Childbirth, contraception and abortion 4

In 2020, 84% of pregnancy-related deaths in US were preventable...

Thank goodness, son's friend was in Michigan when pre-eclampsia necessitated a Caesarean. With much care, her infant son avoided abortion only to be delivered by emergency Caesarean when mom's blood pressure soared and live only a day or two. In another state they both might have died. :(
--------------------------------------

CDC Division of Reproductive Health @CDC_DRH | 12:31 PM · May 29, 2024 {X}:
New data show that nearly half of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. in 2020 occurred 1 week to 1 year after delivery. View new Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) data here:

Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data From Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 38 U.S. States, 2020 {CDC}
Key points
Pregnancy-related deaths occurred during pregnancy, delivery, and up to 1 year postpartum.
The leading cause of pregnancy-related death varied by race and ethnicity.
Over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths were determined to be preventable.
https://www.cdc.gov/maternal-mortality/php/data-research/2020-mmrc.html https://bit.ly/3WKhuEs

Image (https://x.com/CDC_DRH/status/1795855400740274306/photo/1)

>1 margd: Amazing statistics! It's not money or medical knowledge that is the problem. It's politics!!

>2 krazy4katz: Specifically the politics of getting Catholics to vote against everything they believe in, in exchange for something they've never believed in.

Pretty amazing trick when you think about it.

(and yes, I know that the myth that abortion is annoying to god, even though according to their own book he does most of the abortions that ever happen and he never said anything about it in his book, has now spread to different christian cults, but I believe that when it was injected into politics it was specifically aimed at getting catholics to ignore their faith - and boy did it ever work)

>3 kiparsky: Not much I can say about that, being Jewish.
I should read the New Testament one of these days. I have been meaning to do it but somehow always forget. It seems there are right wing conservative and left wing liberals in each of the 3 major monotheistic religions these days.

Embryology is awesome process. (This is a zebrafish, but early human development not much different.)

Merlin Lange 🇺🇦 @Merlin_Lange | 5:07 PM · May 31, 2024 {X}:
Project Lead - Senior Staff Scientist at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub {San Francisco}

12 hours time-lapse of #zebrafish head development acquired with a LSM {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confocal_microscopy ?}.

0:06 (https://x.com/Merlin_Lange/status/1796649801322529066)

Texas Supreme Court rules against women who alleged state abortion ban put their health at risk
Tierney Sneed and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn | May 31, 2024

...The state’s highest court, which is made up entirely of Republicans, reversed a lower court’s order that broadened the exception to circumstances in which a pregnancy is “unsafe” for the pregnant person or when there is a fetal condition making it unlikely the fetus will survive.

...lawsuit brought by several Texas women who suffered serious health complications in their desired pregnancies. They alleged the state’s strict abortion laws put their lives and health in danger when they were forced to wait until their health seriously deteriorated before receiving the procedure or were denied an abortion altogether until they traveled out of state...

...The Texas justices took issue with the trial court’s order allowing for an abortion to be performed if a doctor had a “good faith” reason to believe the procedure was necessary. The high court ruled doctors must hew to the “reasonable medical judgment” standard in the law, which the ruling described as requiring doctors to “identify a life-threatening physical condition that places the mother at risk of death or serious physical impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed.” ...

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/31/politics/texas-supreme-court-abortion-ban/index.h...

State Reproductive Policies Important to Enrollment Decisions
Stephanie Marken and Zach Hrynowski | March 14, 2024

71% say state reproductive healthcare policies impact college choice*
80% of all current/prospective students prefer states with greater access
86% of Democrats and 63% of Republicans prefer states with greater access

... *This is up slightly from 67% who said the same in late 2022. An even greater increase in the relevance of this issue to prospective and current students is also seen among those indicating these policies are highly important in their enrollment decisions (38% compared with 30% in 2022).

Both surveys were conducted after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24, 2022...

https://news.gallup.com/poll/611453/state-reproductive-policies-important-enroll...
____________________________

As posted in #105 thread 3:

Small Decline Seen in Ob/Gyn Residency Applications in Abortion Ban States — Analysis of ERAS data reveals no differences in signaling, though
Rachael Robertson | February 7, 2024
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/108633

CBS Mornings @CBSMornings | 8:53 AM · Jun 4, 2024:

“My fear is that stories like ours will continue to get told and not believed”: @TheRyanHamilton found his unconscious wife on the floor after being denied medical care for a miscarriage.
He tells @OmarVillafranca about the emotional saga.

9:32 (https://x.com/CBSMornings/status/1797974910012215438)
----------------------------------------

Texas man details wife's devastating miscarriage amid state's strict abortion laws: "Nobody uses the word abortion"
Omar Villafranca, Jennifer Earl, Rachel Bailey | June 4, 2024

..."People are not aware of how common miscarriages are. One out of every five pregnancies end in miscarriage. This is a common experience for women, and so it's really scary that here you have a woman going through something that's actually quite common and having such a frustrating time getting the care that she needed," CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder, editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, said on "CBS Mornings."...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-man-details-wifes-devastating-miscarriage-ami...

>8 margd: I’ve had two early miscarriages that required medical care, and one that didn’t. It is a very common occurrence.

>9 2wonderY: Must be terrifying to be bleeding or infected, needing medical care, and not be able to access it... My sister had a bleed after an otherwise normal delivery, in which part of the placenta didn't detach. She was recovering at our parents' place in a rural area north of Toronto, when the hemorrhaging was detected. By the time she reached hospital in Toronto, she was white as a sheet from loss of blood.

As you note, miscarriages etc. are very common: pregnancy can be a hazardous proposition for the mom. (Lots of step-mothers in those old fairy tales...) It's enraging that knuckle-dragging, know-nothings are substituting their ill-informed judgement for that of women and their doctors. Grr.

After the 2024 election, look for abortion opponents to find plaintiffs "with standing" to return to court with arguments that do not threaten to completely upend FDA and the pharmaceutical industry:

US supreme court unanimously upholds access to abortion pill mifepristone
Carter Sherman | 13 Jun 2024

FDA still has the power to give expanded access to mifepristone in major victory to abortion rights supporters

...The case, a consolidation of Food and Drug Administration v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco Laboratories LLC v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, dealt with the FDA’s ability to regulate mifepristone, one of two drugs typically used in medication abortions, which now make up more than 60% of all US abortions and have become a major target of anti-abortion activists. A coalition of abortion opponents had tried to persuade the supreme court to roll back a series of moves by the FDA to expand access to the drug, such as allowing abortion providers to mail mifepristone to patients – a request that the justices met with skepticism in the case’s March arguments.

The abortion opponents claimed that, if the FDA’s current regulations of mifepristone were allowed to remain, anti-abortion doctors could suffer harm if they have to treat women who experience complications from mifepristone. But in Thursday’s majority opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected that argument, ruling that the anti-abortion activists did not prove that they had the legal right to bring the case in the first place, or standing.

...Only Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the most hardline conservative justices on the court, wrote a concurring opinion that dealt primarily with the legal nuances of standing, arguing that so-called “abortionists” – a term widely seen as derogatory among abortion providers – should also lack standing to sue on behalf of their patients...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/jun/13/supreme-court-abo...
----------------------------------------------

Syllabus
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION ET AL. v.
ALLIANCE FOR HIPPOCRATIC MEDICINE ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 23–235. Argued March 26, 2024—Decided June 13, 2024*
38 p
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-235_n7ip.pdf

Senate GOP blocks bill to guarantee access to IVF nationwide
Clare Foran and Ted Barrett | June 13, 2024

Senate Republicans block an effort by Democrats to guarantee access to in vitro fertilization nationwide ... The legislation failed to advance in a procedural vote by a tally of 48-47. It needed 60 votes to advance. Republicans criticized the Democrat-led legislation as unnecessary overreach and a political show vote.

...Republicans have introduced their own bills on IVF and contraception. GOP Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas have introduced a bill called the IVF Protection Act and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has put forward a separate bill to promote access to contraception.

...{Democratic Sens. Patty Murray of Washington state} ... criticized the GOP bill, arguing that states could “enact burdensome and unnecessary requirements and create the kind of legal uncertainty and risk that would force clinics to once again close their doors.”

Under the IVF bill from Britt and Cruz, states would not be eligible for Medicaid funding if they prohibit access to IVF, but the legislation “permits states to implement health and safety standards regarding the practice of IVF”...

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/13/politics/senate-ivf-bill-vote/index.html

Jeff Sharlet @JeffSharlet | 6:15 PM · Jun 12, 2024:
NYT Bestseller THE UNDERTOW: Scenes from a Slow Civil War. THE FAMILY (book & Netflix). THIS BRILLIANT DARKNESS. Words+pics @VanityFair. Teach @Dartmouth.

Liberals may not realize how much the Southern Baptist Convention sets the course for much of Christian nationalism. Its vote against IVF is *loud.*
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jennycohn@toad.social ✍🏻 📢 @jennycohn1 | 3:13 AM · Jun 12, 2024:
I write about Christian Nationalism; Column = @buckscobeacon; Newsletter = https://crownewsletter.substack.com

For those who don’t know, Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leaders have been enormously influential in the Council for National Policy (CNP), the Christian Right’s umbrella organization, which effectively controls the GOP. 1/ ...
-----------------------------------------

Why the Southern Baptists’ vote opposing IVF could change national politics
Megan Messerly | 06/12/2024

The move may signal the beginning of a broad turn on the right against IVF, an issue that many social conservatives see as the “pro-life” movement’s next frontier...

...The resolution, which was passed by nearly 11,000 so-called messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, declares that IVF “most often participates in the destruction of embryonic human life” and calls on Southern Baptists to adopt and “only utilize reproductive technologies” that affirm “the unconditional value and right to life of every human being.”...

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/12/ivf-southern-baptist-convention-evangel...
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Tristan Snell @TristanSnell | 8:57 PM · Jun 13, 2024:
Lawyer, legal commentator, fighter for democracy. Prosecuted Trump University @ NY AG. Commentator, MSNBC. Creator of podcast/newsletter/book TAKING DOWN TRUMP.

In just the last few days, Senate Republicans have KILLED:
- protection for IVF
- protection for contraceptives
- an ethics code for the Supreme Court
Ye shall know them by their fruits.

Those 86, 149 toddlers each have as many as two parents, four grandparents, family, friends, and well-wishers and fair-minded people, who VOTE.

Opinion: We are witnessing a war against women
How can the religious right, a movement that calls itself pro-life, take a stance against IVF?
Eugene Robinson | June 13, 2024

...According to a report issued in March by the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 2 percent of U.S. infants born in 2021 were conceived through IVF. That equals 86,149 toddlers who otherwise would not be here to scamper around the house.

...The Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the {Southern Baptists Convention} denomination’s flagship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, urged passage of the anti-IVF resolution by telling Baptists in a speech that a human life begins “when the sperm and the egg meet and God says, ‘Let there be life.’” He went on to criticize Alabama’s elected leadership for its “lack of political will to stand behind what was the correct ruling and judgment by the Alabama Supreme Court.” {frozen embryos created during the IVF process are “children,” and that the embryos are therefore protected under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act} ...

Mohler said that IVF “is not only the alienation of reproduction from the conjugal setting, it is also an engineered system whereby multiple embryos are created only for most of them assuredly to be destroyed.” And he claimed, without evidence, that “much of the market for this is actually not even found among heterosexual married couples, but the redefinition of marriage, the redefinition of gender, the redefinition of all things in light of the LGBTQ movement.”...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/06/13/ivf-procedure-details-religio...

Why are these people against gun control if they care so much about life? Nothing makes any sense to me anymore…

PS. Sorry my response is off-topic but...

Brazil: Thousands protest bill tightening abortion ban
DW | 15 June 2024

Thousands of Brazilian women protested on Saturday against a bill that would tighten Brazil's ban on abortion. Under the bill, abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy would be considered homicide, even in cases of rape.

...In Brazil, abortion is currently only allowed in cases of rape, fetal deformation or when the mother's life is in danger. Otherwise, the practice is punishable by between one and three years in jail.

The bill advancing in the country's Congress would establish sentences of six to 20 years for abortions carried out after 22 weeks of gestation.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who belongs to the left-wing Workers' Party (PT) ... "It is insane to want to punish a woman with a greater penalty than the criminal who committed the rape" ...

... right-wing parties strengthened their majority in the lower house of parliament...

https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-thousands-protest-bill-tightening-abortion-ban/a-69...

Far-right Republicans’ latest target? No-fault divorce
Arwa Mahdawi | Sat 15 Jun 2024

...first instituted in California in 1969 by the then governor, Ronald Reagan ...By 2010 every state in the country had legalized a no-fault divorce option. The change in law seemed like common sense: before the shift, couples who no longer wanted to be together had to make up scenarios where someone was at fault, even sometimes faking adultery, to get a court to agree to let them split.

....no-fault divorces were also a feminist act: they made it easier for women (and it usually was women) in abusive relationships to get out.

Want to know just how good for American women no-fault divorces were? A National Bureau of Economic Research study conducted in 2003, found a large decline in the number of women killing themselves following the introduction of no-fault divorce, but no similar decline for men. “Total female suicide declined by around 20% in states that adopted unilateral divorce,” according to the paper. There was also “a large decline in domestic violence for both men and women in states that adopted unilateral divorce … {and} suggestive evidence that unilateral divorce led to a decline in females murdered by their partners”.

If a law makes it easier for women to exercise their autonomy then you can be sure that Republicans will want to overturn it...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/15/republicans-no-fau...

jennycohn@toad.social ✍🏻 📢 @jennycohn1 | 12:23 AM · Jun 22, 2024 {X}:

8/ FWIW, scientists estimate that about 30% of blastocysts fail to implant under normal conditions and that another 30% naturally abort between implantation and the woman’s first missed period.
------------------------------------------

Elisabeth Clare Larsen et al. 2024. New insights into mechanisms behind miscarriage (Review). BMC Medicine volume 11, Article number: 154 (26 June 2013) https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-11-154 Open Access

Fig 1. The pregnancy loss iceberg: an overview of the outcome of spontaneous human conceptions. It is estimated that 70% of conceptions are lost prior to live birth. The majority of these losses occur prior to implantation or before the missed menstrual period, and since they are not revealed to the woman they are termed preclinical. In the pregnancy loss ‘iceberg’, they are therefore below the ‘waterline’.
https://x.com/jennycohn1/status/1804369580930011153/photo/1
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-11-154/figures/...

>17 margd: Bearing in mind that an unwanted marriage greatly increases the likelihood of an unwanted pregnancy, we can see once again that the so-called "pro-lifers" are in fact pro-abortion. Always have been, always will be. They need abortion, it's the only way they can sell their "pro-life" misogyny.

>18 margd: So, what we're saying here is God is enthusiastically pro-abortion?

Interesting.

>20 kiparsky: I think it's a miracle that anyone of us is here. Also, that reproduction is a process that often needs to be managed, and that the woman, the potential mother-to-be, is the person to make decisions. Society can help w medical, societal, and economic support, but any decisions are hers to make.

As with TX Supreme Court, TX state medical board was unable to provide much clarity or support for physicians or their patients ... Board doesn't even mention ectopic pregnancies!

{TX} State medical board adopts rules on how doctors can work under abortion bans
Marin Wolf | Jun 21, 2024

A mother with a medical emergency does not need to be in imminent danger of death to qualify for an abortion

...The adopted rules did not substantially change from those proposed and discussed as part of the official rule-making process over the last three months. Doctors, patients and lawyers who participated in a stakeholder meeting last month largely found the suggested guidance lacking.

Board members acknowledged during their meeting Friday that the adopted rules could not address every qualm doctors have with Texas’ abortion legislation. The board cannot alter the laws, but only provide clarity on how they should be implemented in a hospital or doctor’s office.

The guidance does not include a list of conditions that qualify for medical exemptions under the three overlapping abortion laws that forbid the procedure in all cases except to save the life of the mother. Board members said such a list would be incomplete because each patient circumstance is unique.

...whether there was “adequate time to transfer a patient” to another hospital to avoid an abortion ... may be one of the few factors reviewed if a complaint is filed against a physician.

... two types of ectopic pregnancies — one occurring in the scar of a previous cesarean section and one occurring in the muscle of the uterus — that ... could be hard to navigate under the current guidance language. In the final language, the board removed the definition of the condition

... More than 20 Texas women turned to the courts for additional clarity on when their doctors could act in medical emergencies in Zurawski v. Texas. The State Supreme Court ruled against those women in late May, saying a lower court’s injunction in the case “departed from the law as written without constitutional justification.” ...

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2024/06/21/state-medical-board-ado...

Abortion rights interests plow money into US election races
Stephanie Kelly | June 24, 2024

...In the 2023-2024 election cycle leading up to the Nov. 5 vote, pro-abortion rights interests have given $3.37 million to federal candidates, political parties, political action committees (PACs) and outside groups, compared to about $273,000 from anti-abortion interests, according to data from OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics....

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/abortion-rights-interests-plow-money-into-us-el...

VOTE! Hemorrhage, septicemia, preeclampsia ... coincidentally I'm reading "Tools" chapter of Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. In Cat Bohannon notes that only a handful of animals suffer as dangerous a pregnancy and childbirth as do humans -- and the other species are rare, almost extinct. She argues that GYNECOLOGY is a uniquely human invention, practiced in all cultures. However,

“{T}oday six Justices refuse to recognize the {emergency abortion} rights that EMTALA* protects,” instead opting to “dismiss these cases … Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay.”
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and_Active_Labor_Act
----------------------------------------

Supreme court says Idaho abortion ruling 'inadvertently' published - report
Guardian | 18.29 BST

The supreme court has acknowledged to Bloomberg Law that the ruling in a case over whether hospitals in Idaho can be required to carry out abortions in emergencies was published by accident.

The court’s public information officer Patricia McCabe told {Bloomberg}: “The Court’s Publications Unit inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the Court’s website. The Court’s opinion in Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States will be issued in due course.”

Bloomberg Law goes on to report that the ruling is 6-3 in favor of the Biden administration, with conservative justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissenting. However, the ruling is structured to allow litigation over the issue to continue, and not resolve the broader question of whether the federal government can require emergency abortions be performed {per Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act} in states where the procedure is banned:

The high court decision “will prevent Idaho from enforcing its abortion ban when the termination of a pregnancy is needed to prevent serious harms to a woman’s health,” Justice Elena Kagan said in a concurring opinion.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote separately to say that she wouldn’t have dismissed the case, according to the copy that was briefly online.

“Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay,” she wrote. “While this court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position, as their doctors are kept in the dark about what the law requires.”

The posted decision indicates the court won’t resolve broader questions about the intersection of state abortion bans and a federal law designed to ensure hospitals treat patients who arrive in need of emergency care.

The case is the supreme court’s first look at a state abortion ban since the conservative majority overturned Roe v Wade in 2022. The court on 13 June preserved full access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone, saying anti-abortion doctors and organizations lacked legal standing to press a lawsuit.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/jun/26/supreme-court-decisions-tod...
-------------------------------------

22 p draft decision
https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rJo5436tVr08/v0

VOTE! Challenge to FDA regulation of mifepristone will return to Supreme Court after the election, count on it.

Elena Kagan Torches Supreme Court for Overturning Chevron
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / June 28, 2024

...The court ruled 6–3 in Loper Bright v. Raimondo on Friday, overruling a landmark 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council {a legal precedent that courts defer to the expert opinions of federal agencies}and shifting the balance of power toward courts rather than the executive branch when it comes to the interpretation of ambiguous rules.

That would effectively give any court and any judge veto power over all the decisions that any executive agency makes, from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Food and Drug Administration to the Education Department and beyond.....

https://newrepublic.com/post/183269/elena-kagan-supreme-court-chevron-ruling-dis...

https://www.cnn.com/kfile-ed-martin-rnc-platform-committee-anti-abortion-excepti...
Top leader of RNC Platform Committee entertained idea of imprisoning women who get abortions, opposes exceptions

One of the leaders of the Republican National Convention’s platform committee, which shapes the party’s official stance on key issues, has a history of pushing extreme anti-abortion positions, including advocating for a national ban without exceptions for rape or incest. He also entertained the possibility of jailing women who get abortions and the doctors who perform them.

Ed Martin, the deputy policy director for the convention’s platform committee, is one of three people the Republican National Committee selected in May to help craft the party’s platform, which serves as a blueprint for the Republican Party’s agenda by detailing policy positions and how Republicans and former President Donald Trump would govern if elected. The platform is expected to be pared down this year, slashing the length of the document to focus on Trump’s agenda for a second term.

Arkansas abortion rights groups collect enough signatures to advance ballot measure to enshrine certain abortion rights into the constitution

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/arkansas-abortion-rights-groups-s...

Unearthed audio: JD Vance calls for a “federal response” to block women in red states from traveling to another state to get an abortion
0:48 ( https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1816648974549369095 )

- Kamala HQ @KamalaHQ | 9:37 PM · Jul 25, 2024

Infant mortality in the US rose 3% in 2022, marking 2nd year of increases: CDC
Mary Kekatos | July 25, 2024

The infant mortality rate was 5.61 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022.

... overall mortality rate increased for infants born to American Indian/Alaska Native women, white women and Dominican women in 2022 while other racial and ethnic groups did not see significant increases from 2021 to 2022.

Meanwhile, infants of Black women had the highest mortality rate at 10.90 per 1,000 live births in 2022 followed by infants of American Indian/Alaska Native women and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander women.

...infant mortality rates were highest in the South and Rust Belt middle America and lowest in the Northeast, Northwest and West

...in 2022, the five leading causes of all infant deaths were the same as those in 2021 including congenital malformations, disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), unintentional injuries and maternal complications.

...{Dr. James Greenberg, co-director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children's and co-founder of Cradle Cincinnati -- a non-profit working to improve infant mortality rates in Hamilton County, Ohio} said preterm birth is the actual leading cause of infant death based on research conducted by his team, but there's not a single code for a death certificate that covers preterm births

... other factors that may have played a role in the bump in 2022 include

an RSV and flu season in 2022 that began much earlier than usual after COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures began to be lifted.

... the impact of a COVID-19 infection in pregnant women, which may have forced some to deliver early and, in turn, raised the risk of infant mortality.

... the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which led to anecdotal reports of women forced to carry to term babies that would die upon being born or shortly after birth...

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/infant-mortality-us-rose-3-2022-marking-2nd/story?...

Sean Casten @SeanCasten | 10:31 AM · Jul 26, 2024 {X}:
US Rep, IL-06. Engineer. Former CEO. Dad. Husband. Born at 326 ppm...

Trump’s Project 2025 has some VERY creepy surveillance ideas about women’s pregnancies. Read this passage carefully (from page 455 of their plan).

Text ( https://x.com/SeanCasten/status/1816843737747574934/photo/1 )

>30 margd: “abortion tourism”. Just an introduction to the grossness.

Andrew—Author of America Rises On Substack @AmoneyResists | 6:46 PM · Aug 1, 2024 {X}:
The “pro-life” “pro-children” and “pro-family” party
just blocked a bill in the senate to extend the child tax credit.

Rocky Mountain Views 🪷 @RockyMountViews
JD Vance did not even show up to vote.
This is the guy that said that parents should pay less in taxes.

So now Fox is calling it “unsupervised female health decisions.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-bPu-wx39A/?igsh=MmZnb2s1OWxycnQ3

The comments seem to think this is satire. Let me research…

Appears to be a hoax. Sorry.

Initiative to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri constitution qualifies for November ballot

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/missouri-voters-face-choice-continued-aborti...

If passed, the Missouri initiative would “do something that no other state has done before — end a total abortion ban at the ballot box,” said Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, which is sponsoring the measure with significant financial support from Planned Parenthood affiliates and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Missouri will join at least a half-dozen states voting on abortion rights during the presidential election. Arizona’s secretary of state certified an abortion-rights measure for the ballot on Monday. Measures also will go before voters in Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/ex-obama-campaign-manager-tells-fox-news-what-is-the...
Ex-Obama Campaign Manager Tells Fox News What Is The ‘Sleeper Issue’ That Will Determine This Election

“Yeah, Dana, this is the sleeper issue of this election. And it was a sleep received the last election in the 2022 midterm elections. The Democrats performed 9% better than the polls. And when you look at why the huge move towards the Democrats from suburban women, you know, the story of my entire life has been don’t piss women off,” Messina replied, adding:

"And this issue has pissed off a whole lot of women voters, in these battleground states. And now they’re going to get a chance to vote on it. And you see this in poll after poll. I totally agree with you. The economy is the most important issue. But when you go down and look at issues that are moving enthusiasm, it is this abortion issue. And it’s because across party Republicans, Democrats, independents all believe in the same thing. They want the government to stay out of their lives. And this is an issue that is just burning straight hot. And President Trump seems to be trying to run away from his position on this. And I think it’s really hard to do."

>32 margd: It is just amazing to me how people who lie so blatantly can be popular enough to get on any national ticket. I understand the Republicans and Democrats have fundamental differences in philosophy but this goes way beyond those differences. I never thought they would be so crazy. Well, I guess I have been thinking that since 2016.

>36 krazy4katz: Just keep in mind that Donald Trump spent decades supporting abortion providers... I'd love to hear some reporter ask him how many abortions he paid for in that time. To make it easy, he can round it to the nearest dozen.

>37 kiparsky: That is very interesting! But not surprising, I guess. There is no shred of consistency in that man except a complete lack of rational behavior.

The Lincoln Project’s newest ad:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_K1RYaJa5f/?igsh=MWptZTV2YTRibm5zNg==

>39 2wonderY: Great ad... I'd say hyperbole, but remember that fellow in Trump admin who kept track of young women's menses under his authority in immigrant camp...

Project 2025 -- American Taliban, they are:

Taliban’s new laws ban Afghan women from speaking in public
Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi | 26 Aug 2024
https://www.dw.com/en/how-talibans-new-rules-further-silence-women-in-afghanista...

Kamala HQ @KamalaHQ | 4:05 PM · Aug 27, 2024:

Unearthed audio: JD Vance says teachers who do not have biological children “disorient and really disturb” him: “She should have some of her own {children}”
0:29 (https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1828524227508453492)
-----------------------------------

Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing | 2:58 AM · Aug 28, 2024 {X}:
{epidemiologist}

This is wild. JD Vance thinks women without kids should not be teachers. It gets weirder:
1) AFT teachers union boss Randi Weingarten, whom Vance attacks as childless, is actually a mother.
3) Vance is also Catholic. Has he never heard of **Catholic nuns** who are teachers?

North Carolina Gov. Cooper expands contraception access, Medicaid to cover Opill

https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2024/08/city-nc-medicaid-oral-contraceptive

Me
Cooper has been working on expanded access since spring. Medicaid had paid for prescriptions. This allows rural women to get birth control without needing to go to a doctor, since this is an OTC version.

>42 2wonderY: Good on NC with its 12-week abortion ban to provide rural women of modest means access to contraception.

Sounds like Opill works in 48h if one forgets a pill and has to restart. As an OTC med, I assume Opill is one of the safer progestins? For women of modest means, it would be great if Opill prevented menstruation, and the need to buy period products, but that doesn't seem to be the case?

https://www.drugs.com/opill.html
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/progestin-oral-route-parenteral-rou...

Why? {Answer, if any, is behind a paywall.}

Eleanor Bimla Schwarz et al. 2024. Pregnancy after Tubal Sterilization in the United States, 2002 to 2015. NEJM Evid 27 Aug 2024;3(9).
DOI: 10.1056/EVIDoa2400023 https://evidence.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/EVIDoa2400023

Abstract
Background. Tubal sterilization is the most commonly used method of contraception in the United States. Because contraceptive effectiveness influences contraceptive selection, we examined typical use failure rates after tubal sterilization in the United States.

... Results. Pregnancy after tubal sterilization was reported by 2.9 to 5.2% of participants across NSFG waves. In the most recent survey wave (2013 to 2015), the estimated percentage of participants with pregnancies within the first 12 months after a tubal sterilization procedure was 2.9%; at 120 months after tubal sterilization, the estimated percentage with a pregnancy was 8.4%...

Conclusions. These data suggest that there may be nontrivial rates of pregnancy after tubal sterilization.

IVF is extremely expensive. I don't believe Rs will pay for it -- or force insurance co. to pay -- for all those who ask for the repeated procedures that may be required to effect a pregnancy -- especially if single ovum is collected each time. (Maybe childless married couples below the age of 28? Maybe the Senator's daughter? Still a budget buster, I think!)

Rick Scott (US Senate) @ScottforFlorida | 9:30 AM · Jun 14, 2024 {X}:

Each of my 7 grandkids is a precious gift from God.
But sometimes families need help.
You can count on this grandpa to always protect IVF.

Watch my latest campaign ad👇
0:30 (https://x.com/ScottforFlorida/status/1801608113428086816)
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Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Rick Scott Voted to oppose the Right to IVF Bill
How every senator voted on the Right to IVF Act
Szu Yu Chen and Adrián Blanco | June 13, 2024
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2024/06/13/senate-vote-right...
--------------------------------------

Senate Republicans block bill on women’s right to IVF as Democrats make push on reproductive care
STEPHEN GROVES | June 13, 2024
https://apnews.com/article/senate-ivf-alabama-reproductive-care-460d099153d3faf5...
-------------------------------------

Tammy Duckworth (US Senate) @TammyDuckworth |
You literally voted against my bill to protect IVF yesterday.
1:48 PM · Jun 14, 2024

My sister is one who bled white after birthing a healthy baby... I hope every US woman -- and people who love them -- vote so-called "pro-lifers" to hell this November. And give blood... (Amazing how far Red Cross sends blood, if there is a local need.)

Doctors grapple with how to save women’s lives amid ‘confusion and angst’ over new Louisiana law
Lorena O'Neil - September 3, 2024

A lifesaving drug used to stop postpartum hemorrhaging will be pulled off emergency response carts once it becomes a ‘controlled dangerous substance.’

Misoprostol is a pill often used in early stages of post-delivery bleeding, especially for patients with hypertension or asthma who might have adverse side effects from using other hemorrhage medications that are usually administered by needles or an IV. Misoprostol is also used as a precautionary measure in case doctors think a patient is at risk for hemorrhaging.

In May, Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation reclassifying misoprostol and mifepristone as Schedule IV controlled dangerous substances, despite more than 200 doctors signing a letter against the measure. The law goes into effect on Oct. 1, and doctors and pharmacists are scrambling to come up with postpartum hemorrhage policies that will comply with the law while still providing proper medical care for women.

Some hospitals have already preemptively pulled misoprostol from their obstetric hemorrhage carts and kits because controlled dangerous substances need to be stored and accessed differently from other medications...

https://lailluminator.com/2024/09/03/louisiana-women/
-----------------------------------------

Author thread:

Lorena O'Neil @lorenaoneil | 8:41 AM · Sep 3, 2024:
Reporter covering politics, culture, tech | Bylines: @RollingStone, @LATimes, GuardianUS, @IlluminatorLA | @PulitzerCenter StoryReach Fellow | {New Orleans, LA}

https://x.com/lorenaoneil/status/1830949359560659007
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1830949359560659007.html

BREAKING: Lifesaving medication for postpartum hemorrhaging is being pulled off emergency carts because of new Louisiana law reclassifying misoprostol as a controlled dangerous substance. My first @pulitzercenter StoryReach article for @IlluminatorLA ...

Donald Trump Is Stuck (Opinion)
Jamelle Bouie | Sept. 6, 2024

“Giving states full authority over the scope of bodily autonomy is a recipe for 50 nonstop conflicts over the issue. To tie basic rights to state borders is to seed the landscape with potentially unresolvable disputes over the very nature of being an American.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/06/opinion/trump-dobbs-abortion.html

>47 margd: This Supreme Court might have voted for “States rights” on the question of slavery.

Missouri judge rules abortion amendment is in ‘blatant violation’ of state requirements

https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/06/missouri-judge-rules-abortion-amendme...

A Missouri judge ruled Friday evening that a reproductive-rights amendment did not comply with state initiative petition requirements, leaving the door open to potentially withhold it from the November ballot.

Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled that the coalition behind the citizen-led ballot measure failed to meet the sufficiency requirement through a “failure to include any statute or provision that will be repealed, especially when many of these statutes are apparent.”

A spokesperson for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign behind the reproductive-rights amendment, said they plan to appeal.

Limbaugh also wrote that while he found a “blatant violation” of state law, he “recognizes the gravity of the unique issues involved in this case, and the lack of direct precedent on point.”

As a result, he won’t issue an injunction preventing the amendment from being printed on the ballot until Tuesday to allow time for “further guidance or rulings” from the appeals court.

The constitutional deadline for ballots to be printed is Tuesday.

DeSantis’ election police questioned people who signed abortion petitions

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/elections/2024/09/06/florida-abor...

The officer’s visit appears to be part of a broad — and unusual — effort by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to inspect thousands of already verified and validated petitions for Amendment 4 in the final two months before Election Day. The amendment would overturn Florida’s six-week abortion ban by proposing to protect abortion access in Florida until viability.
…
One 16-year supervisor said the request was unprecedented. The state did not ask for rejected petitions, which have been the basis for past fraud cases.

DeSantis, who signed the abortion ban into law, has organized opposition to the amendment, and his office’s request to supervisors has supporters of the amendment fearful it could be “political interference.”

Missouri Supreme Court keeps abortion amendment on ballot

https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/missouri-supreme-court-keeps-abortion-amendmen...

>51 2wonderY: That's pretty straight-up police-state shit, isn't it?

>52 kiparsky: If you mean >50 2wonderY: Yes. From start to finish. When is DeSantis up for reelection?

Florida Supreme Court agrees to fast track case against Gov. DeSantis' efforts against abortion vote

https://www.latintimes.com/florida-supreme-court-agrees-fast-track-case-against-...

The (Florida) health agency also launched a website last week, claiming that Amendment 4 "threatens women's safety," including information about groups that donated to the Amendment 4 campaign effort.

Supporters of the amendment criticized the site and speculated it may violate a Florida law that prohibits state employees and officers from using their "official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election."

Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.
Kavitha Surana | Sept. 16, 2024

At least two women in Georgia died after they couldn’t access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state, ProPublica has found.

...The availability of D&Cs for both abortions and routine miscarriage care helped save lives after the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, studies show, reducing the rate of maternal deaths for women of color by up to 40% the first year after abortion became legal.

But since abortion was banned or restricted in 22 states over the past two years, women in serious danger have been turned away from emergency rooms and told that they needed to be in more peril before doctors could help. Some have been forced to continue high-risk pregnancies that threatened their lives. Those whose pregnancies weren’t even viable have been told they could return when they were “crashing.”

Such stories have been at the center of the upcoming presidential election, during which the right to abortion is on the ballot in 10 states.

But Republican legislators have rejected small efforts to expand and clarify health exceptions — even in Georgia, which has one of the nation’s highest rates of maternal mortality and where Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women...

https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-abortion-ban-amber-thurman-death

Can you imagine this self-important, whiney little creep in a position of power over women (to begin with)??

Kamala’s Wins @harris_wins | 6:07 PM · Sep 16, 2024 {X}:

BREAKING: In a stunning leak, JD Vance has called for a federal response to stop women from traveling from red states to blue states to receive reproductive healthcare. Retweet so all Americans hear this devastating leak.

2:48 (https://x.com/harris_wins/status/1835802841769783595)
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Joyce Alene @JoyceWhiteVance | 10:26 PM · Sep 16, 2024:
@UALawSchool {U Alabama Law School} |@MSNBC & @NBCNews |Podcasts #SistersInLaw & Cafe Insider|Obama US Atty |25 year fed'l prosecutor

If women can't travel to receive care, or for any other reason they choose to, then we are truly relegated to second class citizenship. This is what the future will look like for yourself, your daughters, your loved ones, if Trump and Vance win.

The Last Word: Lawrence O'Donnell MSNBC on death of 28YO GA mother, IVF, playing politics w healthcare
6:03 (https://x.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1836238589165769215)
--------------------------------------

Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.
Kavitha Surana | Sept. 16, 2024

At least two women in Georgia died after they couldn’t access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state, ProPublica has found. This is one of their stories...

https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-abortion-ban-amber-thurman-death

So the question is: other than voting against the people promoting these outrageous restrictions, what else can we do? Even if the right people win in Congress and the presidency, will that be enough? Or will the Supreme Court still have the last say? And is there anything we can do right now?

>58 krazy4katz: Kind of sad to hear that gender is playing a role in people's likely vote... Where did we go wrong raising our sons?? (I have two -- one leans D, and the other has converted to R ... in the time of Trump!)

>58 krazy4katz: AARGH! No more Ms Nice Gal!

“SAVE” WHAT?
How the Republican War on Women Extends to Voting Rights
Thom Hartmann | September 19, 2024

Most women vote Democratic. And most still change their name when they marry. And that’s where the GOP sees an Achilles’ heel...

...House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump were pushing the Safeguard American Eligibility, or SAVE, Act, demanding it be part of must-pass legislation to fund the federal government for another year (the funding runs out at the end of this month, and then the shutdown begins).

It died in the House Wednesday night, but, like a bad penny, you can bet it’ll return...

...The SAVE Act is a proposed federal law, so, first off, it would put a future president (say, Trump) in charge of enforcing it, taking that power away from the states. Millions of voter registrations in any states the president decides are problematic could be removed until those voters “cure” their registrations, and state authorities would have no say in it.

And what will the law require citizens who want to vote do? Lacking a passport or other proof of citizenship with their married names, they must produce both a birth certificate (with the seal of the state where it was issued; no copies allowed) and a current form of identification—both with the exact same name on them. That could instantly disqualify about 90 percent of all married women without passports or other proof that matches their birth certificates or proof of a legal name change.

For women in that situation, they can still register to vote if they can prove that they went to court to change their name when they got married, but most women just start using their new married name without ever going through all those formalities (although a few states recognize marriage as a legal name change).

...According to the Brennan Center for Justice, one third of all women have citizenship documents that do not identically match their current names primarily because of name changes at marriage. Roughly 90 percent of women who marry adopt their husband’s last name.

...An estimated 34 percent of women could be turned away from the polls unless they have precisely the right documents...

https://newrepublic.com/article/186160/republican-war-women-extends-voting-right...

>60 margd: These people really are pretty sick.

Dr. Daniel Grossman @DrDGrossman | 8:49 AM · Sep 22, 2024 {X}:
Clinical & public health researcher on abortion & contraception. MD. @ANSIRH
Director. @UCSFBixby faculty. @IbisRH Sr Advisor.

Aha! Dr. M____ wants peer-reviewed literature on the impact of abortion bans in the US. I love talking about the data and educating my colleagues.
Let’s walk through the literature, shall we?

This peer-reviewed study looked at 2 hospitals in Texas after the 6-week abortion ban went into effect among patients presenting less than 22 wks with a complication like PPROM, bleeding, severe preeclampsia.

Anjali Nambiar et al. 2022. Maternal morbidity and fetal outcomes among pregnant women at 22 weeks’ gestation or less with complications in 2 Texas hospitals after legislation on abortion. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Volume 227, Issue 4, October 2022, Pages 648-650.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2022.06.060 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002937822005361?via%3Dih...

Since abortion was not possible, all received expectant management. Maternal morbidity occurred in 16/28 patients (57%), compared to 33% who elected immediate abortion in similar clinical situations.
Bar graph (https://x.com/DrDGrossman/status/1837836716205371728/photo/1)

Bottom line: when abortion is no longer an option when patients present with an obstetric complication in the second trimester, complications increase.

Another peer-reviewed study was based on interviews with maternal-fetal medicine specialists in the Southeast since the Dobbs decision.

Abby Schultz et al. 2024. Impact of post-Dobbs abortion restrictions on maternal-fetal medicine physicians in the Southeast: a qualitative study. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM, Volume 6, Issue 7, July 2024, 101387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajogmf.2024.101387 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2589933324001137?via%3Dih...

“In restricted states, most MFM physicians reported cases in which they did not provide an abortion in the setting of maternal health risk or fetal anomaly that they would have provided or facilitated before the Dobbs decision.”

“In these situations, they cited fear of legal liability as the main driver for this shift in care.”

Yet another peer-reviewed study reports on interviews with ob/gyn residents training in states with abortion restrictions since Dobbs and describes the moral distress they experienced when they were unable to provide abortion care.

Jema K. Turk et al. 2024. “I Went Into This Field to Empower Other People, and I Feel Like I Failed”: Residents Experience Moral Distress Post-Dobbs. J Grad Med Educ. 2024 Jun; 16(3): 271–279. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-23-00582.1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11173027/

“Residents described challenges to their physician identity caused by inability to do the job, which led to internalized distress and reconsidering career choices.” — @JodySteinauer
Text excerpt (https://x.com/DrDGrossman/status/1837836734089838918/photo/1)

Here’s another peer-reviewed article: a moving (and anonymous) account from ob/gyn residents in Missouri about the cases they have witnessed of care denied or delayed since abortion was banned there:

Anonymous 2024. On Dobbs: Our First Year of US OB/GYN Residency
J Grad Med Educ (2024) 16 (4): 399–401. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-24-00135.1 https://meridian.allenpress.com/jgme/article/16/4/399/502544/On-Dobbs-Our-First-...

The data are clear... The patients who trust their health care to us deserve better than this system and anti-abortion laws that threaten their lives.

>62 margd: As a biological scientist (studying vision but I am not a physician) I read some of this too and was horrified.

I used to teach first year medical students at my institution but we (PhDs) seem to have been replaced by the clinical faculty this year. I wonder if there is some way to include a section in an ethics course (there must be one!) that would strengthen the resolve of physicians to push back against these laws. If there are physicians on this thread, I would appreciate any ideas you may have. I understand getting involved in politics would be tricky.

Perhaps I will try to find a way to reach out to our physicians. I just don't know how. The only physician I know privately was an OB/GYN (now retired) but also Catholic. The topic once came up and he was very angry. However that was when women had the liberty to switch doctors if they needed to without leaving the state (or country in the most dystopian perspective!).

>63 krazy4katz: I think the vote is the only way out. That and teaching critical thinking, stats, etc. in high school biology. Shocking to me how much magical thinking there is out there...

>64 margd: I agree. I hope it goes well in November. Then we have to find a way to deal with the Supreme Court. sigh...

Georgia judge declares state’s abortion ban unconstitutional, allowing procedure to resume beyond 6 weeks into pregnancy
Shawn Nottingham | September 30, 2024

...Georgia’s Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, or LIFE Act, infringes on a woman’s state constitutional rights....

“When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then – and only then – may society intervene. An arbitrary six-week ban on (post-embryonic cardiac activity pregnancy) terminations is inconsistent with these rights and the proper balance that a viability rule establishes between a woman’s rights of liberty and privacy and society’s interest in protecting and caring for unborn infants,” {Fulton County Superior Judge Robert} McBurney wrote. {“a review of our higher courts’ interpretations of ‘liberty’ demonstrates that liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.” }

...Kara Murray, communications director for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, said in a statement Monday, “...we will immediately appeal the lower court’s decision.”

...Georgia has no way for citizens to place initiatives on the ballot...

...two women in the state died after they did not get proper medical treatment for complications from taking abortion pills to end their pregnancies...

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/30/politics/georgia-abortion-ban/index.html

>66 margd: Let's hope this stays. The term "cardiac activity" at 6 weeks is misleading. There is no heart at that time. There are just cells that will eventually form the heart that are beating randomly.

My understanding is that ambulance will take serious-emergency patients to the nearest hospital. A woman may be out of luck if it's a Catholic hospital. Even a public hospital partly owned by the RC church.

California sues Catholic hospital for denying emergency abortion
Brendan Pierson | September 30, 2024

Summary
AG says hospital violated state law on emergency care
State aims to stop denials of medically necessary abortions

The woman, chiropractor Anna Nusslock, was driven to another hospital 12 miles (19 km) away and was dangerously hemorrhaging by the time she reached the operating table, according to the lawsuit...

https://www.reuters.com/legal/california-sues-catholic-hospital-refusing-provide...

This doesn't make any sense to me at all. In my world, when a doctor refuses necessary care to a patient, they're no longer a doctor, their new title is "the defendant".

>69 kiparsky: After the Hobby Lobby case, RC hospital may claim religious liberty, and, if so, I wonder California's next step will be to pull its certification to practice as a full-service (incl. emergency) hospital? Fine for private hospital not to offer elective abortions based on religious convictions, but not to deny needed services on sayso of local bishop. IMO.

(After childbearing years I needed a D&C for medical reasons. With procedure scheduled at local RC hospital, pretty bad that I felt I had to ask my MD if surgical team would be trained and skilled in the procedure. One just doesn't know, and there's no time to look into it in an emergency, and one is esp vulnerable if the Catholic hospital is the only one in town.)

Georgia supreme court reinstates six-week abortion ban

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/georgia-supreme-court-reinstates-states-6-week-...

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the state’s six-week abortion ban while it reviews an appeal from the state of a lower court ruling that had struck down the law.

The decision goes into effect at 5 p.m. local time, meaning that most abortions will again be illegal in the state after six weeks of pregnancy after that time.

The state Supreme Court's decision, however, left in place the lower court’s ruling blocking a separate provision of the law that had given state prosecutors broad access to the medical records of abortion patients without due process protections.

Georgia WR Colbie Young arrested on charges of battery and assault on an unborn child
https://apnews.com/article/georgia-colbie-young-arrest-a7c7a5b9d73624a747fb7dff7...

He was not charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA6KxCZp08C/?igsh=MWFlaDdtamtiajNvOA==

>72 2wonderY: How (what am I trying to say?) crazy!!

>72 2wonderY: I suppose that's the culture of life for you.

Short documentary “It Couldn’t Happen Here”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djwp6dIErYE

>75 2wonderY: ... I read somewhere that these laws haven't decreased the number of abortions --at least among women who have means -- but maternal mortality, always high, is up(?)

Daisy
The Lincoln Project (8 Oct 2024)
1:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkaqA0KHj98)

Lincoln Project message to MAGA dads: A good father knows how important it is to protect his daughter. This November, fathers need to protect their daughters from Donald Trump...

Tennessee judges say doctors can’t be disciplined for providing emergency abortions
KIMBERLEE KRUESI | October 17, 2024

...Tennessee doctors who provide emergency abortions to protect the life of the mother cannot have their medical licenses revoked or face other disciplinary actions while a lawsuit challenging the state’s sweeping abortion ban continues.

...The judges determined that the following medical conditions now fall under the state’s abortion exemptions: premature rupture of the amniotic sac that surrounds the fetus; inevitable abortions; fatal fetal diagnoses that result in severe preeclampsia or mirror syndrome associated with fetal hydrops; and fatal fetal diagnoses leading to an infection that will result in uterine rupture or potential loss of fertility...

https://apnews.com/article/abortion-tennessee-ban-a4f89851b53687cd1b28d093e32608...

The quiet part said out loud. See paragraphs 751 and 752: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.370067/gov.uscourts.tx...

>78 lilithcat: Gee. You’d think they might concern themselves with other ways that populations potentially decrease. Hmmm. Like school shootings?

An app for political protest

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DASrh5ZNs8U/?igsh=MWxxb2p1dHpsZTlsMg==

Infants died at higher rates after abortion bans in the US, research shows
Deidre McPhillips | October 21, 2024

In the year and a half following the Supreme Court Dobbs decision that revoked the federal right to an abortion, hundreds more infants died than expected in the United States, new research shows. The vast majority of those infants had congenital anomalies, or birth defects...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/infants-died-higher-rates-abortion-150048976.html

Georgia Dismissed All Members of Maternal Mortality Committee After ProPublica Obtained Internal Details of Two Deaths
Amy Yurkanin | Nov. 21, 2024

...Georgia officials have dismissed all members of a state committee charged with investigating deaths of pregnant women. The move came in response to ProPublica having obtained internal reports detailing two deaths.

ProPublica reported in September on the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, which the state maternal mortality review committee had determined were preventable. They were the first reported cases of women who died without access to care restricted by a state abortion ban, and they unleashed a torrent of outrage over the fatal consequences of such laws...

... Georgia’s had 32 standing members from a variety of backgrounds, including OB-GYNs, cardiologists, mental health care providers, a medical examiner, health policy experts and community advocates. They are volunteer positions that pay a small honorarium.

Their job is to collect data and make recommendations aimed at combatting systemic issues that could help reduce deaths and publish them in reports. The Georgia committee’s most recent report found that of 113 pregnancy-related deaths from 2018 through 2020, 101 had at least some chance of being prevented. Its recommendations have led to changes in hospital care to improve the response to emergencies during labor and delivery and to new programs to increase access to psychiatric treatment...

https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-dismisses-maternal-mortality-committe...

>82 margd: Thank you, Margd, for keeping us up-to-date on the continuous flood of horrific outcomes of the Supreme Court's unjust decision that eliminated women's rights to her own body. We have to fight very hard to get back what was once our personal freedom.

If I was a back-in-the-day suffragette, I would be spinning in my grave right about now. Women comprise the majority gender, but they keep on losing ground because they fail to vote in their own best interests time and again in the 21st century.

The Federalist published a how-to on increasing birth rates:

Here’s How To Actually Reverse The Baby Bust

https://thefederalist.com/2024/12/02/heres-how-to-actually-reverse-the-baby-bust...

“… child-rearing expenses do not appear to be the main obstacle to people choosing to have more children. Remember, fertility rates used to be much higher even when people had significantly less money than they do now.”

“Education policy offers two prime examples of how government programs suppress fertility rates. People are more likely to have children if they start having families earlier and if they have religious convictions that make them think differently about the costs and benefits of raising children. Yet current education policies push people to delay having families until they are much older and impose barriers to accessing religious education, both of which significantly reduce fertility rates.”

… and some thoughtful response
https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkbhlIy2FE/?img_index=7&igsh=MXVzOXFlMTVtODA4cQ...

For Many Rural Women, Finding Maternity Care Eclipses Concerns About Abortion Access
— Lawmakers' attempts to expand abortion access sometimes clash with rural residents
Lillian Mongeau Hughes, KFF Health News | January 4, 2025

... A study published in JAMA in early December that examined nearly 5,000 acute care hospitals found that by 2022, 52% of rural hospitals lacked obstetrics care after more than a decade of unit closures. The health implications of those closures for young women, the population most likely to need pregnancy care, and their babies can be significant. Research has shown that added distance between a patient and obstetric care increases the likelihood the baby will be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU.

... Nationally, reproductive healthcare services of all types tend to be limited for people in rural areas, even within states that protect abortion access. More than two-thirds of people in "maternity care deserts" -- all of which are in rural counties -- must drive more than a half-hour to get obstetric care, according to a 2024 March of Dimes report. For people in the Southern states where lawmakers installed abortion bans, abortion care can be up to 700 miles away, according to a data analysis by Axios ...

https://www.medpagetoday.com/obgyn/abortion/113643

Thomas Baldwin 2012. Reproduction without sex: social and ethical implications: Science & Society Series on Sex and Science. EMBO reports (13 November 2012) 13: 1049 - 1053. https://doi.org/10.1038/embor.2012.172 https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/embor.2012.172 Free access

…there are more than five million people worldwide whose conception was achieved by IVF…

In this way, reproduction without sex (IVF {in vitro fergilization}) has helped to mitigate one consequence of sex without reproduction (contraception)

IVF is routine and relatively commonplace, PGD {preimplantation genetic diagnosis} is neither: although it is well established, it is expensive and time‐consuming

We encounter positive eugenics proper where embryos are selected on the basis of genetic predispositions that are wanted for their own sake

There is nothing intrinsically wrong, let alone ‘gravely immoral’, with donor conception

Despite the arguments of its critics, there are no principled moral objections to IVF that withstand critical scrutiny

https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/embor.2012.172

No joke; just a long shot

Mississippi politician files ‘Contraception Begins at Erection Act’

https://www.wlbt.com/2025/01/22/mississippi-politician-files-contraception-begin...

As written by Sen. Bradford Blackmon (D), the bill would make it “unlawful for a person to discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo.”

There are also fines involved, the third strike resulting in the loss of $10,000 from the perpetrator.

In a statement to WLBT News, Blackmon wrote, “All across the country, especially here in Mississippi, the vast majority of bills relating to contraception and/or abortion focus on the woman’s role when men are fifty percent of the equation.

This bill highlights that fact and brings the man’s role into the conversation. People can get up in arms and call it absurd but I can’t say that bothers me.”
——
He’s obviously read Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has taken down their page on reproductive rights.

https://readlion.com/trump-admin-shuts-down-federal-pro-abortion-website-on-firs...

The Skimm has brought it back
https://www.theskimm.com/news/reproductive-rights-gov

The DOJ site, with legal updates, remains up:

https://www.justice.gov/reproductive-rights

>88 2wonderY: I love this!! Should we send this book to our Senators and members of the Supreme Court?

>90 krazy4katz: It couldn’t hurt.

President Donald Trump inserted language describing a fetus as a person from conception into an executive order. (The New Republic)
https://newrepublic.com/post/190506/donald-trump-fetal-personhood-executive-orde...

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats blocked a GOP-led abortion bill. (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/01/22/congress/senate-dems-block-abor...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed two bills into law that will allow pharmacists to write prescriptions for hormonal contraceptives like birth control pills, emergency contraceptive pills, patches, and vaginal rings. (The Hill)
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5100884-gretchen-whitmer-birth-control-leg...

via Med Page Today

Birth Rates, Infant Mortality Increased in Abortion Ban States
— Results of two new studies are in line with earlier findings looking at Texas alone
Rachael Robertson | February 14, 2025

Key Takeaways
In {14} states with abortion bans, birth rates increased after Roe was overturned.
Infant mortality rates also rose in these same states.
The greatest differences were seen among marginalized women.

... there were an estimated 1.01 additional births above expectation per 1,000 females ... equivalent to 22,180 excess births ...

These states also saw an estimated 478 excess infant deaths in the same time period ... an estimated 0.33 additional infant deaths per 1,000 live births ... a relative 5.60% increase in the infant mortality rate above expectation... These increases were much higher among Black people, who saw... a relative increase of 10.98%.

... excess births and infant deaths are occurring amidst a crisis of obstetric units shuttering across the country.

In a post hoc analysis of both studies, "the estimated infant mortality rate among the excess births associated with abortion bans was nearly 4 times higher than the overall average infant mortality rate in states with bans as of 2019" ... which "suggests abortion bans are associated with excess births that shift the composition of births toward those at higher risk of infant death."

... Because of its size and early adoption of an abortion ban, Texas had an outsized influence on the results ...

https://www.medpagetoday.com/obgyn/abortion/114238
-----------------------------------------

Suzanne O. Bel et al. 2025. US Abortion Bans and Fertility. JAMA. Published online February 13, 2025. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.28527 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2830297

Alison Gemmill et al. 2025. US Abortion Bans and Infant Mortality. JAMA. Published online February 13, 2025. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.28517 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2830298

More Rural Hospitals Are on the Verge of Closing, Report Finds
— Private insurers are paying less than the cost of care, data show
Joyce Frieden | August 9, 2024
https://www.medpagetoday.com/hospitalbasedmedicine/generalhospitalpractice/11146...

Rural Hospitals at Risk of Closing {3p}
Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform
February 2025
https://ruralhospitals.chqpr.org/downloads/Rural_Hospitals_at_Risk_of_Closing.pd...
___________________________________

Eric Feigl-Ding ‪@drericding.bsky.social‬ | February 10, 2025 at 1:25 PM
👉currently Medicaid serves 38 million children

The race for reconciliation
House GOP leaders are looking to cut federal spending by $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as part of their reconciliation push.

... House GOP negotiators now believe they will have to dig deeper into Medicaid spending to meet those targets, including potentially cutting benefits for enrollees

...Huge cuts to Medicaid — plus changes to food stamps and other social safety net programs — even as Republicans push tax cuts for wealthy Americans and corporations may become politically difficult. States that expanded Medicaid coverage via Obamacare or during the Covid-19 pandemic could get hit hard.

Block granting Medicaid and instituting work requirements are under discussion. But if Republicans decide to start tinkering with benefits through per capita caps, reducing the federal contribution or other programmatic changes, that becomes more difficult. Children, low-income and rural communities would be inordinately impacted.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told us last week that he was worried about potential cuts to Medicaid.

“I’ll be very blunt — Medicaid isn’t just something for people who don’t want to work or on welfare,” Van Drew said. “Seventy-million people in this country get their health care through Medicaid now, because we increased the limits.”

... The federal government runs out of money in 32 days. Republicans and Democrats aren’t close to a topline spending number. In fact, House and Senate Republicans still aren’t on the same page when it comes to FY2025 spending...

https://punchbowl.news/article/house/republican-leaders-house-look-to-cut-federa...

Catherine Rampell ‪@crampell.bsky.social‬ | March 5, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Biden admin had sued Idaho, arguing that Idaho’s enforcement of near-total abortion ban during medical emergencies violated Reagan-era patient protections known as EMTALA {Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, 1986}.
Case cited women who had to be flown out of state while miscarrying, because Idaho drs refused care.
Trump just dropped the case

Trump admin moves to drop fight over emergency abortions, reversing Biden admin stance
Alice Miranda Ollstein | 03/04/2025

An Idaho hospital is stepping in to argue that the state’s near-total abortion ban violates patients’ rights.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/04/trump-emergency-abortions-00211399
_________________________________________________________

Catherine Rampell ‪@crampell.bsky.social‬ | March 5, 2025 at 8:49 AM:
As I wrote in Oct: question of whether Trump would sign legislation banning abortion nationwide is irrelevant. He can sharply limit access to repro care nationwide unilaterally—by dropping EMTALA cases, reviving Comstock, withdrawing mifeprisone approval, etc.

Opinion | Here’s how Trump could curb national abortion access — unilaterally
The Republican nominee has already indicated he would do it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/trump-abortion-national-ban/

I really hope I'm misreading this or that the journalist misinterpreted the bill.

Whatever your beliefs about abortion, who could justify letting a rapist off.

________________________________________________________

SB 2880 does not stop rapists from suing over their victim’s medication abortion, and it specifically protects “any person who impregnated the woman who used abortion-inducing drugs through conduct constituting sexual assault” from being sued.

https://www.lonestarlive.com/news/2025/03/texas-bill-targets-people-involved-in-...

That is crazy! Even if rapists are arrested for rape, they should not be given rights to determine the outcome of the potential pregnancy. That is totally nuts. Rapists have never had parental rights.

Trump Admin Asks Judge to Toss Suit Restricting Access to Abortion Pill
Associated Press | May 6, 2025

The Trump administration has asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit from three Republican-led states {Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri} seeking to cut off telehealth access to the abortion medication mifepristone.

Justice Department attorneys on Monday stayed the legal course charted by the Biden administration, though they didn't directly weigh in on the underlying issue of access to the drug. {Mifepristone is usually used in combination with a second drug for medication abortion, which has accounted for more than three-fifths of all abortions in the U.S. since the Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.}

Rather, the government argued the states don't have the legal right, or standing, to sue ...

https://www.medpagetoday.com/obgyn/abortion/115440

ACLU ‪@aclu.org‬ | May 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM {Blue Sky}
BREAKING: Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced he has ordered the FDA to consider new nationwide restrictions on medication abortion — and that President Trump, not scientists or doctors, will make the final decision.
-----------------------------------------------

RFK Jr orders mifepristone review as anti-abortion groups push for ban
Susan Rinkunas | 14 May 2025

Health secretary cites ‘new data’ that emerged from flawed study conservatives are using to pressure US government

... Project 2025 calls to end telemedicine prescriptions of abortion pills as an “interim step” to revoking mifepristone’s approval altogether.

... More than 100 scientific studies have found the medications cited in the paper are safe and effective for ending a pregnancy."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/14/rfk-jr-fda-abortion-pill-mifepri...
___________________________________

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared
Lizzie Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou and Kavitha Surana | Feb. 20, 2025

... The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they lost their pregnancies in the second trimester

The surge in this life-threatening condition, caused by infection, was most pronounced for patients whose fetus may still have had a heartbeat when they arrived at the hospital ...

... after the state banned abortion, dozens more pregnant and postpartum women died in Texas hospitals than had in pre-pandemic years, which ProPublica used as a baseline to avoid COVID-19-related distortions. As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, ProPublica found, it rose substantially in Texas...

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-sepsis-maternal-mortality-...

>98 margd: Another crazy moment in our crazy country! How can women speak up to avoid this horrible threat to their personal freedom and their lives?!

Woman is brain dead and being kept alive on a ventilator but her family isn't being allowed to let her die because she's pregnant

https://www.rawstory.com/abortion-2672030863/

>100 izzymae: Lots of people hate abortion, and those people should not have abortions. Their personal preferences have no bearing on the rights of others to make their own life choices.
In the same vein, I have chosen not to have children, but I do not attempt to impose my choices on others who feel differently. As another example, I know someone who hates all religions, but does not advocate for abolishing religions, because people get to make their own choices.

If you think that your personal preferences should guide the decisions of others, then you're agreeing to be bound by their preferences. Do you want to be limited by my choices, or by those of my friend? If not, let's talk about living together in a civil society, and how we can do that.

>100 izzymae: Many people who get abortions hate them too. But they find their life circumstances do not allow for proper care of themselves or a child.
Empathy, compassion and recognition that women should have a say in what happens to their own bodies is crucial for understanding the need for abortion. I don't believe abortion up to the 9th month is appropriate — I don't think anyone does — but some reasonable term has to be permitted as a matter of human decency.

>103 krazy4katz: Good point, I'm updating my previous thinking - "those people should not have abortions" was wrong, I should have said "those people should be allowed to make their own choices".

>104 kiparsky: Thank you!!

One death every seven minutes: The world's worst country to give birth (BBC)

Nigeria is the world's most dangerous nation in which to give birth. According to the most recent UN estimates for the country, compiled from 2023 figures, one in 100 women die in labour or in the following days. That puts it at the top of a league table no country wants to head. In 2023, Nigeria accounted for well over a quarter - 29% - of all maternal deaths worldwide. That is an estimated total of 75,000 women dying in childbirth in a year, which works out at one death every seven minutes. The frustration for many is that a large number of the deaths – from things like bleeding after childbirth (known as postpartum haemorrhage) – are preventable... Nigeria's "very high" maternal mortality rate is the result of a combination of a number of factors, according to Martin Dohlsten from the Nigeria office of the UN's children's organisation, Unicef. Among them, he says, are poor health infrastructure, a shortage of medics, costly treatments that many cannot afford, cultural practices that can lead to some distrusting medical professionals and insecurity. "No woman deserves to die while birthing a child"... "Many healthcare facilities lack the basic equipment, supplies and trained personnel, making it difficult to provide a quality service"...

>106 John5918: I'm surprised. I must be thinking of services enjoyed by more privileged Nigerians? Brain drain might be a factor?
________________________________________

More than 7 million US adolescents are disproportionately affected by abortion bans and restrictions due to cost and logistical barriers, according to this cross-sectional study.

Laura D. Lindberg et al. 2025. Implications of Abortion Restrictions for Adolescents (Research Letter). JAMA Pediatr. April 7, 2025;179(6):675-676. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.0226 https://ja.ma/4ke88K8

>107 margd:

I don't know Nigeria, but in many African countries there is very high quality health care available privately, but of course most people can't afford it and it's usually confined to capital cities and other major towns which many rural people find difficult to access. There are also very high quality African doctors working all over the world, but for many of them working with the underfunded and inadequate national health services in their own countris just too frustrating.

Philip A. Gruppuso et al 2025. Infant Mortality in the US—Sounding the Alarm. JAMA Pediatrics. Published Online: April 7, 2025. 2025;179;(6):592-593. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.0369 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2832260

... Estimates for 2023 place the US 54th in infant mortality among 227 measured countries and territories... This places the US behind Slovakia, the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Poland. Infant mortality rates in the US are more than 50% higher than those in 32 other countries. The US has more than twice the infant mortality rate of the Scandinavian countries, Spain, and Japan. The reported rise in the US during the 2020 to 2022 interval should thus be viewed as a dire health care crisis that warrants not only immediate attention, but also the institution of future steps to address it. Most obvious among these are policies and programs that would address poverty and its associated limitations on access to health care. Given the great variability in infant mortality among states and the critical importance of the decisions made at the state level, it is imperative that states address the issue of infant mortality in a data-driven manner that places infant health and maternal well-being above political considerations.

>109 margd: Thank you for this information. A new low for the USA.

Mother Jones ‪@motherjones.com‬ | June 24, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Today marks the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
What's happened since?
A record number of women have been prosecuted. Pregnancy loss is now considered extremely suspicious, even when it has nothing to do with abortion.
--------------------------------------------------

Criminalizing Pregnancy: A Record Number of Women Were Prosecuted the Year After Dobbs
Nina Martin | 25 Sept 2024

They were targeted for substance use, miscarriages, and stillbirths, largely driven by fetal personhood laws.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/09/criminalizing-pregnancy-a-record-nu...

CNN ‪@cnn.com‬ | June 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM

More than 1 in 7 people who had an abortion in the United States last year crossed state lines to do so, according to new estimates from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual and reproductive health that supports abortion rights.

Read more: cnn.it/4eiPBtS
--------------------------------------------

Guttmacher Institute
Monthly Abortion Provision Study
https://www.guttmacher.org/monthly-abortion-provision-study

He’s Suing His Girlfriend’s Doctor for Prescribing Abortion Pills. Could This Gut Access Everywhere?
Nina Martin and Madison Pauly | July 23, 2025

... In a wrongful death lawsuit filed Sunday, Texas resident {lawyer} Jerry Rodriguez is accusing California-based Dr. Rémy Coeytaux of violating numerous Texas abortion laws, as well as the Comstock Act—an 1873 anti-obscenity {federal} law that is still on the books—by providing the abortion pills that were used to terminate two of his girlfriend’s previous pregnancies. {Coeytaux provided the pills to the girlfriend's HUSBAND, who gave them to the girlfriend} ...

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/07/jonathan-mitchell-texas-hes-suing-h...

Trump Reneges on IVF Pledge
MedPage Today Staff | 4 Aug 2025

Despite President Trump's campaign promise to provide universal coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF) if elected, the White House has no plans to mandate health insurance coverage for IVF, sources told the Washington Post*...

https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/washington-watch/116809
* https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/08/03/trump-administration-ivf-care...

Trailblazers. A History of Abortion Undergrounds—and a Guide to Starting One
Jessie Kindig | August 4, 2025

Journalist Rebecca Grant shifts the abortion conversation away from laws and morals to focus on access: getting people the care they seek...

https://newrepublic.com/article/198369/abortion-undergrounds-history-guide

I picked up a copy of New Handbook for a Post-Roe America: The Complete Guide to Abortion Legality, Access, and Practical Support after the election. But it is already outdated.

Mothers at 14. The fierce debate over sex education in a deeply Catholic nation
Sashikala VP, Hanako Montgomery, Yasmin Coles | 1 Sept 2025

... In the Philippines, child and teen pregnancies are amongst the highest in Asia. While there has been a slight decline in pregnancies among 15 – 19-year-olds between 2019 and 2023, alarm bells are now ringing over a stark rise in pregnancies among very young girls – those aged 14 and younger – up 38% from 2,411 in 2019 to 3,343 in 2023.

... Government bodies have long declared teen pregnancies a “national social emergency,” and in 2022 lawmakers filed the earliest draft of an Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill aimed at tackling the problem.

Three years on, the bill is still working its way through the legal process, after multiple amendments, and the most recent refile last month, following fierce opposition from conservative organizations and church groups.

The bill aims to standardize comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in schools and improve access to sexual health services. Currently, teens younger than 18 need parental consent to access contraceptives, with some exceptions.

... fierce opposition from church groups across the deeply Catholic state. The Catholic Church believes intercourse should only happen between married couples and teaches abstinence for all others. The church also disapproves of artificial contraception but permits natural methods of avoiding pregnancy within marriage. Abortion is illegal in all circumstances in the Philippines, including after rape or incest.

This opposition recently culminated in a combined lobbying effort by a coalition of at least eight evangelical and catholic organizations across the country, known as Project Dalisay.

Started as an initiative of the National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution, Project Dalisay – or Project Pure – interprets the bill as a combatant against its ideologies on sex and parental authority, and its main point of contention revolves around CSE... CSE “intends to normalize sexual discussion, which is not part of Filipino culture.” The initiative “sprang as a voluntary group of faith believers, largely from the evangelical and catholic communities” to “voice parents’ objections largely to the Senate Bill.” ...

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/31/asia/teen-pregnancy-philippines-sex-education-cat...

Pronatalism and Public Health Are Incompatible
Chloe Nazra Lee | October 11, 2025

"... As a young physician with a background in public health, I believe in sustainable, long-term solutions for any public health problem. This involves understanding cultural values, social systems, and early prevention. We should apply the same lens to the falling birthrate.

... Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) is rife with contradictions about women's health. It emphasizes the reproductive harms of environmental toxins, while the EPA deregulates drinking water standards. Trump styled himself the "fertilization president," promising to guarantee insurance coverage of IVF; we have yet to see any federal mandate on the subject. The administration promotes creating families, but its "Big Beautiful Bill" dramatically cut Medicaid, which finances 41% of all U.S. births. MAHA ostensibly sabotages its own goals.

Our birthrate hit an all-time low in 2024, posing significant problems: fewer people to care for the aging population, less innovation, and the threat of economic instability.

But instead of helping women by resolving the policy contradictions, legislators appear to have turned to an easier target -- women themselves. ..."

https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/117895

I've long felt that there's a limit to the amount of humanity that the Earth's biosphere can support, and we are way past it. So those who see a lower birth rate as a problem are just a catastrophe.

>119 jjwilson61: I've been saying for years that if you love kids and you want them to be happy, the best thing to do is to not have them. It's unfortunate that this is where we are now, but honestly in 2025 AD, the worst thing you could possibly do for future generations is to add to their numbers.

"Pronatalism" (which just means "have more white children because brown people are scary" when you actually peel away the bullshit) is absolutely a catastrophe. Fortunately, the reason old people are saying these things is because birth rates are going down, so it's a sign that things are actually going in the direction we want them to be going.

Ironically, if "pronatalists" really wanted what they say they want, they would be pursuing the socialist agenda. Pretty much everything on Mamdani's list, for example, will remove impediments to young New Yorkers' having children.

Umm, endocrine disruptors should be regulated by EPA ...

"You're Doing God’s Work": Kennedy Hails Trump’s Peace Initiatives (3:23)
APT | Oct 16, 2025

U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy praised President Donald Trump during a fertility policy announcement, calling his actions “God’s work.” Kennedy highlighted Trump’s success in promoting peace in the Middle East and now giving “millions of Americans a chance to have babies” through new fertility initiatives. The Trump administration recently unveiled a major plan to make IVF and fertility treatments more affordable, including massive drug discounts under the new TrumpRx program. Supporters say the initiative could transform the lives of countless couples struggling with infertility. Watch the full speech to hear Kennedy’s powerful praise and Trump’s full announcement on this historic move for American families.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY49XuA2iu4
------------------------------------------------

Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh | 4:27 PM · Oct 16, 2025: {X.com}

"🚨 BREAKING: In an incredible moment, Secretary Bobby Kennedy responds to President Trump saying he won't get to heaven
"You didn't believe you were gonna get to heaven...YOU are doing GOD'S WORK here!"
*Trump flashes a huge smile*
"You've made peace in the Middle East...and now, you're giving millions of Americans a chance to have babies. You're doing this while the government is locked down, by the Democrats."
"This is because of your energy, commitment and vision. And I want to thank you for allowing me to be part of it." ❤️🇺🇸
..."
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1978920826314297818

And in spite of RFK, Jr's praise for a higher birth rate to increase the population, he is against vaccines that protect us from diseases that drive up healthcare costs and kill large numbers of people. Go figure...

No surprise, universal pharmacare for individuals younger than 25 years resulted in more use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), particularly in areas of low socioeconomic status -- via reduced cost to individuals, plus possibly, increased confidentiality over using parents' private {drug} insurance plans.

What struck me in scanning the Ontario study, though, was the stark contrast between current Trumpian interest in seeing more pregnancies, c.f. efforts in recent years in places like Ontario, Michigan, Missouri, Colorado, Finland, Ireland etc. to reduce the rate of unplanned pregnancies -- and abortions -- in young women by providing access to prescription contraceptives. Remember during Biden administration, there was even consideration of making oral contraceptives available OTC?
--------------------------------------------------

Amanda K. Downey et al. 2025. Universal Pharmacare and Contraceptive Dispensations Among Youth. JAMA Pediatr. Published Online: August 18, 2025. 179;10):1090-1099. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.2585

"Key Points
... In this time-series analysis of contraceptives dispensed from Canadian pharmacies, implementation of universal pharmacare {in Ontario} was associated with increases in contraceptives dispensed {to individuals younger than 25 years}, including intrauterine devices and oral contraceptives. The magnitude of increase was greater in areas with low socioeconomic status...

...Introduction
... In January 2018, Ontario introduced OHIP+ {Ontario Health Insurance Plan +}, a universal pharmacare program for all prescription drugs listed on the public drug formulary for youth younger than the age of 25 years without cost sharing, including individuals already covered via private drug plans. This program was revised in April 2019 to cover only those who did not have access to private insurance (OHIP−), reintroducing cost sharing for privately covered individuals... As a result, many Ontario youth reverted to their parent’s private drug plan,... potentially compromising confidential access to prescription medication, including contraceptives.

... Prescription contraceptives are frequently dispensed to individuals younger than the age of 25 years... Hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs), a form of long-acting reversible contraception, are among the most effective contraceptives...; however, they also have the highest up-front cost... Financial barriers have been cited as one of the reasons young Canadian females chose less effective methods of contraception, placing them at increased risk for an unintended pregnancy... The possible financial incentives and impacts to confidentiality resulting from OHIP+ and OHIP− on contraceptive use are currently unknown. The main objective of this study was to examine the association between of OHIP+ and OHIP− and contraceptives dispensed in Ontario females aged 15 to 24 years by evaluating changes in prescription contraceptives dispensed after the introduction of OHIP+, revision to OHIP−, and variability in changes by area-level SES.

... Discussion
... Previous research has reported increased IUD utilization after expanded drug insurance or the provision of free contraception.... Results of the Michigan Contraceptive Access, Research, and Evaluation Study (M-CARES) analysis showed that free contraception was associated with a 40% increase in the use of any birth control method and a 324% increased likelihood of choosing long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs)... Results of the Contraceptive CHOICE project in St Louis, Missouri, reported that approximately 70% of adolescents who were given standardized counseling and free access to all contraceptives chose a LARC, with the majority of 18- to 20-year-olds selecting an IUD... These results are aligned with the Colorado Family Planning Initiative, which provided LARCs to low-income female individuals at low or no cost; after 6 years of implementation, 31% of clients were LARC users, the highest rate of any state in the US... Moreover, the introduction of 1 free LARC was associated with a 2.2-fold increase in LARCs dispensed in Finland,... and approximately half of sexually active Irish university students reported that they would change to a LARC if it were free... These data demonstrate that the relatively high costs of effective contraceptive methods can be a major barrier for young females..."

From the Boston Globe:

Inside the small Maine group trying to criminalize abortion"

Paywalled, but apparently the story originally ran in the Maine Monitor, and can be read here.

Republicans demand tougher abortion restrictions to extend Obamacare funds
Sahil Kapur | Nov. 11, 2025

"Democrats say that’s a nonstarter, arguing there are already limits on abortion access. The dispute could torpedo a deal, leading to higher health insurance premiums for millions.

... Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said there will be a negotiation about an extension after the government reopens. He said one condition will be stricter rules pertaining to the Hyde amendment, which bars federal funding from being used for abortion.

... To satisfy Democratic demands to comply with the Hyde amendment when Obamacare passed in 2010, the law does not allow federal funds to cover abortions. Some states allow people insured under Obamacare to access abortion coverage using state or other funding. Republicans want to change that..."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-demand-tougher-abortion-re...

Unintended consequences ~

Unfortunately, women who voted for Trump in 2024 gave Republican governors and legislators across the country an incentive to fight even harder against women's reproductive rights in the states they govern. Poor women in those states will continue to pay a high price for the major screwup a majority of women carried out that November.

>126 Molly3028: Agree. That is why even small races for state legislatures matter. I have been writing with Postcards to Voters to turn out the Democratic voters in many states.

"How Sex Education and a Knitted Uterus Got Me into the Gifted and Talented Program in 3rd Grade." No touchstone ... :D

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1222176336010286

Prior abortion or miscarriage not linked to increased risk of pre- or postmenopausal breast cancer
Wiley | Feb 11 2026
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260211/Prior-abortion-or-miscarriage-not-lin...
-----------------------------------------------

Katuwal, S., et al. (2026). Induced abortion, miscarriage, and the risk of breast cancer—A registry‐based study from Finland. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. DOI: 10.1111/aogs.70154. https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aogs.70154

ABSTRACT
"... Results. The odds ratio (OR) of breast cancer among women with a history of induced abortion as compared with women with no history of induced abortion was 1.00 ... in premenopausal (age less than 50 years) and 0.95 ... in postmenopausal (50 years or more) women. The corresponding ORs for miscarriage were 1.02 ... and 0.92 ... The OR did not vary significantly by the number of induced abortions or miscarriages, nor by the age at the time of first induced abortion or miscarriage.

Conclusion. A history of induced abortion and miscarriage, regardless of their number or age of the woman, is not associated with an increased risk of subsequent pre- or postmenopausal breast cancer.

TN bill would allow death penalty for women who have an abortion
Vivian Jones | Feb. 20, 2026

"Tennessee has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country. The Human Life Protection Act prohibits all abortions from fertilization, without exceptions for rape or incest.

- Two Tennessee Republican lawmakers have proposed a bill to allow the death penalty for women who have abortions.
- The bill would classify abortion as fetal homicide and remove current legal protections for pregnant women.
- The legislation is supported by some faith leaders and the Foundation to Abolish Abortion.
- If passed, the bill would take effect on July 1 but would not allow for retroactive prosecutions ...

... The bill specifically removes legal protections for pregnant women currently in statute, and classifies harm done to an unborn child as equal to assault on a person "born alive."

It would not apply to “a spontaneous miscarriage,” or to “unintentional death of an unborn child” after “undertaking life-saving procedures” to save the life of the mother and “to save the life of the unborn child.” No other exceptions are specified in the amendment text ..."

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/20/tennessee-bill-death-p...

>130 margd: Something funny about people claiming to be "pro-life" calling for the death penalty.

Not "funny" like "ha-ha what a giggle", but "funny" like "holy shit these people are fucking fucked in the head and need serious help, ideally delivered in a locked ward".

>131 kiparsky: I agree. The irony of this perspective is so obvious, it's difficult to believe anyone would take this seriously. It will also lead to a lot more lawsuits trying to determine whether the mother acted in good faith or not by eating something that might harm her baby, not eating enough of the right foods etc. Insanity at its best.

'Brain scars': The hidden forms of sexism that harm women's health
Melissa Hogenboom | 10 December 2025

Subtle sexism that pervades everyday life often gets shrugged off. But research shows it can still have lasting psychological effects – including "thinning" parts of the brain.

... Globally the figures are alarming – almost one in three are said to have been subjected to physical or sexual violence, or both. Then there are the subtle forms of sexism that can pervade daily life, such as being patronised or belittled. Or the benevolent sexism of seemingly positive gendered compliments ...

Meanwhile, in the US, information on women's health has been recently deleted and altered from a government website, according to a report published in The Lancet, by sociologist Patricia Homan from Florida State University and colleagues. ...

... these are all examples of what's referred to as "structural sexism", which {sociologist Patricia Homan from Florida State University} defines as systematic gender inequality in power and resources, embedded within our social institutions.

A 'scar' on the brain
The effects on women's health, unsurprisingly, can be consequential and not always immediately visible. A large study analysing over 7,800 brain scans across 29 countries found that societal gender imbalances physically change women's brains. The research showed that women living in countries with higher gender inequality had thinner cortical thickness in brain regions associated with emotional control, resilience and stress-related disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

... Crucially, these brain differences were found to be diminished in more gender equal countries and were not observed to the same degree in men, though men also experienced more brain changes in the most unequal countries ...

Structural sexism's circle of harm
How to encourage change ... "

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251209-brain-scars-the-hidden-forms-of-sexi...
------------------------------------------------

André Zugman et al. 2023. Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men. PNAS, May 8, 2023. 120 (20) 2218782120
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2218782120 https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251209-brain-scars-the-hidden-forms-of-sexi...

... Discussion
The results show that country-level gender inequality is related to the average structural brain differences between women and men in cortical thickness. The effect seen was a global one, significant in the cortical thickness of the right hemisphere.

Gender inequality indices are composite measures that incorporate diverse experiences that might be mediating their effect on the brain through different biological mechanisms. However, we could hypothesize about the predominant underlying mechanisms based on the localized brain regions in which a significant association was found, namely, the anterior cingulate gyrus and orbitofrontal gyrus. These regions have been related to several aspects of emotional control, including resilience to adversity ... , responses to inequity ... , or negative social comparisons .... Changes in these regions have also been found in pathological conditions where stress is considered a central mechanism, including thinning in depression... , or reduced volume in posttraumatic stress disorder ... Stress would lead to these macroscopic changes through dendritic remodeling and synaptic pruning, possibly mediated by stress hormones ... Overall, the observed association may result from exposure to an adverse environment and subsequent stress response throughout life. This would imply that sex differences in the thickness of those regions would be smaller in early development and increase during aging. This resonates with evidence highlighting the role of gender inequality in the higher prevalence of depression in girls which appears in adolescence ... Other data support this hypothesis about the timing of the observed changes. For example, stress in the adult brain seems to correlate most consistently with cortical thickness rather than cortical surface area ... ; similarly, hippocampal volume relates most consistently to early life stress ... However, other mechanisms could contribute to such changes. Women could have lower access to beneficial, enriched environments, which could alter their brain structure through higher dendritic branching and increased synapse formation ... Indeed, the composite indices of gender inequality incorporate the lower educational opportunities of women compared to men. The observed associations could also relate to very early disturbances in development, particularly since cortical thickness peaks early in brain maturation ... Our study could not examine further which of these mechanisms were involved, since many types of adverse experiences coexist across societies ... New studies looking at specific populations in which they are not as correlated might inform about the underlying mechanisms. Further insights could come from studies examining differences between cohorts that have been exposed to changing levels of adversity over time, particularly since some domains might improve earlier or be subject to specific policy interventions (such as improving perinatal care). A longitudinal temporal view would also strengthen the case for a causality mechanism in the observed association ...

!!!!
Proposal in the Ohio legislature

Registering pregnancies
Requiring a death certificate upon aborting, spontaneous or deliberate.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThoXRk8N/

>134 2wonderY: Wouldn't want to return to bad old days -- though there is much that can be improved in women's healthcare today -- but it seems that the shift from mostly female-dominated midwives to mostly male MDs (though MD-gender is changing) brought shift in what was once a very pragmatic management of dangers of childbirth. And not just childbirth! Pain management would be lot different I suspect if IUD-patients were male. Also astonishing that speculum design is largely unchanged after all these years...

>135 margd: https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ide/delft-design-stories/new-vaginal-speculum-design-m...

>135 margd: Just this week, I saw a mock-up video of a vaginal exam from inside the vagina. Amusing, but gruesome at the same time.

>136 bnielsen: Updated speculum design only 185 years in the making ... Single use plastic, I wonder?

>137 2wonderY: I bet... Videos these days magnify and show movement/function of brain, intranasal passage, kidneys, blood vessels, etc. Look so complex, but alien -- we humans are wonderfully made!

>138 margd: When I say mock-up, she used a kitchen whisk for sampling. It was oversized and she used what looked like white plastic trash bags to form the walls.

>138 margd: The linked page says that it can be cleaned, and is compatible with high level disinfection and autoclaving, so not single use plastic, which is good.

>140 ljbryant: Good! (I think... Metal instruments used in deep brain stimulation (Parkinson's), though autoclaved, thought to have had prions that survived the process, infecting the next patient... :/ )
_______________________________

Georgia woman charged with murder after police say she took pills to induce abortion
Associated Press | 19 Mar 2026

"If prosecuted, case against 31-year-old would be one of first in Georgia since it passed 2019 law banning most abortions ..."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/19/georgia-murder-charges-abortion

The Trump administration kills children abroad while being ‘pro-life’ at home (Guardian)

In Georgia, a woman was charged with murder after allegedly taking pills to induce a termination. Yet America happily drops bombs on children abroad...

>142 John5918: "Yet America happily drops bombs on children abroad..."

Quite a leap from 'Trump Administration', 'US-backed Israel', and 'politicians' to
'AMERICA HAPPILY dropping bombs on children abroad'.

>143 margd:

Not really. The USA is dropping bombs on children, and its duly elected president has publicly stated that America might drop some more "just for fun".

>144 John5918: Trump's 'just for fun' remark was regarding Kharg Island where I daresay there are no children. In your gleeful disparagement of AMERICA, you might have done better to quote the article, "I’m willing to live with that report,” Donald Trump shrugged after being informed the US was responsible for bombing an elementary school in Iran."

These days, even Americans who voted for Trump are increasingly appalled by his military adventures. I hope that they aren't driven back to him by smug anti-Americanism. I recently lost a college friend so afflicted, which makes me value all the more every-day Canadians who try to distinguish between Trump Administration, and the good people of America, some of whom are just now regaining their senses.

>145 margd:

You're reacting both defensively and combatively and I'm sorry if I've touched a nerve. Perhaps I should just let it rest, but let me respond. Firstly, nobody is "gleeful" about the unfolding tragedy, except perhaps the US president. I have a young Iranian friend in UK who is currently desperately trying to get news of his parents who are in an area of Iran being bombed by the USA and/or Israel, and a British friend in Beirut who has to break off in mid-telephone conversation because of the bombing. Secondly, everybody knows that there are many Americans, probably more than 50% of the population, your "good people" who are not in support of the current duly elected president's actions. I know many of them; they include my friends and colleagues whom I work with on peacebuilding and active nonviolence. Thirdly, it is not "anti-Americanism" nor "disparagement" to criticise the current actions of the USA. Fourthly, it is very common practice to name a country rather than its current government when referring to that country's policies and actions. It was Japan that bombed Pearl Harbour, not "the emperor's administration". It was Britain that committed colonial atrocities, not "Queen Victoria's government". It was Argentina which invaded the Falklands/Malvinas, not Galtieri. In common parlance it is America, not a particular administration, which pursued military action in Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Venezuela and now Iran.

And finally, it seems to me that the point being made in that Guardian article is to highlight the disconnect between the US right wing's insistence that it is pro-life when it comes to abortion but pretty blase about the deaths of other children, whether in Iran or in its own schools. It prosecutes a woman for allegedly killing a child while at the same time itself killing many other babies and children with impunity in an unnecessary and arguably illegal war. Cognitive dissonance? That's why I thought it had some relevance to this thread. My apologies if I was mistaken.

Missouri legislature passes bill allowing pregnant women to divorce without legal barriers
Sarah Kellogg | March 11, 2026

"While pregnant women can file for divorce in Missouri, a judge can prevent it from being finalized. The Missouri General Assembly unanimously approved a bill that would fix the loophole..."

https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2026-03-11/missouri-legis...

Ohio bill would require fetal life and death certificates
Ava Boldizar | Mar 16, 2026

"A recently introduced Ohio bill {74} would require the filing of a “certificate of life” after the detection of a fetal heartbeat and the registration of all fetal deaths.

... Under the legislation, a medical professional who determines the presence of a fetal heartbeat would have to file a certificate of life in the local records office of the facility within 10 days of the examination. The measure would require a copy of the certificate to be given to the pregnant woman.

The proposal also seeks to mandate that each fetal death be registered at the records office where the death occurred. Fetal death is defined as death prior to the “complete expulsion or extraction” of “a product of human conception,” regardless of the duration of the pregnancy.

The bill specifies that fetal death includes abortion. All fetal death certificates would include a space to indicate if the fetal death was the result of abortion, spontaneous miscarriage or stillbirth.

... A cause of death would be certified by the coroner or medical examiner if the fetus dies in a “violent, suspicious, unusual or sudden” manner, according to the bill. If the fetus dies in any other manner, a physician would certify the cause of death. The measure would require that a certificate of death be completed and signed within 48 hours after notification of a fetal death.

... Under current state law, a death certificate is required for any fetal death at or after 20 weeks of gestation. For deaths under 20 weeks, a fetal death certificate is optional, and may be registered if a parent or funeral director applies.

In November 2023, Ohio voters passed an amendment enshrining the right to abortion in the state’s constitution, and it took effect the following month..."

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/politics/ohio-bill-would-require-fetal-life-and-death...

Natalie Hernandez et al. 2026. Abortion policy preferences are structured, stable, and consequential. American Journal of Political Science, 18 February 2026. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.70036 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajps.70036

Abstract
Do Americans have structured, stable, and consequential policy preferences that shape political outcomes? We explore this question through the case of abortion, using a large-scale panel dataset (n ≈ 130,000) and applying three key diagnostics: coherence, stability, and changes in vote choice. First, we demonstrate that abortion policy preferences exhibit logical coherence, both within and across reasons for seeking an abortion. Second, we show that these preferences are highly stable over time–more so than personality traits–suggesting that abortion attitudes are deeply engrained rather than fleeting opinions. Lastly, we find that abortion policy preferences, measured before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, predict shifts in intended voting behavior between 2020 and 2024. This overall pattern helps rule out key theoretical alternatives, such as non-opinions, attitudes following vote choice, and elite cues. Additionally, these findings highlight the significant and independent role of abortion attitudes in shaping American political behavior.

Bar graph "Support for abortion limits by reason for abortion", via Ryan Burge FB post:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=946433187966606&set=a.154524980490768

Ryan Burge | 28 March 2026:
Ryan Burge is a professor of practice at the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University. He's also a former pastor in the American Baptist Church. His newsletter is Graphs about Religion.

"When asked about abortion opinions:
22% of white evangelicals say that it should "never be permitted"
45% say their preference is to permit abortion in the case of rape, incest or mother's health.
19%: should always be able to obtain an abortion as a matter of choice.

{Bar Graph, by religion} https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=950699870873271&set=a.154524980490768 "

>151 kiparsky: Did he say anything about opinions in the case of the mother being related to the respondent? That's always been the sticky point for the gynophobes: they're against other people's abortions, but they'll quietly get their daughter's inconvenient "situation" ironed out.

>145 margd:

Hey! Count your blessings that people can only "disparage" fucking US of A, they do so to vent and release a little of the anxiety your freaking unthinking "good" people cause the world. Not that John was doing that anyway and you know it. He's probably the nicest, most inoffensive person here.

The "not all USians" crap won't cut it. Practically all of you profited for centuries from being plundering pirates smugly ensconced between two oceans and weak neighbours, you've demolished every last chance for a better world in the name of capitalism, culminating in electing the orange turd, the perfect embodiment of USA's Id And Ego, TWICE. And thanks to that now we're all again at the brink of a global war.

So the Divine Nine have decided that doctors have a first amendment right to perform treatments that they think are medically necessary. Seems like this decision - unfortunate as it is in its immediate context - could be the wedge that restores abortion rights in the long term.
Just putting a pin in this - when US law once again recognizes that women are human (despite what any church says), it'll be at least in part a first amendment case.

>153 kiparsky: This one, you mean?

Supreme Court rules against Colorado's ban on 'conversion therapy' for LGBTQ kids
Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press | Mar 31, 2026
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/supreme-court-rules-against-colorados-ban-...

Yep. We might disagree with their application of the first amendment in this case, but they've kind of opened a door that I don't think they thought about. They can't now argue that the right to treat and seek treatment for medical conditions is not a first-amendment right.

Individual reports notwithstanding,
"This cohort study found that abortion bans were not associated with significant overall or state-specific increases in pregnancy-associated mortality in the early post-Dobbs period, although continued surveillance is needed, given short follow-up."

Hiluf Ebuy Abraha et al. 2026. US Abortion Bans and Pregnancy-Associated Mortality
JAMA Netw Open, Published Online: April 3, 2026. 2026;9;(4):e264801. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.4801 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2847291