Dave Pepper does a deep dive into the thinking that lies behind the increasing push, now led by evangelicals like the Southern Baptists, to ban IVF. As he notes, there's the insistence in key documents like Project 2025 and Heritage Foundation essays that Protestants need to adopt the Catholic magisterial notion that a human person is fully present from the moment of conception.
This is a position one can arrive at only by theological fiat. It is not a position arrived at by scientific reasoning. Reasonable people have long disagreed about when a human person is present in the process of conception. A majority of Catholics in the US reject the official magisterial teaching that a person is present from the moment of conception. The position that a person is fully present at conception is a minority position among US Christians.
Yes, those driving the Project 2025 agenda and pushing to return Trump to the White House fully intend to impose this minoritarian, religion-based position on the entire nation by force of law. The speak of "subduing" and gaining "dominion" over reproductive technology. As Heritage Foundation says,
“It is time for Protestant denominations to pay serious attention to reproductive technology and invest in the hard work of subduing and taking dominion over it.”
"It cannot be said often enough: Republicans will not be satisfied until they have outlawed contraception and IVF. A month ago, Idaho Republicans issued a letter saying that IVF was safe in that state. Today, the Idaho Republican Party adopted a platform that included a 'fetal personhood' plank, which states as follows:
"We affirm that human personhood begins at the moment of conception and ought to be protected and cherished from that moment on. We oppose all actions which intentionally end an innocent human life, including abortion, the destruction of human embryos, euthanasia, and assisted suicide."
"The Idaho Republican Party expanded its anti-reproductive health efforts last week during a party convention, affirming its support for the fetal personhood ideology and proclaiming that they oppose 'the destruction of human embryos,' a reference to the common practice in in vitro fertilization treatments of creating more embryos than are needed, and discarding those that are not viable or are not used."
“'You know, I wish people in blue states understood something. For them, Republicans are an inconvenience. For us, they’re a daily threat.'
So said an incredibly astute friend (and fellow red-state Democrat) last week, after 38 U.S. Senators voted against a federally protected right to contraception.
"if you live in a blue state, here’s what you might not have realized before last week’s vote: those 38 red state Senators want the whole country to be as red as their state. And they won’t stop until they get what they want. They’ve already created a conservative playground in their own backyard.
They’re coming for yours, now.
If that wasn’t clear before they voted against contraception last week, it should be crystal now."
#Women are still being charged for #contraception even though federal #law dictates it should be free. The chair of the #Senate#health cmte wants a govt watchdog to investigate why.
Under the #ACA, health plans are required to provide #BirthControl to patients as a #preventive. Repeated probes have found that plans flout the law & #patients are asked to pay, Sen #BernieSanders said in a letter being sent Mon to the Govt #Accountability Office.
In his letter to GAO, #BernieSanders cites a recent investigation by the state of VT that found 3 #insurers wrongly charged residents >$1.5M for #contraception. A 2022 investigation by the #House#Oversight Cmte found that #HealthInsurance companies persistently denied their members’ requests for no-cost #contraceptives. Some insurers deny coverage for certain brand-name contraceptives, saying they cover generic versions that are therapeutically equivalent.
"Dobbs is really just the inevitable consequence of [the Religious Right's] power. They’re not stopping here. The movement leaders are determined to end all abortion access everywhere. When they say abortion, they also mean some of the most effective and popular forms of birth control, as well as miscarriage care that’s necessary to save women’s lives and health."
"It is politically advantageous for Republicans to lie about their ongoing attacks on birth control and emergency contraception—the Right to Contraception Act was supported by eight in 10 voters, and in general nine out of 10 voters believe access to birth control should be legal. What’s just as clear is how the GOP is continuously attempting to deceive the American public."
"The real question is not if birth control access is in jeopardy—that much is certain—but whether voters are going to once again ignore the dying canary in the coal mine of democracy and allow another constitutional right to fall by the wayside."
@rbreich Similar to the Dobbs decision, overturning Griswold v. Connecticut wouldn't make contraception illegal, rather it would allow governments to ban or restrict contraception. Unlike abortion however, the political support for banning contraception in the US is negligible, even if congressional Republicans don't think contraception should be a federal right.
Jess Piper looks at the Republicans who voted against protecting access to contraception and writes,
"Do you know why I incessantly speak on red state policies? Because they are bleeding into every state in the union. Republican Senators from sparsely populated states are able to hold up our right to contraception. Republican Senators, who are in the minority, can ruin our lives and they do it with ease."
Today Senate Republicans blocked a measure that would have created a federal right to contraception access ( joycevance.substack.com )