High Risks for Pregnant Women in Red States

“We are not going to try and conceive anymore,” Amanda said. “We don’t feel like it’s safe in Texas to continue to try after what we went through.”

Surgical procedures and medication for miscarriages are identical to those for abortion, and some patients report delayed or denied miscarriage care because doctors and pharmacists fear running afoul of abortion bans. 

Following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, numerous states are enacting bans or sharp restrictions on abortion. While the laws are technically intended to apply only to abortions, some patients have reported hurdles receiving standard surgical procedures or medication for the loss of desired pregnancies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/17/health/abortion-miscarriage-treatment.html

Tactics Republicans Use to Keep Gun Death Responsibility Away from Themselves

"Republicans Are Bending Over Backward To Blame Anything But Guns For Shootings — Here Are 19 Ridiculous Things They've Blamed Instead"

It is an amazing list. Incredible what rationalizations people who place themselves on top of a hierarchy use to keep problems from being solved. Those problems help support the hierarchies benefit them. 

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/19-things-republicans-blamed-mass-031602537.html

52 Empty School Buses Visit Ted Cruz's Home

A caravan of 52 empty school buses visited the home of Ted Cruz in Texas, symbolizing the 4,368 children killed by gun violence since 2020.

The first bus contained items from victims of the school shootings, including those of 15-year-old Gracie Meuhlberger killed in Santa Clarita in 2019, Chase Kowalski killed at Sandy Hoook, and Joaquin Oliver who was killed in the Parkland shooting in 2018.

The caravan was called "The NRA Children's Museum" and was put together by artist Manuel Oliver, father of Joaquin Oliver.

What will it take to get the Republican hierarchy builders to budge on insisting on the age-old control tactic of hierarchies of violence and the threat of violence?

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/stefficao/ted-cruz-home-visited-by-nra-childrens-museum-buses

Republicans Keep Holding On to Moral Bankruptcy with Abortion

"The right’s initial skepticism about the Ohio case was bad. The quest to prove the story still doesn’t mean what it clearly means is pure moral bankruptcy."

The skepticism of the Right Wing about the Ohio abortion case involving a 10-year old is described as born on ugly and telling cynicism. 

"Their continued quest to somehow prove the story doesn’t mean what it clearly means (that banning abortion will lead to pointless suffering) illustrates their moral bankruptcy. Republicans know their position is extreme and unpopular. Anti-abortion advocates have achieved their victory through a combination of hypocrisy and outright fabulism, assuring more moderate voters that worst-case scenarios are far-fetched and no uncomfortable questions need to be addressed. Yet today, faced with the outcome of the laws they supported, this extended round of “but, but!” shows that those who call themselves “pro-life” don’t care about pregnant women in real terms."

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ohios-10-year-old-rape-victim-reveals-republican-abortion-law-conseque-rcna38449

Red States In Line to Fall Father Behind in Many Ways

"Red America is bad for your health. If you live in a red state, your risk of getting and dying from covid-19 is higher than in blue states. On average, your life span is shorter, your chance of living in poverty higher, your educational attainment lower and your economic opportunities are reduced relative to blue-state residents.

"Meanwhile, politicians in red states have effectively told diverse workers, high-tech businesses and entrepreneurial Americans to go elsewhere. They have suppressed voting for minorities, targeted LGBTQ families, upended public education with their panic over critical race theory (even though it isn’t taught in K-12 schools) and punished corporations that don’t kowtow to discriminatory practices.

"And then came the abortion bans. Thousands, if not millions, of women of childbearing age might reconsider their residence if they want to avoid the potentially life-threatening bans — or if they simply want to be treated like competent, autonomous adults.

"But the results may well confirm that MAGA cult ideology burdens red states in a variety of ways, from decreasing life expectancy to chasing women from the workplace to causing “brain drain” as college-educated workers head for states grounded in the 21st century. If that happens, it would not be the first time the archaic social policies in the South left it struggling to keep up with the more prosperous North. At some point, voters in red states might come to realize they are losing ground to blue states."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/12/republican-state-abortion-bans-sapping-economic-growth/ 

To Christians: If you are choosing to love others in a way that causes them harm, you need to stop.

" If a loving relationship between two adults is filled with mutual care, generosity, compassion, and respect, but those two adults are of the same gender, you call it sin. Meanwhile, as long as they are of opposite gender, you call a marriage where two people might treat each other with contempt, act abusively, or attempt to use and control one another, a holy union blessed by God.

"When you call same sex relationships sin, you are saying horrible things about God. You are saying horrible things about scripture. You are saying horrible things about marriage and sex. And you are doing harm in the name of love. And to all those who are not part of your shrinking tribe, you are making yourself look pretty bad as well. This behavior is one of the key reasons people are leaving Christianity. So, really, when I say this, it’s not just on behalf of gay people, it’s for you, too! (Win-win! Yay!)"

Please stop.

It’s the least you can do."

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/allsetfree/2019/06/1995/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=FBCP-PRX&fbclid=IwAR0obj_x_Ikc8O0GfG_1kk6K_HPQsglODOFUY7-iy78-IhcmoaVm-1ZHxmM

Does Texas Law Really Mean a Fetus is a Person? - Pregnant Woman Pulled Over in HOV Lane

According to Texas penal code, the term “individual” refers to a “human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth.”

Brandy Bottone was stopped at a sheriff’s checkpoint when she was driving down the expressway in the high-occupancy vehicle lane. ‘Well (I’m) not trying to throw a political mix here, but with everything going on (with Roe v. Wade), this counts as a baby,’” she told the outlet.

Ms. Bottone is appealing her $275 ticket.

https://www.today.com/parents/moms/pregnant-texas-woman-unborn-child-second-passenger-rcna37461?fbclid=IwAR3OWNxMXyMx_kwBczLNto_BjjhBiwjzWR9Dz4pLT3nH_rfly4JcRuq2wVQ

Honolulu's Bishop Museum Featuring Gender Fluidity

The Bishop Museum in Honolulu features a display highlighting the deep roots of gender fluidity in Polynesia. "Mamu" in Hawaiian language and culture means someone with dual male and female spirit and a mixture of gender traits. This gender fluidity makes them powerful healers. Mamu are similar to "two spirit" common in many Native American cultures.

Perhaps members of the Republican party and the Supreme Court might branch out if they are so interested in using history to back up their policy and beliefs, in this case their tendency to restrict the rights of LGBTQ people. Plenty of examples in history point to looking past the hierarchies promoted by Republicans.  

https://apnews.com/article/travel-religion-education-museums-a41e8c9b13b872ffe37ab5192cb5e62d?fbclid=IwAR3GP4He4p7-dkryPuzmAHbvkr9JB-TgiZFspiCv_zZ8-0LraQJvdVjdGP4

The US Has Become More Diverse Almost Everywhere

Data from the US Census shows that every state is more diverse racially and ethnically than in decades of the past. 

Between 2010 and 2020, every state and Washington, D.C. became more diverse. The non-hispanic white population share dropped in every state, but increased in Washington, D.C. In every state the Asian population increased except in Hawaii, where it remains the largest demographic group. 

https://usafacts.org/articles/us-diversity-2020-race-ethnicity/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Paid&utm_campaign=General&utm_content=DiversityinUS_Desktop_news&fbclid=IwAR1eBoUOJt-MC_L5erUYGifzekgl8j--eKGgQoZR9-whNVpwYrbUOYFnsjc