Representative Emily Weber (D-24) spoke on organizing, party bulding, and post Roe Missouri at a Johnson County Democratic Club meeting in Warrensburg yesterday evening.
“…A vote for the Value Them Both Amendment would affirm there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion, and would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion…”
Who the hell knows?:
Pro-choice:
“…A vote against the Value Them Both Amendment would make no changes to the constitution of the state of Kansas, and could restrict the people, through their elected state legislators, from regulating abortion by leaving in place the recently recognized right to abortion…”
“…Doctors and pregnant women experiencing complications want to know when they can begin care. Do they have to wait until after internal bleeding has already begun? After signing the bill into law, [Governor Mike] Parson now says it’s a “complicated issue” and doctors and patients should decide…”
“WTF is going on?”
Yesterday:
Andrea R MD @AndreaR9Md
Well maybe his dumbass should have thought about that before signing it into law.
[….] 2:03 PM · Jul 14, 2022
JEFFERSON CITY — Today, in response to the United States Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Governor Mike Parson signed a proclamation giving legal effect to Section 188.017 RSMo and activating the “Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act.”
“Nothing in the text, history, or tradition of the United States Constitution gave un-elected federal judges authority to regulate abortion. We are happy that the U.S. Supreme Court has corrected this error and returned power to the people and the states to make these decisions,” Governor Parson said.
“With Roe v. Wade overturned and statutory triggers provided in HB 126, we are issuing this proclamation to restore our state authority to regulate abortion and protect life. Thanks to decades of conservative leaders, Missouri has become one of the most pro-life states in the nation, and our Administration has always fought for the life of every unborn child. Today, our efforts have produced what generations of Missourians have worked and prayed for: Today, we have won our fight to protect innocent life,” Governor Parson continued.
Governor Parson’s proclamation notifies the Missouri Revisor of Statutes of the effective date of Section 188.017 RSMo.
Section 188.017, or the “Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act,” includes several provisions:
Prohibits doctors from performing abortions unless there is a medical emergency;
Creates criminal liability for any person who knowingly performs or induces a non-medical emergency abortion and subjects his or her professional license to suspension; and
Protects any woman who receives an illegal abortion from being prosecuted in violation of the Act.
The “Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act” was included in HB 126 and contingent upon the U.S. Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade in whole or in part. Governor Parson signed HB 126 in 2019.
Governor Parson’s Administration is coordinating with the Missouri Attorney General to quickly resolve any litigation against HB 126 before the Courts that is currently preventing implementation of the law.
[….]
Mark Maxwell @MarkMaxwellTV
Doctors and pregnant women experiencing complications want to know when they can begin care. Do they have to wait until after internal bleeding has already begun? After signing the bill into law, Parson now says it’s a “complicated issue” and doctors and patients should decide.
[….] 12:19 PM · Jul 14, 2022
Some of the responses:
Governor Parson’s specialty is having no idea what he’s talking about.
Doctors and Patients cannot decide because of #Missouri laws! Physicians are afraid of being arrested, fined, lowing their license … c’mon already!
How many people are going to die while we’re waiting for an answer @GovParsonMO
Do patients and doctors and nurses trust Parson? No friggin way.
Y’all better vote.
Governor HeeHaw should have had an interpreter read the bill for him before he signed it #voteblue
@GovParsonMO soooo you DO believe doctors and patients should decide, instead of politicians?
Huh. Maybe it should all be left to the patient and their doctor
His message to nervous doctors is essentially, “I won’t prosecute you. I’ll stay out of your way, no matter what the law I just signed says. You can trust me.” Very reassuring.
We’ll let the doctors make the decisions and then we’ll decide whether to prosecute after.
With a pregnancy complication, a woman may go from stable to critical in a matter of minutes. Do we deny a heart patient with a 95% blockage to wait until they have a heart attack before we treat them? Who should make emergency medical decisions, doctors or politicians?
But the law makes it so that doctors and patients can’t decide….
Wow so generous of you – doctors “get a seat at the table” to decide emergency medical care for a pregnant woman. @GovParsonMO
What is it with self-righteous right wingnuts and their compulsion to troll?
“…We don’t allow ignorant comments out of moderation to be linked with the original post, but we do occasionally present some of them in subsequent posts for the purpose of public derision and mockery. As we see fit…”
We see fit.
We encountered another comment to last night’s post covering a pro-choice demonstration in Kansas City:
Im tried of paying for all your mistakes
And you certainly didn’t pay attention when they covered communication skills in school.
And, as always, when someone submits a comment here their email address and I.P. address are linked to the comment in our site database.
“When I reflect upon the number of disagreeable people who I know have gone to better world, I am moved to lead a different life.” – Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, Mark Twain
“…We don’t allow ignorant comments out of moderation to be linked with the original post, but we do occasionally present some of them in subsequent posts for the purpose of public derision and mockery. As we see fit…”
We see fit.
We encountered a comment to last night’s post covering a pro-choice demonstration in Kansas City:
SATAN’S DISCIPLES
When someone submits a comment here their email address and I.P. address are linked to the comment.
In the past ten days there have been a number of pro-choice demonstrations across Missouri in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s gutting of Roe v Wade and bodily autonomy. The demonstrations continue.
At 5:00 p.m. today around fifty individuals showed up in Mill Creek Park for a pro-choice rally and march through the Plaza.
In Mill Creek Park, Kansas City, Missouri.
“Our daughters deserve choices”
“Equal rights for all”
“Pro-life is a lie, you don’t care if women die”
“If I wanted politics in my pussy I would’ve fucked a senator”
In the past five days we’ve covered four different pro-choice demonstrations in Missouri – Sedalia, Jefferson City, Warrensburg, and Kansas City. The smaller demonstrations have been organized at the grassroots level via social media. The weather has been miserable – high humidity and high temperatures. Yet, people show up. That’s what happens when half the country loses their bodily automony on the whim of six right wingnuts.
This is not going away. It’s definitely not over.
I’ve shot close to 2000 frames at these demonstrations.
“…Because you get none”
The image is from the July 3rd demonstration in Jefferson City. The rally had already started. The three individuals were walking on Lafayette toward the federal court building.
One thing we noticed five years ago was that many of our images of protests, demonstrations, and marches taken over the years featured women. It took us a brief second to grapple with the reality that much of the labor in recent activist history has been carried by women. If women are organizing and showing up at demonstrations chances are the images taken at those events are going to be of women.
As is the case with this recent round of pro-choice demonstrations, men attend, but they’re distinctly in the minority.
I suspect there may be different results with other ideologies.
The image may be a harbinger of the future. Confident young women asserting their voices, humanity, and autonomy, accompanied by a supportive friend.
The pro-choice demonstration in front of the federal courthouse in Jefferson City at noon on Sunday was well attended. The humidity and heat were oppressive. The original announcement of the event had the location at the Capitol – it was moved to the federal courthouse (ironically, next to the decrepit and deteriorating old state prison) because there were already July 4th events taking place at the Capitol. And it ended up that there was no march to the Capitol (but a “break off” group apparently did make the trek).
Anyone who has attended a protest on a weekend in Jefferson City knows that there will probably be no one else around to witness it. The site at the federal courthouse is one of the most deserted places in Jefferson City on a Sunday afternoon. In this instance there appeared to be about a dozen people at the entrance of the old prison lining up for a tour. That was a “win” of sorts.
I’m not complaining (other than about the heat and humidity) because I knew I’d get some good images to feed the content beast at Show Me Progress.
“Abort the patriarchy”
This image is from the July 4th demonstration in Kansas City. The rally had started and people were still streaming into Mill Creek Park from all corners (depending on where they parked).
This, too, may be another harbinger of the future. Passing the torch to another generation.
This larger demonstration – it was difficult to estimate the size, but definitely more than 1000 – was more centrally organized. Though, again, word was circulated via social media. The Kansas City metro area obviously has a greater population to draw from. There is a difference.
In Kansas City at the beginning of the rally there were two distinct groupings, with individuals easily moving between them. There were those who lined up on the sidewalks facing traffic and engaging passers by and, those listening to speakers in the park. The host merged again later to march through the Plaza (there are spectacular drone images of the march through the streets). As is customary for demonstrations at this location, many of those who cannot march remain on the sidewalks at the edge of the park to picket facing passing traffic.
Again, the heat and humidity was miserable. And people still showed up.
Media and social media do create audiences, but the point of public protest is to inform, and yes, inconvenience and make others aware of your greivances.
From experience – you don’t necessarily need a large crowd to accomplish those communication goals. One individual on a street corner has a powerful impact, though I would point out there is safety in numbers.
One million people in a street protest in Washington, D.C. does have an impact. Fifty or twenty or two people in every town and city in America has a much greater impact. Over a thousand in a public place out in the heat on a holiday works, too.
It takes a lot of courage to put yourself on the line organizing a public protest event under any circumstances. It takes a lot of courage for an individual to take that step in public on their own. It is a start.
No one will listen to your greivances if they’re not put in a position to actually listen. Polite defference to their sensibilities and convenience will get you nowhere. They’ll only notice you if you’re there, persistent, and inconvenient.
You’re supposed to make people uncomfortable with injustice. We all are.
“Today, staring before 11:00 a.m., in high humidity and with the temperature in the 90s, hundreds of individuals gathered in Mill Creek Park near the entrance to the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri to rally in support of reproductive rights.
Several hundred lined the sidewalks facing the streets with their picket signs. Hundreds more constantly, also with signs, streamed further into the park for a rally and to hear speakers.
The reaction from passers by was overwhelmingly supportive (this is Kansas City). There was an unending chain of car horns and shouts of solidarity and raised fists from those in the passing cars.
There have been a number of similar demonstrations scheduled across Missouri over the past few days.
There were, of course, scores of creative and informative protest signs…”
“Abort the patriarchy”
“Doctors and patients, not politicians and churches”
“When did my privates become so public?”
“Forced pregnancy is slavery”
“…the system”
“It’s a beautiful day to smash the patriarchy”
“You don’t trust me with a choice but you trust me with a baby?”
