A few thoughts for those of us who live in states that are outlawing abortion and criminalizing those who get an abortion as well as those who aid and abet your plans to end an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy. It's not enough for these extremists to make it illegal to get an abortion in their state, they are also trying to make it illegal for you to travel to another state to have a legal abortion and they will prosecute. They believe they have the right and power to prevent you from traveling for the purpose of getting a legal medical procedure or medication that they don't approve of.
Remember that the data on your phone, laptop, and desktop is not private. If law enforcement believes you are seeking an abortion or have had an abortion, they can and will confiscate your electronics and use your search history and/or your period tracking app as well as your online purchasing data and use it against you. If you have conducted searches on these devices, erase your browsing history and all cookies.
Delete your period tracking app if you have one.
Stock up on home pregnancy tests and over the counter abortion pills.
Tell no one you are pregnant unless you trust them implicitly.
Buy and use burner phones for any online searches related to pregnancy and abortion, erase your browsing history and cookies, and then destroy the phone. You cannot be too careful.
Be wary of strangers in your state or in states where abortion is legal that offer to aid and abet your traveling and abortion. While many may be legit, many may also be setting a trap. Do not count on entrapment being a defense against prosecution.
Use your burner phone to contact legitimate organizations for help.
Do not count on HIPAA to protect you and your medical data from law enforcement. Unfortunately certain conditions require medical confirmation and medical intervention in a pregnancy like ectopic pregnancies, spontaneous miscarriages, fetal death or fatal malformations in the womb, and a cancer diagnosis. These conditions require abortions to save our lives but some states would rather have women die than terminate pregnancies even if the fetus isn't viable.
A child whose body is not fully developed and would never be allowed to adopt a baby at that age should not be made to give birth to the baby of their father or brother or uncle or cousin or step-father via incestuous rape. A grown woman should not be forced to have the baby of her rapist. A woman who finds herself pregnant from her abusive husband/boyfriend should not be forced to have that baby. Any woman whose birth control failed should not be forced to have a baby she doesn't want, can't afford, and is unprepared for. Any woman who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy for any reason should not be forced to have a baby.
It sucks that we have to go to such extremes to protect ourselves and establish a new underground railroad of sorts. It's imperative that we get out and vote in November. The depressing polls are speculating that republicans will win big because of inflation and high gas prices and McConnell's promise of a nationwide abortion ban if they get control of Congress. We cannot let that happen or things will become infinitely worse.
I just cannot comment.
ReplyDeleteseems we are in a mental state of thinking reasonably "this can not happen here" All we need to do is vote" " this is so crazy, it just can not be" We did this sort of thinking all along the line and here we are. "hope" is a four letter word. The effects of being diplomatic, reasonable, have so weakened us that the steam roller events are having a field day, AND THEY WILL WIN! Gaining speed. solution??? vote??? think that will change anything? hell no. Boycott the states of insanity, move out en masse, don't think so, people are not willing to uproot and change for change sake. I will never go back home to Wyoming, I will never go to
ReplyDeleteTexas or any of the other states that have fallen- they are war zones. This is war most certainly, recognize it as such. Get the hell out, this country is beyond "saving"- an option... Have we learned nothing from the slow crawl of fascism, like a stealth mountain lion , stalking, measuring, and then OOPS ! You're dead! It does not take much to rearrange our lives at this point - before it becomes impossible, I live on the northern border , grateful for that, I have a pilot son and husband , we can fly away at any time , leaving everything behind. which takes care of the clutter issue...I dunno, but I do think we have to go into survival mode and think out of the box, Staying in the guntoting knuckle dragging misogynistic horror that this land has become ,is a death wish i reckon. NO, we will not magically change this rapid tumbling downhill in our lifetimes. Pendulum swings , this time it is so radical, there may be no swinging back. Leave Texas, leave the Dakotas, leave Wyoming -- option, leave the country is an option also , still able to do so. There was quite a grand exodus of Americans just after trumps election- they were the smart, well timed ones. No buts or can't s...just up and left. Admirable, because you see the set up, rights taken, voting made more difficult if not impossible in some areas, tether the women folk to vessel servitude, starve the children , limit their education, or just flat out murder them- we can see how this is going...yet- ....Leave if you can...Dennis is nearly 85 years old, and has health issues , he is not going anyplace but I do encourage our kids to get out of this country before we really see what horror it will become. I tend to be a pessimistic realist. Flight rather than fight so take this all with the usual grain of salt. I know nothing.
sorry, venting irrationally...
DeleteI don't even know what to say.
ReplyDeleteThings will get infinitely worse. I will not surrender.
ReplyDeleteJust listened to a radio feature on this issue and they also mentioned DNA data - which so many have supplied to ancestry and 23andme etc. websites - which can be appropriated by any state agency for identification.
ReplyDeleteWe can fight this...I agree privacy is of the utmost importance...One thing that can help is for people in OPEN states to open their homes to women a spare bedroom, a place to lay her head while she seeks the care SHE wants for her body...an underground RR of safe houses. Abortions happened Before Roe, and it will happen again...Men are not free either...they will be forced into fatherhood!
ReplyDelete"forced into fatherhood?" Not likely as history shows us.
DeleteYou are so good at setting things out succintly. I would like to share this on my blog if that's okay?
ReplyDeleteYes, by all means.
DeleteThanks a bunch!
DeleteI worried about the midterms, but today's January 6th hearing made me feel a little bit hopeful that they haven't gotten away with it yet. I'm hoping that the revelations will reverberate and restore a wee bit of sanity to voters. The Dems have to get very tough and smart. I am waiting...
ReplyDeleteVery good guidelines, because it is a deep hole we must climb up from.
ReplyDeleteReally scary... not right by a long shot. How can they be held accountable for taking away a person's rights?
ReplyDeleteIt will be a damning indictment of the mind of the voter if the price of gasoline, and the promise to enact a nationwide abortion ban, delivers both houses to the Republicans. The cost of fuel is dictated by world events and the abortion ban would be so draconian it is hard to contemplate. Your detailed strategy reads like a war campaign - which is what it is really.
ReplyDeleteIt's a crazy and scary time. As you wrote, "Any woman who finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy for any reason should not be forced to have a baby." I get so frustrated with people who dither over various scenarios because at the end of the day it DOESN'T MATTER. Any woman who doesn't want a baby should not be forced to have a baby!
ReplyDeleteI am so afraid for our future. Republicans cannot be put into a position of power. They just can't. I hope we can stop them.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that I'm past child-bearing age - but worry about my niece and cousins (and of course all the other girls & women).
ReplyDeleteYES, YES, AND YES.
ReplyDeletemIGHT i COPY THIS AND USE IT?
Yes Mage, feel free.
Delete