Was he right? Innocence without a proper fight?

[sovay]

What with Alabama, I am making sure that everyone on my friendlist who lives in Massachusetts knows about the ROE Act. It is intended not only to preserve the present levels of statewide access to safe, legal abortion but to reform the laws in order to close loopholes of medically outdated definitions and restrictions that already impede equal access and could do far worse in the absence of Roe v. Wade. Because the legality of late-term abortions in cases of lethal fetal diagnosis is involved, the Massachusetts GOP has leapt into blood libel mode and Charlie Baker is naturally being no help; hence the heightened need for this petition in order to get as many state legislators as possible on board a bill for which even a majority of Massachusetts Catholic voters have expressed support. In my case I got to thank my state senator and state representative for having their names on it from the start, but yours may not. In any case, I know one of the people who helped draft this bill and has been lobbying for it and I recognize it is backhanded in the extreme if I say that I trust her with my body far more than I trust our present government, but I do think it's good legislation. Check it out, I said with deliberate understatement.

I am listening to Kishi Bashi's "F Delano," in memory of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. It comes from his forthcoming album Omoiyari (2019); there is a trailer for the accompanying songfilm. Memory and empathy. They're so critical. Otherwise you get . . . well, what we've got right now.

Bogi Takács is celebrating an entire launch week for Algorithmic Shapeshifting. You can send them proof of purchase of their collection and get cool stuff, like digital bookplates and voting rights on the poems to be read at the online launch party. At this point I'm just considering art full-fledged tikkun olam.

Comments

[redbird]

I wrote to my representatives as well, a one-sentence thank you that I sent to them both with absolutely no personalization. Both have written back to thank me for their support; Jehlen also said that she is hopeful despite the misinformation out there.

[sovay]

Both have written back to thank me for their support; Jehlen also said that she is hopeful despite the misinformation out there.

Nice! I received a reply from Jehlen as well, which I was touched by. (I have not heard from Barber, but I wasn't expecting to hear from anyone.)

[kenjari]

Some additional linkage and info on the ROE Act:
The petition has a bill attached, H. 3320. It has been referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
There is a corresponding senate bill, S. 1209. It has been referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health.
Last July, MA repealed the pre-Roe abortion ban that had been on the books (and was superseded by Roe), basically so that MA would not revert to a ban if Roe went down.

[sovay]

The petition has a bill attached, H. 3320. It has been referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
There is a corresponding senate bill, S. 1209. It has been referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health.

I believe these to be covered by the links I included—one of them goes to the full text of H.3320—but I appreciate the double-check!

Last July, MA repealed the pre-Roe abortion ban that had been on the books (and was superseded by Roe), basically so that MA would not revert to a ban if Roe went down.

I remember that. I still like the clarity of the proposed language: "The Commonwealth shall not interfere with a person’s personal decision and ability to prevent, commence, terminate, or continue their own pregnancy consistent with this chapter. The Commonwealth shall not restrict the use of medically appropriate methods of abortion or the manner in which medically appropriate abortion is provided."

[kenjari]

Ah yes, the bills are included in the NARAL article - I skimmed a little too quickly there. I admit that I like the MA legislature web pages for bills - it's easy to find things and everything is linked together really well.

My Senator is on the Judiciary committee, so I'm going to ask her to move the bill along.

And yes, the proposed language is kind of beautiful.

[sovay]

I admit that I like the MA legislature web pages for bills - it's easy to find things and everything is linked together really well.

That's fair. I linked the first thing I found.

My Senator is on the Judiciary committee, so I'm going to ask her to move the bill along.

Awesome! I'm glad you are in a position to do that.

[strange_complex]

Oh! Thank you so much for linking to Bogi Takács' website. As it happens, I am reading a chapter by them at the moment in this multi-authored Dracula book, and I am enjoying it hugely. I didn't know anything more about the author than their name before your link, so this has rounded out what I'm reading in the chapter quite a lot. It's mainly correspondence between a fifteenth-century Jewish prefect in Hungary and his friend, a Rabbi staying in Provence for health reasons, and now I see why those are characters which Bogi is well-placed to write.

[sovay]

Oh! Thank you so much for linking to Bogi Takács' website.

You're welcome! I'm glad it turned out to be useful.

It's mainly correspondence between a fifteenth-century Jewish prefect in Hungary and his friend, a Rabbi staying in Provence for health reasons, and now I see why those are characters which Bogi is well-placed to write.

That does sound great.

(I recommend pretty much all eir work.)

[selkie]

It is so wearying the number of people we're gonna have to simply eat.

[sovay]

It is so wearying the number of people we're gonna have to simply eat.

It's just exhausting. Especially when they're not even good for you.

[gaudior]

Thank you; have signed it.

[sovay]

Thank you; have signed it.

You're welcome. Thank you for signing.

*hugs*