Over 100,000 women in Texas have tried to give themselves an abortion, study finds

Correction:

  • pro-life (until birth)
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Oh, certainly the people at the top are malicious. I just need to remind myself that the person screaming in my face when I volunteer as a clinic escort (for example) is simply a puppet dancing on strings being pulled by those malicious persons. I’ve had conversations with a few of those people, and it is like having a discussion with a poorly-programmed Markov generator. I’ve simply found it best to subscribe to Hanlon’s Razor when dealing with them–to assume stupidity instead of malice until and unless the malice is proven (which, in a number of cases, it has been).

So, rather than assume that they’re monsters, I assume that they’re simply idiotic puppets until they prove that they’re monsters.

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We’ve always been at war with Eastfallopia?

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An oldie but a goodie:

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It’s stories like this that make me glad I’m post-menopausal. I really feel for my younger sisters and escort at a local clinic. While it’s still there.

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My first job out of college was in Dallas. I couldn’t WAIT to get out of there! I’ll never go back.

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Greetings, fellow escort! :grinning:

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I lived there, against my will, for two years as a kid. I saw very little redeeming quality then, I see less now. Back then, it was at least possible for a Democrat to be governor, even ::gasp::, a woman. It’s too far down the regressive road, gerrymandered to the point where more moderate minds can’t possibly prevail, and as you say, Jeebus everywhere. No thanks. If you’re stuck there because of the shit economics the entire country suffers from, you have my sympathy. If you like it enough to be there on purpose, then start working to improve things. Write letters to your legislators; you’re a guy, they might half-assed take what you say seriously. I’m just a walking incubator with no autonomy or agency to them, so even if I lived there today, nothing I have to say to them would change anything. Just like Ms. Davis’ filibustering, it would fall on deaf, dominionist ears.

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Information is power.

The information for women to use these drugs safely, or at least safer, is readily available

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations ( English pdf ) are the gold standard, which are well-summarized in this high quality two-page English summary.

Gynuity has extensive clinical guide as well.

For those more comfortable in Spanish, the WHO maintains a fantastic Spanish web page for medical abortion. The Spanish Wiki page for Misoprostol is also a reasonable starting point.

Skip getting angry at your political opponents. You have to share country with them whether you like them or not. Instead,

Do something to help these women. Spread this information to anyone who might need it, or anyone who might know someone who might need it. You may never know the life you save, but you will have made the world a better place.

Help.

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I’m here specifically because of family. And I have to say that being here, instead of in more liberal climes, has shown me how family is 100x more important than politics or all the crap that you mentioned and we like to harp on here on the BBS. Sure, that stuff is important. It pales in comparison to making the right choices with and for family.

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they do have the best chili powder in the world! :slight_smile:

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Now let’s win women back their rights to self-determination.

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I generally use “forced-birth advocates”.

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=whew= Okay, devil’s advocate.

These people, like 99.9% of humanity, honestly believe they are trying to do the right thing. They don’t lack empathy or the ability to see consequences- They simply believe that protecting defenseless human life outweighs protecting people who have made their own choices. Yes, they are short-sighted and simplistic- But neither malicious nor callous, at least as far as their understanding allows.

The thing is, I understand them. I just understand more than what they do.

When my wife and I got pregnant, we thought of our baby as a person pretty much from the time they were conceived. We heard the heartbeat, we gave them a name, we dedicated ourselves to whatever was in their best interest. When we learned they had a severe chromosomal defect which was incompatible with life, we chose to abort- Not because we viewed them as a mere blob of tissue, but because we did view them as fully human- A human who had no chance of survival, would be in great pain, and whose wellbeing we were responsible for.

I understand how they believe that a fetus is human and that parents need to do what is in their child’s best interest. I agree with them and completely sympathize with their position on that. It’s the next part- The understanding that sometimes their best interest means not being born. I understand and sympathize with that far, far better than these people do.

This isn’t because they lack empathy. It’s because there are things you can’t fully understand until you’ve experienced them.

I’m not going to get into their religious edicts, since that’s where I do start to get less than charitable or understanding. I’ll just say that they’re doing what they believe is right, even if it isn’t in reality.

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Writing to you live from the far flung edge of very very southwest Austin (Texas), aka that tiny blue political dot in a sea (or perhaps swamp/desert) of Big Ol’ Red State.

First, kudos to KUT for bringing this story to our attention. I heard it on the radio this morning and I thought it was a solid reality check for those have been undermining women’s rights. (For more on the state of Texas’ war on women, see http://kut.org/term/planned-parenthood-0 and also this notable challenge to all the state-sponsored stupidity). Thanks, KUT.

Second, I think there are a fair number of Wendy Davis supporters and others like-minded who have been fighting, will continue to fight, and haven’t given up yet. Thank goodness Guvner Goodhair’s been just a bit busy with his own projects lately. And yeah, helping women get the info or help they need is key, no matter where one lives. @bizmail_public is right… we’re having to share this country in any case with all the other red states poised to move the US closer to some version of Margaret Atwood’s Republic of Gilead. Drunk on its own continuing mythmaking, Texas is just noisier and louder leading the charge.

Trying to end here on an upnote, some parts of Texas do have a few fine things (the lovable grassrootsy Jim Hightower, Grupo Fantasma and Brave Combo) apart from the manure, fracking pollution and overabundance of state government insanity. Forget Austin’s cash cows like Austin City Limits Festival and SXSW y mas… the place has some wonderful options for breakfast. Growing up in the midwest, I ate a lot of toast and hash browns and eggs and oatmeal. Behold, this is a whole nuther place, with breakfast tacos, huevos rancheros, and… food of the gods:

(note the handy pop-top, the better to eat 'em right out of the can, preferably while standing in front of the stove, waiting for the migas to finish cooking in an iron frying pan, first thing in the morning… I guarantee you’ll be awake by the time you finish eating that first tasty tasty smoked chile pepper)

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Loved Austin the one time I was there. Even though the B&B served “freedom toast” instead of French toast. (Maybe not so blue after all…) stay weird. :wink:

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What does “freedom toast” taste like? Napalm in the morning?

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According to what I read, 779 out of over 1,400 individuals asked to participate in the study completed the survey. What is the normal practice concerning the incompleted surveys? Do they throw them out?

I would think that the chili powder might work for that as well. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: