Great strides have been made, but sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination are still with us and still an overwhelming problem.

The Jane Collective was a group of women who formed a sort of underground railroad for women needing abortions in the Chicago area from 1968 until Roe v. Wade was handed down in 1973.

This is no time to worry about inflation instead of the future of our country. I'm not saying inflation isn't important, we all suffer from it, especially those of us with lower incomes. The Biden Administration is doing a lot more to fight it than the MAGA crowd will.

Žina Amini was arrested by the Iranian Morality Police for wearing her headscarf, a hijab, too loosely, showing some hair. Two hours later, she was dead.

The overturn of Roe v. Wade has brought the worst, and I mean the *worst* forced birthers into the limelight, but maybe that’s better.

As always, inform yourself and vote! Also, here are some handy links for contact information for the people who represent you and your interests. You would be surprised at how much it matters to politicians when they hear from their constituents, especially when they hear from a lot of people with the same concerns. So let them know your concerns!

I am talking about the mundane, the everyday, the privilege we *all* have to one extent or another. White privilege. Male privilege. Cisgender privilege. Hetero privilege. Religious privilege. Socio-economic privilege. Able-bodied privilege. Dominant language speaker privilege. Adult privilege.

Let your representatives at every level know that you expect them to support women and legislation that protects and promotes them. Vote out politicians who do not respect women. Don’t consume media or products that denigrate women. Work for and promote equal rights for women

Between the 2 to 1 rejection of a state constitutional amendment to eliminate the right to abortion - in *Kansas*, of all astonishing places - and the pending passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, this week looked to be a pretty good week.

So the moral of the story, friends, is get out and do something about all of this. Inform yourself and vote, yes; talk to your friends, neighbors, family, anyone who will listen about it, yes; but also volunteer to help elect candidates who respect and protect women.

I know that people who go to the trouble to comment are, by and large, those who either feel strongly one way or the other, or those who get some kind of satisfaction out of nastiness (trolls), but I do find the false equivalencies, false information, and lack of understanding a little disheartening sometimes.

Unfortunately, any trust in the current Supreme Court to uphold longstanding precedent or basic rights is misplaced. Our only real hope is Kavanaugh, who said specifically in his concurring opinion in Dobbs that he would not vote to uphold a ban on interstate travel as Constitutional.

In the United States, you cannot be forced to donate any portion of your body, even after death. Even though thousands of people – including infants and children - suffer and die for want of those donations every year.

People have commented to me lately that with so many types of birth control available, women just need to be responsible and there won’t be a need for abortions. These people aren’t really thinking it through.

It’s about controlling women, and particularly poor women and women of color, who are the most likely groups to be unable to circumvent state laws against abortion. Abortion rates have been plummeting for decades, but women have been gaining status and power, and that threatens some people. This is a way to put women back in their place.

The Supreme Court’s draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade claims that Roe was wrongly decided because legal abortion does not have a “long history and tradition” in the U.S. T

Miscarriage is defined as the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks gestation. Criminalization of abortion will result in further criminalization of miscarriage. I say “further” because miscarriage has been criminalized in the U.S. for a very long time, and there has been a marked uptick in the past twenty years. It is increasing in the wake of Texas’ SB-8, and will only continue to grow under copycat laws in other states.