get the measure on the ballot, is expected to appeal to the Democratic-leaning Michigan Supreme Court in the coming days and expressed confidence it would prevail.

The board’s administrative and clerical work on elections was once carried out in obscurity, but it drew national attention in 2020 when Donald Trump pressured Republican members not to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win in the state. Its partisan split was evident on another issue Wednesday, when it deadlocked 2-2 on a measure to expand voting, with Democrats for it and Republicans against.
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They lost pregnancies for unclear reasons. Then they were prosecuted. Experts say drug use is rarely the cause of miscarriage or still birth, but prosecution of women who test positive for drugs still happens — and could get more common in the wake of the Dobbs decision

Some were already mothers, excited about having another baby. Others were upset or frightened to find themselves pregnant. All tested positive for drugs. And when these women lost their pregnancies, each ended up in jail.
More than 50 women have been prosecuted for child neglect or manslaughter in the United States since 1999 because they tested positive for drug use after a miscarriage or stillbirth, according to an investigation by the Marshall Project, the Frontier and AL.com that was co-edited and published in partnership with The Washington Post.

The medical community calls this legal approach harmful and counterproductive. But it’s a strategy many legal experts say is likely to become more common now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, making it easier for states to pass laws that give fetuses and embryos the same rights as children or mothers.
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ZiprHead said:
apnews.com

Michigan election board rejects abortion rights initiative

Michigan’s state Board of Canvassers has rejected a ballot initiative seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
apnews.com apnews.com
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan elections board on Wednesday rejected an abortion rights initiative after its two Republican (fuckers) board members voted against putting the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

The two Democrats on the Board of State Canvassers voted in favor, but getting the measure on the ballot required at least three votes of the four-member board. The Reproductive Freedom for All campaign, which gathered signatures to get the measure on the ballot, is expected to appeal to the Democratic-leaning Michigan Supreme Court in the coming days and expressed confidence it would prevail.

The board’s administrative and clerical work on elections was once carried out in obscurity, but it drew national attention in 2020 when Donald Trump pressured Republican members not to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win in the state. Its partisan split was evident on another issue Wednesday, when it deadlocked 2-2 on a measure to expand voting, with Democrats for it and Republicans against.
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Michigan GOP are horrid even for the GOP, just going all in against basic democracy.
 
Michigan election board rejects abortion rights initiative | AP News
The board’s administrative and clerical work on elections was once carried out in obscurity, but it drew national attention in 2020 when Donald Trump pressured Republican members not to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win in the state. Its partisan split was evident on another issue Wednesday, when it deadlocked 2-2 on a measure to expand voting, with Democrats for it and Republicans against.
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The same deadlock as for the abortion referendum.
The proposed constitutional amendment aims to negate a 91-year-old state law that would ban abortion in all instances except to save the life of the mother. The meeting drew hundreds of people, who packed the hearing room and overflow rooms for a chance to comment. Abortion opponents also protested outside.

...
Darci McConnell, a spokeswoman for Reproductive Freedom for All, the group backing the measure, said she remains confident.

“We had more than 730,000 people who read, signed and understood what they signed. The board was supposed to do one thing today and affirm that we had the signatures, their own bureau said we did. So we’re still optimistic that we’ll be on the ballot in November,” McConnell said.

Supporters of the other initiative, to expand voting including adding ballot drop boxes, also are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Groups have seven business days to appeal and the ballot must be finalized by Sept. 9.
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The Republicans don't want these measures on the ballot, because those measures will encourage Democrats to vote, I suspect.
 
Michigan's supreme court could decide whether voters see abortion on the ballot : NPR
But Republicans said the petitions that were circulated had typos and words that were pushed too close together to be easily understood. The proposed amendment has faced scrutiny over alleged typos in its petition language for weeks.

"Call these typos, errors, mistakes, or whatever," says Eric Doster, the attorney for Citizens to Support MI Women and Children. "This gibberish now before this board does not satisfy the full test requirement under law and this board has never approved, never approved a petition with these types of typos and errors."

The version of the petition available online at the Board of State Canvassers' website appears to show the typos, such as: "DECISIONSABOUTALLMATTERSRELATINGTOPREGNANCY."
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noting
Group argues typos in abortion rights petition should keep it off the ballot
and
the version of the abortion-rights initiative at the SOS's office

From the looks of it, it seems like an OCR of a screencap or a scan of a document. Things like that can happen from OCRing if the words are close enough together. I say that because I've done a lot of OCRing myself. So the real question is how was this version prepared.
 
Kate Smith on Twitter: "It was yet another heavy news week for post-Roe abortion news. ... 🧵" / Twitter
I'll skip through it.
All eyes should be on South Carolina right now where lawmakers are racing to push through a near-total ban on abortion.

...
Not to be a broken record, but as usual, the rape and incest "exceptions" are bullshit.

The only way a patient can get an abortion under this exception is if the rape/incest is reported. And it's only available in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
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Then a lot of detail about how this outlawing of abortion is getting through the SC state legislature. Then Texas's abortion ban and the abortion tourism that it has provoked.
From when the Texas ban was implemented in September 2021 through June 2022, Planned Parenthood health centers in surrounding states saw a 550% (!!) spike in patients from Texas compared to the previous year.

Kansas: PP health centers saw 400 abortion patients from TX in that time frame, up from less than 10 patients the year prior.

Colorado: PP reported 10x the number of Texas abortion patients.

New Mexico: Texans accounted for 41% of abortion patients at PPs centers, up from 19%.

All of that data was collected when Roe was still the law of the land.

Today, 16 states have abortion bans in place, and 11 ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, meaning that those out-of-state patient numbers are poised to go even higher.
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The remaining closest abortion-friendly state to Texas is Illinois. Clinics in Carbondale (southern end) and East St. Louis (western border) are getting ready for abortion tourists from nearby states.

After mentioning California's abortion defense,
And the legal fights against abortion bans continue.

@PPFA, @ACLUIndiana, @lawyeringproj & Wilmer Hale filed a lawsuit against Indiana's recently passed SB1, which bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

It's scheduled to go into effect Sept 1.
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lpetrich said:
The Republicans don't want these measures on the ballot, because those measures will encourage Democrats to vote, I suspect
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Something very similar happened here in Indiana.

Governor Pence and his republican compadres had spent years getting an anti-marriage equality amendment to the Indiana State Constitution on the ballot. By the time they did, public opinion had changed a great deal. That amendment ballot was predicted to bring out the base, but not the one the Republican party wanted. It was expected to bring out the Democratic base.

So the Republicans desperately wanted to remove it from the ballot. They found a committee that found a typo and jerked it off the ballot.

Much hilarity ensued. So much that Pence joined the Trump team when Trump had about a 2% chance of winning. Because Pence's chance of winning the election for governor of a Christian state, as incumbent, were even smaller.

Tom
 
Brandon Richards on Twitter: "THREAD: Last night, #CALeg made HISTORY ..." / Twitter
A LOT. Let's see how many of these bills Governor Newsom signs.
THREAD: Last night, #CALeg made HISTORY--advancing the largest, most comprehensive abortion protection & expansion bill package in the country.

The California Future of Abortion Council supported bill package heads to @CAGovernor @GavinNewsom's desk.

Here's what's in it⬇️

#AB657 (@AsmJimCooper) will expedite licensure for providers and clinicians committed to provide abortion care in California.

#AB1242 (@BauerKahan) protects Californians from third-party enforcement of abortion restrictions at the local level.

You can read more about it here⬇️
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Column: A new tool to protect women's digital privacy - Los Angeles Times
Digital privacy is a huge concern in the post-Roe world, one where women’s bodies, or at least their uteruses, are increasingly considered community property in less enlightened states than California.

Women are being warned to delete their period-tracking apps, turn off our location tracking as if we are Russian spies crawling into Mar-a-Lago closets, and, gasp, pick up the phone rather than text.

California legislators are working on a clever way to help women, though — across the country, not just in our state.

...
But the magic of the measure is that it would give California-based communications and technology companies a way to bring many subpoenas for information about criminal abortion cases into California courts — where they would almost certainly be denied. It doesn’t matter where the alleged crime (which obviously should not be a crime) took place — if the abortion in question is legal by California standards, this law would apply.

...
But it requires tech companies to do their part, and the track record for that is a solid maybe-maybe not. I’ll get to that.

...
It’s a shield we are handing to tech companies, and all they have to do to use it is agree that they are in fact California-based.
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Let's see how politicians in anti-abortion states respond. I can think of a number of possible responses.

This seems more and more like the years before the Civil War, when both sides of the slavery issue got more and more assertive and militant.
 
Back to Brandon Richards's Twitter thread.
#AB1918 (@AsmCottie) creates the California Reproductive Health Service Corps, responsible for recruiting, training, & retaining a diverse workforce of health care professionals who will provide reproductive health services, including abortion, in underserved areas of California.

#AB2091 (@AsmMiaBonta) enhances privacy protections for medical records related to abortion care under California’s Reproductive Privacy Act against disclosures to law enforcement & out-of-state third parties seeking to enforce hostile abortion bans in other states.
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Something like that bill I mentioned earlier. Seems more and more like Civil War II.
#AB2134 (@AsmAkilahWeber) establishes the California Reproductive Health Equity Program, which will provide grants to providers who provided uncompensated care to patients with low incomes & those who face other financial barriers to accessing abortion & contraception.

#AB2205 (@AsmCarrillo) requires qualified health plans under Covered California to report annually to the Department of Insurance & Department of Managed Health Care the total amounts of funds collected in the segregated accounts (established under the Affordable Care Act to hold premium payment of $1 per member per month and from which claims for abortions must be paid) to better understand how much money is currently in those accounts and how much is being used each year to pay claims.

#AB2223 (@BuffyWicks) ensures that no one in California will be investigated, prosecuted, or incarcerated for ending a pregnancy or experiencing pregnancy loss.

@AsmBuffyWicks on why this bill is important/addresses the mis/dis info around it
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Noting
Buffy Wicks on Twitter: "No one should have to face investigation, prosecution, or incarceration for the outcome of their pregnancy—but it still happens, even in CA. ..." / Twitter
then going into detail in her own Twitter thread.

Noting in reference to that bill,
Fact Check-California reproductive health bill leads to misinterpretation online | Reuters
and
Conspiracy Sites Once Again Insisting Dems Want To Legalize Murder Of Newborn Babies - Wonkette
 
#AB2320 (@AsmGarcia) establishes & administers a pilot program to direct $$ to community health clinics providing repro health care in 5 counties & requires participating health clinics to undertake specified activities to improve health care delivery for marginalized patients.

#AB2586 (@AsmGarcia) establishes a California Reproductive Justice & Freedom Fund to support community-based orgs to provide medically accurate, culturally congruent, comprehensive repro & sexual health education, inclusive of abortion, to disproportionately impacted communities.

#AB2626 (@AsmLisaCalderon) protects abortion providers in California by prohibiting the removal or suspension of medical licenses for a licensee providing abortion care in California who is complying with California law.

#SB1142 (@NancySkinnerCA & @CASenCaballero) creates an “Abortion Information Webpage” managed by the California Department of Public Health with comprehensive information regarding accessing abortion services in California. The webpage will provide patients one point of entry to connect with the nearest and most accessible abortion provider, obtain coverage or financial support for care, and get logistical assistance and resources for travel, lodging, or other needs.

#SB1245 (@SydneyKamlager) establishes the Los Angeles County Reproductive Safe Haven Pilot Program to support innovative approaches and patient-centered collaborations to safeguard patient access to abortions, regardless of residency.

#SB1375 (@SenToniAtkins) allows nurse practitioners that meet specified criteria and training requirements to provide first trimester abortion independently.

REMINDER: This bill package is in addition to the 2 bills that have already been signed...

#SB245 (@SenGonzalez33) removes cost-barriers to abortion by requiring all state-licensed health care service plans to cover abortion services WITHOUT a co-payment, deductible, or any type of cost-sharing.

#AB1666 (@BauerKahan) protects those in California from civil liability for providing, aiding, or receiving abortion care.

And one final bill that passed and is now on the ballot this November:

#SCA10 (@SenToniAtkins & @Rendon63rd) a state constitutional amendment to make explicit the fundamental constitutional right to abortion and contraceptives (now known as Prop 1).

Lastly, all of this is being made possible because of the $200+ MILLION IN NEW STATE FUNDING secured by the CA Future of Abortion Council in this year's budget...

A quick break down⬇️
(pic link)

Recently, we have not seen a lot of positive news around abortion policy or sexual & repro health care policy more broadly...

But what was accomplished last night in #CALeg is historic...and it's because of the nearly year long work of the CA Future of Abortion Council.

/END
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That $200+ million goes to a lot:
  • $40 Million for uncompensated care
  • $15 Million for equity and infrastructure payments for clinic abortion providers
  • $20 Million for reproductive health care workforce scholarship and loan repayments
  • $20 Million for reproductive health center physical and digital infrastructure and security
  • $20 Million for recruitment and retention resources to ensure clinicians and other health workers have access to abortion training
  • $20 Million for an abortion practical support fund
  • $20 Million for a one-dollar premium subsidy program in 'Covered California'
  • $15 Million for the reproductive justice and freedom fund
  • $10 Million for backfilling the loss of federal Title X family planning funding
  • $8 Million for covering HPV vaccines for Family PACT patients
  • $4 Million for a reproductive rights website and research on unmet reproductive health care needs
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Seems like California is going whole hog into being an abortion sanctuary state. I should check on other blue states, especially the more populous ones like New York and Illinois.
 
Bills aimed at creating California abortion sanctuary sent to Newsom - Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO — California is on the verge of making it easier for nurse practitioners to provide abortions, barring coroner investigations after a fetal death and dedicating $20 million to expand access to reproductive care programs in Los Angeles County under bills passed by the state Legislature before the body adjourned Wednesday.

...
As judges and lawmakers across the country continue to throw pregnant women into impossible and perilous positions, I am proud that California is resolutely moving in the opposite direction,” said Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). “Abortion is healthcare — period. And like other medical decisions, it is a private conversation between patients and their healthcare providers.”

...
Among those bills is Senate Bill 1375 by Atkins, which would allow specifically trained nurse practitioners to perform first trimester abortions without the supervision of a physician. Assembly Bill 2205 by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) would create new transparency requirements for health plans participating in Covered California to better understand how much in abortion premiums have been collected and how those have been used to pay claims.
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Anti-abortionists don't like these bills.
“California policymakers continue to prioritize abortion over adoption and parenting,” said Jonathan Keller, president of California Family Council, which opposed all 15 abortion bills. “Sacramento only offers these financial incentives to out-of-state women on the condition they end their pregnancies. This is not pro-choice.”
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California prepares to welcome patients from states that may soon ban abortion : Shots - Health News : NPR

Many female politicians have come out in recent years about abortion, and one of the bill authors is one of them.
Back in 2019, on the 46th anniversary of Roe, Wicks became the first lawmaker to tell her abortion story on the floor of the California assembly.

"I was 26 years old, in between jobs and in between homes," she said in the 2019 speech. "Staying on a friend's couch, unemployed. And facing an unplanned pregnancy was a vulnerable time in my life."

She got help at a Planned Parenthood clinic in San Francisco in 2004. In the next few years, Wicks went on to work for Barack Obama, first on the 2008 campaign trail, then in the White House. In 2018 he endorsed her run for office and she won her seat in California's legislature. Now she's 44, married, and has two young daughters.

"For me, having an abortion was an empowering decision," she says, "one that I have never regretted."
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She also talked about a miscarriage that she suffered, one that needed an abortion procedure.
It was September and she was preparing lunch at home, chopping lettuce, carrots, and avocado at the kitchen counter, when she felt a sudden wave of severe cramping in her abdomen. Then she started bleeding – a lot. She rushed to her doctor.

"Turns out, I was pregnant and having a miscarriage," Wicks says. The physician told her, 'We need to do an emergency abortion procedure, a D and C,' referring to the medical procedure that is used both for abortion and to manage complications of miscarriage.
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She stated that she would have been in much worse trouble if she was in Texas.

Buffy Wicks on Twitter: "How do I begin to unpack how deeply disturbed I was by yesterday’s Supreme Court arguments? ..." / Twitter
(a long Twitter thread about her miscarriage)
 
So I looked at some other states.

Last June,
New York Passes Legislation to Create Abortion Sanctuary | The Pew Charitable Trusts
In addition to ensuring certain legal protections for abortion providers and preventing law enforcement from cooperating with out-of-state agencies, the legislation would prohibit medical malpractice insurance companies from taking adverse actions against providers who care for nonresidents.

To address potential violence against abortion providers and others, the legislation would allow health professionals and their family members, volunteers and patients to participate in the state’s Address Confidentiality Program.

The program allows people to have a designated address to receive mail instead of using the address where they live. Mail sent to the substitute address is processed by the state and forwarded to the confidential location of the participant.
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Abortion Access Always: Governor Hochul Announces Robust, Multi-Platform Public Education Campaign for All Seeking Reproductive Healthcare | Governor Kathy Hochul
  • S.9039A/A.10094A Establishes a Cause of Action for Unlawful Interference with Protected Rights
  • S.9077A/A.10372A Relates to Legal Protection for Abortion Service Providers
  • S.9079B/A.9687B Prohibits Misconduct Charges Against Healthcare Practitioners for Providing Reproductive Health Services to Patients Who Reside in States Where Such Services Are Illegal
  • S.9080B/A.9718B Prohibits Medical Malpractice Insurance Companies from Taking Adverse Action Against a Reproductive Healthcare Provider Who Provides Legal Care
  • S.9384A/A.9818A Includes Abortion Providers and Patients in the Address Confidentiality Program
  • S.470/A.5499 Authorizes a Study to Examine Unmet Health and Resource Needs and Impact of Limited Service Pregnancy Centers
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Abortion Access Always: Governor Hochul Announces Robust, Multi-Platform Public Education Campaign for All Seeking Reproductive Healthcare | Governor Kathy Hochul
notes
Abortion in New York State: Know Your Rights
and
Abortion: NY Public Awareness Campaign Images

Like California, even if on a smaller scale.
 
Not just NY State, but also NY City:
Mayor Adams Signs Legislation Guaranteeing Access to Safe, Affordable Abortion in New York City | City of New York

Riverside urges state to make Illinois abortion sanctuary - Riverside Brookfield Landmark

Searching for "abortion sanctuary", I've found:


Like East St. Louis and Carbondale IL:
In Oregon-Idaho border town, planned abortion clinic receives little welcome from locals - OPB
‘No one asked us,” said one longtime Ontario, Oregon resident to explain why he feels his town is being used to advance an agenda set by outsiders

...
Even before the final Supreme Court decision was announced, Planned Parenthood had leased space in a building on Second Avenue here, with plans to open with a small staff by early 2023.

The small city of Ontario sits on a bend in the Snake River, just an hour’s drive from Boise. On any given block, you might find a cannabis shop, catering to Boise clientele, or a church serving the locals. There’s a Catholic Church, a Church of Latter Day Saints and several evangelical Christian churches, among others.

Republicans outnumber Democrats three to one here. And if you ask most people in town what they think of abortion, their first answer is that they’re pro-life. And yet, the new clinic in their town will likely be the only place offering abortions for about 200 miles in any direction.
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Oregon’s next governor will have a big say in abortion rights. Voters don’t seem to realize that yet - OPB
Tina Kotek (D) and Betsy Johnson (I) both support abortion rights. Christine Drazan (R) opposes abortion rights.

Though the voters are Democratic-leaning, there is a risk that BJ will be a spoiler for TK, allowing CD to win -- and cause a lot of trouble.


On the other side, an anti-abortion sanctuary?
A challenge to Colorado’s abortion law could come from a Weld County commissioner’s ‘human life sanctuary’ proposal | Colorado Public Radio
Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine on Wednesday attempted to introduce a local resolution that would establish the northern Colorado county as the state’s first “human life sanctuary,” an anti-abortion designation designed to limit local access to the procedure.
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www.independent.co.uk

Pregnant women held in Alabama jail for months to ‘protect foetuses’ after drug use

Alabama law says that women suffering a miscarriage or stillbirth who are found to have used drugs during pregnancy can be sent to prison for 99 years
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk

Several pregnant women in Alabama have been held in jail for months after being accused of using drugs during their pregnancies.

Ashley Banks, 23, was arrested on 25 May with a small amount of cannabis and an unregistered firearm. She admitted to having smoked marijuana two days earlier, the same day that she found out that she was pregnant.
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Dobbs on the ballot in Michigan.

Looking at the US House predictions in Michigan, this might swing one seat to the Democrats, make a couple others safer. The big deal will be the State House / Senate races where the Republicans hold small majorities in both Chambers.

Cowardly Republicans are running from Dobbs as fast as they can after Kansas. We'll see the impact, if any, this will have in Michigan. The one concern over Dobbs is whether the issue might fade with time. I agree. If women stop being able to get pregnant and aren't reminded every month of this possibility, Dobbs could vanish in the ether.

The ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court really does speak to the issues we are facing with the alt-right.
article said:
“They would disenfranchise millions of Michiganders not because they believe the many thousands of Michiganders who signed the proposal were confused by it, but because they think they have identified a technicality that allows them to do so, a game of gotcha gone very bad,” she wrote.
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Technicalities indeed. We've been seeing hyper-technicalities everywhere allegedly tying legislatures' or board members' or justices' hands behind their back, making them powerless to do anything but impede on liberty.
 
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