Better Late Than Never, per an ask from Commentator UncleEbeneezer! I wasn’t able to attend my local protest, but BrotherDancerWhoDontDance was. No phone, no pics, so I appeal to the commentariat for any, if you attended today. Please post in the comments!
If you didn’t, Open Thread!
raven
Abort Deez Nutz, downtown Athens.
Baud
@raven:
rikyrah
I’m still processing that other women, who just happen to live in other states, can’t have access to what I can just because they live in that state. The inequity in that, and who it will affect disproportionately, still gets to me.
Baud
Discovered this reddit thread of the Chicago protest
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/vkeqxu
Baud
@Baud:
Might need to use this link.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/vkeqxu/chicago_062422_snaps_of_solidarity_oc/?sort=confidence
Jackie
@rikyrah: I know. I live in WA state. We can’t take abortion rights for granted; a Republican governor or majority republican state senate could change that right.
WA state Congress is majority Democratic, but just barely. This year’s mid-term elections is worrisome. We have too many Trumpers here.
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: Thanks.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I was just looking at NARAL’s ratings of Senators (from the 2020 campaign season, looks like). The only people who aren’t either 100% or zero are Collins (64%), Casey (72%) and Manchin (48%). Doing a little googling, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Carper and Coons are co-sponsors of the bill that would codify Roe.
debbie
The pastor/priest/minister with the “Jesus would be at this protest” wins the award.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Both sides!
Geminid
@Jackie: There must be a new map after redistricting. What is Washington’s like? Was it drawn by the legislature’s Democrats? A commission?
R-Jud
I didn’t attend a protest because I live in England. I did, however, split some money between Josh Shapiro’s campaign for governor in my home state of PA and the Missouri Abortion Fund, in honor of a friend who’s been a clinic escort down there for years.
Feels good, man.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Some discussion in an earlier thread about close statehouses, so per internet tradition I am bringing it “upstairs”. I don’t know if there are others
Michigan also has a ballot referendum that would put abortion rights in the state constitution
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I had no idea it was so close in both places.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Even the notorious Henry Cuellar has cleaned up his act some. His latest ratings from Planned Parenthood and NARAL are 80% and 100%, respectively (I guess that does not include his recent lone vote against codifying Roe). The Susan B. Anthony List gives Cuellar a zero, National Right to Life gives him a 7% rating, and Heritage Action gives him a zero also.
And Cuellar’s former “A” grade from the NRA is now a “C”. It may go even lower since his Republican challenger, Cassie Garcia, is thought to have a real shot at flipping that seat.
The NRA’s ratings can be situational. Even though Gabby Giffords was one of 60 some menbers who signed onto Mr. Hellers brief arguing an individual right to possess firearms, the NRA gave her an “F” rating because her Republican opponent was a real gun nut and they hoped he could beat her.
Mo Salad
@R-Jud: You are a US citizen, right? Foreign individuals cannot give directly to campaigns.
Jackie
@Geminid: Our districts didn’t really change. We have two Rep Congresspersons who voted to impeach Trump – both have Trump endorsed challengers. A couple of Dem Congresspersons who eked out wins in 2020… basically WA is a Red state, if not for King County (Seattle metro.)
One of the Republican Congressmen targeted by Trump is “my” Representative. In extremely Red Trump country – so the seat doesn’t have a chance of turning Blue.
sxjames
Just a couple comments
If I were a republican operative scanning the past few threads I’d be absolutely delighted to see all the loving solidarity among committed democrats /s. I understand that everyone is angry & scared about the future, but please, lets cut each other a little slack. We are all in this together and the only way we can change the future is to act together. Maybe starting with this tread?
As this is an open tread… My mom, who is suffering from late onset Alzheimer dementia, is living in a (pretty good) memory care facility. As is usual with these facilities, they divide the residents into small ‘neighborhoods’ with keypad door access between them and the main area and the lobby to the outside. Well, my mom was always quite independent – looking after herself – and she absolutely HATES it there. Why? The closed doors. She is no longer capable of doing a lot of what she wants to do, and to her the closed doors represents all the loss of freedom she has experienced the past year or so. Anyways (and this is the point of the post) the highlight of her week is when I pick her up to take her out for coffee or a drive in the country and we head to the lobby she says (without fail) “Were going to America”. For here, the lobby = America. Think about that. For a 92yo women the very core essence of “America” is the freedom to go where she wants to go, to do what she wants, to live her life as she desires.
This is not an original though, I know, but my moms dementia addled brain has a firmer grasp of the hope and promise of America than the six SC justices.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I had no idea there was a House special election this week, to fill the seat of the criminal Jeff Fortenberry
Geminid
@Jackie: Good to know. How about the state legislative map? Next year my state (Virginia) will hold state elections on a map drawn by two Special Masters. The Virgininia Supreme Court appointed them after the novel redistricting commission deadlocked. We’ve held elections since 2011 on a map drawn by Republicans. Their gerrymander pretty much failed in 2017 and 2019. Now Democrats will compete on a fairly neutral map and I think we will kick Republican ass next year.
dnfree
This abortion disaster is tied in my mind to the 50th anniversary of Title IX. The article below (which was published before the Supreme Court decision) talks about Title IX having an impact far beyond sports. Over time, it affected the whole image of what women could do. Roe v Wade was part of that, too—removing restrictions on women.
I’m thinking back to the very bright girl in 1962 who had to drop out of my high school as a junior, and who furthermore had to go from class to class and be embarrassed by telling each teacher, in front of her classmates, that she was dropping out because she was pregnant. This was mandatory. The not-terribly-bright father of the baby didn’t have to drop out, though. And I remember the girl my freshman year of college, 1963, who was sick a lot. We didn’t think much about it until she went home after a few weeks and word came that she wasn’t returning; she “had” to marry her boyfriend back home, as it was said in those days.
So, Title IX in 1972, Roe v Wade in 1973…50 years of progress for women. I think it’s no coincidence that the same evangelicals who believe women should be submissive are the ones who want to make pregnancy now have the same result it did in the 1960s.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/06/22/title-ix-anniversary-legacy/
O. Felix Culpa
We marched in the Santa Fe Pride Parade today. We weren’t planning on going, but decided it was important to represent. Maybe my imagination, but it seemed like turnout was better and more fired up than in previous years (no parade the past two years because of pandemic). There was a tremendous call and response from the onlookers when we started chanting “VOTE, VOTE, VOTE.” At least some people get it
ETA: No pix. Didn’t bring my phone.
UncleEbeneezer
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: For anyone who wants to help flip some state houses to Dem, check out (and donate and volunteer etc.) SisterDistrict.
Rich Gardner
Haven’t processed my still photos yet (or written an essay to go along with them), but here are two YouTubes of videos from Philly.
One
Two
AJ formerly of the Mustard Search and Rescue team
@sxjames: sorry to hear about your mom’s situation but thank you for an inspiring story that I will not forget.
May she long be ‘going to America’ with you, her son.
AJ formerly of the Mustard Search and Rescue team
MisterDancer I’m glad to see you ‘byline’ again.
Your earlier post with the yellow highlighting was one of the more powerful pieces I’ve ever read on this blog, and I’ve been reading 99.9% of posts religiously for some years.
Hope you’re doing ok and looking forward to reading you more.