https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/05/03/texas-abortion-investigations/
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From the linked story:
âThis resolution would castigate and condemn the entirely moral and ethical actions of these two friends of mine calling their faithful sacrifice, struggle and blessing a wicked thing,â Michigan messenger Daniel Taylor said during the floor debate, alluding to friends who used IVF to have children. âIt would also unnecessarily make it more difficult for all of us to reach those who have gone through IVF as parents or children.â
This is an admirable appeal that will likely fall on deaf ears.
Kentucky messenger Monica Hall spoke against Taylorâs amendment, referencing her own experience with embryo adoption. Hall said the embryos were left over by someone else who started the IVF process and that the embryos ultimately didnât reach viability.
Wait. Is embryo adoption a thing?
from Wikipedia:
Some use the term âembryo donationâ to refer strictly to anonymous embryo donation, and âembryo adoptionâ to refer to an open relationship. Others use the terms interchangeably because, regardless of the relationship, a clinical assisted reproduction procedure is involved, and the recipient couple is preparing to raise a child not genetically related to them. Donated embryos are much less likely to be viable.[14] Lawyers who assist those trying to acquire an embryo state the term âembryo adoptionâ is a misnomer because the transfer of an embryo is handled as property transfer.[15][16][17] One newspaper article in 2005 asserted that abortion rights advocates, advocates of embryonic stem cell research, and members of the fertility industry object to referring to the transfer as an âadoptionâ because they feel it gives an embryo the same status as a child.[18] One organization, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, matches embryos with couples willing to use them.[14] Children that are a result of this process may be called snowflake babies.[19] Another organization that offers these services is the National Embryo Donation Center, which requires recipients to be a heterosexual couple that have been married for at least three years. The oldest embryos to eventually result in live births through this process were frozen for almost 30 years. Out of five transferred, two survived to develop into twins.[20]
Aha, that explains why I was unfamiliar with the term.
Back to the article:
âThere is no way to describe the treatment of embryos at any point in the IVF process as ethical or dignified,â Hall said during the floor debate. âNothing in the process of IVF upholds the sanctity of life.â
There is no way to describe the treatment of a life-changing medical procedure by Monica Hall as ethical or dignified.
It is fascinating/maddening that an organization that would likely identify itself as faith-based would be arguing from such an obvious position of bad faith.
A Pew Research Center report in May said 63% of white evangelical Protestants believe IVF is good and 28% were unsure. The percentages were similar those of Catholics, a religious group that is more well-known for opposing IVF and surrogacy.
It would appear that among the other things that they do not believe in, some religious groups also do not believe in democracy.
Itâs not as though I thought the Southern Baptists were my friends or anything, but this is still a shitty thing.
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From a different article on the same subject:
The court found unanimously that the group of anti-abortion doctors who questioned the Food and Drug Administrationâs decisions making it easier to access the pill did not have legal standing to sue.
This is genuinely good news, but I find myself annoyed by feeling good about the Supreme Court doing effectively the bare minimum. Actually, I think Iâm less annoyed by the decision and more that under the current membership it wasnât the obvious conclusion it should be.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the court, wrote that while plaintiffs have âsincere legal, moral, ideological, and policy objections to elective abortion and to FDAâs relaxed regulation of mifepristone,â that does not mean they have a federal case.
Translation: My hands are tied, friends, but please invite me to your parties. I love beer.
âThe plaintiffs may present their concerns and objections to the president and FDA in the regulatory process or to Congress and the president in the legislative process,â Kavanaugh wrote. âAnd they may also express their views about abortion and mifepristone to fellow citizens, including in the political and electoral processes.â
If this were coming from a justice less aligned with their cause, I would interpret this very differently. From Bart, it just feels like heâs trying to give them ideas.
The legal challenge was brought by doctors and other medical professionals represented by the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom.
But not reproductive freedom, obviously.
I would support some means of ensuring that organizations should not be allowed to use names that are misleading like this. See also: OpenAI or Tesla Motors.
Another regulatory decision left in place means women can still obtain the pill within 10 weeks of gestation instead of seven.
Likewise a decision to allow health care providers other than physicians to dispense the pill will remain in effect.
I am not sure what the correct decisions should be in these cases, but I am sure that it should not be decided by a panel of 9 judges, but rather by medical professionals who are reasonably qualified to make such determinations. Perhaps a group that administers drugs at a federal level.
Abortion rights supporters welcomed the ruling, with Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, saying she was relieved at the outcome but angered about the case lingering in the court system so long.
See how the position sheâs taking aligns obviously with the name of the group sheâs representing. Itâs almost as if one group is trying to be honest and open, and the otherâŚis not.
âJoe Biden and the Democrats are hell-bent on forcing abortion on demand any time for any reason, including DIY mail-order abortions, on every state in the country,â Marjorie Dannenfeiser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said.
making available or not preventing being the same as forcing is pretty on brand for a representative of an organization claiming to be Pro-Life.
The FDA had the backing of the pharmaceutical industry, which has warned that any second-guessing of the approval process by untrained federal judges could cause chaos and deter innovation.
While I agree that the FDA is the proper authority for this, I am unconvinced that the pharmaceutical industry has any interest that is not self-serving.
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Hereâs APâs take on it:
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Oh no! Mail order coat hangers!
(sorry)
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Sheesh, you just put two wire hangers in a closet, close the door, then come back the next day - voila! Theyâre like rabbits.
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The opposite of socks I suppose.
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Exactly.
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Still pending is whether the signatures of inactive voters should count toward the total.
Montanaâs secretary of state said they shouldnât, but it didnât make that statement until after the signatures were gathered and after some counties had begun verifying them.
A Helena judge ruled Tuesday that the qualifications shouldnât have been changed midstream and said the signatures of inactive voters that had been rejected should be verified and counted. District Judge Mike Menahan said those signatures could be accepted through next Wednesday.
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No constitutional right to any medical care which wasnât available in 1868.
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Someone should sue to prevent cancer treatments.
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Trump doesnât fucking vote.
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⌠who voted when is a matter of public record
Fact-check: Did Trump vote by mail for the 2020 election?
Trump Votes By Mail In Florida After Criticizing Practice : NPR
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He should make up his mind then. Never mind.
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But then he canât pander to his base while also trying to appear reasonable to the center and left! And then where would we be?!?
Lately, the only political advertising flyers weâve received have been pro-Trump ones claiming that Harris wants unfettered abortion at any time, forcing taxpayers to fund abortions, even after birth. 
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