Roe v Wade is on deck

[ZiprHead]

Of course, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), when reaching for a way to insult abortion rights activists, disparaged their looks.

Of course, when faced with criticism for his words, he felt entitled to share the photo of a teenage activist, directing his many Twitter followers to look at her.



I know I wasn’t the only woman who felt those two words roll around in her head after learning the congressman targeted 19-year-old Olivia Julianna, leading others to lob hateful words at her.

She publicly shared one message she received. It was filled with expletives and a racial slur aimed at her identity as a queer Latina. The part that can be printed in a family publication reads, “I don’t think you need to worry about anyone wanting to touch your body you fat … Here is a tip for your ‘life long’ struggle. Put the fork down and keep your face out of the dorito bag …”
But Olivia has turned Gaetz's stupidity into a win:

Quote:
After Gaetz posted her photo along with a link to a news story that told of his insults, she called on people to contribute to a fundraiser for the nonprofit Gen Z for Change. As of Friday evening, more than $1.7 million had been raised for abortion funds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...eenager-gaetz/

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[Copernicus]

So the idea is that pregnant women will be less incentivized to terminate a pregnancy if they believe that they will be entitled to no financial support from the deadbeat who fathered the child.

 

[Toni]

Of course, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), when reaching for a way to insult abortion rights activists, disparaged their looks.

Of course, when faced with criticism for his words, he felt entitled to share the photo of a teenage activist, directing his many Twitter followers to look at her.



I know I wasn’t the only woman who felt those two words roll around in her head after learning the congressman targeted 19-year-old Olivia Julianna, leading others to lob hateful words at her.

She publicly shared one message she received. It was filled with expletives and a racial slur aimed at her identity as a queer Latina. The part that can be printed in a family publication reads, “I don’t think you need to worry about anyone wanting to touch your body you fat … Here is a tip for your ‘life long’ struggle. Put the fork down and keep your face out of the dorito bag …”
But Olivia has turned Gaetz's stupidity into a win:

Quote:
After Gaetz posted her photo along with a link to a news story that told of his insults, she called on people to contribute to a fundraiser for the nonprofit Gen Z for Change. As of Friday evening, more than $1.7 million had been raised for abortion funds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...eenager-gaetz/

Yeah, I’ve been following the progress of her fundraiser on twitter. Horrible to have that ignorance directed at her but way to turn it around and raise money for a good cause.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Mansplainin' away the need for abortions. Cuz wominz only gettin' abortions cause men forcing to.

 

[Toni]

So the idea is that pregnant women will be less incentivized to terminate a pregnancy if they believe that they will be entitled to no financial support from the deadbeat who fathered the child.

Yes because financial considerations play no role in destining whether to keep a pregnancy or raise a child. I suppose this is supposed to increase the demand for healthy (white) babies for ‘Christian’ couples to adopt. But really it’s to punish women for having sex, even if it’s sex they didn’t want or consent to.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Yes because financial considerations play no role in destining whether to keep a pregnancy or raise a child. I suppose this is supposed to increase the demand for healthy (white) babies for ‘Christian’ couples to adopt. But really it’s to punish women for having sex, even if it’s sex they didn’t want or consent to.

I ponder how much is about punishing women for having sex verses how much it is an attempt to inhibit a woman's ability to get an education and have a career. Of course, it can be a mix of the two.

 

[Toni]

Yes because financial considerations play no role in destining whether to keep a pregnancy or raise a child. I suppose this is supposed to increase the demand for healthy (white) babies for ‘Christian’ couples to adopt. But really it’s to punish women for having sex, even if it’s sex they didn’t want or consent to.

I ponder how much is about punishing women for having sex verses how much it is an attempt to inhibit a woman's ability to get an education and have a career. Of course, it can be a mix of the two.

That is indeed true. A lot of women are talking about similarities between the world of Handmaid's Tale and today and...they aren't wrong.

 

[bilby]

So the idea is that pregnant women will be less incentivized to terminate a pregnancy if they believe that they will be entitled to no financial support from the deadbeat who fathered the child.

The idea is that women don't have opinions that are worthy of the slightest consideration. Men have important opinions, so influencing their positions on whether or not an abortion is desirable makes sense. Women don't play a role in decisions about pregnancy, any more than bricks play a role in decisions about architecture.

 

[ZiprHead]

The abortion vote in Kansas is happening today, the first post-Dodd public action in the country.

As of Monday morning, more than 271,000 voters had cast ballots in the Kansas primary, a significant increase in early voting from the 2018 midterm primary, in which just under 90,000 ballots had been cast by this time.

Of those who voted in the 2022 primary so far, more than 198,000 were early in-person and 73,427 mailed ballots had been returned of the more than 120,000 mailed out. Republicans had a slight lead in voting overall with more than 122,000 ballots cast to Democrats, who had more than 106,000 ballots cast. More than 40,000 unaffiliated Kansans had also voted early.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Kansas also had seen some uptick in voter registrations. According to vote.org, the state had a 963% increase in individuals starting the voter registration process through the organization's website from the two weeks prior to the court's June 24 decision. But it's unclear if those registering were for or against the amendment.

While it's unknown how all these new voters will vote on this issue, it's pretty clear the abortion issue is hot in Kansas.

Kansas voters to weigh in directly on abortion rights

Kansas has seen a surge in early voting as the amendment on abortion rights will go before primary election voters on Aug. 2

www.cbsnews.com

 

[blastula]

The Kansas anti-abortion amendment failed.

 

[Harry Bosch]

The Kansas anti-abortion amendment failed.

Very happy. But have to say, stunned.

 

[Toni]

The Kansas anti-abortion amendment failed.

Very happy. But have to say, stunned.

Yes/no re: stunned. If young people turned out, then this was a predictable outcome. Of course there are young women and young men who are very anti-abortion, but that's a minority and that ban would have been..close to absolute. Most of the anti-abortion people I know do feel there should be exceptions for rape, or to preserve the mother's life/health.

 

[Derec]

[youtube video]

Funny how the left loved the SCOTUS when they were, for decades, ruling in their favor. Roe, Lawrence, Obergefell (these I agree with btw), countless decisions upholding racial discrimination in college admissions, free education for illegals, eminent domain, etc.

But now they are terrorists because y'all don't agree with a recent decision. LMAO.

 

[Politesse]

Who holds either of those opinions ??

 

[lpetrich]

David Roberts on Twitter: "Boy, Alito is the conservative's conservative: ..." / Twitter

Boy, Alito is the conservative's conservative: in a position of near-total power, with zero accountability, getting everything he wants, but still aggrieved, still whining, and still taking every opportunity to get in nasty, graceless jabs at his opponents. What an asshole.

There are a lot of ways to describe the evolution of the US conservative movement over the last few decades, but one theme is that RW media has eradicated any notion that cons have an obligation to carry themselves with any class or grace -- to act like *adults*.

The message, over & over & over again, is: be your nastiest adolescent self. It's ok. We're all doing it. Anyone who acts with dignity or restraint is just faking it anyway, acting "elite," better than you. Everyone's an asshole in the end, so just be an asshole.

A common right critique is that libs can't handle hearing different opinions. But the fact is that the conservative movement has bred an army of aggressive, abrasive assholes who view accountability for their own behavior as an affront.

For my part, I love hearing & arguing over different perspectives. I've devoted most of my life to it. But I don't like dealing with sneering bad-faith "fuck your feelings" bros. That's not seeking mutual understanding, it's just oppositional performance, like prof. wrestling.

Anyway, Alito strikes me as very much immersed in modern, very-online conservatism. That's why his opinions sound like blog posts & his speaking engagements sound like Fox hits. He is, like basically all movement cons these days, a pundit at heart. And not a good pundit.

Addendum: lots of figures loom large in conservatism's long devolution, but in terms of this particular aspect -- the permission structure to be a nasty, sneering prick -- you gotta give pride of place to pioneer Newt Gingrich.

In short, they are very sore winners.


Mark Joseph Stern on Twitter: "In his Rome speech on religious liberty, Justice Alito mocked "foreign leaders" who condemned his opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, including Boris Johnson, Macron, Trudeau, and ... Prince Harry. Of Boris, Alito quipped: "He paid the price." (links)" / Twitter
noting
2022 Religious Liberty Summit: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito - YouTube

Boris Johnson had to resign soon after criticizing that decision, and SA insinuated that there was some connection.

 

[lpetrich]

Some positive political news:
Results: Kansas voters decide 'no' on the abortion amendment : Live Coverage: 2022 Primaries : NPR
With about 87% of the votes counted, it's No 60%, Yes 40%.

Kansas was the first state to vote on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization.

The vote, for now, preserves access to abortion in Kansas and serves as a rebuke to the regional trend of states significantly restricting access. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Kansas has become an abortion destination for people from other states.

...
In Kansas, supporters of the amendment argued that it was necessary to correct what they say was the Kansas Supreme Court's overreach in striking down some of the state's previous abortion restrictions in 2019.

Opponents argued that the amendment would set state lawmakers up to pursue a total abortion ban.

Republicans, for the most part, remained quiet before Tuesday and wouldn't say how far they wanted to restrict abortion access if the amendment passed.

From Kansas Abortion Amendment Election Results 2022 - The New York Times there was a strong regional trend, with cities tending to vote No and rural areas Yes -- city people were more supportive of abortion than country people.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Just saw this for the Kansas vote. These are the two statements.

A vote for the Value Them Both Amendment would affirm there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion, and would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion.

A vote against the Value Them Both Amendment would make no changes to the constitution of the state of Kansas, and could restrict the people, through their elected state legislators, from regulating abortion by leaving in place the recently recognized right to abortion.

How in the heck is that legal? They are lying. Kansas isn't not allowed to "regulate" abortion.

Voting yes would restrict the people, voting no would not restrict the people... but apparently lying and confusing text is allowed in Kansas.

Major distortions in those supposedly neutral statements.

However, don't blame them for the way the yes/no votes work, they don't have a choice on that. It's yes to change the constitution, no to leave it alone.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Near 3 to 2 margin of victory, which doesn't sound huge, but that actually means around 50% more people voted for no than yes. Yeah, 3 to 2 doesn't sound like that, does it? And this is Kansas. So now the question is what fucked up authoritarian plan does the GOP switch to now? They aren't ones that really care what the people think.

 

[ZiprHead]

My hope is all those new young voters, seeing the actual power they have, continue to vote.