Roe

And I wonder day to day

I don’t like you anyway

I don’t need your shit today

You’re pathetic in your own way

I feel for you

Godsmack “Whatever”

Like many, I am appalled, devastated – choose your adjective – about today’s ruling by SCOTUS. And I wasn’t surprised. I read the released draft ruling and I knew how this court was going.

But I am still appalled. I’m appalled as a woman and for other women who will need to navigate a labyrinthine series of which states allow what and assuming they can afford it as well as how to get there.

I’m disgusted at justices who seem to think that women deserve no bodily autonomy. And let’s be clear: if you are pregnant and don’t want an abortion, that is your choice. That is kind of the entire fucking point of choice. You do you and someone else will make their own choice.

And let’s not forget that legislators in this country care a lot about a clump of 8 cells but god forbid when it is born, and you could actually use services. At that point it is pretty much, “fuck off. We’re not taking care of your freeloading self.”

I happen to have five frozen blastocysts. The way things are going, will I be arrested and charged with a crime? That seems silly but honestly, given today’s ruling and the gleeful way Justice Thomas (ugh) mentioned other targets, who can say?? I never want to hear Susan Collins say another fucking word about any of this. We knew this was coming. We knew. I am so angry.

And you might be thinking, “but KeAnne, you are infertile. Aren’t more babies good?”

No. No it is not. Babies are not commodities and adoption is painful and difficult for all involved. It is not a “simple” solution for infertile couples. And while we are on that topic, in many ways, abortion and reproductive technologies are related. The same people who want to ban (and who have!) abortion feel the same way about many reproductive technologies. Many want to restrict them.

I would not be a parent without that technology. I believe in science. I have been through a lot – more than people who just had five minutes of sex to reproduce – know. I KNOW how babies are made. I have the scars from shots to prime eggs. I know the stages. I have seen a dead fetus on an ultrasound. So don’t you dare fucking preach to me about the sanctity of life. i have the scars and bills to prove it.

So fuck you, SCOTUS. Fuck you and all of us who enabled this to happen.

So, yeah. A little pissed.

North Carolina: Abortion, Trickery and Callousness

I thought it might be good to have an update on HB695, the bill that would restrict abortion in NC.  Demonstrators against the bill joined the “Moral Monday” protests on Monday.  Yesterday, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services held a hearing on the bill and voiced concerns, urging lawmakers to study further before voting. This morning, Governor McCrory announced he planned to veto the bill unless significant changes were made (although no one knows exactly what that means). Based on those events, it appeared that the momentum behind passing HB695 was slowing, especially as some legislators started to express their discomfort because they are concerned with the economy, not social issues.  Unfortunately, the sneak attacks continue as Twitter is reporting that HB695 is unexpectedly being heard in committee without any notice.

Update: The House Judiciary just rolled out a new abortion bill as SB353.  There is no audio or live streaming from the room, but apparently demonstrators against it are filling the room. The bill was on motorcycle safety but now is about abortion. Changes include dropping ambulatory surgery regulations, requiring doctor to be there for first administration of RU486 and giving DHHS latitude to decide regulatory framework for clinics. Here’s an article with more information on the changes.

***

I keep starting posts with the intention of posting pictures from our beach trip but instead find myself compelled to rant about NC politics.  This is not a political blog, and I make no claim to be a pundit or knowledgeable in any way about politics. I’m just an ordinary citizen, a woman, a mother, and yes, a liberal. I care about fairness, reason and facts. I like to think I’m reasonably intelligent and mostly objective. I try hard to see both sides, to understand other points of views.

One of the things that bothers me about the recent goings on in NC is the callousness of the decisions made by the General Assembly. Where is the concern for all of NC’s citizens, especially those less able or with fewer means? How can any human being with an iota of decency cut unemployment benefits because they think it will spur the jobless to get off their asses and find work? NC has the 5th highest unemployment rate in the nation, and no one is living in the lap of luxury on unemployment. How can they cut off a very small source of income and not care about how these people will live?

How can they not care that they are effectively cementing lower achievement for poor children by preventing them from much-needed pre-K preparation? How can you look in the face of a 4-year-old and tell that child that essentially because his or her family is poor and therefore unworthy, they do not deserve a chance to thrive educationally? This editorial “The Decline of North Carolina” in the NY Times provides a great overview of some of the horrifying decisions the General Assembly has made.

I also don’t like sneaky moves and underhanded behavior, which the attempts to restrict abortion in the state clearly are despite legislators’ claims to have no motive other than ensuring the safety of abortion and therefore indicating their concern for women.

And of course, most of all, as a woman, I deplore attempts to restrict my ability to make the most personal of decisions for myself. It’s abortion today; perhaps tomorrow it could birth control or domestic violence or family building via assisted reproductive technology.

I’m a slacker, though. I haven’t been participating in any of the Moral Monday protests, even though I work 10 minutes from downtown. I follow activists on Twitter who are putting their money where their mouths are and demonstrating and advocating.  All I do is retweet, share information and post my unhelpful thoughts on what’s going on in NC. It’s not enough. It won’t be enough.

North Carolina’s Race to the Bottom

There are events that make you wonder if you live where you thought you did or if you woke up in, say, Saudi Arabia. If not Saudi Arabia, then possibly a more conservative state like Texas or Mississippi. Or even Ohio.  Or maybe you still do live in the state but wonder if you’ve been transported back in time, and it is actually 1953 or 1933 and not 2013.

The War on Women has come to North Carolina.  I watched the hateful and horrifying attempts to limit women’s reproductive freedom in Ohio and Texas. I was disgusted by the personhood initiatives in Mississippi and other states. You always think it can’t happen in your state until it does. I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the new conservative majority in the NC General Assembly passed Amendment One and tried to establish a state religion. Last week, the General Assembly approved a bill that would force educators to spread false information about abortion. And, starting July 1, 70,000 North Carolinians, including military personnel, lost extended unemployment benefits thanks to a new law; another almost 100,000 will lose benefits once their time ends. The thought process is that the loss of the cushy benefits will encourage citizens to find work. That might work if there were jobs to be found.

But the General Assembly’s actions yesterday take the cake and bring home the seriousness of the changes in North Carolina. HB695 was a bill that would prohibit the application of foreign law in family court.  Late yesterday, the Senate decided to amend the bill to include major restrictions on abortion:

• Doctors would be required to remain in the room whether it is a medical or surgical abortion
• Abortion clinics must go through licensing procedures similar to outpatient surgical centers (there is one clinic that would qualify)
• Clinics must have transfer agreements with local hospitals

The end result is that it will be extremely difficult for a woman to obtain a safe, legal abortion in North Carolina. Let me reiterate: a legal abortion.

The Senate hoped to avoid demonstrations and news coverage like Texas faced last week, but thanks to social media, that was impossible.  Protesters have rallied outside the General Assembly.  However, unlike Texas, we can’t filibuster this bill to death.

Y’all, I’m scared and anxious. This is not the North Carolina I grew up with. And I’m pissed and angry because I am fucking tired of old white men (and women) trying to decide my reproductive choices. Treating me as if I am not entitled or able to make medical decisions for myself. Deciding that the life of the unborn is more important than my own life; until that life gets here of course.  Then it’s every child for him or herself. Better hope your only option for pre-k isn’t the state’s program because chances are, you’re shit out of luck with this legislature. Better hope you can afford private school because this legislature hates the public school system too.

I’m tired of it. NC General Assembly: get out of my uterus and stay out. You are destroying my state and the progress we made over the last 60 years.  Maybe you should go read that Bible  you’re so fond of quoting; I think you might be surprised at what you find.

Update

As expected, the bill passed the Senate and now returns to the House for a final vote.

For shame, North Carolina.