On abortion

[MartyFunkhouser]

Its best to just ignore Matt Walsh...seriously

This. He is a piece of human garbage and he should just be ignored.

Two things need to happen with this bold move from Alabama. Ginsburg needs to survive until 2020 and Trump needs to be out of office.

I realize that many on here are not abortion supporters, but this law goes way too far and is heartless. To force someone who is raped (especially a child) to carry a child to term is just wrong on so many levels. It is proof positive that the republicans in Alabama don't give a shit about the bodily autonomy of women.

[Northwestcoug]

What a moron. I'm sure in his head he thought this was a hot take. And so did 750 other people...

[Moliere]

This. He is a piece of human garbage and he should just be ignored.

Two things need to happen with this bold move from Alabama. Ginsburg needs to survive until 2020 and Trump needs to be out of office.

I realize that many on here are not abortion supporters, but this law goes way too far and is heartless. To force someone who is raped (especially a child) to carry a child to term is just wrong on so many levels. It is proof positive that the republicans in Alabama don't give a shit about the bodily autonomy of women.

I’m more concerned about their mental health and well being.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I’m more concerned about their mental health and well being.

Good point. Republicans in Alabama don't give a shit about women's mental health, well being, or bodily autonomy.

[Uncle Ted]

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[Moliere]

Good point. Republicans in Alabama don't give a shit about women's mental health, well being, or bodily autonomy.

It's an insane law, but one that has good support in Alabama. THankfully I belong to a church that has a more liberal view on abortion. Not allowing an abortion in the case of rape is just crazy.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Utah AG announces he will not prosecute utah’s new anti-abortion law. Says it is likely unconstitutional so it is a waste of time.

These dualing abortion laws (full-term OK in liberal states, severely restriction in conservative states) are dumb. I am a broken record, but politics are broken right now. God help us.

[Northwestcoug]

Utah AG announces he will not prosecute utah’s new anti-abortion law. Says it is likely unconstitutional so it is a waste of time.

These dualing abortion laws (full-term OK in liberal states, severely restriction in conservative states) are dumb. I am a broken record, but politics are broken right now. God help us.

I am at a loss to explain those states' long-term strategies. They are obviously crafting laws for a potential SC hearing, but there is no way even a conservative majority is going strike down Roe in favor of a 6-8 week ban or no rape/incest exceptions. At least I don't think so.

[Bo Diddley]

Utah AG announces he will not prosecute utah’s new anti-abortion law. Says it is likely unconstitutional so it is a waste of time.

These dualing abortion laws (full-term OK in liberal states, severely restriction in conservative states) are dumb. I am a broken record, but politics are broken right now. God help us.

Amen.

I'd like to believe it's a vocal minority, but more and more people I know seem to be too far out on the poles.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I am at a loss to explain those states' long-term strategies. They are obviously crafting laws for a potential SC hearing, but there is no way even a conservative majority is going strike down Roe in favor of a 6-8 week ban or no rape/incest exceptions. At least I don't think so.

It all seems like political grand-standing to me. Pandering to extremists. Because that’s what we do now.

[MartyFunkhouser]

It all seems like political grand-standing to me. Pandering to extremists. Because that’s what we do now.

I don't think this is political grandstanding at this point. I think this is drawing battle lines by passing laws that are clearly unconstitutional under the current jurisprudence. It is to force the issue of getting this matter before the Supreme Court and trying to change the law based on the current composition of the court. The only exception to this might be Alabama. That law is so cruel and out there that it might very well be political grandstanding.

[swampfrog]

Amen.

I'd like to believe it's a vocal minority, but more and more people I know seem to be too far out on the poles.

It likely is a minority, but that's all it takes in many cases. Interesting research has been done on how activism with a minority opinion can flip the majority. Models have been anywhere from 10% to 25% being the necessary threshold. Especially if the activists are unwavering. Some dispute to where the threshold is.

Decades of work in sociology, physics, and other disciplines have supported this idea. Small groups of people can indeed flip firmly established social conventions, as long as they reach a certain critical mass. When that happens, what was once acceptable can quickly become unacceptable, and vice versa.

"What I think is happening at the threshold is that there’s a pretty high probability that a noncommitted actor”—a person who can be swayed in any direction—“will encounter a majority of committed minority actors, and flip to join them,” says Pamela Oliver, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “There is therefore a good probability that enough non-committed actors will all flip at the same time that the whole system will flip."

This isn’t necessarily an uplifting message, Centola stresses. “It’s really important to be aware of how easily populations can be co-opted by people with an agenda,” he says.

Also this article.

[swampfrog]

It all seems like political grand-standing to me. Pandering to extremists. Because that’s what we do now.

An appeal to rational, civil discourse

In a week’s worth of conversations in London and Oxford, Bret and I heard people from both left and right, upper class and working class, talk about their concerns regarding the watchful eyes of the state, and the de facto orthodoxy that is creeping in. So many people have faith that the human spirit can rise to the set of modern predicaments in which we find ourselves, but believe—indeed, know in their heart of hearts—that we need oversight and regulation of processes too large to contain within small political structures and policy fixes, but that there is an obvious tension between this and a need for privacy, time and space away from state control. How, at this late date, can we free ourselves from the corporate algorithms that capture our attention and resources, from the legal and ubiquitous mood-disrupters and exogenous hormones that so many people find themselves on, from the ever narrowing social norms of what constitutes acceptable discourse? In a sense, we have agreed to our own imprisonment.

[Green Monstah]

I'm pretty pro-life. I fully support rape, incest, and risk to life (mom or baby exceptions), and I have no problem with the mom making that call up to the point of viability.

These new bills going through the states' legislatures are in direct response to the Democrats' overreaches earlier in the year in NY and VA. If they could have left well enough alone, then Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio wouldn't be acting like idiots.

[Northwestcoug]

I'm pretty pro-life. I fully support rape, incest, and risk to life (mom or baby exceptions), and I have no problem with the mom making that call up to the point of viability.

These new bills going through the states' legislatures are in direct response to the Democrats' overreaches earlier in the year in NY and VA. If they could have left well enough alone, then Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio wouldn't be acting like idiots.

Complete BS. A plan to strike down Roe v Wade has been on the official republican platform for decades. Maaaaybe the lack of a rape/incest provision in Alabama was a response to democrats in other states. But the other states are doing what republican voters want them to do. This is who they are, frankly.