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ReproAction just released a great webinar about Operation Save America, the anti-abortion group that many of our fundies have ties to. Recap: if you know of them from reading here, it's probably because their current national director, Rusty Thomas, used his teenage son Jeremiah's terminal cancer diagnosis as a PR opportunity, or because familiar faces like the Activist Mommy, the Mortons, and the Metzgers like to attend their protests and conferences. If you know of them from elsewhere, it's probably because their former director, Flip Benham, is the father of twin brother HGTV hosts whose TV show was canceled after their ties to right-wing extremism gained attention. I highly recommend watching the ReproAction deep dive. They're an abortion rights organization that does good work countering these kinds of groups and they speak with people who have been watching OSA activity from the front lines. The main takeaways: In addition to viewing abortion as homicide and advocating that it be punished by death, OSA also officially holds extreme anti-gay and anti-Muslim views and they are fanatical about guns. Clinic escorts are seeing more "open carry" at their appearances, which is obviously concerning. Thomas is about to hand off his leadership role to Jason Storms, who may be an even more dangerous extremist. Storms participated in the attack on the US Capitol and his social media presence openly endorses violence against abortion providers and the government. His father-in-law, Matt Trewhella, has long been involved with both violent attacks on clinics and with anti-government militia groups. Rhetoric coming from OSA national and state leaders is rapidly heating up. Their language is that of violent uprising and separatism and they no longer try to maintain plausible deniability when speaking about attacking clinics and providers. They have been mingling with other extremist groups like border militias, Oathkeepers, Three percenters, and Proud Boys at right-wing events and online. I probably don't need to remind most of you, but I think it's important to remember when we snark that this is what's really at the heart of Christian fundamentalist nationalism. Sometimes we get caught up watching people like JRod who are essentially just bumbling idiots with Insta accounts, but there are a lot of people out there who are less amusing and more scary. Just about every one of the OSA folks has a gaggle of homeschooled kids and a part-time preaching gig, and they're actively and effectively organizing for domestic terrorism in these spaces. They are already threatening the lives of people who work in reproductive health, and it's very possible that we will see large-scale violence coming from this branch of fundamentalism unless they are stopped soon.

I'm dropping this here instead of the Politics forum because the evisceration of Roe v. Wade and draconian anti-abortion laws are the direct result of extreme fundamentalist Christian beliefs infiltrating our entire legal system. A 26-year-old woman in Starr County, TX (on the border with Mexico) has been charged with murder for supposedly self-inducing an abortion. Sadly, this story is being carried widely on Texas and national news outlets with the woman's name and booking photo featured prominently. Her life has turned to shit. I've deleted her name in quoted text below. These are the charges: According to a sheriff’s office spokesperson, [the woman] was arrested after it was learned she "intentionally and knowingly cause[d] the death of an individual by self-induced abortion." Her bond is set at $500,000. This Newsweek article is somewhat more detailed: Texas Woman Charged With Murder for 'Self-Induced' Abortion According to a Newsweek article, Gonzalez [founder of La Frontera Fund, a Rio Grande Valley-based abortion assistance fund] said that while her group did not know all the details, [the woman] had been allegedly in the hospital, had a miscarriage and then "divulged some information to hospital staff, who then reported her to the police."

Proposed bill in Ohio says that doctors have to try to save an ectopic pregnancy "reimplanting" the embryo (a non existent medical procedure) or they would face murder charges. This is madness. Ohioans need to vote the craziness out. If that bill becomes law (I doubt it will ever happen, but still this fucked thing has 19 sponsors, 19 crazy obsessed bigots) it would have all sorts of fucked up effects. This procedure doesn't even exist! It would mean that women would risk their lives going through an absurd untested impossible procedure or after a while to find an ob/gyn women will have to go to jail or out of state. Oh, children of 13 years could be prosecuted for "abortion murder". And "aggravated abortion murder" carries a death sentence. They don't give a fuck about a woman's life don't they?

I came across this video while catching up with our old friend "Catholic Traditional Looking for a Wife." It's unspeakably messed up and I straight up don't think this child was developmentally ready to hear about abortion, given that the questions he asks indicate that he's not solid on his basic sexual and reproductive education yet. (There's a nice comparison between surgical abortion and Minecraft, for crying out loud). I'm not proposing that children not learn about abortion, just that this isn't the way to do it. In any case, it's an eye-opening look at how young people are taught about abortion in the pro-life movement.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/us/alabama-pregnant-woman-shot-in-stomach-manslaughter-indictment-trnd/index.html This is horrifying. And I'm seriously afraid that it's only the beginning. My take is that she may have instigated the fight or prolonged it, but I don't think that she wanted to lose her child. I see this as the beginning of our rights being stripped away. I think that it was only a matter of time until a woman was charged, it would not matter what the circumstances were. I think the powers that be have been waiting and this situation is what they will use.

Ugh If I was a legislator I'd tell the good Bishop he can suck it. I am so goddamn glad I gave the Roman church the ol heave ho back in 2012.

Shocked to see a Duggar friend come out publicly as pro choice and oppose the anti-choice bills in Alabama and Georgia. Krista shows that you can personally think abortion is wrong and still see it as a personal choice. Hopefully she sways some other people in her circles.

I'm not sure what's in the state governments drinking water at the moment but: They currently have their "heartbeat bill" that recently passed but isn't in effect yet: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA132-HB-258 Abortions happening after the ~6 week mark are illegal, seeking an abortion outside the state are prosecutable, and if a miscarriage is found to be "the fault" of the woman...she can be prosecuted for that too. Now this monstrosity is coming up: https://local12.com/news/local/ohio-bill-would-prevent-insurance-for-paying-for-abortions-limit-birth-control-coverage It's a law preventing private and public insurance companies from covering certain types of birth control and abortion procedures. There is an 11 year old girl in their news right now who was impregnated by a 26 year old man, supposedly "not forcible". Under the new law she would not have been able to seek an abortion in her own state and would have been prosecuted for seeking one outside the state. Sick irony: she could marry him. https://statelaws.findlaw.com/ohio-law/ohio-marriage-age-requirements-laws.html State law allows minors to get married with consent of juvenile court in the event of a pregnancy. All of these politicians, Ga, Ky, Oh,...they are all bold enough to admit these measures are being put in place in preparation for RvW being overturned.

Although I’ve moved out of both the fundy sphere, and the conservative sphere, it seems like the only people making noise about NY’s abortion ruling are those who see it as “worse than Hitler,” and “killing 5-9 pound babies.” I briefly read a link someone uber-conservative shared; and it subtly acknowledged that this meant women whose lives were threatened or whose baby’s life was unviable now had the right to terminate. But beyond that, I just don’t know what it’s about? Who can explain? And also, id love links on it from non-right-to-life sites?

It's that time again in which many of our favorite fundies, fundie organizations, and others headed to DC and other areas for March for Life events. Please feel free to search social media for snarky worthy pictures, posts, and also blog entries.

Gabrielle Blair, mother of six and a blogger, recently tweeted a remarkable thread that went viral. In it, she makes the case that men, as opposed to women, are at fault for unplanned pregnancies because of their irresponsible ejaculations and failure to use condoms, which are more readily accessible than birth control for women. This has obviously caused a lot of consternation with many men on Twitter. I mostly created this thread because it's amazing and everyone should see it. https://www.designmom.com/twitter-thread-abortion/

Mainumby was forced to give birth at the age of 11 after becoming pregnant via rape.  Paraguay would not allow her to have an abortion. This is what that orange fuck and his reich to life groupies would love to see happen in the United State

Looks like Ireland will have a referendum next year to repeal the 8th amendment to our constitution, which was introduced in 1982 and gives equal value to the life of a fetus and it's mother. We have a new Taoiseach (prime minister) who I had great hopes for. He's openly gay and young but he appears to be firmly on the fence. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/09/opinion/sunday/leo-varadkar-ireland-dowd.html The committee to develop the wording meet today for the first time and the process is expected to take three months. Hopefully they will bear in mind the recommendations of the citizens assembly which took place earlier this year. Their recommendations were abortion available on request up to 12 weeks and up to 22 for sociology economic reasons. We, the women of Ireland (well most of us) feel like we are on the cusp of real change and our daughters will have real choice regarding pregnancy and childbirth. The annual march for choice takes place on Saturday the 30th of September. My friends and I will be out in force, little people in tow and the menfolk of course! FJers support us in any small way you can. Give a like or a share on FB if you see media coverage of the march, or if there's are solidarity events happening near you, tell your friends and family. Keep us in the global eye and make a holy show of our ridiculous laws. No better crowd to ask than you lot! https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/about-arc/

Ugh I suppose the reich to life fucks will soon be out parroting this horseshit. This is exactly why I'll never return to the Catholic church for any reason. Francis might be a little bit to the left of Benny or JPII but this shows there's not much daylight between him and either man.

A judge has temporarily blocked Iowa's fancy new fetal heartbeat law from taking effect next month;

John Oliver did a piece last night on crisis pregnancy centers. I'm sure most of us here are aware how awful they are, but it's still definitely worth a watch.