In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Congratulations, Mississippi. You’re up…. rest of the country.

Caperton

More than 55 percent of Mississippi voters agreed that no, in fact, zygotes are zygotes and women are women, and women get to make choices about women’s lives and health. Such that they were already allowed to, anyway. Raise a glass to Mississippi,* and cross your fingers that today’s defeat can build momentum toward the defeat of bills like this nationwide.

*My glass currently contains vanilla vodka and Fanta Zero, neither of which would be any good for a growing blastocytizen, so it’s a good thing I have an IUD. Sláinte!

16 thoughts on Congratulations, Mississippi. You’re up…. rest of the country.

  2. I was watching the results with crossed fingers and breath held. When they officially declared it defeated, I looked at my boyfriend and said, “Hey, wanna go make some non-people to celebrate?”

    Best pickup line ever.

  3. Very proud tonight! We worked really hard! Special props go to the two PP workers from NY and one from OR who moved to my town for a month and ran our call center and organized the volunteers. I am humbled that these women made such an effort to protect my rights. They helped turn the tide for us. We did it! Me and my IUD celebrated with a Cape Cod.

  4. wasabi75: Special props go to the two PP workers from NY and one from OR who moved to my town for a month and ran our call center and organized the volunteers. I am humbled that these women made such an effort to protect my rights.

    Brava to them, of course. But I think this raises a really big concern about what a horrible drain these measures are EVEN when they fail. I’m sure these women had many other worthy causes to which they could have donated their time and energy, if only we as a society didn’t demand such sacrifice of them because we feel it is appropriate to put essential human rights up for a vote. Even when we’re making progress, let’s remember what a serious barrier to equality it is when women, LGBT persons, racial minorities, undocumented immigrants and all their allies must spend extraordinary amounts of time and energy just not to be further oppressed–that’s time they could be putting toward their financial security, personal relationships, hobbies, SLEEP, or heaven only knows what else. Think of how much extra time affluent white liberal dudes must have for their own personal advancement/fulfillment because they don’t really **have** to sacrifice to defend civil rights.

    I don’t know how the details would work out, but some mechanism of “O Holy Fuck, no you CAN’T put that on a ballot!!” is definitely necessary.

  5. Won’t someone please think of the two-celled children!?!

    Congrats to Mississippi for standing up and being sane!

    Here in KY the Democrats had a near sweep, winning all state-wide offices other than agriculture commissioner (how did a guy named Farmer lose THAT one?), but of course here in the Commonwealth we often trust democrats to run the state, but not the country…

  6. We tried “holy fuck you can’t put that on the ballot” first and the courts said that they could. We fought starting in 2009 to keep it off the ballot but finally in September the court ruled in their favor. I don’t think this is progress, far from it in fact. But we had a very real threat and we fought it off, so yes tonight I will be happy and proud even though of course it is discouraging to have to fight these battles. What can we do but fight every time they try to take our rights?

  7. wasabi75: But we had a very real threat and we fought it off, so yes tonight I will be happy and proud even though of course it is discouraging to have to fight these battles. What can we do but fight every time they try to take our rights?

    Please don’t think my comment was in any way intended to lessen your accomplishments on this issue. It was just a general exclamation of exasperation at the pervasive whatthefuckitude in the world that such a thing should be necessary. Of course, since it apparently is necessary in this fucked-up world, thanks for fighting the good fight!

  8. Oh thank Maude. I’ve been gnawing my fingers over this all day today (I don’t live in MS, but my parents do). I thought there was a reasonable chance of it going down, if my otherwise quite rabidly conservative parents opposed it, and I’m very, very relieved to be right.

  9. Thank Gord this piece of crap legislation was voted out. It still scares me how many people DID vote for it, but the important thing is.. it was beaten. Now let’s hope other states take a cue from this and decide “Don’t even bother.”

  10. I’m not so optimistic as to think that this will deter people from trying to push similar things through. Though it might deter national level outside funding for such state initiatives, which is a positive. I think the anti-choicers will continue to anti-choice as virulently as ever.

  12. Very happy to hear about this! But it’s not going to deter this group from trying again. I believe they had it on the ballot in CO twice during the time I lived there. They are just going to try to get it on a ballot in a different state year after year. A truly persistent and dangerous bunch of fuckwits.

  13. Any moment where sanity wins is worth celebrating.

    Best thing about this initiative? It’s been the best starter for conversations about how far this movement will go yet. I know it’s not the first initiative, but somehow, this one got people talking. and scared and thinking.

  15. Pingback: ‘Personhood’ and the pro-lifers’ long game | eggs

  16. Just this week a young man in Indiana received a 70 year sentence. 60 for killing a woman, and 10 for killing her fetus. How much time would have she gotten if she had killed her own fetus in Indiana? 0 years.

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