abortion

Poor Elise

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

I admit to being absolutely delighted to read that Rep. Elise Stefanik (Republican of New York) has ended her bid for Governor of New York and in fact, will drop out of Congress altogether.

After being considered a “reasonable” Republican, she went full MAGA—kissing the deranged orange baboon’s ass at every turn.

He rewarded her by jilting her—over and over and over again.

Read all about it here.

Of the many, many things I didn’t like about her, I think it was her celebration of the Dobbs decision that irked me most.

Why do “conservative” women fall into the trap of thinking they will be rewarded by the patriarchy for actively working to undermine their own rights?

Poor Elise.

Let this mini violin play you off

Do something, anything

~ MaryG ~ 18 Comments

I fully admit that I have been so grief-stricken and stunned by the second Trump term, I have not done much of anything to resist it. A protest here, a Facebook post there, a small donation now and then. I cancelled my Hulu subscription over the Kimmel thing.

But the fact of the matter is: we are out of time. If the upcoming midterm elections don’t somehow curb his power, it’s “game over” for US democracy as we’ve known it. The Supreme Court is not going to stop him.

Wildly unpopular “Project 2025” is being implemented, despite all claims to the contrary.

The cost of living is out of control, with healthcare costs set to skyrocket next year, and Donald Trump is responding by declaring war on…Chicago.

Women will most certainly be second-class citizens in this far right version of America. A 100% male committee in South Carolina is currently considering an abortion ban so extreme it could threaten women with the death penalty for pregnancy loss.

Our minister left us with the following quote from the Talmud on Sunday.

“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

She said that last part twice, so it stuck with me.

Three books

~ MaryG ~ 3 Comments
Daily writing prompt
List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?
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The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck gave me a much better understanding of the Depression and the Dust Bowl and that whole chapter in US history. The take home message that people were poor to the point of starving, with no safety net, is something that stayed with me.

Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi was not an easy read, but I’m glad I made it through. It was one of several books that became bestsellers during the worldwide racial justice reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. It’s a survey of the history of anti-Black racist ideas throughout American history. It helped lift the veil from my eyes.

I was having a hard time making it through this very dense and challenging material, so I started a short-term nonfiction book club with two friends over Zoom. I’m glad we read it together in the summer of 2020.

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood came out when I was in college and was a huge bestseller. This dystopian novel describes a Christian fundamentalist theocratic regime in the former United States where some women are forced to conceive and bear children in the most horrific way. It really motivated my involvement with the pro-choice movement of the 1980s. I recently read the sequel: The Testaments, which was published in 2019.

So much of Handmaid’s Tale horror has re-surfaced and resonated loudly since the Dobbs decision by the MAGA Supreme Court. It’s scary—and infuriating.

Under His Eye

May the Lord Open

Gilead

Aunt Lydia

Protest photos: then & now

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments
Daily writing prompt
If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?
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As a proud feminist and longtime supporter of abortion rights, I’m still struggling to understand what the fuck happened in the United States on November 8, 2016. The last seven years have been extremely tough to watch. And there’s no end in sight. Unbelievably, both Trump and Trumpism are alive and well. All three of his Supreme Court appointees are younger than me (actually Brett Kavanaugh and I are the same age). I’ll probably outlive Trump, but not his legacy. In many ways, it’s just really depressing. All these years of protesting and donating and voting, and we’ve gone backwards.

Here are some black and white photos I took at a Pro-Choice Rally in Washington DC in 1989. I used my 35mm Canon camera.

Here are some photos from the Women’s March on Washington on January 21, 2017—the day after Trump’s inauguration. It was the largest single-day protest in US history.

My daughter and me in pussy hats knitted by my sister

The Forced Birth Movement is terrifying and misogynist. Abortion is essential healthcare. Healthcare is a human right. Federal law should protect that right.