I know there’s an existing post somewhere, but here’s the list of OBGYNs in the USA and other countries that will perform tubal ligation (aka female sterilization) without arguing with you

if you're feeling powerless right now—and god knows I am—here's a reminder you can donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds, the Trans Law Center, Gaza Soup Kitchen, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and hundreds of other charities that will work to mitigate the damage that has been and will continue to be inflicted

life continues. we still have the capacity to do good, important work. that matters

Tonight, the night before Election Day 2024 in the US, I am thinking about my stepkid.

I am thinking about the phone call they made to us earlier this year, the one where they told us they'd gone to the hospital thinking they had appendicitis and found out, instead, that a zygote - a tiny splodge of cells - had taken up residence not in their uterus but in a fallopian tube. The one where our kid said they were waiting for their partner to arrive, hoped that said partner would get there before the docs took our kid back to terminate that pregnancy, & assured us that they'd be okay.

After all, our kid lives in a state with choice measures embedded in state law. That pea-sized blot of tissue doesn't have more right to their health than they do. Nobody is standing between them and their doctors. They made a decision, and that was that.

In this tiny tragedy, the kind that plays out dozens of times a day at minimum across the country, we only had to worry about the small risk of surgery complications. We didn't have to worry about Ken Paxton threatening to charge their doctors with felonies. We didn't have to think, "What if the hospital's legal team doesn't think an ectopic pregnancy - which is never ever viable and must be terminated before it kills our kid - is really that big of a deal?" We didn't have to worry that they live in a state where ob-gyns are fleeing, leaving few experts behind, as has happened in Idaho.

We didn't have to watch our kid vomit up black blood before dying the day after their baby shower the way Neveah's mom did. We didn't have to pray in a waiting room (while doctors took our kid apart until their heart stopped because the doctors waited too long out of fear of anti-choice laws) until a doctor came to tell us we'd have to bury them the way that Amber's mom did. We aren't having to pick up our lives after fully treatable miscarriage-related sepsis took them from us the way that Josseli's husband and daughter must.

I could go on for far, far too long.

Listen. If you are a single-issue non-voter and have already decided that "both parties are the same" or whatever other thing you've told yourself so you can sleep at night, smug and secure, then I can't reach you and I can't help you. But if you genuinely think that your votes don't matter, if you're just suffering from a bout of overwhelm or apathy, if you're too young to remember the 2000 election and can't see that Dobbs is a direct result of that election and every one that's followed, please, I am fucking begging you.

I didn't really talk about this when it happened. I mentioned something briefly, maybe. The posts I've started writing about it are still in my drafts. It was too fresh, too frightening. It's not any less frightening now, honestly - because if this week doesn't end with President Kamala Harris, we're headed for a national abortion ban, at the minimum - but it's not about how fucking frightened I was or how sad and bewildered I was to realize that my kid was going through this crisis in a nation more hostile to them than when I needed a D&C for an abortion at 21, in 1998.

It's about stopping this chapter of this fucking bullshit and at least finding some new fucking bullshit.

Vote, dammit.

Do the other work on Wednesday. Tomorrow, the work is to vote.

Project 2025 would ban anything the far right considers pornography. The far right considers anything queer-positive to be pornography, and they WILL encode that into law if given just a TINY bit more power.

Have queer fanfic (or trad published literature) or pics of your transition, or of two men kissing, saved to your hard drive? If the GOP get their way, you'd be guilty of possession of pornography. Did you share any of it? You'd be guilty of distribution of pornography. Have a sweet coming of age story with a queer protagonist? That'd be child pornography.

Even now, states are trying to make it a crime to be openly queer in public (by, among other things, classifying dressing as the "wrong gender" anyplace kids might see as a sex crime against children). Oh, and Florida tried (and thankfully failed) to impose the death penalty for the above.

This is just one example of the horrors awaiting us if the project comes to fruition.

And the far right is already screaming that any adult who mentions around kids that queer people exist is "grooming" children. Wear your Pride shirt past a playground? You're now a child groomer. Think they won't put that into law if allowed? You're naive.

The GOP currently controls the Supreme Court (which is how they overturned Roe v. Wade) and has a majority in one branch of congress. Imagine what will happen nationwide with the GOP controlling every branch of government, including supermajoroties in both houses of Congress.

Oh, and top GOP officials have also announced their desire to NUKE Gaza, so don't come at me with, "but I can't vote blue because Biden..." Or tell me how you think Gaza would somehow be better off with Trump and the GOP.

In France, the left and center joined together--even though they disagree vehemently on many issues (get two leftists together and they'll have three positions on any issue)--to stop the far right from totally taking over, because the one thing they ALL agree on is that fascists dictatorships are BAD.

Much the same with the UK finally kicking out their own neo-fascist party, the Torries, to install 400 Labour MPs. Not everyone loves Labour's policies, but virtually everyone with a brain cell recognizes that the Torries are fascists, and that FASCISM BAD.

"Every election, they tell us this is the most important election if our lives!" Yeah, because each election over the past several decades has been more important than the one before, until we are now at a tipping point between remaining a fucked up oligarchy with SOME resemblance to freedom, and an outright neo-fascist military dictatorship.

Trump has literally stated publicly his intent to criminalize dissent, use US armed forces against protesters (Kent State, but multiply it by thousands), purge all agencies and stuff them with those personally loyal to him, and use the DOJ to go after anyone he perceives as a threat to his political power, among other things.

And remember the things he did in office, like pulling the teeth of federal workplace protections for queer folks (which Biden reatored).

I don't care if you don't like Biden or Harris. Neither do I. But the alternative is Trump, and anyone telling you not to vote in 2024, or to vote third party, is rooting for Trump, and for Project 2025. Anyone telling you not to vote does not give one single solitary flying fuck about vulnerable populations in the US or anywhere else in the world.

"You're just being an alarmist!" Right. Like I was being alarmist when I predicted the failed Jan 6 coup attempt. Like I was being alarmist when I said the GOP would try to use control over SCOTUS to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Fucking vote.

Look.

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

If the ONLY LINE YOU CARE ABOUT is line 12, you have an incredible amount of privilege, AND YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT PALESTINIANS. You obviously have nothing to fear from a Trump presidency, and you do not give a fuck if a ceasefire actually occurs. You are obviously fine if your queer, disabled, and marginalized loved ones are hurt. You clearly don't care about the status of American democracy, which Trump has openly stated he plans to destroy on day 1 he is in office.

if you want to vote for a third party, what you are going to do is vote for biden in november 2024 and then as soon as that’s done, start trying to get ranked choice voting in your state

we will ALWAYS be a two party system until voting reform happens, and voting reform won’t happen if project 2025 happens.

suck it up and vote biden, then put the next four years to good use

^^^

everyone living in EU - please support the citizens initiative for safe and accessible abortion!!

If I may, I'll use this as an opportunity to also share this EU citizens' initiative to ban the conversion therapy

I do not request reblogs often, but reblog this no matter where you are from so people from the EU can see and sign this. Please. Let's make a difference. Thank you! ⚔️🌈

when you call your reps to ask them to pretty please stop taking away your rights, remember:

remember to call because that way their phone is going off and their peers can hear it because their offices are close together (emails and letters don't work like that), so it can rattle them if they get high volumes. remember that you gotta make them feel like they're losing something.

Talking points I've been using in my blood red state:

For anyone looking for a bit of good news -- yesterday the Minnesota Senate passed both a bill outlawing conversion therapy statewide and the trans refuge state bill that further reinforces our governor's executive order from several weeks ago. Both had already passed in the House, which means at this point all they need is the governor's signature.

The Minnesota House also passed a bill limiting the release of reproductive health care information, essentially stating the state will not cooperate with efforts by other states to prosecute people for receiving reproductive health care here in Minnesota. It will likely follow the others and get passed in the Senate soon.

I know this is particularly good news for Minnesotans, but I'm also heartened by the fact that two of the bills are very focused on making our state a sanctuary for individuals looking to find care here, particularly given the state of things in the states bordering us. I hope it's encouraging to some of you as well. This fight is ongoing and there are absolutely still victories happening, including ones I truly hope will spill over our borders and help others in need.

21 co-sponsors.

It’s even more crazy because abortion is technically still legal in South Carolina, up to 20 weeks.

So you’re talking about the death penalty for something that, for now at least, isn’t even a crime.

Text: decoupling pregnancy from femininity means accurate and more inclusive language and treatment, but it also allows cis women to refuse motherhood without refusing womanhood, which is great for feminism and terrifying for misogyny.

–THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS. As a sterile cis woman who doesn’t want to have children anyway I feel this is every ounce of my being. “Define woman” types tend to do so in a way that excludes me too, so I got to stand with my trans sisters.

[Additional ID: the text is from a tweet by let le wokisme win (@lyta_gold). At the time of screenshotting, it had been posted 16h prior, had 140 replies, 9,734 retweets, and 51.7K likes. /End ID]

I hope every day of Kavanaugh’s life from now until he dies is fucking MISERABLE. May that monster never have a moment of peace of happiness in his life.

[Image description: tweet by Ashley Winter MD || Urologist: “I got my abortion in a liberal state but still was frightened by the numerous protestors outside the clinic. I hope Kavanaugh needs a restaurant escort from now on. See how it feels. Let him have no rest.”]

"The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday released guidance saying that health providers who perform abortions in emergency situations are protected under federal law regardless of what bans are in place in their states.

Why it matters: The move is aimed at giving assurances to abortion providers who fear they could be prosecuted for offering potentially life-saving care.

Details: The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act "protects providers when offering legally-mandated, life- or health-saving abortion services in emergency situations," said HHS in a guidance issued via the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services."

Read the full piece here: https://www.axios.com/2022/07/11/abortion-emergency-biden-providers

"Jury nullification is a powerful weapon against prosecutors who go after women seeking abortions and anyone who tries to help them, as well as parents seeking gender affirming care for their children. Jurors have the right to say "No, not in our name," and nullify.

Too many jurors think they are in the box for one purpose: to convict. Especially if the facts match up with a law, however horrible the law is or how unfairly it is applied. But that's not true. Jurors have all the power. They just need to exercise it by saying no.

Jury nullification has a rich and noble history. It has been used to acquit people charged with seditious libel for speaking out against the government and to acquit people who defied the Fugitive Slave Act. And--my favorite--wouldn't convict drinkers under Prohibition."

Read the full thread here: https://twitter.com/larabazelon/status/1545855025871654914

I’ve posted this to Twitter but I will post it here too, and before anyone asks YES THIS IS SAFE TO REBLOG EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT INDIGENOUS (AND I ASK YOU TO DO SO):

In the aftermath of the draft of the decision, I saw people, specifically white, non-Indigenous people (as Indigenous people who do speak on this are different), who were demanding on social media reservations and tribal governments to open abortion clinics on their lands, since our governments function separately from state governments and are sovereign.

AND I AM ASKING TO MY WHITE, NON-INDIGENOUS FOLLOWERS TO PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS.

If a tribe wants to do it, that is really fucking amazing! And I, as an Indigenous woman, hope that tribes do, but you, again I’m mostly talking to white, non-Indigenous people, should NOT be demanding that they do.

Here’s just two reasons:

Again, if tribal governments decide to do it, good for them! I, as an Indigenous woman, hope they do! But please, as white, non-Indigenous people, do not demand this.

PS: There’s currently a case that the Supreme Court will be hearing soon, and then ruling a decision on, called Haaland v. Brackeen, where the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Indiana (kinda funny how these are also states with trigger bills on abortion, isn’t it!) are trying to get the Supreme Court to rule the Indian Child Welfare Act unconstitutional! For those who don’t know, the Indian Child Welfare Act was put in place because of horrendous abuse that happened with Native children being adopted by non-Native (especially white) families. And states would disproportionally take Native children away to adopt them out to non-Native (especially white) families. And so the Indian Child Welfare Act was put in place so that, to protect Native children from abuse and to keep Native children connected to their culture(s), they can only be adopted by Native families.

If you care so much about Indigenous people, maybe also direct attention to fighting so that the Supreme Court doesn’t rule the Indian Child Welfare Act unconstitutional!

"A reminder that if you happen to be in Mexico and you have an ulcer you can get Misoprostol at a pharmacy for $25. You can also bring the pills back to the U.S. in case you one day have an ulcer. And if you dissolve the pills in your cheek, it’s undetectable.

No prescription needed, you just tell a pharmacist about your ulcers and ask for misoprostol to treat them :)"

Source:

Andréa (Dre) Becker. @andreavbecker. PhD in medical sociology | sexual & reproductive health researcher & writer

As anti-abortion laws pop up across the US, Mexican activists are helping Americans access free abortions

Dr. Andrea Orzoff, quoting Jamelle Bouie : "The Supreme Court does not exist above the constitutional system...it cannot shield itself from the power of the other branches.... The Constitution provides a number of paths by which Congress can restrain and discipline a rogue court.

It can impeach and remove justices. It can increase or decrease the size of the court itself (at its inception, the Supreme Court had only six members). It can strip the court of its jurisdiction over certain issues or it can weaken its power of judicial review by requiring a supermajority of justices to sign off on any decision that overturns a law. Congress can also rebuke the court with legislation that simply cancels the decision in question. In the face of a reckless, reactionary and power-hungry court, Congress has options.

It will take time to build the kind of power and consensus needed to make significant changes to the court. But even the work of amassing that power and putting that consensus together can stand as a credible threat to a Supreme Court that has acted, under conservative control, as if it stands above the constitutional system, unaccountable to anyone other than itself."

Thread: https://twitter.com/DrO_aorzoff/status/1540836543048192001

people need to stop leaving intersex people out of conversations about reproductive justice. 

intersex people are routinely sterilized at birth, and the choice of whether or not we want to have children is taken from us before we even can reach an age where we would be ready to make that choice. 

intersex people and their families are lied to about surgeries that have no medical benefit, because doctors are so worried about making sure that they uphold the binary system and create people who look “normal” instead of preserving our right to consent to what happens to our bodies. 

intersex people are often denied access to fertility treatment, or have many barriers to accessing infertility treatment because it is believed that we will not want to have children, or that we should not want to have children. 

yet, intersex issues are rarely, if ever, brought up in the context of reproductive rights, despite the fact that bodily autonomy and reproductive justice is a huge issue for the intersex community. 

if you’re fighting for reproductive justice, please consider fighting for our rights to choose as well.