It isn't just "fetal" personhood that Judge K is pushing. He won't use the word fetus because it is just "one" term for the stages of growth in the womb. He wants ZYGOTE personhood, even before implantation. Under this rule, failure of the zygote to implant could result in charges against a woman for somehow not taking due care to achieve implantation.
See footnote one of the opinion:
"Jurists often use the word “fetus” to inaccurately identify unborn humans in unscientific ways. The word “fetus” refers to a specific gestational stage of development, as opposed to the zygote, blastocyst, or embryo stages. Because other jurists use the terms “unborn human” or “unborn child” interchangeably, and because both terms are inclusive of the multiple gestational stages relevant to the FDA Approval, 2016 Changes, and 2021 Changes, this Court uses “unborn human” or “unborn child” terminology throughout this Order, as appropriate."
Forgettabout the fact that many may have a sincere religious belief that life becomes human at some other point in gestation. "Sincere religious belief" works for only one branch of one religion, clearly.
During my working years I did many jobs and even was in my own business, mostly because I was a firefighter-paramedic with one day out of three on duty. Of my on-duty positions I was a fire inspector, assist fire marshal and then fire marshal for several years, so my work week was Monday to Friday then-no off duty work.
However, while on the rotating shift work schedule for several years I was employed part time for another city in another county as a construction building inspector. (I grew up in a construction household and worked several years in the trades while I attended college eventually earning a BS in biochemistry. And I became a certified general contractor at 27 years of age. I said I was diverse.). In the municipal work, impressed upon me was not taking of anything of value from the general public, especially if I had enforcement authority of that public. Many of the public were in construction and development and were often much wealthier. The point is: anything of value is anything which has a price tag-money, goods and drinks and meals. Offers of travel and vacations were never experienced. A coworker once was placed on leave without pay for overlooking or failure to cite a violation. In that case it was a violation easily missed. Eventually he was exonerated, but not after he went through terrible mental strain and financial hardship. There were no qualms in reprimanding or ending a person’s career who was at the bottom.
Clarence Thomas has been given a pass and that pass obviously is given to the all nine justices in the SCOTUS. Please do not tell me “No one is above the law.” Apparently many who are in charge are. Change is sorely needed.
Robert, please rest. If you have what I had/have, it takes forever to feel strong. Thank you for today's newsletter.
Watching videos on Twitter that capture the drama in the Tennessee legislature, it was like the old, paunchy, white dudes were caricatures of old, paunchy, white, dudes with low budget Hollywood Central Casting actors with southern accents. So creepy. It is as though these men are in a time warp from the 20s and 30s.
I constantly post your newsletters and Heather's newsletters on Twitter and often LinkedIn. I'm assuming that will no longer be possible on Twitter. I know that it has brought more people to Heather's substack, but I don't know if it has to yours. I only know because someone posted that.
The act blue fundraiser for The Tennessee 3 has already raised over $240,000
Today the sun is shining and I refuse to let the inbred mofos disturb my desire for a beautiful, tranquil fin de semana with their foul breathed lies and dark motives. I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP
I love the ideas and ideals of my forefathers. I revere our Constitution. I believe in a world of wonder that is so close.
So now Texas determines our health care and child bearing along with SCOTUS, and Florida writes the history we learn. Tennessee is in charge of free speech and guns.
Where is the re-start button? We need to talk. Oh, we can't do that either. This is somethin'.
Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling this past week could be used as a reason to read or re-read Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale". It's petrifying. A place where a few old men make all the decisions and where the rest are just trying to survive. If upheld, Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling is almost guaranteed to result in the death and/or severe illness of a bunch of women who didn't need to die or become so ill. Aren't we better than this?
Excellent letter. Glad I waited up for it tonight. I’ll sleep better knowing I’m not alone in my despair and disgust over Friday’s news--1) Tennessee expels Black elected officials for speaking out passionately against gun violence and 2) Clarence Thomas’20-year pay offs from a Republican donor.
I have written before to this substack to describe my own behaviour as a young man growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. At the time, I wrote about my pretty shameful treatment of a young black man named Trent. At the urging of several of you, I tried finding him several times using different searches, but because he has a last name that is in common use, so far I haven't had much luck. Anyway, I want to write today to express my complete disgust with the situation with the Tennessee legislature. I watched a white legislator berate, belittle, and verbally abuse one of the young black representatives the chamber would later expel and my immediate thought was that the only thing missing from his speech was "Boy!" Today, I also want to ask you NOT to give up on Tennessee. I'm thinking of a white man I had the privilege to know in Memphis back in the 80's and early 90's who held a great deal of power - Memphis Mayor Richard (Dick) Hackett. Mr. Hackett often frequented my father's tropical fish store just to look at the fish. Most times he didn't even purchase anything. As my dad and the Mayor became more acquainted, I remember him telling my father that he needed time to calm down before he went home. My father's store did have a calming effect due to the low lighting and the constant gurgling sound caused by the aquarium filters. Anyway, I digress. . . the point I'm trying to make is that the Mayor tried very hard to overcome many of the biases inherent in his job, entirely racial. Racial bias in Memphis politics dated back to "Boss" Crump and beyond, and was pretty baked into the system. As the Mayor tried to change the system, the effect was mainly to make both sides, white and black, mad at him. Every appointment and policy decision was driven by race. I should note that Memphis had only ever had white mayors. The 1990 mayoral race between Mr. Hackett and Dr. Willie Herenton, the former black superintendent of schools in Memphis, was one of the most bitter and divisive political campaigns in Memphis political history. Out of thousands of votes cast, Dr. Herenton won the race by just a few hundred votes and it was widely expected that Mayor Hackett would contest the race and demand a recount. Many white people refused to believe he lost and were prepared to support him if he decided not to step down. Sound familiar? In a move that stunned virtually everyone but my dad, and following several days of speculation and preparations for riots and bloodshed, Mayor Hackett graciously conceded. He said in his concession that the upheaval and further damage to race relations in Memphis caused by contesting the race was not worth it. He wished Dr. Herenton good luck and promised to cooperate in what he hoped would be a peaceful transition. Hackett's white supporters were outraged but he stood by his decision that ultimately allowed Dr. Herenton to become the first black mayor in Memphis history. I should note that Memphis was the last major city in the south to elect a black mayor - 1991! My point is this, please don't give up on Tennessee. There are many white people there who are shocked and horrified by the racial and clearly fascist conditions there. Between the senseless murder of a yet another black man in Memphis and this shameful episode following an another entirely predictable murder of innocent children by someone wielding an AR-15, maybe they will finally unite with their brothers and sisters of color to affect change. We can only hope. I currently live in Texas, but that's another story. . .
Thank you, as always. If I may make a historical note…one facet of the radicalization of the GOP begins with Project Redmap, funded by ALEC and the Koch brothers among others. They worked to take over state legislatures in 2010, just in time for the census and redistricting. Democrats were all relaxed and happy following the election of Obama; the right wing was plotting far into the future.
Once they had state legislatures, they began the extreme gerrymandering that allowed them safe GOP seats and unfair control, as in TN and my state of NC. In those safe GOP seats, extreme positions won primaries among the rabid base and the rest of the GOP went along for the ride. That’s partly. how we got the Orange Chaos.( Along with the racism and misogyny of much of the GOP base.)
I hope you continue to feel better and can use the weekend to heal!
How you manage to write such a cogent essay while sick, is beyond my comprehension! I am delighted to pay for your ever-informative and upbeat newsletter! Get well soon Robert.
It is past time for Clarence Thomas to declare that he wants to spend more time with his wife and family. ((Maybe traveling the nation in his RV and staying in those Walmart parking lots he loves.)
It's hard to believe that the Grand Old Party (GOP), now known by various other acronyms far worse than my friend Jack's translation(God-hating Oppressive Pricks), was once the party of Abraham Lincoln, but there it is in all its horror, terrorizing the American people with its fascist policies and insurrectionist tactics. And that just describes one half of the political duopoly elected to run the country, a collection of shills for Big Biz for the most part, supposedly gathered in the Swamp to promote the common welfare as it suggests in the Constitution, but in reality mostly represents corporations and the billionaire class. Meanwhile, We, the People, a phrase that becomes increasingly meaningless with every passing day as it drools from the lips of disingenuous politicians, are forced to march to the cadence of Rightwing Christian Fascist propaganda, while in the background looms a climate crisis that threatens to extinct every living thing on Earth. I think if Thomas Jefferson was alive today, he'd be stirring the political pot in a concerted effort to launch a serious revolution. If we had a functioning democracy, like the one Jefferson and his colleagues envisioned, for example, the shenanigans of corrupt scum like Clarence Thomas and his wife would not be tolerated and the man Barbara Keating calls the Orange Overcomb would have been prosecuted for treason long ago. But we don't really live in Democracy, do we? We live in a plutocratic oligarchy, and that my fellow Americans, is not what the Founders had in mind. A las Barricadas!
I can’t even address the anti-abortion, anti-women rulings, so I’ll turn to the Clarence Thomas story. Your personal story about your Judge brought back so many memories. I clerked in federal court, and then later spent 10 years as a court attorney (law clerk) for a state court judge who was so strict about the ethical rules, she would never attend any of the many Bar Association dinners as an unpaid guest. Her ethics were so ingrained in me that when I attended one event (for which I paid) and a tablemate who did not want her shrimp cocktail offered it to me, I turned and said, “I can only accept it if it’s valued at less than $25.”
Mr. Hubbell, Good use of twelve hours spent in your sickbed. I’m delighted that Substack exists because it has allow good writers like you to continue publishing independently without editorial oversight from anyone you do not choose to hone your prose. And, Substack allows your audience to help support you financially and give you time to work. I was a literary agent for writers and illustrators of kids books for forty years and watched the publishing industry from the inside. It has always been difficult to break into the publishing world, be noticed and survive financially and critically. Substack discovered an innovative structure and they are juggling and refining it as they grow. Musk should worry. It makes sense for Substack to offer payments to some well known writers whom the Substack management feels will expose the brand to a wider audience when those writer’s work is provide through Substack. The practice does not diminish Substack’s value. It is similar to traditional publishers paying an author or illustrator a royalty advance in segments when the project was sold to the publisher from a one sheet outline of an idea. Creators of a text or of artwork cannot be expected to function on speculation forever. Talent needs financial resources in advance of their final finished work product. Obscurity is overcome by exposure, and exposure is what Substack is doing. We just invested a tiny amount of money in a round of Substack’s funding efforts. We’re delighted to be involved with them and you and a dozen other Substack writers.
Robert your dedication is greatly appreciated. We desperately need to find and fund Democratic candidates to defeat Republicans who support these decisions.
In sickness, Robert wrote the finest summary of this horrendous week. Feel better Robert. We need you for our sanity.
It isn't just "fetal" personhood that Judge K is pushing. He won't use the word fetus because it is just "one" term for the stages of growth in the womb. He wants ZYGOTE personhood, even before implantation. Under this rule, failure of the zygote to implant could result in charges against a woman for somehow not taking due care to achieve implantation.
See footnote one of the opinion:
"Jurists often use the word “fetus” to inaccurately identify unborn humans in unscientific ways. The word “fetus” refers to a specific gestational stage of development, as opposed to the zygote, blastocyst, or embryo stages. Because other jurists use the terms “unborn human” or “unborn child” interchangeably, and because both terms are inclusive of the multiple gestational stages relevant to the FDA Approval, 2016 Changes, and 2021 Changes, this Court uses “unborn human” or “unborn child” terminology throughout this Order, as appropriate."
Forgettabout the fact that many may have a sincere religious belief that life becomes human at some other point in gestation. "Sincere religious belief" works for only one branch of one religion, clearly.
This year, Holy Week became "Holy Hell Week."
During my working years I did many jobs and even was in my own business, mostly because I was a firefighter-paramedic with one day out of three on duty. Of my on-duty positions I was a fire inspector, assist fire marshal and then fire marshal for several years, so my work week was Monday to Friday then-no off duty work.
However, while on the rotating shift work schedule for several years I was employed part time for another city in another county as a construction building inspector. (I grew up in a construction household and worked several years in the trades while I attended college eventually earning a BS in biochemistry. And I became a certified general contractor at 27 years of age. I said I was diverse.). In the municipal work, impressed upon me was not taking of anything of value from the general public, especially if I had enforcement authority of that public. Many of the public were in construction and development and were often much wealthier. The point is: anything of value is anything which has a price tag-money, goods and drinks and meals. Offers of travel and vacations were never experienced. A coworker once was placed on leave without pay for overlooking or failure to cite a violation. In that case it was a violation easily missed. Eventually he was exonerated, but not after he went through terrible mental strain and financial hardship. There were no qualms in reprimanding or ending a person’s career who was at the bottom.
Clarence Thomas has been given a pass and that pass obviously is given to the all nine justices in the SCOTUS. Please do not tell me “No one is above the law.” Apparently many who are in charge are. Change is sorely needed.
Robert, please rest. If you have what I had/have, it takes forever to feel strong. Thank you for today's newsletter.
Watching videos on Twitter that capture the drama in the Tennessee legislature, it was like the old, paunchy, white dudes were caricatures of old, paunchy, white, dudes with low budget Hollywood Central Casting actors with southern accents. So creepy. It is as though these men are in a time warp from the 20s and 30s.
A beautiful moment with a Covenant mom embracing Justin Pearson. https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1644424523385565186?s=20
I constantly post your newsletters and Heather's newsletters on Twitter and often LinkedIn. I'm assuming that will no longer be possible on Twitter. I know that it has brought more people to Heather's substack, but I don't know if it has to yours. I only know because someone posted that.
The act blue fundraiser for The Tennessee 3 has already raised over $240,000
Today the sun is shining and I refuse to let the inbred mofos disturb my desire for a beautiful, tranquil fin de semana with their foul breathed lies and dark motives. I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP
I love the ideas and ideals of my forefathers. I revere our Constitution. I believe in a world of wonder that is so close.
https://youtu.be/j-fWDrZSiZs
So now Texas determines our health care and child bearing along with SCOTUS, and Florida writes the history we learn. Tennessee is in charge of free speech and guns.
Where is the re-start button? We need to talk. Oh, we can't do that either. This is somethin'.
Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling this past week could be used as a reason to read or re-read Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale". It's petrifying. A place where a few old men make all the decisions and where the rest are just trying to survive. If upheld, Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling is almost guaranteed to result in the death and/or severe illness of a bunch of women who didn't need to die or become so ill. Aren't we better than this?
Excellent letter. Glad I waited up for it tonight. I’ll sleep better knowing I’m not alone in my despair and disgust over Friday’s news--1) Tennessee expels Black elected officials for speaking out passionately against gun violence and 2) Clarence Thomas’20-year pay offs from a Republican donor.
I have written before to this substack to describe my own behaviour as a young man growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. At the time, I wrote about my pretty shameful treatment of a young black man named Trent. At the urging of several of you, I tried finding him several times using different searches, but because he has a last name that is in common use, so far I haven't had much luck. Anyway, I want to write today to express my complete disgust with the situation with the Tennessee legislature. I watched a white legislator berate, belittle, and verbally abuse one of the young black representatives the chamber would later expel and my immediate thought was that the only thing missing from his speech was "Boy!" Today, I also want to ask you NOT to give up on Tennessee. I'm thinking of a white man I had the privilege to know in Memphis back in the 80's and early 90's who held a great deal of power - Memphis Mayor Richard (Dick) Hackett. Mr. Hackett often frequented my father's tropical fish store just to look at the fish. Most times he didn't even purchase anything. As my dad and the Mayor became more acquainted, I remember him telling my father that he needed time to calm down before he went home. My father's store did have a calming effect due to the low lighting and the constant gurgling sound caused by the aquarium filters. Anyway, I digress. . . the point I'm trying to make is that the Mayor tried very hard to overcome many of the biases inherent in his job, entirely racial. Racial bias in Memphis politics dated back to "Boss" Crump and beyond, and was pretty baked into the system. As the Mayor tried to change the system, the effect was mainly to make both sides, white and black, mad at him. Every appointment and policy decision was driven by race. I should note that Memphis had only ever had white mayors. The 1990 mayoral race between Mr. Hackett and Dr. Willie Herenton, the former black superintendent of schools in Memphis, was one of the most bitter and divisive political campaigns in Memphis political history. Out of thousands of votes cast, Dr. Herenton won the race by just a few hundred votes and it was widely expected that Mayor Hackett would contest the race and demand a recount. Many white people refused to believe he lost and were prepared to support him if he decided not to step down. Sound familiar? In a move that stunned virtually everyone but my dad, and following several days of speculation and preparations for riots and bloodshed, Mayor Hackett graciously conceded. He said in his concession that the upheaval and further damage to race relations in Memphis caused by contesting the race was not worth it. He wished Dr. Herenton good luck and promised to cooperate in what he hoped would be a peaceful transition. Hackett's white supporters were outraged but he stood by his decision that ultimately allowed Dr. Herenton to become the first black mayor in Memphis history. I should note that Memphis was the last major city in the south to elect a black mayor - 1991! My point is this, please don't give up on Tennessee. There are many white people there who are shocked and horrified by the racial and clearly fascist conditions there. Between the senseless murder of a yet another black man in Memphis and this shameful episode following an another entirely predictable murder of innocent children by someone wielding an AR-15, maybe they will finally unite with their brothers and sisters of color to affect change. We can only hope. I currently live in Texas, but that's another story. . .
Thank you, as always. If I may make a historical note…one facet of the radicalization of the GOP begins with Project Redmap, funded by ALEC and the Koch brothers among others. They worked to take over state legislatures in 2010, just in time for the census and redistricting. Democrats were all relaxed and happy following the election of Obama; the right wing was plotting far into the future.
Once they had state legislatures, they began the extreme gerrymandering that allowed them safe GOP seats and unfair control, as in TN and my state of NC. In those safe GOP seats, extreme positions won primaries among the rabid base and the rest of the GOP went along for the ride. That’s partly. how we got the Orange Chaos.( Along with the racism and misogyny of much of the GOP base.)
I hope you continue to feel better and can use the weekend to heal!
How you manage to write such a cogent essay while sick, is beyond my comprehension! I am delighted to pay for your ever-informative and upbeat newsletter! Get well soon Robert.
It is past time for Clarence Thomas to declare that he wants to spend more time with his wife and family. ((Maybe traveling the nation in his RV and staying in those Walmart parking lots he loves.)
It's hard to believe that the Grand Old Party (GOP), now known by various other acronyms far worse than my friend Jack's translation(God-hating Oppressive Pricks), was once the party of Abraham Lincoln, but there it is in all its horror, terrorizing the American people with its fascist policies and insurrectionist tactics. And that just describes one half of the political duopoly elected to run the country, a collection of shills for Big Biz for the most part, supposedly gathered in the Swamp to promote the common welfare as it suggests in the Constitution, but in reality mostly represents corporations and the billionaire class. Meanwhile, We, the People, a phrase that becomes increasingly meaningless with every passing day as it drools from the lips of disingenuous politicians, are forced to march to the cadence of Rightwing Christian Fascist propaganda, while in the background looms a climate crisis that threatens to extinct every living thing on Earth. I think if Thomas Jefferson was alive today, he'd be stirring the political pot in a concerted effort to launch a serious revolution. If we had a functioning democracy, like the one Jefferson and his colleagues envisioned, for example, the shenanigans of corrupt scum like Clarence Thomas and his wife would not be tolerated and the man Barbara Keating calls the Orange Overcomb would have been prosecuted for treason long ago. But we don't really live in Democracy, do we? We live in a plutocratic oligarchy, and that my fellow Americans, is not what the Founders had in mind. A las Barricadas!
I can’t even address the anti-abortion, anti-women rulings, so I’ll turn to the Clarence Thomas story. Your personal story about your Judge brought back so many memories. I clerked in federal court, and then later spent 10 years as a court attorney (law clerk) for a state court judge who was so strict about the ethical rules, she would never attend any of the many Bar Association dinners as an unpaid guest. Her ethics were so ingrained in me that when I attended one event (for which I paid) and a tablemate who did not want her shrimp cocktail offered it to me, I turned and said, “I can only accept it if it’s valued at less than $25.”
Hope you’re feeling better!
Mr. Hubbell, Good use of twelve hours spent in your sickbed. I’m delighted that Substack exists because it has allow good writers like you to continue publishing independently without editorial oversight from anyone you do not choose to hone your prose. And, Substack allows your audience to help support you financially and give you time to work. I was a literary agent for writers and illustrators of kids books for forty years and watched the publishing industry from the inside. It has always been difficult to break into the publishing world, be noticed and survive financially and critically. Substack discovered an innovative structure and they are juggling and refining it as they grow. Musk should worry. It makes sense for Substack to offer payments to some well known writers whom the Substack management feels will expose the brand to a wider audience when those writer’s work is provide through Substack. The practice does not diminish Substack’s value. It is similar to traditional publishers paying an author or illustrator a royalty advance in segments when the project was sold to the publisher from a one sheet outline of an idea. Creators of a text or of artwork cannot be expected to function on speculation forever. Talent needs financial resources in advance of their final finished work product. Obscurity is overcome by exposure, and exposure is what Substack is doing. We just invested a tiny amount of money in a round of Substack’s funding efforts. We’re delighted to be involved with them and you and a dozen other Substack writers.
Robert your dedication is greatly appreciated. We desperately need to find and fund Democratic candidates to defeat Republicans who support these decisions.