SCOTUS removes Roe V Wade

[Darththeo]

Aw shucks. I thought we might finally have one in the "we actually believe abortion is murder and will punish it accordingly" column. Guess it's back to "we don't buy our own horseshit and simply want to use the charged language to get gullible morons to agree with us" for them.

Republicans had at times the ability to pass laws removing the Roe v Wade decision. They never did.

Part of me wonders if this entire draft is just a performance, but I think they are doing this as a last ditch effort to rally their base to vote for them because I am certain they know they are losing.

[Breccia]

I am certain they know they are losing.

Let's add to that.

One, they're not just losing, they're dying of old age.

Two, I don't know if they've thought this through. Making abortion illegal in red states mean that pro-choice people in red states will have more children, slowly moving the balance away from being red states. Also, the deplorable term "anchor baby". Those will become mandatory.

Of course, those two are kind of self-cancelling. "Who cares what happens to my fellow man in 20 years? I'll be dead in ten!"

[Fugus]

Republicans had at times the ability to pass laws removing the Roe v Wade decision. They never did.

Part of me wonders if this entire draft is just a performance, but I think they are doing this as a last ditch effort to rally their base to vote for them because I am certain they know they are losing.

For me. I have had the theory that this wasn’t a performance but more “testing the waters” to see the level of push back their ideals will have and their odds of getting stuff over turned or them being packed if they push their luck. So they know how hard they can push and then let stuff cool off before their next push.

[Paranoid Android]

So a side story I'm seeing on my social media feed is the baby formula shortage. Of course some of this I guess is getting directed to migrants and the right is having a huge fit right now that migrants are getting formula. So much for pro-life.

Oh yeah if this is some America first, our babies first so it's a pro-life. Okay so now there is a sub section of which babies have higher ranks on who to save? I would love to see the list of who gets first priority.

[Endus]

Let's add to that.

One, they're not just losing, they're dying of old age.

Two, I don't know if they've thought this through. Making abortion illegal in red states mean that pro-choice people in red states will have more children, slowly moving the balance away from being red states. Also, the deplorable term "anchor baby". Those will become mandatory.

Of course, those two are kind of self-cancelling. "Who cares what happens to my fellow man in 20 years? I'll be dead in ten!"

This is how fascism progresses, though.

You take one galling step, and when you don't get enough pushback to stop you, you use whatever power that step granted you to harm your enemies, and then take one even more galling step, knowing you've weakened your opponents even further, seizing greater power to advance even more harm.

It isn't about any long-term plan; there's never a long-term plan, the focus is always on the next awful step and which of your enemies you can harm and by how much. Ever-whittling-away, to the point that eventually, all your original enemies are dead and the fascism turns inward, purging those not strongly-enough in support of the regime, creating new enemies out of old allies solely for the sake of creating the subjects for the continuation of abuse.

Population growth of non-fascists in fascist states won't be a thing that will ever translate into actual demographic change, because they'll have taken further galling steps into damnation well before that's ever a potential risk.

Consider; if the Nazis had banned abortion, would that have led to an explosion of the Jewish population had the Reich continued onward? Or would the Holocaust kinda overruled any such potential outcome?

[Rasulis]

To my recollection, I have always voted since I became a naturalized US citizen. At least the big national elections. However, California made it easy to vote. There was always a polling place within 5 minutes from our home and I don't recall ever having to wait more than 5 minutes. I have been using mail-in ballots since 2016. The last time I voted in person was for the SFUSD school board recall. It was a last moment decision. That was as easy as walking out of our backyard into the alley, out into the street, 2 blocks west, half a block north and we were at the polling place in a Presbyterian Church.

Would I have voted so regularly if I had to stand in line for 2-3 hours or longer? Which is not uncommon in the poorest regions of many hot and humid southern states. Probably not.

Election Day Voting in 2020 Took Longer in America’s Poorest Neighborhoods

[Endus]

Would I have voted so regularly if I had to stand in line for 2-3 hours or longer? Which is not uncommon in the poorest regions of many hot and humid southern states. Probably not.

Just to reiterate; not denying this is a massive problem and a clear example of systemic and intentional racism.

Just that a 2-hour wait time to vote isn't preventing you voting. I've waited in a queue for hours for a bunch of things in the past, if I gave enough of a shit about the thing.

Absolutely, the discrepancy should be addressed. A big reason it isn't addressed is that the discrepancy works, and people choose not to engage. Which is a choice they need to reverse course on, if you ever want the injustice to get addressed. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'm not saying everything's hunky-dory and people need to "not be lazy" or some garbage. I'm saying the deck's being stacked against them and the response to that should be to fight back.

[Rasulis]

Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin on Monday called for a special legislative session to remove most exceptions from that state’s “trigger law” banning abortion. In Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, leading Republican gubernatorial candidates have teamed up with antiabortion groups to push bans that would not allow the procedure even if the mother’s health is endangered. In some states, exceptions for the “life of the mother,” rather than the “health of the mother” have been written into trigger laws or proposed measures, significantly limiting the scope of when they can be used.

“What we are calling for is a total ban, no exceptions,” Matt Sande, legislative director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, said in an interview. “We don’t think abortion is ever necessary to save the life of the mother.”

Getting pretty scummy in some states. They are basically limiting the doctor's options in trying save a pregnant woman's life.

[Edge-]

I wanna know if pregnant women can claim their fetus as a dependent? Can they get benefits for the fetus? I mean, there are a lot of open-ended legal questions with granting fetal personhood.

[Rasulis]

Just to reiterate; not denying this is a massive problem and a clear example of systemic and intentional racism.

Just that a 2-hour wait time to vote isn't preventing you voting. I've waited in a queue for hours for a bunch of things in the past, if I gave enough of a shit about the thing.

Absolutely, the discrepancy should be addressed. A big reason it isn't addressed is that the discrepancy works, and people choose not to engage. Which is a choice they need to reverse course on, if you ever want the injustice to get addressed. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'm not saying everything's hunky-dory and people need to "not be lazy" or some garbage. I'm saying the deck's being stacked against them and the response to that should be to fight back.

Two to 3 hours wait time was national average. Once you narrowed the wait time to specific states, you started seeing some truly absurd wait times.

Why Do Nonwhite Georgia Voters Have To Wait In Line For Hours? Too Few Polling Places

Kathy spotted the long line of voters as she pulled into the Christian City Welcome Center about 3:30 p.m., ready to cast her ballot in the June 9 primary election.

Hundreds of people were waiting in the heat and rain outside the lush, tree-lined complex in Union City, an Atlanta suburb with 22,400 residents, nearly 88% of them Black. She briefly considered not casting a ballot at all, but decided to stay.

By the time she got inside more than five hours later, the polls had officially closed and the electronic scanners were shut down. Poll workers told her she'd have to cast a provisional ballot, but they promised that her vote would be counted.

"I'm now angry again, I'm frustrated again, and now I have an added emotion, which is anxiety," said Kathy, a human services worker, recalling her emotions at the time. She asked that her full name not be used because she fears repercussions from speaking out. "I'm wondering if my ballot is going to count."

By the time the last voter finally got inside the welcome center to cast a ballot, it was the next day, June 10.

That was Metro Atlanta which is comparable to San Francisco metro area. Not some rural town in the middle of nowhere.

[Darththeo]

I wanna know if pregnant women can claim their fetus as a dependent? Can they get benefits for the fetus? I mean, there are a lot of open-ended legal questions with granting fetal personhood.

No, you see that would make sense. Also, we need to add stuff to a lot of age based laws if life begins at conception. Rather than 18 years of age, it should be 18 years from birth.

- - - Updated - - -

Just to reiterate; not denying this is a massive problem and a clear example of systemic and intentional racism.

Just that a 2-hour wait time to vote isn't preventing you voting. I've waited in a queue for hours for a bunch of things in the past, if I gave enough of a shit about the thing.

Absolutely, the discrepancy should be addressed. A big reason it isn't addressed is that the discrepancy works, and people choose not to engage. Which is a choice they need to reverse course on, if you ever want the injustice to get addressed. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'm not saying everything's hunky-dory and people need to "not be lazy" or some garbage. I'm saying the deck's being stacked against them and the response to that should be to fight back.

Yeah, but unfortunately, it isn't that simple.

You have to fight conditioning, so many people wrongly believe it doesn't matter because it is six of one and half a dozen of the other.

This is also why I have to remind people that voter suppression isn't a what, it is a how. There is nothing that 100% of the time is voter suppression, but it is how it is implemented or used that is voter suppression.

[Kiri]

Just to reiterate; not denying this is a massive problem and a clear example of systemic and intentional racism.

Just that a 2-hour wait time to vote isn't preventing you voting. I've waited in a queue for hours for a bunch of things in the past, if I gave enough of a shit about the thing.

Absolutely, the discrepancy should be addressed. A big reason it isn't addressed is that the discrepancy works, and people choose not to engage. Which is a choice they need to reverse course on, if you ever want the injustice to get addressed. Self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'm not saying everything's hunky-dory and people need to "not be lazy" or some garbage. I'm saying the deck's being stacked against them and the response to that should be to fight back.

The thing is though that you kind of align with the narrative of those who would call them lazy by doing so. I mean, the implication of that last paragraph is that those who allow this to deter them are not fighting back, as in making the choice not to fight. The moment you conflate waiting in queue with fighting, you also conflate not waiting in queue with not fighting. Those who can only afford to wait for a certain time due to having to take care of children, having to work, etc, they suddenly choose not to fight which probably does not come across well.

[Rasulis]

No, you see that would make sense. Also, we need to add stuff to a lot of age based laws if life begins at conception. Rather than 18 years of age, it should be 18 years from birth.

- - - Updated - - -



Yeah, but unfortunately, it isn't that simple.

You have to fight conditioning, so many people wrongly believe it doesn't matter because it is six of one and half a dozen of the other.

This is also why I have to remind people that voter suppression isn't a what, it is a how. There is nothing that 100% of the time is voter suppression, but it is how it is implemented or used that is voter suppression.

Below is a picture of 6-hour line in Marrieta, GA. Population all of 60k. I hate sounding like a broken record, but SF with a population of 890k never ever saw a line like that. Typical wait time for voting in SF in 2020 was "no wait."

Correction. The picture was from Cobb County. Apparently, the wait time at Marrieta was even longer.

[Mihalik]

So a side story I'm seeing on my social media feed is the baby formula shortage. Of course some of this I guess is getting directed to migrants and the right is having a huge fit right now that migrants are getting formula. So much for pro-life.

Oh yeah if this is some America first, our babies first so it's a pro-life. Okay so now there is a sub section of which babies have higher ranks on who to save? I would love to see the list of who gets first priority.

It's not just about having more babies.

It's also about having the "right kind of babies". No "subhuman" babies. I think we already established that when they started sticking children into dog cages at the border.

[Jastall]

Below is a picture of 6-hour line in Marrieta, GA. Population all of 60k. I hate sounding like a broken record, but SF with a population of 890k never ever saw a line like that. Typical wait time for voting in SF in 2020 was "no wait."

Correction. The picture was from Cobb County. Apparently, the wait time at Marrieta was even longer.

No excuse for it, yeah. When I dwelled in Montreal (pop 1.7M), voting took maybe 20 minutes of waiting. Since I moved to the south shore it's been less than 10 even in relatively large neighborhoods. There's never any reason to not have many polling places, it may be a large-ish expense for a day but a day is nothing in a yearly budget.

[Endus]

The thing is though that you kind of align with the narrative of those who would call them lazy by doing so. I mean, the implication of that last paragraph is that those who allow this to deter them are not fighting back, as in making the choice not to fight. The moment you conflate waiting in queue with fighting, you also conflate not waiting in queue with not fighting. Those who can only afford to wait for a certain time due to having to take care of children, having to work, etc, they suddenly choose not to fight which probably does not come across well.

I have been clear that I am not arguing that this is easy. I have been comparing this to facing down gangs of racists seeking to beat people physically to prevent them voting. I have been comparing it to risking getting punched in the face. To marching for hours in protests and risking violent police counteraction in pursuit of justice. That's why I've been clear that this is a fight.

And choosing to not fight injustice and just accept its continuation shouldn't be presented as some kind of legitimate, high-minded position. My issue isn't with the single mom with 4 kids who can't afford to take 5 hours off work to vote because 5 lost hours is, at minimum, days of her kids going hungry, if not worse because she might lose her job(s), it's with the people who try and act like refusing to vote is some kind of statement, some ideological position.

And it's not. If we're talking Mazlowe's Hierarchy of Needs, overcoming this kind of injustice could be at any level above the baseline physiological; mostly falling between "safety needs" and "esteem" somewhere, and if voting puts your physiological needs at risk; your needs for food, shelter, etc, then sure, I get prioritizing the latter out of desperation. You've got more-critical fights you're already fighting, and possibly losing. But if you've got any energy to spare, voting to try and ameliorate the pressures forcing you into that hardship should be high on the list. A lot of these issues that could be changed through voting hit people right in the same "safety needs" of Mazlowe's hierarchy; health, employment, personal security, etc. Anti-abortion stuff, for instance, is a direct attack on women's safety needs. It's the kind of thing you should at least be considering risking your job to vote against. Is it great that you have to put that much on the line? Fuck no. But the only way to get that kind of stuff off the line is to get out and vote. It's a fight, and they're not gonna leave you be. Fighting back is the only real option on the table.

My point here isn't to be accusatory. It's that the fight's already started, and people gotta start fighting back. We're in the middle of re-learning why "all that evil requires to prosper is that good people do nothing." The average German who was disinterested in voting in 1932 ended up helping the Nazis get elected, because they decided it wasn't worth fighting against. That was not the right choice, and I'd rather not have to hope a new generation can maybe learn that lesson from another example, this time of the USA's decay into fascism. It can be stopped, over just the next couple years, if Americans make the effort.

[Milchshake]

For incels that don't know how evaporated milk is made...

• As you might expect it starts with filling a giant tank with cow milk.
• Ben Shapiro then tries to turn the milk on
• Draining it of all moisture, leaving a fine powder which is immediately canned.

have a nice weekend everyone.

[madethisfor1post]

Below is a picture of 6-hour line in Marrieta, GA. Population all of 60k. I hate sounding like a broken record, but SF with a population of 890k never ever saw a line like that. Typical wait time for voting in SF in 2020 was "no wait."

Correction. The picture was from Cobb County. Apparently, the wait time at Marrieta was even longer.

That's because national elections should be run nationally. Having individual states ratfuck their own portion of a national election shouldn't be allowed to happen. California wants everyone to vote. Georgia only wants the McMansion suburbs voting.

This is something Canada does right for our Federal elections. I've never had to wait for more than 5 minutes to vote even with the recent Covid election.

[Mihalik]

No excuse for it, yeah. When I dwelled in Montreal (pop 1.7M), voting took maybe 20 minutes of waiting. Since I moved to the south shore it's been less than 10 even in relatively large neighborhoods. There's never any reason to not have many polling places, it may be a large-ish expense for a day but a day is nothing in a yearly budget.

The queues are the point. It's intentional. It's not a question of excuse.

Somehow every other fucking country across the world, sometimes with infinitely fewer resources manage to organize free, fair, easy elections with often much higher voter attendance.

Limiting physical access to polling stations and access to early and remote voting is the poll tax of our century. It's just a gimmick to disenfranchise people.

[Zan15]

I wanna know if pregnant women can claim their fetus as a dependent? Can they get benefits for the fetus? I mean, there are a lot of open-ended legal questions with granting fetal personhood.

this is where democrats fail

they should be pushing bills like this that would allow you to claim them. Start getting food stamps once you know you are pregnant. Start getting that +1 on any other benefits you qualify for.

Pushing bills in the hundreds of billions to fund programs for unwanted children, orphanages and foster care system so we can watch republican vote against them

Pushing additional funding in Medicaid for states that allow abortion.

- - - Updated - - -

So a side story I'm seeing on my social media feed is the baby formula shortage. Of course some of this I guess is getting directed to migrants and the right is having a huge fit right now that migrants are getting formula. So much for pro-life.

Oh yeah if this is some America first, our babies first so it's a pro-life. Okay so now there is a sub section of which babies have higher ranks on who to save? I would love to see the list of who gets first priority.

sad part is most of the pictures were not even formula and it's such a fraction of a fraction of the total daily consumption of formula.
Also, most of it was most likely donated by charity organizations not the govt.


but they leave those parts out