Three Pop Stars And Kellyanne Conway Come Out For Abortion Rights! Minus Kellyanne Conway.
A reproductive rights round-up!
Content Note: References to three female pop singers, including at least one with whom some will be unfamiliar. Should this be too distressing, here is a link to a YouTube of Un Chien Andalou, a very deep foreign film to watch in lieu of commenting “And I should know who this person is why?” Alternately, Google exists.
Olivia Rodrigo Is Doling Out Morning-After Pills At Her Concerts
Abortion is illegal in Missouri (despite the fact that more people there want it to be legal than illegal), but that’s not stopping “Vampire” singer Olivia Rodrigo from handing out Julie morning-after pills there, along with condoms and stickers advertising a number people can text in order to get information on how to access an abortion even if they live in a state where it is banned.
How freaking cool is that?
Julie is an over-the-counter emergency contraception pill that launched after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Rodrigo has partnered with the National Network of Abortion Funds and been handing the packets out at shows during her GUTS World Tour. A portion of ticket sales from the tour will go to to “Olivia Rodrido’s Fund 4 Good, a global initiative committed to building an equitable and just future for all women, girls and people seeking reproductive health freedom.”
Maybe you won’t make it to a show, but you can always enjoy the special version of “Fuck You” that she and Lily Allen teamed up for at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival after the Supreme Court overturned Roe.
Kamala Harris Does A Different Kind Of Abortion Tourism
In a historic move, Kamala Harris is visiting an abortion clinic in Minnesota today, to tour the facilities and speak with providers about what the administration is doing to preserve abortion access in spite of all of the bans enacted by red states.
As far as anyone knows, no Vice President (or President) has ever visited an abortion clinic before this — though that wouldn’t be too surprising, given that none of them were capable of getting pregnant.
It’s a smart move, since abortion rights are undefeated at the ballot box so far. They’re also a very important issue with younger voters, and that certainly couldn’t hurt, either.
Kellyanne Conway, Of All People?
I barely know what to do with this information, but apparently Kellyanne Conway is out here in these streets telling Republicans to stop claiming that Democrats want abortion “up until the moment of birth,” on the grounds that it is ridiculous.
“I will not say, and counsel clients again saying, ‘Democrats are for abortion up until the moment of birth,’” Conway said at POLITICO’s Health Care Summit on Wednesday. “You know why that’s not the best way to say it? Because nobody knows anybody who is about to give birth and says, ‘You know what? I really don’t like stretch marks. I’m not really ready to have another person in my life. I change my mind.’”
Conway’s schtick right now is trying to teach Republicans how to talk about abortion in a less callous-sounding way so that they can paint Democrats as the abortion extremists and win elections ... so that they can ultimately ban abortion. So it’s not as though she’s gone pro-abortion rights all of a sudden.
What’s really surprising here is that, usually, when a conservative says something patently ridiculous or hideously offensive or untrue, the rest of them all kind of agree to pretend they live in a new reality in which whatever that person said is a normal, factual thing to say. I think most of them cognitively understand that no one is having an abortion “up until the moment of birth,” but have still agreed to pretend that is the truth because they: think it’s a good line; so that the other people saying it don’t look stupid; and to push the Overton Window to the right. It’s a lot like the “Yes, and?” thing in improv.
Conway also jumped on Biden’s State of the Union speech in which he replaced the word “abortion” written in his prepared text with the phrase “reproductive rights.” She asked, “Is it an ugly word? Do you not want to own it?” and suggested that the issue could be as difficult for the Left as it is for the Right, except for how people keep voting for abortion rights over and over again.
Don’t Let Anyone Tell You That No One On The Right Opposes IVF
Republicans may be scrambling to insist that they definitely don’t want to take anyone’s IVF away, in light of the recent Alabama supreme court decision, but not everyone feels that way. Especially not groups like the Heritage Foundation and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America — both of which are currently pushing for heavier regulations on IVF, likely with an eye toward ultimately outlawing it.
Via Washington Post:
Still, talking points distributed to congressional lawmakers by the Heritage Foundation in recent weeks encouraged members to talk about the Alabama decision as a reassurance for parents who rely on IVF that “their children will receive the same legal protections as everyone else’s” and suggested that lawmakers call for every state legislature to “establish clear legal framework for the industry that … limits the destruction of unborn human life.”
Wait, was the legal protections thing even a question or are they just making up a take that does not exist so they can sound “reasonable” opposing it? Are there people out there saying that children born from IVF should have fewer “legal protections” than those who aren’t? If so, I don’t think I’ve heard that.
Unless by “children” they mean “embryos.”
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America tried to claim that the law passed by the Alabama legislature to protect IVF would somehow make it impossible for patients to sue clinics for malpractice:
After backlash to the Alabama court decision, the state legislature passed a bill that provides civil and criminal immunity to IVF patients and clinics. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in a statement blasted state lawmakers for that decision and encouraged Congress to “think critically” about addressing “ethical, safety, and accountability concerns.”
“Congress should be more thoughtful in its crafting of IVF legislation than Alabama, where their legislature recently gave blanket immunity to IVF clinics — even for rogue practitioners who switch embryos, fail to follow basic safety standards, or negligently destroy embryos desired by infertile couples,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “These are real scenarios for which families in Alabama will have no recourse.”
The law has nothing to do with suing for actual malpractice and it doesn’t mean that clinics will not have to follow OSHA guidelines. The only thing it does do is limit the amount for which people can collect damages, in the case of accidental embryo destruction, to “the price paid for the impacted in vitro cycle.”
They’re not making these claims because they’re stupid and they don’t know any better, they’re making them because they are hoping that — as was the case with abortion — they can confuse people and give politicians excuses to regulate IVF.
Is Jill Biden About To Sing A Song About Abortion Rights?
No, she is not! She is standing next to Christina Aguilera for the purpose of talking about abortion rights — and, more specifically, how if Trump wins, the whole country will be staring down the barrel of an abortion ban.
“It was shocking and devastating. From state to state, abortion bans went into effect, threatening the health and lives of women across the country,” Biden said in the video.
“While also threatening doctors with prosecution for simply doing their jobs,” Aguilera said, finishing her sentence.
If someone asked me, “Who are two people you can definitely picture doing an abortion rights PSA together?” I don’t know that I would immediately think, “Oh, definitely Jill Biden and Christina Aguilera!” That’s at least in part because, though I love Xtina, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her “getting political.”
I probably would have liked them to coordinate their outfits a little more, as it does kind of look like they just ran into each other in the Nordstrom dressing room and said, “Hey! What if we did a PSA about abortion rights?” but it’s still cool that they did it. Maybe they are friends, what do I know?
PREVIOUSLY:
Related - well, sort of.
"Them: How old are you
Me: 33
Them: And you don't have kids? Wow, time to get on that.
Me: I've had 5 miscarriages.
Them: (Looking increasingly uncomfortable)
Me: Annnnnnnnnd I hope we've learned a lesson in asking inappropriate personal questions."
I actually am so thankful that some of these artists are DNGAF about their ticket sales or whatever and are standing up unabashedly to support abortion rights. Do I listen to them? No. Will I after this? No. But they are not pandering and the idea that artists who mostly appeal to girls are somehow "less than" in their political stances makes me angry.
I am tired of people dismissing "girls' stuff" as less important than some sports dude's opinion (good or bad) on something.