Whether or not the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade has the exact language as the leaked memo, I think it’s safe to assume that the GOP will continue their relentless effort to make reproductive healthcare inaccessible. That won’t reduce the need for abortion and contraception, but it will make safe reproductive care difficult to access, and impossible for some. In some parts of the U.S., the “right” to an abortion exists only on paper, because of the logistical barriers that have been put in place. When confronted with unjust laws, it is right and just to break those laws, and when it comes to something like health care, I would say it’s our duty to do what we can to help those in need of care, to whatever degree we’re able. To that end, I’m linking some relevant resources. I’ll try to update this as I come across more materials, and I hope you folks will fill in any gaps in the comments. As with everything else, we’re at our strongest when we work together.
I have one more thing to add: The kinds of organizing and networking I periodically talk about are humanity’s original multi-tool for dealing with big problems. Having a network and knowing who in it believes what is a way for people to seek help. If you aren’t likely to need help yourself, it puts you in a position where others know that you might be able to provide it. Also a general reminder – if you’re planning to do something that could get you in trouble, don’t post about it online, and consider who might have access to your modes of communication.
This resource was last updated on the sixth of May, 2022.
If you are using an online period tracker or tracking your cycles through your phone, get off it and delete your data.
Now.
— Elizabeth C. McLaughlin (she/her) (@ECMcLaughlin) May 3, 2022
If you think that your data showing when you last menstruated isn't of interest to those who are about to outlaw abortion, whew do I have a wakeup call for YOU.
— Elizabeth C. McLaughlin (she/her) (@ECMcLaughlin) May 3, 2022
And by the way, if you have used Flo, Zuckerberg and Co already have your cycle tracked.https://t.co/SqLv7mGd0W
— Elizabeth C. McLaughlin (she/her) (@ECMcLaughlin) May 3, 2022
There’s more on that thread that’s worth looking at.
Take care of yourselves, and take care of each other.
See also: Stop talking about coat hangers and start talking about misoprostol.
Question: is it feasible for a citizen of a backward, barbarian theocracy to claim asylum somewhere civilised?
Right now? Probably not, unless you seek asylum with a country that’s openly hostile to the US, and I don’t feel like most of those options are much better.
It seems like the world is still shifting towards a multi-polar state (never mind all the climate change shit), and the US still seems hell-bent on fascism. It wouldn’t surprise me if some countries start accepting non-white asylum seekers, and possibly also LGBTQ+ people.
Climate change is going to complicate things. Ordinarily I’d expect offers of asylum from poor countries, for a variety of reasons, but they’re going to be stretched increasingly thin, and the way rich countries are dealing with their own asylum seekers is going to make that worse. I’m working on a longer piece about it, but it looks like England is going to start shipping people to Rwanda, and I think that kind of thing is going to become more common. I think a lot of people are going to die because our ruling class seems to believe they’re owed ever-increasing personal wealth.
All that said, I think we have entered the phase where those who can are finding ways to leave. Tegan and I were not the first, but the threat of fascism plus climate change is a big part of why we left the U.S.
I don’t know what condition the rest of the world will be in by the time the U.S. is bad enough that rich nations will accept asylum. I think that would also require the U.S. to be unable to project power on a global scale, or at least far less able.
France is nice.
I hate to predict nice things, but I’d say don’t bet on it. The promise of doing so was, I think, something the nastier part of an already nasty party came up with to shore up support ahead of local elections. I’ll be surprised if they actually do it. (But not very…)
Can you expand on that please? You think the US would be so offended that people were being allowed to claim asylum from them that they’d what? Invade somewhere? Or maybe “just” bomb? Or what?
I don’t think the US would bomb countries for accepting asylum seekers, no. I do think that doing so would be interpreted as an insult to the US, and it wouldn’t shock me to see diplomatic/economic retaliation, especially if conservatives are in charge.
Sooner or later I suspect someone will make a point by fleeing the US and seeking asylum in a friendlier, more civilised country (there are a LOT to choose from that fit that description after all), and just the very fact of their claim may make headlines. It would not even necessarily need to be successful – just having it considered seriously at all would be enough. I wonder about the details – the who, the where, the when – but I think it’s an inevitability, with the trajectory towards outright fascism the US is currently on.
Seems like a reasonable guess to me. I could well be being overly pessimistic about how those countries might react.
SF author Cory Doctorow’s latest blog entry gives further info/concerns about getting tracked while looking for an abortion.
https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/07/safegraph-spies-and-lies/#theres-no-i-in-uterus
Thanks!
I’m pretty sure I posted a link to Dr Jen Gunter’s blog post on misoprostol? It may have gone into moderation. Please anyone who reads this, go to her blog, read, and pass it on. Plenty of information on correct usage, how one might get it prescribed, that it can’t be detected by drug tests if taken correctly.
@anat – Found it. Thanks for following up!