Oh, look. Abortion is still safe in a few states, including Minnesota.
I don’t know what’s wrong with those gomers in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, but at least the Minnesota state government has its head mostly screwed on right.
Gov. Tim Walz, a DFLer, in a Facebook post, said: “The Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v Wade is a blatant violation of a woman’s right to choose. But let me say it again: There will never be a ban on abortion in Minnesota on my watch.”
I’d volunteer my house as a waystation on the 21st Underground Railroad that is going to emerge, funneling pregnant people to our still functioning women’s (and trans men’s) health clinics around Minneapolis and Moorhead, but Morris isn’t on the way to anything. We’re way off any major freeway route. Also, to be honest, I live in Minnesota gomer country. We’ve got “crisis pregnancy centers” out here, which are unconscionable shams to draw in people with unwanted pregnancies, where they get handed religious literature and told horror stories about abortion, but that provide no useful medical assistance at all. The countryside of rural Minnesota is littered with godawful religious billboards (Pro-Life Across America, the organization that puts up those awful “my heart was beating at 4 weeks” with a picture of a 48-week infant, is based in Minneapolis).
And yes, just like in the surrounding states, every Republican in Minnesota is a deadly stupid asshole. If you’re trying to get to Minnesota for help, get on I-35 or I-94 and stay there until you get past the suburban ring of Republican sewage that surrounds the city of Minneapolis itself, and don’t get out of the car until you arrive. Once you reach the I-494/I-694 beltway, you might be safe.
Or fly in. The airport is reasonably close.
This is part of the cruelty of the Supreme Court abortion decision. It’s not easy, or it’s expensive, to get good, responsible health care for pregnant people. No matter where you live, if you can afford it, you can donate to help desperate people stuck in the bowels of the beast (that is, most of the country), get to where doctors are allowed to do their work. For instance, Robin Marty, a former Minnesota activist for abortion rights moved a while back to become an Alabama activist for abortion rights — I guess she went where she was needed most — endorses the West Alabama Women’s Center, and I trust her on these matters.
Remember: Abortion rights are good health and good science.
“Or fly in.”
Beware of flying over RWNJ states that could try the Belarus strategy of tricking/forcing planes to land and removing fugitive uteri.
Far fetched? Perhaps it is. This week.
For what it’s worth, most abortions (well, first-trimester ones) these days are done with medications, so they can be done at home. So they don’t need to travel long distances, they just need someone to smuggle the drugs into their state. I have a friend whose main activity these days is being available on the phone to pregnant people who are in the process of such an abortion. There might need to be safe houses for people who might be in danger of being spotted by government informers during the process, though.
Abe Drayton has a page with advice for these evil times. I’d like to highlight his recommendation to get rid of “period apps.”
My friend recommended the National Network of Abortion Funds, if you want to support the right to abortion financially. It’s nnaf.org a.k.a. abortionfunds.org .
The Red states are depending on the Blue states to bail them out of their ideological trap. Fundie xians have higher abortion rates than normal people.
Or some of the Red states.
Some of the Red states are or will make traveling out of state for abortions, illegal and a felony. The Georgia law already passed does this.
I can’t see that it is legal to prevent pregnant women from traveling wherever they want to.
Freedom of movement is a very basic right of any democracy.
If you aren’t free to move about, you are a slave.
Doesn’t mean the US Supreme Court won’t rule such female slavery laws as legal though. The current court is fine with identifying freedoms and rights of US citizens and abolishing them. It is in the service of fascism.
It’s pretty hard to predict some of these things, and I don’t know where that map came from…. This article claims that it’s likely to remain protected in KS, MT, and VA. (Of course, there’s a lot of variation when you get into the details of exactly how much protection we’re talking about, including in all of the states already highlighted on your map.)
The article also claims that, in the short term, for states like MI, NC, PA, and WI. So that’s a lot more shaky and may not hold for long. It also puts FL in this category, but to me, it sounds more likely to get new restrictions than the others (and probably soon).
The map doesn’t even show Puerto Rico, which still exists in case anyone was wondering, but it’s almost certainly going to remain safe there too. The same goes for DC. It’s just not clear to me whether anything might change for the US Virgin Islands — probably not? And with a little googling (so take this for what it’s worth, not much), it looks like American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands are more likely to end up on the bad list (if they weren’t already).
Banning abortion doesn’t stop women from getting abortions. It only stops them from getting safe abortions.
My sister’s a doctor and she’s started stockpiling abortion pills just in case.
Great idea, but you realize this makes you a criminal felon, if you help someone from Georgia?
OTOH, I doubt that Minnesota is going to extradite you to Georgia. Georgia law ends at Georgia’s border.
I’d donate money to the Georgia women’s Refugee fund so I can be a wanted criminal by Georgia as well.
Maybe the state of Georgia can put up checkpoints to screen for pregnant people trying to leave the state. And put up fences with border guards to keep pregnant Georgia residents from fleeing the state to get an abortion. Pregnant women who get caught leaving the state could be sent to child birthing concentration camps.
Hmmm, checkpoints, border guards, the Iron Curtain, concentration camps. Where have we seen this before? Is this what the GOP/christofascists mean by “freedom”.
raven:
Until at least five deranged perverts on the Supreme Court say that it doesn’t, because of the Commerce Clause or the Magna Carta or whatever the fuck they feel like saying at the time. Then, we’re all supposed to believe we have a new law, which miraculously wasn’t made by lawmakers.
Here in my adopted state of Virginia our new Republican governor says that he will need to “work across the aisle” to get an abortion ban passed. He’s delusional. That will not happen any time soon. Any Democratic legislator who supports such a bill would be committing political seppuku. The midterms are a mere four months off. Passions are red hot. Democrats are seething mad at the glib liars in the Supreme Court. The GOP should be more worried about losing seats in Virginia than beating the abortion drum.
Allison @2 This is the reason that they have already announced that Griswold is soon to be on their docket, must keep those women from anything that will interfere with the Man’s superior right to force any of those second class possessors of lady parts to do their bidding.
I eagerly await hearing how these states who’ve banned abortions have increased spending on medical care for these pregnant women to insure healthy babies are born and post-birth childcare to keep the babies that they love so very much, healthy and well-fed and allow the mothers to resume working, knowing their child will be well cared for in day care programs.
Ferris? Is Ferris here?? Ferris Buhler?
@#3, 6 raven:
I think it’s unlikely that the GA law criminalizing travelling out of state for abortions will be used to prosecute the wealthy Georgians who obtain or facilitate abortions outside the state. The state might charge a wealthy person caught in their net on rare occasions just for appearances’ sake although they may never even take that token step. What’s more likely is that the state police or HP will be trawling continuously in the border areas looking at older, beater cars (you know, the kind that poor people drive) and pulling over cars with GA plates reentering the state, “The reason I stopped you is that it looks like you’ve got a broken taillight…”
FWIW. Vai Aussie ABC news :
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-25/roe-v-wade-where-is-abortion-still-legal-in-the-us-/101183262
And the states jumping in to ban abortion are also criminalizing sending abortifacients through the mail, a law that not only has potential to be seriously abused, but could result in states trying to extradite said “criminals” from the safe states, and said states refusing to extradite, though I’m sure the Republican “fix” for that will be a national abortion ban.
This is going to be a mess.
I may be a straight white male, but as a pot-smoking atheist girldad living on Social Security, I’m plenty concerned. We seem to have entered a period in American history where five or six people can make laws by decree regardless of public will and anything thought to be “settled law.” Not guided by precedent, these people start with their desired outcome and argue their way to it. And as any decent lawyer can argue either side of any dispute, they will be able to dress up their political and religious beliefs with legalese and pass them off as legal analyses. Impeachment (and removal) of justices won’t happen as long as the Senate is weighted toward the brain-dead states, and choosing better justices in the future will be problematic as the Electoral College is weighted toward the brain-dead states as well.
The prospects for peace are not good.
I’m sure the red states will reallocate money to support these unwanted pregnancies….
Remember just to the north of those goober states of North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Wisconsin there’s always Canada. From what I understand, clinics in the Prairie Provinces and Ontario are gearing up for the influx of women seeking abortions. While they’re not entirely covered by the Canadian medical systems, the costs are much cheaper than your private care system in the US. and the Canadian government has guaranteed full access to the clinics for all.
Some of them might allocate money to Christian adoption agencies.
@ 16
And only the Christian adoption agencies who make sure these unwanted crotch spawn end up in good white, straight, Christian families.
It’s expensive to get good healthcare for anyone in this country. Wealthy women and other uterus-havers of good fortune are untouched by this decision, and their voices are overwhelmingly represented in our policy.
This is just another ratchet in the “Fuck you, I’ve got mine!” mechanism. Rich individuals get what they want (because they’re so personally responsible, dontchaknow), and poor people are left to suffer.
Almost on topic.
There has been another terrorist attack by the forced birthers.
A pickup truck deliberately drove into a group of pro-choice demonstrators.
They (the police) reportedly interviewed the driver Friday night but no arrests were made. There were multiple witnesses, photos, and a video at the article.
And the police did nothing. No surprise.
I grew up in Va. (now living in La.) and I’m sad, angry and disgusted that Va. is not in the clearly-safe set of sane, moral states. I’m sad that it’s not, angry that abortion is at risk there, and disgusted for a very particular reason. First, to be clear, people have a right to contraception and women have a right to abortion. The government has no power to prohibit or unnecessarily restrict these rights (any restrictions must be minimal and defensible). Banning abortion turns women into slaves of the government. That’s why it’s not the “pro-life” movement but the pro-slavery or pro-women’s-slavery movement. Those of us who support rights to contraception and abortion are the modern abolitionists.
There were proposals in the Va. legislature when Democrats controlled it and abortion rights were under obvious threat that the legislature pass a law clearly protecting women’s right to abortion (and implicitly, preferably plainly, protect people’s right to contraception) The Democratic majority did not even try to pass it. The national Democratic Party has had decades to push such a law through and has not tried. When he was campaigning for president, Obama explicitly said he’d make protecting abortion tights a priority. Once in office, with a sizable Democratic majority in Congress, he betrayed his supporters by saying abortion rights was not a priority. Yet Democratic leaders have continued to talk, and seek donations, as if they would take action to protect abortion and contraception rights by law if only they were given enough money and votes.
I’m not sure which party I hate worse – Republicans for being evil or Democratic leaders for pretending to oppose evil while actually abetting it. In my fantasies, I imagine getting a government dominated by Americans, not Republicans or Democrats, and enforcing the anti-slavery laws by putting every government official who attacks abortion and contraceptive rights into prison. The moral rot in the U.S. is visible because this is pure fantasy..
If there were any doubts that the U.S. is a White, Male-centric, Christian country, SCROTUS has erased those doubts.
I read it reported that Chief Justice Roberts expressed regret the decision over-turning Roe Vs Wade couldn’t be more nuanced and less encompassing, that he’d said something that clearly asserted he’d rather have had some kind of decison that provided something, more, gradual.
It was, I thought, an odd thing and I wish Ihad kept a link to it because I’d like to refer back to it to be sure exactly what happened – as it was clearly (as asserted by who-ever – I really can’t recall much of it) political and not legal thinking.
It is my understanding that Roe Vs Wade was always an exposed decision based on rickety logic always at risk of over-turning should winds blow against ti – as an issue abortion needs substantial legislative protection, not questionable legal logic.
I live in Nevada. Yes, the right to an abortion is protected here and has been for several years (I forget exactly when laws were passed, but it was quite a while ago — I decided to look it up — In the 1990s, Nevadans affirmed the right to safe, legal abortion by voter referendum, and 2019 the Nevada Legislature passed the state’s first proactive abortion legislation with the Trust Nevada Women Act. These wins reflect Nevadan’s broad embrace of the idea that personal health care decisions remain between a patient and a doctor. BUT … that right is only as good as the next election. If a Republican Governor is elected or Republicans take control of the legislature, abortion WILL be outlawed in Nevada. As of now, both senators and all but one of the US Reps are Dems. If they are not reelected, if NV sends Repubs to DC, the chance for a national ban increases. SO … just because you live in a state with laws protecting abortion now, don’t sit out the election. Commit to volunteering as many hours as you can squeeze out between now and November to make sure Republicans loose; (when that happens don’t give Dems a free pass — they have a lot to answer for.) BUT … Just voting in November won’t cut it. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Please, get active.
Fentex — whoever you are — Roe v Wade was not based on questionable logic – stop repeating right-wing talking points.
I live in Nevada. Yes, the right to an abortion is protected here and has been for many years. If I am reading the legislative history correctly the law protecting the right to an abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy (NRS 442.250) was put in place in 1985. This law was reaffirmed by voters in a referendum in 1990 which means the legislature cannot change the law without approval of the voters; that referendum passed with ~63%of voters. Polls in Nevada continue to show wide-spread support for abortion rights. In 2019 NV passed the Trust Nevada Women Act further affirming the right to an abortion. So it would seem that abortion is fairly safe in my state.
BUT … that right, as well as any of our rights, is only as good as the next election. Just because you live in a state with laws protecting abortion now, don’t sit out the election. Become active right now. Commit to volunteering as many hours as you can squeeze out between now and November to make sure Republicans loose. Find your candidates and their campaign offices; go in and volunteer. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Merely voting in November won’t cut it.
Fentex — whoever you are — Roe v Wade was not based on questionable logic – stop repeating right-wing talking points.
I am so sorry for posting a draft copy with a lot of gibberish. I meant to preview it first but hit the wrong button.
The last 14 lines are what I meant to say. Embarrassed and covered with gooey chagrin. Please acept my apology
I’m seeing lots of conversations in my online D&D clubs that go like this: “if you need to play D&D at a safe table in a different state, contact me and I will pay transport and accomodation costs”.
@5 Your sister ROCKS.
@2 &13 It’s not just the period apps. If buy menstrual supplies online or with a credit card, you can be tracked. The data collecting software on most websites is really good and REALLY predictive. Notably, a Target store sent a teenager coupons for baby items and her father exploded at Target, screaming that she was a teenager and sending her coupons for diapers, baby wipes, etc. was beyond the pale. Then he found out that his daughter was pregnant.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/?sh=35f3d4c06668
Creepy AF.
““And we found out that as long as a pregnant woman thinks she hasn’t been spied on, she’ll use the coupons. She just assumes that everyone else on her block got the same mailer for diapers and cribs. As long as we don’t spook her, it works.””
via How Companies Learn Your Secrets – NYTimes.com.
@3 & 7 I expect the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to hold back the “you can’t travel out of state for an abortion”, at least for awhile. Because if the courts uphold that the Commerce Clause can be violated to prosecute women getting an out-of-state abortion, it sets a precedent. Which means that there is now a precedent that can be used against companies doing interstate business (ie, practically all of them). Expect Big Business to screech like a scalded cat.
@17 Sure they are. Pre-Roe, if you were pregnant, you couldn’t get an abortion (or at least not a safe one) so your only option, if you didn’t want to raise a baby, was to give it up for adoption. Plenty of states and private adoption agencies would only accept white babies.
Stuff like this is what happened to the rest.
https://disabilityjustice.org/the-closing-of-willowbrook/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willowbrook_State_School
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/13/a-survivor-recalls-the-mother-and-baby-home-at-tuam-in-ireland-where-friends-just-disappeared-one-after-the-other/
and because the Catholic Church yaps perpetually about the sanctity of life, about how abortion is a sin and if a baby isn’t baptized, it will burn in hell.
These are the same people who buried 800 infants (so far) in a septic tank. Or maybe just flushed them.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/03/bodies-of-800-babies-long-dead-found-in-septic-tank-at-former-irish-home-for-unwed-mothers/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ireland-mother-and-baby-homes/2021/01/13/767a555a-5581-11eb-acc5-92d2819a1ccb_story.html
I wonder what would happen if Biden announced automatic presidential pardons for any person convicted by those new abortion laws?
@ ^ AugustusVerger : Would that be possible? Also doesn’t it acknowledge it a s a crime?
I’d like to see him demand the resignations of and start impeachment proceedings against Thomas for sedition and Kavanaugh, handmaiden ACB & Gorsuch for perjury, Contempt of Congress ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_Congress ) and Conspiracy to pervert the course of Justice and see if he can get the legal profession to disbarr those three and remove their legal degrees. Also be nice to add the Federalist society and Forced Birther & Christianist groups to the terorist organisations list.
Time Democratic party and left wing people pulled absolutely no punches & didn’t hold back one tiny bit.
I wonder if its okay to post the publicly available info I’ve seen on the protests outside the homes of the SCOTUS “Justices” involved here?
I think the insurance companies should tell each traitor SCOTUS “Justice” they have lost all their insurance policies and are uninsurable – removing their & their families right to drive as well.
Also theyy should be disbarred from practicing law ever given their perjury. Same for all Federalist Society picks.
Plus face international sanctions and bans and would Crimes Against Humanity laws globally apply to them maybe?
People used to look up to the USA.
Leader of the Free World, a role model, a shiny city on a hill, etc.
Now I’m all grown up and better informed.
The US is the most Third Worldy of developed nations.
The notion that the most powerful country in the world is in fact a banana-republic rapidly sliding in to authoritarianism is just frightening.
Nothing would happen.
The presidential pardon power only applies to Federal crimes.
The laws criminalizing abortion are all state laws.
The GOP/christofascists will try to make this a national law though. They are only a few votes short of being able to do so.
Then whenever a Democrat becomes president, he can issue a blanket pardon and let all of the women out of prison.
@21. flange :
There’s still the First Amendment :
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Saying the US of A is secular still.
For now.
Also just because it is governed and dominated by those, does NOT mean it is those.
The United (lolsob?) States (free and slave) of America (part of specifically North Am) is an awful lot of things to an awful lot of people.
Not all of whoem are actually awful.
Some of whoem are awesome instead.
It has said the exact same thing ever since it was scribbled down in 1791. The question is whether we’re actually doing what it says on the parchment.