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nkat2112 OP ,
@nkat2112@sh.itjust.works avatar

This is not a feel-good story, folks. But I’m stating the obvious.

The picture of the OB-GYN doctor standing in her garage with her packed belongings made me quite sad. And for pregnant mothers having only the support of a midwife in a region of small towns totaling 50k people - while adequate care is hours of driving away - is unfathomable.

Further in the article, there’s this interesting line:

But the women of Sandpoint are clear about one thing they want others to know: this can happen anywhere in the post-Roe United States. Nowhere is as safe as you might believe and the battle won’t stop at state borders.

This point appears to be inaccurate considering there are a number of States that proceeded to enshrine abortion rights in their own constitutions (or otherwise protect abortion access by law). Some have even expanded abortion care. The Center for Reproductive Rights makes this clear:

reproductiverights.org/…/abortion-laws-by-state

I’m gathering that is why the aforementioned doctor is moving to Oregon. (See how Oregon is depicted in the above map…) I would imagine other OB-GYN doctors are doing the same.

It’s been fun watching the MAGAs crash and burn in recent years and Trump getting arrested every few weeks. But the damage that the Christofascists have done to women - and other marginalised communities - is grave indeed.

MacGuffin94 ,

I think you got the big misunderstanding stated well. This will not happen everywhere. This will only happen in red states. This is what all these started voted for over and over. Doctors warned that they would leave for non hostile states and that the people most impacted would be rural and red communities. These stories are unfortunate but trend to leave out context, did these people get what they voted for? Most likely, in Idaho, they did. They just dint like the side effects they were warned of are now impacting them personally.

RampageDon ,

You know who’s fault it’ll be too, everyone else’s but their own, and the rage machine continues.

keeb420 ,

to your point they hate obama despite the fact obamacare save rural hospitals

PunnyName ,

They love the Affordable Care Act, but hate Obamacare.

Spoiler: they’re the same.

Zitronensaft ,

States aren’t homogenous, not even red states. I am sure many of the people affected voted against those politicians and laws but were in the minority. It’s a really cold and callous attitude to ignore their plight just because their neighbor thinks they should be punished.

The religious powers also want this to be a nationwide policy and they fund many Republicans in Congress. This can easily go from state bans to a nationwide ban now that we have a majority of Supreme Court justices opposed to abortion rights. All they need is another year with a big red wave.

MacGuffin94 ,

In the last 3 elections a super majority vote for candidates that supported restrictive abortion policies.

www.cnn.com/election/2022/results/idahowww.cnn.com/election/2020/results/state/idahowww.politico.com/election-results/2018/idaho/

You may think it’s cold to say that they made choices that are having negative consequences that they have to deal with. I say it’s realistic that 40 years of states like Idaho pushing further right means they have to deal with it on their own terms. It is, after all, what they voted for.

ParsnipWitch ,
@ParsnipWitch@feddit.de avatar

Interestingly, from an outsider perspective, I could make the same argument about the whole of USA. YOU made this happen.

MacGuffin94 ,

Yes and no. Yes Trump won the election in 2016 but he lost both popular votes in 2016 & 2020. The supreme court is not voted on and at least one seat should have been a liberal justice. Nationally the US is dictated by the minority opinion at the moment with how our government is structured. Saying Idaho is representative of the US as a whole is kind of like saying Bulgaria is representative of the EU as a whole. They’ve got their opinions and their places of influence but I don’t think anyone would say they are at the top of the pecking order.

ParsnipWitch ,
@ParsnipWitch@feddit.de avatar

How is saying every person in Idaho is representative for the whole of Idaho any better, though?

MacGuffin94 ,

I mean, that is how a representative democracy works. I’m a two party system you get 50%+1 and you win. Getting more than 52-53% of the vote is very hard. Idaho is voting 60-70% + for this. Obviously individuals are individual but what is your argument? That there is nothing to be said about voting blocks because you have to consider each individual persons thoughts on a vacuum? Either you’re being obtuse or naive.

ParsnipWitch ,
@ParsnipWitch@feddit.de avatar

what is your argument?

That it’s not only cold (and awful) but also wrong to say this is the consequence everyone in Idaho should have to suffer just because majority of people there voted like that.

MacGuffin94 ,

Cold, sure. Awful, for these women yes. But this is explicitly the consequences of the vote of the overwhelming majority of this states population. In no way have I said that women deserve sub standard health care. I have said this is the exact outcome that the voting population was warned of, ie consequences. You have been talking about morality, but just my morality not the morality of the situation. So again, what’s your argument? That we shouldn’t call this the consequences of the state of idaho voting for this? That the state shouldn’t be allowed to enact or enforce these laws? That doctors should be forced to stay?what are you trying to add to the conversation other than to say that my comment is mean because not everyone wanted to ban abortion and prosecute doctors?

ParsnipWitch ,
@ParsnipWitch@feddit.de avatar

Why do I need something else to add other than your comment is mean and awful to those who didn’t vote like that, can’t vote yet and still have to suffer the consequences?

What does it add to the conversation that you feel Schadenfreude for those people who now have to deal with that?

MacGuffin94 ,

Not schadenfreude, ambivalence. And if there is nothing else you want to add then we are just strangers arguing each other’s morals, morals which we really have no idea about. And there is no point or value in arguing the perceived morals of people you don’t and never will know.

ParsnipWitch ,
@ParsnipWitch@feddit.de avatar

I think it matters beyond individual’s morals. Caring (or not) for people who get dragged down by dumb decisions of others arguably has consequences beyond just your opinion on these people.

These dismissive opinions on people living in a certain town / state / country / etc. could change your perception of the magnitude of the problem, for example. It’s easy to brush the whole problem aside when you simply decide that it’s just a bunch of idiots getting what they deserve. From there it’s not far to “this would never happen in my place”.

It could also lead to wanting to silence discussion about the issue. After all, that people get what they deserve is just right. What’s there to talk about?

It’s also very hard for me to believe that people with this mindset don’t also judge individuals from that place. Which again has consequences…

athos77 ,

There was some article I just read, where Texas quietly amended their abortion laws - just a little, but they now allow it in a couple more situations. The lawmakers are all covering their asses, saying "Well, its not our fault, the doctors are just too scared of nothing, they should be doing their jobs!". And everyone else is like, "But that's not what the law says!!" And the lawmakers seem miffed that anyone would blame them for what the law says.

Zitronensaft ,

Enshrining abortion rights in state law will be meaningless if Republicans gain control of Congress and write new laws restricting or abolishing abortion under federal law. Lindsey Graham already introduced a 15 week abortion ban. They could also go with a 6 week ban like Texas instituted shortly before Roe v Wade was overturned or they might even find a way to classify all abortion as murder under federal law.

State law doesn’t trump federal law. At best, states might choose not to enforce the federal law and leave it up to federal agencies to police and enforce.

EssentialCoffee ,

It doesn’t but marijuana is also still illegal federally and several states have passed laws to legalize it.

Like any law, it has to be enforced to matter. Most hospitals aren’t in federal land (though military would be fucked).

MeetInPotatoes ,

The fact that they made people transporting minors out of state to get an abortion a crime is probably the most fucking insane part of this whole story.

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