I have not seen anyone make the following historical connection, which is quite obvious to me: We know that women and girls get pregnant as a result of being raped. People who enslaved and legally owned other human beings in this country knew this fact. It is how slaveowners created wealth. They regularly raped the women whom they enslaved and whose bodies they owned to produce new humans whose bodies they owned without their having to pay any additional money for that additional enslaved human. If you don't see how race and gender oppression (and capitalism) are intertwined in this country's founding and history and that what we are reaping today is a direct result of that unacknowledged history, look again.
Agreed. If someone had asked me 10'ish years ago if social and racial injustice were a thing, I would have said no. Living in my lily white suburb of Chicago where nothing ever happened, being completely insulated by my own ignorance.
But once I got my head out of my fucking ass and started paying attention, reading, watching valuable documentaries, I learned the truth. The system is deliberately designed to work against certain people.
They have to be willing to pick up a goddamn book, learn about history - or easier, to watch documentaries. There are so many great ones. Start with Kalief Browder on Netflix. I have learned so much from watching various documentaries on Netflix. The Innocence Project, Trial 4, When They See Us. Others are: 13th, The Innocence Files, White Like Me, Ken Burns: Central Park 5, Ken Burns: Eastlake Meadows a public housing story, It Couldn't Happen Here hosted by Hillary Burton Morgan.
They can't continue to live in their bubble claiming it doesn't exist, but yet also be unwilling to even watch one documentary. Just watching one will create cognitive dissonance for them. If they refuse to even watch one, then they are obviously living in denial and can not make an argument against racial/social injustice. For the white person that is purely 100% racist and bigoted, he isn't going to change his mind - but for rest of people their minds and beliefs will expand.
I agree getting the facts to people is important. If they will listen. Some are so lost they don’t recognize the truth. For example, books on Amazon with hundreds of reviews which average 4+ (out of 5) stars invariably have a few 1-star reviews which dismiss the book as liberal taking points, propaganda, and a waste of time. I’ve read many of these books and. to be charitable, the 1-star reviewers are delusional. I hope they figure it out before their views kill democracy. Once gone, it won’t be coming back.
There is no democracy where women cannot control our own bodies. Right now, the Democrats are the only political
party which supports democracy.
The Republicans have given up even pretending that democracy matters and are instead supporting a convicted felon and disrespecting the process that heard the evidence and found him guilty on 34 charges. They’re blaming Biden’s DOJ which had absolutely nothing to do with the NY State trial!
I think that cognitive dissonance happened for many white people after President Trump spoke in Tulsa on the anniversary of the “Race Riots” that decimated Black Wall Street and murdered many. After that happened, I googled “US race massacres” (white mob violence directed at communities of newly freed/ formerly enslaved people during Reconstruction who were creating wealth and prosperity for themselves out of nothing) and found that one of them happened a few miles from where I grew up. Never ever knew that.
As I was reading this, all I could think of is I wish these politicians could get raped with a resulting pregnancy…. As I do know this is biologically impossible for men, I thought…. What if it happened to their daughters or wives?
I hate that my immediate thoughts were to wish to inflict something so horrible on someone else.
The thing is, it probably does happen to their wives and daughters, as much as any other American women. However, the loud forced-birthers will quickly and quietly arrange a “vacation” to a blue state. The rules are only for us peons.
If one of their wives or daughters were raped plan b would be procured or they would 100% take their loved one out of state for an abortion. These anti abortion laws are meant to keep the poor just that poor! People with means will always be able to get an abortion. I really need to get off my political pages today. I feel rage seeping through my brain and this is NOT how I want to go into my weekend! LOL
I have four daughters and seven granddaughters and all live in red states, (SC,NC, Ga.)I am a feminist and so are they. One of my granddaughters just became the deputy director of Campaign Communications for EMILY's List. She left the staff of a center-left think tank and took a pay cut to join this incredible organization because she believes in women's right to control their bodies. It'd hard to believe that these troglodytes in the legislature were brought up in a respectful family environment, and then there's the church, probably the second most influential factor in the life of most young people. Of course, cruelty abounds and they probably know less about God's will than my dog (that's god spelled backwards)
Thank you for being one of the good men. This article has really frightening statistics regarding red states. We need federal laws that enforce the Constitutional protections of all citizens now matter where they live. This insane cult must be stopped,
So thankful for Qasim, he is constantly bringing such important topics to light. And as a human rights lawyer, I feel he knows so much about it all. His voice is so critical.
When I read about the extreme cruelty that some Reps appear to want to inflict on women and girls I can’t help wondering what happens in their own families. If their 12 year old daughter was raped and became pregnant as a result would they tell her it was “God’s will” and she should consider it “an opportunity for healing”, or would they stick her on a plane to California?
They would make her have the baby, because girls and women are mere vessels, not people who have the right to education, a career and other life choices.
Mmm - my bet is that they would hustle her off for an abortion as having a baby out of wedlock would be too much of a stigma for the family, even for a violated 12 year old. After all people would want to know who the rapist was.
Nope. The "baby out of wedlock" would be quietly adopted out - there's a big demand for healthy white newborns. So easily swept under the rug by "good Christians."
Ann, Actually, yes they would, Check out the special on the Duggar family. or on the political group, .the Family. This cult really believes in the superior role of men as ordained by God, and women’s role is to serve them and have babies,
women and girls don’t have rights to want anything for themselves or the rights over their own bodies, It is hard to understand or believe, but if we are to combat this we need to know that they really do believe this craziness, They believe they are doing gods work, like the Inquisition, the real witch hunts, etc.
Rape is god’s will? A child born of rape is healing? Abortion is a greater sin than rape? Legalize child marriage to prevent abortions? Rape is “mentally” taxing?
I try not to wish bad things on people, but politicians like this make it so very hard.
I hear the adoption trope from my Baptist family all the time. The fact that they think that forcing a rape victim to have their rapist’s baby then give it away is an acceptable solution is beyond me. For that matter, forcing any woman to have an unwanted baby is unacceptable. Christians seem more worried about some potential mythical, cherub-cheeked group of cells than the very real harmful psychological and physical impacts of a forced pregnancy on the very real, already existing woman. It’s god’s will and their cross to bear. Doesn’t sound very Christian to me.
Misogyny is over 2,000 years old. Nothing should surprise or puzzle anyone.
Women are still not human beings to a big piece of American society. An embryo, a rapist, and a white Christian male all have more rights than a woman.
I find it disgusting that a rapist has more rights in the court system than their victim. A bunch of cells is more important than the woman they reside in. Oh, and don’t get me started on white Christian males. They’re the source of all of this bullshit.
I can’t understand the reasoning behind a rapist having rights to the child their crime inadvertently produced. I guess the legal system sees the child as their property, since their sperm produced it. Chain of custody?
It's not that a rapist has more rights in all 50 states but that this is true in red states where time stopped sometime in the 1950s. On the books it doesn't show, but in societal attitudes the misogyny is definitely there. If it isn't true in criminal jury trials, it's certainly true in our shame-based society where "good" girls don't get raped and where "boys will be boys."
Ok. Now I’m looking up the Alabama laws. That’s insane that pregnant women are still legally considered the property of their husbands. After seeing women’s (especially pregnant women’s) rights being stripped away by the GOP, I would be very hesitant to get pregnant right now. Ironically, the “family values” party is harming the very thing it claims it protect. They wrap their hate up in pretty platitudes to get the votes.
They must have missed all those parts on the Bible where God keeps tearing me to just stop doing bad things. Like, that’s 90% of it, just Good telling people that they need to stop being horrible and he doesn’t want them to do it.
My Missouri cousins, all, including the women, especially the women support the righteous right wing men saying these retrograde things. When I asked why I was told that I just don’t know the truth. The truth is biblical submission. A big thump on the head by religion to keep women barefoot and pregnant. It’s an age old power play. And that so many women accept it is a sign of mental illness, suppressed trauma, the never talked about is never healed.
Chris, tell any of those Congressmen that their ED is Gods will and insurance won’t cover their little blue pill. I am sure they would have a different view of Gods will.
I’ve often thought that the folks who espouse God’s will and God doesn’t make mistakes to pregnancy would say the same thing with a cancer diagnosis. If women are forced to carry fetuses (even when the fetus isn’t viable) because it’s God’s will, then why isn’t God’s will that someone gets cancer? Shouldn’t they just accept God’s directive to call them home to him/her/them and not seek human intervention? Just asking.
If you follow that argument to its “logical” conclusion murder is “God’s will”, thus negating the need for the death penalty these pro lifers like so much.
I actually came down to the comments to make this very point. If rape is God's will, then murder is God's will, abortion - even if it is murder - is God's will, no one can do anything that is not God's will so there is no sin and no free will and all is preordained.
GET OUT of anything that even sniffs of the Confederacy or the Evangicaliban. Come to Michigan. We have jobs, training, world-class education, and a commitment thanks to Gov. Whitmer that nobody gets left behind. We also have water. Lots of it. Good schools. And churches. We have those too but if you're careful you can avoid the Southerners and the Catholics and have a decend social/religious life, if that's your groove. MOST of all, though, is that OUR WOMEN ARE FREE.
Wow. Rape is NEVER God's will. Rape happens because we live in a fallen world. To assume to know God's will is the height of arrogance. It's our job on this planet to alleviate suffering, not to ignore it even encourage it.
Pfft. If your God didn't want rape and abuse and murder to happen, for millenia after He supposedly drove us from the garden for being too smart, it wouldn't happen. We're no more fallen than a souffle. The Antonement was a pitiable and horiffic apology fo the miserable disaster He created. He had to kil his own kid to apologize for what he'd done and continues to do to us. Some of us no longer buy it.
Catherine, this is just one origin story. It makes Eve a temptress worthy of abandonment and punishment, The Potawatomi have an origin story of , Sky Woman
Long before the world was created, there was an island in the sky inhabited by sky people. One day a pregnant sky woman drops through a hole created by an uprooted tree and begins to fall for what seems like eternity. Coming out of darkness, she eventually sees oceans. The animals from this world congregate, trying to understand what they see in the sky. A flock of birds is sent to help her. The birds catch her and gently guide her down onto the back of Great Turtle. The water animals like otter and beaver have prepared a place for her on turtle's back. They bring mud from the bottom of the ocean and place it on turtle's back until solid earth begins to form and increase in size. Turtle's back becomes Sky Woman's home and the plants she's brought down with her from Skyworld, including tobacco and strawberries, are her medicine. She makes a life for herself and becomes the mother of Haudenosaunee life, as we know it today.
This paints woman as origin of humans,, as kind, loving, and good, A very different view than that of the view of Eve. There are hundreds of origin stories and they each represent a piece of the truth to people trying to understand who we are. I hope enough people want a multiracial pluralistic democracy that embraces equality ,equity , common courtesy, decency, honor, truth and the common good. The good fight goes on.
Christian "men," however, seem to lick their chops and adjust their pants anytime "Christian" murders of others (especially women) are called for by their pastors or Trump.
I am sad that you feel that way, but I'm not going to waste a lot of time trying to convince you otherwise. Suffering in this world is a hard topic, for all of us, and I believe that one of the reasons we are all here is to try to alleviate that suffering as much as we can. But I honor your feelings in this matter and I hope I've spoken respectfully to you.
How many rapes are there in America? How many states ban abortions with no exception for rape? How many are estimated to be minors? How many rape victims know their perpetrators? Check this infographic. "GOP Map Of Shame: Forced Birth For Child Rape Victims"
Thank you for this information. This makes me sick to my stomach and beyond angry. There is no excuse for this kind of abuse of power and cruelty. We must inform, stay vigilant and vote like our lives and those we love depend on it, because it does. I never thought Handmaid was possible here in the US but The Orange Ogre has opened Pandora’s box. We must vote blue across our nation and fight this take over. Jess thank you for your fight and showing how these republicans intend to butcher our rights in every state. I stand with each of you and will follow Jess in this fight for our future as a nation and for our kids. LFG!
Those statistics are horrifyingly. If 97% of men experienced sexual laws would be different, In 2024, why is this still allowed? Partly because it is not known. Democrats must make this part of their platform. It is long past due.
"The Kansas City Star reported that Missouri’s backlog of untested sexual assault kits has grown by 380% in the last 5 years. How would anyone get any penalty for rape when rape kits aren’t even processed?"
I just want to share a ray of hope on this front. Here's what happened when NC AG Josh Stein (D) made clearing the backlog of rape kits a priority:
This should happen in EVERY state no matter red or blue. It’s time to fight for victims of rape, female and male, and demand justice across this country. I think we all know rape culture exists because laws aren’t in place that truly protect victims, much less provide money to stop the backlogs of rape kits nationwide. Project 2025 will exacerbate rape without repercussions across the US if we do not stand up to oppression and this fascist take over by right wing Christo fascist and their Orange Ogre leader Hein Twitler.
Hmm. For you, it seems less of a punishment than simply a drive to do good, even if it seems impossible. Still a task, not a punishment. Maybe that lightens the load.
Or maybe it needs to be a punishment - an injustice for you to fight against. I understand that drive. To wit;
Thank you. I need to know why oh why are so many millions of people putting aside their moral compass and voting to destroy anything good in the world? Things DO need to change, absolutely. BUT can’t they see that Trump is an Opposite man? Everything he says is opposite the truth? Can’t they see Biden is hearing and changing? If only people reworked the Republican Party to their actual values, America would be a powerhouse of change and a bright future. Instead there is this blind hate and toxic fear creating a black hole of total collapse. Certainly nothing good to come from that. How do they see this country except as a military state like so many dysfunctional countries failing to thrive. We will also take the world with us toward disaster. Maybe we just failed. The experiment failed. We didn’t keep the greedy in check or the children educated. We didn’t care for our veterans or under served. We let entertainment and technology and corporations run amok. We got lost in our own team mentality and tribalism that stood for nothing. We forgot to be proud and grateful and thoughtful. We created this hole of fake news, isolation and ignorance, and now we allowed laws and leaders to sustain the imbalances and disenfranchise our voters. What a sad heartbreaking mess.
It is sad, heartbreaking and terrifying. Yes, we can vote blue all the way. I just have a hard time knowing people really believe all of this trope from the Republican party. How do their minds get a reset?
The Democratic Party should make sure that these statements are fully publicized in the upcoming state and local election campaigns, as well as nationwide.
This sounds like our GOP majority in TN! I am so grateful we finally have a bunch of candidates running against them in the August 24 primaries and hope we will have a blue wave to reverse some of the slate of hate they’ve been passing! Thank you for writing this piece and for all the comments sharing your rage! It fuels my faith that people will show up to vote 🗳️
One reason these monsters feel empowered to say such horrific things is they aren't facing any opposition.
Of the 3 Jess mentioned:
No Democrat is running to face Jeff Farnan in House District 1.
Sandy Crawford ran unopposed in the general election in 2022 for Senate District 28. She'll be up for re-election next in 2026.
Rick Brattin will have opposition in November; Raymond James filed to run as a Democrat against him in Senate District 31. I don't know anything about Mr. James but the fact that I can't find any sort of internet presence for his campaign is not a great sign, given that he filed nearly 2 months ago.
As Jess has said many times, we need serious candidates willing to put in the effort to challenge these Republican Christofascists. It's too late to file this year but it's not too early to be thinking about 2026.
I know Raymond James personally and am good friends with him and his late wife, Jewell. He is the best choice and an active fighter for women and everyone in Missouri!!
I have not seen anyone make the following historical connection, which is quite obvious to me: We know that women and girls get pregnant as a result of being raped. People who enslaved and legally owned other human beings in this country knew this fact. It is how slaveowners created wealth. They regularly raped the women whom they enslaved and whose bodies they owned to produce new humans whose bodies they owned without their having to pay any additional money for that additional enslaved human. If you don't see how race and gender oppression (and capitalism) are intertwined in this country's founding and history and that what we are reaping today is a direct result of that unacknowledged history, look again.
I used to dismiss "intersectionalism." I don't anymore.
Agreed. If someone had asked me 10'ish years ago if social and racial injustice were a thing, I would have said no. Living in my lily white suburb of Chicago where nothing ever happened, being completely insulated by my own ignorance.
But once I got my head out of my fucking ass and started paying attention, reading, watching valuable documentaries, I learned the truth. The system is deliberately designed to work against certain people.
I am glad you got your head out of your ass. How can we get others to do the same
They have to be willing to pick up a goddamn book, learn about history - or easier, to watch documentaries. There are so many great ones. Start with Kalief Browder on Netflix. I have learned so much from watching various documentaries on Netflix. The Innocence Project, Trial 4, When They See Us. Others are: 13th, The Innocence Files, White Like Me, Ken Burns: Central Park 5, Ken Burns: Eastlake Meadows a public housing story, It Couldn't Happen Here hosted by Hillary Burton Morgan.
They can't continue to live in their bubble claiming it doesn't exist, but yet also be unwilling to even watch one documentary. Just watching one will create cognitive dissonance for them. If they refuse to even watch one, then they are obviously living in denial and can not make an argument against racial/social injustice. For the white person that is purely 100% racist and bigoted, he isn't going to change his mind - but for rest of people their minds and beliefs will expand.
I agree getting the facts to people is important. If they will listen. Some are so lost they don’t recognize the truth. For example, books on Amazon with hundreds of reviews which average 4+ (out of 5) stars invariably have a few 1-star reviews which dismiss the book as liberal taking points, propaganda, and a waste of time. I’ve read many of these books and. to be charitable, the 1-star reviewers are delusional. I hope they figure it out before their views kill democracy. Once gone, it won’t be coming back.
There is no democracy where women cannot control our own bodies. Right now, the Democrats are the only political
party which supports democracy.
The Republicans have given up even pretending that democracy matters and are instead supporting a convicted felon and disrespecting the process that heard the evidence and found him guilty on 34 charges. They’re blaming Biden’s DOJ which had absolutely nothing to do with the NY State trial!
Vote blue. Up and down the ballot.
I think that cognitive dissonance happened for many white people after President Trump spoke in Tulsa on the anniversary of the “Race Riots” that decimated Black Wall Street and murdered many. After that happened, I googled “US race massacres” (white mob violence directed at communities of newly freed/ formerly enslaved people during Reconstruction who were creating wealth and prosperity for themselves out of nothing) and found that one of them happened a few miles from where I grew up. Never ever knew that.
You're spot fucking on.
As I was reading this, all I could think of is I wish these politicians could get raped with a resulting pregnancy…. As I do know this is biologically impossible for men, I thought…. What if it happened to their daughters or wives?
I hate that my immediate thoughts were to wish to inflict something so horrible on someone else.
The difference is that I won’t act on my wishes….
The thing is, it probably does happen to their wives and daughters, as much as any other American women. However, the loud forced-birthers will quickly and quietly arrange a “vacation” to a blue state. The rules are only for us peons.
Unfortunately, absolutely…..
If one of their wives or daughters were raped plan b would be procured or they would 100% take their loved one out of state for an abortion. These anti abortion laws are meant to keep the poor just that poor! People with means will always be able to get an abortion. I really need to get off my political pages today. I feel rage seeping through my brain and this is NOT how I want to go into my weekend! LOL
It's always 'do what I say,' not 'do what I do.'
Absolutely….. on all accounts
So very true. Systemic racism unacknowledged is at the root of American injustice.
That's exactly right. Wills from that time left slaves "and their increase" to family members.
I have four daughters and seven granddaughters and all live in red states, (SC,NC, Ga.)I am a feminist and so are they. One of my granddaughters just became the deputy director of Campaign Communications for EMILY's List. She left the staff of a center-left think tank and took a pay cut to join this incredible organization because she believes in women's right to control their bodies. It'd hard to believe that these troglodytes in the legislature were brought up in a respectful family environment, and then there's the church, probably the second most influential factor in the life of most young people. Of course, cruelty abounds and they probably know less about God's will than my dog (that's god spelled backwards)
I’m so so happy to know you, friend.
Thank you for being one of the good men. This article has really frightening statistics regarding red states. We need federal laws that enforce the Constitutional protections of all citizens now matter where they live. This insane cult must be stopped,
https://qasimrashid.substack.com/p/america-has-a-child-marriage-epidemicand?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2550223&post_id=144640319&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f14pb&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
So thankful for Qasim, he is constantly bringing such important topics to light. And as a human rights lawyer, I feel he knows so much about it all. His voice is so critical.
When I read about the extreme cruelty that some Reps appear to want to inflict on women and girls I can’t help wondering what happens in their own families. If their 12 year old daughter was raped and became pregnant as a result would they tell her it was “God’s will” and she should consider it “an opportunity for healing”, or would they stick her on a plane to California?
No, they would hustle her off for a quiet abortion. These laws hurt poor women, not privileged white women, for the most part.
Uncle Jeb Grandaddy George Daddy Don
I agree 1000% I would just add privilege comes in many forms, in my experience.
Plane to California because the DNA test would be catastrophic.
Ouch!
Lol
TRUTH!!
They would make her have the baby, because girls and women are mere vessels, not people who have the right to education, a career and other life choices.
Mmm - my bet is that they would hustle her off for an abortion as having a baby out of wedlock would be too much of a stigma for the family, even for a violated 12 year old. After all people would want to know who the rapist was.
Nope. The "baby out of wedlock" would be quietly adopted out - there's a big demand for healthy white newborns. So easily swept under the rug by "good Christians."
It’s could be either, but I’m betting on the abortion.
Ann, Actually, yes they would, Check out the special on the Duggar family. or on the political group, .the Family. This cult really believes in the superior role of men as ordained by God, and women’s role is to serve them and have babies,
women and girls don’t have rights to want anything for themselves or the rights over their own bodies, It is hard to understand or believe, but if we are to combat this we need to know that they really do believe this craziness, They believe they are doing gods work, like the Inquisition, the real witch hunts, etc.
Michael Steele proffers this scenario but adds the rapist is Black...
Guess.
My thoughts exactly.
You nailed it. The law wouldn't apply to them.
Rape is god’s will? A child born of rape is healing? Abortion is a greater sin than rape? Legalize child marriage to prevent abortions? Rape is “mentally” taxing?
I try not to wish bad things on people, but politicians like this make it so very hard.
It’s mind blowing when you see such extremism on display. And don’t forget the “Just put the child up for adoption” trope.
And I have to admit that I have no patience or tolerance for anyone who supports such awful practices.
I hear the adoption trope from my Baptist family all the time. The fact that they think that forcing a rape victim to have their rapist’s baby then give it away is an acceptable solution is beyond me. For that matter, forcing any woman to have an unwanted baby is unacceptable. Christians seem more worried about some potential mythical, cherub-cheeked group of cells than the very real harmful psychological and physical impacts of a forced pregnancy on the very real, already existing woman. It’s god’s will and their cross to bear. Doesn’t sound very Christian to me.
Misogyny is over 2,000 years old. Nothing should surprise or puzzle anyone.
Women are still not human beings to a big piece of American society. An embryo, a rapist, and a white Christian male all have more rights than a woman.
I find it disgusting that a rapist has more rights in the court system than their victim. A bunch of cells is more important than the woman they reside in. Oh, and don’t get me started on white Christian males. They’re the source of all of this bullshit.
Rapists also have parental rights. Can you imagine that nightmare?
I can’t understand the reasoning behind a rapist having rights to the child their crime inadvertently produced. I guess the legal system sees the child as their property, since their sperm produced it. Chain of custody?
It's not that a rapist has more rights in all 50 states but that this is true in red states where time stopped sometime in the 1950s. On the books it doesn't show, but in societal attitudes the misogyny is definitely there. If it isn't true in criminal jury trials, it's certainly true in our shame-based society where "good" girls don't get raped and where "boys will be boys."
Exactly.
Here in Missouri the rapist gets parental rights too and if the couple is married, the wife can't get divorced in any circumstance if she's pregnant.
Ok. Now I’m looking up the Alabama laws. That’s insane that pregnant women are still legally considered the property of their husbands. After seeing women’s (especially pregnant women’s) rights being stripped away by the GOP, I would be very hesitant to get pregnant right now. Ironically, the “family values” party is harming the very thing it claims it protect. They wrap their hate up in pretty platitudes to get the votes.
Missouri, Texas, Alabama, and Arizona. Why am I not surprised?
it used to be most of the traditional red states...
John, as a man, thank you for your support, and please keep talking with other men, We need numbers to combat this ugly cult of baby kings.
Makes me feel sick just to think people would think such a thing much less say it out loud. Just disgusting.
They must have missed all those parts on the Bible where God keeps tearing me to just stop doing bad things. Like, that’s 90% of it, just Good telling people that they need to stop being horrible and he doesn’t want them to do it.
Well, they do use their god a lot to justify their evil doings.
My Missouri cousins, all, including the women, especially the women support the righteous right wing men saying these retrograde things. When I asked why I was told that I just don’t know the truth. The truth is biblical submission. A big thump on the head by religion to keep women barefoot and pregnant. It’s an age old power play. And that so many women accept it is a sign of mental illness, suppressed trauma, the never talked about is never healed.
Chris, tell any of those Congressmen that their ED is Gods will and insurance won’t cover their little blue pill. I am sure they would have a different view of Gods will.
I’ve often thought that the folks who espouse God’s will and God doesn’t make mistakes to pregnancy would say the same thing with a cancer diagnosis. If women are forced to carry fetuses (even when the fetus isn’t viable) because it’s God’s will, then why isn’t God’s will that someone gets cancer? Shouldn’t they just accept God’s directive to call them home to him/her/them and not seek human intervention? Just asking.
If you follow that argument to its “logical” conclusion murder is “God’s will”, thus negating the need for the death penalty these pro lifers like so much.
I actually came down to the comments to make this very point. If rape is God's will, then murder is God's will, abortion - even if it is murder - is God's will, no one can do anything that is not God's will so there is no sin and no free will and all is preordained.
Exactly. It’s complete nonsense but no-one ever seems to challenge it to their faces.
Logic isn’t something these folks employ or understand. Ever tried to use logic with a 3 year-old? Yep, it’s just like that.
GET OUT of anything that even sniffs of the Confederacy or the Evangicaliban. Come to Michigan. We have jobs, training, world-class education, and a commitment thanks to Gov. Whitmer that nobody gets left behind. We also have water. Lots of it. Good schools. And churches. We have those too but if you're careful you can avoid the Southerners and the Catholics and have a decend social/religious life, if that's your groove. MOST of all, though, is that OUR WOMEN ARE FREE.
Yes we are! Go Gretch!
Wow. Rape is NEVER God's will. Rape happens because we live in a fallen world. To assume to know God's will is the height of arrogance. It's our job on this planet to alleviate suffering, not to ignore it even encourage it.
Pfft. If your God didn't want rape and abuse and murder to happen, for millenia after He supposedly drove us from the garden for being too smart, it wouldn't happen. We're no more fallen than a souffle. The Antonement was a pitiable and horiffic apology fo the miserable disaster He created. He had to kil his own kid to apologize for what he'd done and continues to do to us. Some of us no longer buy it.
Catherine, this is just one origin story. It makes Eve a temptress worthy of abandonment and punishment, The Potawatomi have an origin story of , Sky Woman
Long before the world was created, there was an island in the sky inhabited by sky people. One day a pregnant sky woman drops through a hole created by an uprooted tree and begins to fall for what seems like eternity. Coming out of darkness, she eventually sees oceans. The animals from this world congregate, trying to understand what they see in the sky. A flock of birds is sent to help her. The birds catch her and gently guide her down onto the back of Great Turtle. The water animals like otter and beaver have prepared a place for her on turtle's back. They bring mud from the bottom of the ocean and place it on turtle's back until solid earth begins to form and increase in size. Turtle's back becomes Sky Woman's home and the plants she's brought down with her from Skyworld, including tobacco and strawberries, are her medicine. She makes a life for herself and becomes the mother of Haudenosaunee life, as we know it today.
This paints woman as origin of humans,, as kind, loving, and good, A very different view than that of the view of Eve. There are hundreds of origin stories and they each represent a piece of the truth to people trying to understand who we are. I hope enough people want a multiracial pluralistic democracy that embraces equality ,equity , common courtesy, decency, honor, truth and the common good. The good fight goes on.
Well said. I'm tired of "God" and "his" cruelty. I wish society would hurry up and outgrow God."
Christian "men," however, seem to lick their chops and adjust their pants anytime "Christian" murders of others (especially women) are called for by their pastors or Trump.
I am sad that you feel that way, but I'm not going to waste a lot of time trying to convince you otherwise. Suffering in this world is a hard topic, for all of us, and I believe that one of the reasons we are all here is to try to alleviate that suffering as much as we can. But I honor your feelings in this matter and I hope I've spoken respectfully to you.
Great take! Hope it’s okay to copy and share, because this is 100%. Thank you!
"making excuses for rape by saying it’s god’s will is something I hope I never have to read again."
Same. Thank you for your writing; you have such a strong, powerful, and courageous voice.
How many rapes are there in America? How many states ban abortions with no exception for rape? How many are estimated to be minors? How many rape victims know their perpetrators? Check this infographic. "GOP Map Of Shame: Forced Birth For Child Rape Victims"
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/05/14/republican-forced-birth-for-child-rape-victims/
Thank you for this information. This makes me sick to my stomach and beyond angry. There is no excuse for this kind of abuse of power and cruelty. We must inform, stay vigilant and vote like our lives and those we love depend on it, because it does. I never thought Handmaid was possible here in the US but The Orange Ogre has opened Pandora’s box. We must vote blue across our nation and fight this take over. Jess thank you for your fight and showing how these republicans intend to butcher our rights in every state. I stand with each of you and will follow Jess in this fight for our future as a nation and for our kids. LFG!
Those statistics are horrifyingly. If 97% of men experienced sexual laws would be different, In 2024, why is this still allowed? Partly because it is not known. Democrats must make this part of their platform. It is long past due.
"The Kansas City Star reported that Missouri’s backlog of untested sexual assault kits has grown by 380% in the last 5 years. How would anyone get any penalty for rape when rape kits aren’t even processed?"
I just want to share a ray of hope on this front. Here's what happened when NC AG Josh Stein (D) made clearing the backlog of rape kits a priority:
https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2024/04/09/north-carolina-clears-decades-long-rape-kit-backlog-ag-josh-stein-says
Except that the Republicans don't really want to solve rape cases, they blame the victim, Greg Abbott in Texas is no different.
Go, Josh!!
He’s getting my vote and some of my money.
Me too!
This should happen in EVERY state no matter red or blue. It’s time to fight for victims of rape, female and male, and demand justice across this country. I think we all know rape culture exists because laws aren’t in place that truly protect victims, much less provide money to stop the backlogs of rape kits nationwide. Project 2025 will exacerbate rape without repercussions across the US if we do not stand up to oppression and this fascist take over by right wing Christo fascist and their Orange Ogre leader Hein Twitler.
You're willingly taking on the task of Sisyphus. You're aware that was a punishment, right? :p
Jess for Missouri 2024. Maybe for America later on.
I didn't commit the crime of hubris, but unfortunately, I do carry the punishment of constantly pushing that rock up the hill.
Hmm. For you, it seems less of a punishment than simply a drive to do good, even if it seems impossible. Still a task, not a punishment. Maybe that lightens the load.
Or maybe it needs to be a punishment - an injustice for you to fight against. I understand that drive. To wit;
https://endlessnameless.substack.com/p/snippet?utm_medium=android&triedRedirect=true
This is probably why we get along. :)
Thank you. I need to know why oh why are so many millions of people putting aside their moral compass and voting to destroy anything good in the world? Things DO need to change, absolutely. BUT can’t they see that Trump is an Opposite man? Everything he says is opposite the truth? Can’t they see Biden is hearing and changing? If only people reworked the Republican Party to their actual values, America would be a powerhouse of change and a bright future. Instead there is this blind hate and toxic fear creating a black hole of total collapse. Certainly nothing good to come from that. How do they see this country except as a military state like so many dysfunctional countries failing to thrive. We will also take the world with us toward disaster. Maybe we just failed. The experiment failed. We didn’t keep the greedy in check or the children educated. We didn’t care for our veterans or under served. We let entertainment and technology and corporations run amok. We got lost in our own team mentality and tribalism that stood for nothing. We forgot to be proud and grateful and thoughtful. We created this hole of fake news, isolation and ignorance, and now we allowed laws and leaders to sustain the imbalances and disenfranchise our voters. What a sad heartbreaking mess.
I agree. We are sidetracked by sports, church/religion, and celebrities. And there may be no moving forward.
It is sad, heartbreaking and terrifying. Yes, we can vote blue all the way. I just have a hard time knowing people really believe all of this trope from the Republican party. How do their minds get a reset?
The Democratic Party should make sure that these statements are fully publicized in the upcoming state and local election campaigns, as well as nationwide.
This sounds like our GOP majority in TN! I am so grateful we finally have a bunch of candidates running against them in the August 24 primaries and hope we will have a blue wave to reverse some of the slate of hate they’ve been passing! Thank you for writing this piece and for all the comments sharing your rage! It fuels my faith that people will show up to vote 🗳️
Support the blue wave in Tennessee with Blue Tennessee launched in February 2024 by Every State Blue:
https://everystateblue.org/
Thanks for sharing Ellie! Already have 💙🌊
One reason these monsters feel empowered to say such horrific things is they aren't facing any opposition.
Of the 3 Jess mentioned:
No Democrat is running to face Jeff Farnan in House District 1.
Sandy Crawford ran unopposed in the general election in 2022 for Senate District 28. She'll be up for re-election next in 2026.
Rick Brattin will have opposition in November; Raymond James filed to run as a Democrat against him in Senate District 31. I don't know anything about Mr. James but the fact that I can't find any sort of internet presence for his campaign is not a great sign, given that he filed nearly 2 months ago.
As Jess has said many times, we need serious candidates willing to put in the effort to challenge these Republican Christofascists. It's too late to file this year but it's not too early to be thinking about 2026.
It’s not too late to support Blue Missouri to start turning that ship around by running Democratic candidates:
https://bluemissouri.org/
Thank you, friend!
I know Raymond James personally and am good friends with him and his late wife, Jewell. He is the best choice and an active fighter for women and everyone in Missouri!!