12/12/23

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, December 12th. Gingerbread house day

I love a good gingerbread house. I can’t make em, I mean I probably can but I for sure don’t have the patience, but I still love it. They look incredible when done well, they look adorable when done by a child, they look lame when done by me, but they’re all delicious.

And now, the news.

Kate Cox

-via NPR , Texas Tribune, and NY Times

I know I said today would be an episode all about an update on Israel and Hamas, but two really big stories were all over the news today and they need to be covered. And this first story, as well as the Israel-Hamas update both require the time and care needed to tell the stories correctly, so tomorrow I will hopefully be able to do that planned Israel-Hamas update. 

Instead today we’re starting with Kate Cox.

I talked about Kate yesterday, she’s the woman who is 20 weeks pregnant with a fetus that has Edwards Syndrome, a condition that has extremely low rates of survival past a few days. She’s been to the emergency room four times with cramping and what’s being described as “other concerning symptoms.”

However, Kate lives in Texas - where there are three overlapping abortion bans in the state. Abortions are illegal in Texas from the moment that the pregnancy begins. However, an abortion can be provide if the person carrying the baby is "in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”

Serious risk, however, is not clearly defined. Doctors, hospitals and lawyers have all asked for language clarity but the Texas AG’s office, that’s the one headed by Ken Paxton, an abhorrent fraction of a human, says it’s clear and will not further clarify.

A district court ruled that she could have this abortion, but on Friday the state Supreme Court said no after Paxton appealed the district court’s ruling. He also sent a letter, which was shared on social media, to all hospitals where the dr who said she’d be willing to provide the abortion has admitting privileges, saying the hospitals, and doctor, could face felony charges and a fine no less than $100,000.

Paxton argues that Cox’s doctor "fails to identify what 'life-threatening' medical condition that Ms. Cox purportedly has that is aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy, nor does it state with specificity how this unidentified condition places Ms. Cox at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless the abortion is performed or induced.” Which is to condescending. Also, Paxton is not a doctor. He also is, apparently, unable to employ basic sense because obviously if the baby’s life is in danger, that also puts the life of the person carrying the baby in danger. Because of how the baby is in their body. 

It’s also just trauma on top of trauma. First of all, people should be able to have abortions. Period. No judgement. But in this case, we’re talking about a wanted pregnancy. So we’re starting with the trauma of this poor woman have to go through the devastation of being pregnant and knowing this baby will likely not survive past a few days. She then had to make the heart wrenching decision about what to do. And now that she’s done this, her trauma is making national news because the state of Texas, and non-doctor Ken Paxton, have just decided that they’re in charge of how this woman can live her life. 

On Monday it was announced that she would leave the state to have the abortion. For what feel like very obvious reasons, the details of the travel are under wraps. 

However, the Center for Reproductive Rights told the state Supreme Court that it would continue the case, even though she would no longer be seeking an abortion in the state. Yesterday I mentioned that on Friday the Court stayed her right to get an abortion before it had a ruling, but on Monday the Court officially ruled that no, she cannot get an abortion in Texas. Because even though she’s been into the emergency room four times already, her life wasn’t in enough danger yet.

I can’t even imagine the horror that this woman and her family have had to live with. 

SCOTUS and Trump

-via Washington Post

Also on Monday, some Trump news came out. Normally I’d be all beep bop sound effects, nicknames all around, but it’s hard to be funny after I just spent the majority of this episode, and my day frankly, thinking and talking about what essentially is state-sanctioned torture in Texas against Kate Cox. And no swoosh sound effect can change that. So just: here’s a quick thing.

The Supreme Court on Monday said it would consider Jack Smith’s request to fast-track Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution in the federal election stealing crimes case, because without speeding things up, the Court may not otherwise rule until June.

In the ask, Smith noted that he recognizes this is an “extraordinary request” but added that this is “an extraordinary case.”

And that’s it. That’s the news.

That Kate Cox story is really hard. Really really hard. It’s upsetting, and it’s also infuriating. Politicians should not be able to make decisions about what we do with our bodies. And they certainly shouldn’t be able to use one of the worst moments in someone’s life as a political chess piece. It’s a bad decision but an abhorrent man. 

And because you understand that the only way we can beat them is if we all, every eligible one of us, turn out to vote next year - I’m proud of. You.