#pro choice is just that

[reasonsforhope]

"The number of teenage abortions in Finland fell by 66% between 2000 and 2023, its public health institute THL said on Monday, attributing the reduction to the offer of free contraception to adolescents and compulsory sex education in schools.

Finland also passed a law in 2022 liberalising abortion, at a time of deep divisions over abortion rights in Europe and court rulings in the U.S. that restricted access to terminations of unwanted pregnancies for millions of people there.

The number of abortions among women under 20 rose during the 1990s in Finland, which led the Nordic country to respond at the start of the 2000s by making morning-after pills available without prescription from 15 years of age and sexual education compulsory in all schools.

"We can assume that sexual education plays a significant role," THL's research professor Mika Gissler told Reuters, adding that increased access to contraception from a young age was another factor behind the change.

The number of abortions fell 66% to 722 in 2023 from 2,144 in 2000 among all teenagers aged 19 or younger in Finland, while the drop was even steeper at 78% among those under 18 in the same period, THL's statistics showed.

"Since the latter half of the 2010s, the decline in the number of young people's abortions has also been influenced by the introduction of free contraception in many welfare regions," THL wrote in a report...

Under the 2022 liberalisation, Finland from September 2023 stopped requiring women to give a reason for having an abortion, making it available upon a pregnant person's request during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

[Note: That's actually not a very long window for abortion! Many conservative states in the US have actually instituted 12-week bans, and it's caused terrible upheaval and limits to medical services. Sounds like Finland should liberalize further, imho! Still, important progress!]

THL said it was too early to conclude whether the legislative change, which took effect last year, will have an impact on the number of abortions."

-via Reuters, June 3, 2024

[royaltea000]

Hmmmm…monkey

[snarfflarf]

Asking BG3 characters to pick you up pads: Round 2

[seraphicsuicides]

sometimes i hate being a woman. why cant i do the same things as men without getting sexualized and asked for tit pics? why cant i play this damn video game w this random guy without him saying im shit bc im a chick and then asking for my number? why cant you KEEP YOUR DICK IN YOUR FUCKING PANTS? why cant i go to college and major in a male-dominated field without people expecting me to drop out and give up? why cant i get the same pay as my coworker? why cant you compliment my brains and not just my boobs? why cant you have a conversation with me about something other than burying your dick inside of me? why cant i cut my hair short? why cant i have casual sex without being seen as public property? why is my uterus your business? why cant i go on a walk alone? why do i have to check my back seat every time i get in my car? why do i have to watch my weight because "a man likes a girl with meat on her bones, but not too much of it", why do i have to fight EVERY DAY and even in my fucking SLEEP to feel like i belong on the fucking planet. BEING. A. WOMAN. SHOULDNT. BE. A. FUCKING. CHORE.

[maeve-on-mustafar]

TBH, I wish the opinions of “The Jedi were mostly good and a lot of their perceived faults come from fandom misunderstandings” and “Anakin made a lot of mistakes, had terrible judgement, and went onto to commit an untold number of atrocities but was in fact a very competent and respected Jedi in his time and was widely beloved (by the public)” were not incompatible takes in this fandom.

[bookwormangie]

Defending Lily

As someone involved in the Snape fandom, I’m frustrated by the unfair criticism Lily receives. It’s disheartening to see so much disdain directed at her character, especially when many of these judgments overlook the complexities of her situation. Despite being a minor character in the books, Lily is often misunderstood and unfairly vilified, and as a Snape fan, I feel compelled to defend her. Lily deserves a fairer assessment that considers her full context, rather than being unfairly vilified.

Lily ending her friendship with Snape

Lily was fully justified in ending her friendship with Severus after he called her a slur. Although Snape was being bullied and humiliated at that moment, such a hurtful term doesn't slip out easily—it was already part of his vocabulary. He used and associated it with Muggleborns in general among his Slytherin friends, as Lily pointed out when he attempted to apologize.

““…But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?””

It's important to note that the slur wasn't the sole reason for the end of their friendship. Their relationship had been strained for some time. Snape had long been involved with a gang of Slytherins who aspired to join Voldemort and were deeply involved with the Dark Arts. Given that Lily, his best friend and a Muggleborn, was part of the very group his associates aimed to terrorize, his affiliations were deeply troubling. Despite Lily’s efforts to distance him from his dark associations with Mulciber and Avery, Snape remained entrenched in his choices. She had been excusing his behavior for years because she cared about him deeply and did not want their friendship to end. However, everyone has their breaking point. When he called her a Mudblood, it was the final straw. She could no longer overlook his behavior or excuse it.

“It’s too late. I’ve made excuses for you for years.”

And:

“I can’t pretend anymore. You’ve chosen your way, I’ve chosen mine.”

Ending the friendship was a painful but necessary decision. It's unfair to expect Lily to bear the burden of continuously trying to "save" Snape when he was unwilling to change his ways. Despite her attempts to guide him and communicate her concerns, his own choices ultimately drove them apart.

The "Smile" During SWM

Another point of contention is the exaggerated focus on Lily’s supposed 'smile' during Snape’s bullying. It wasn’t a smile—it was a very brief twitch of her expression. When James flipped Snape upside down, Lily’s expression twitched momentarily before she continued to defend him. Some people are really blowing this out of proportion.

““Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, “Let him down!””

From my perspective, her reaction seems to be an involuntary response to the sudden shock of seeing Snape's underwear. It's not uncommon to smile or refrain from smiling at inappropriate times due to shock or unexpectedness. Alternatively, it could be seen as an indicator of a shift in her and Snape’s relationship, considering their strained friendship. However, Lily's subsequent actions—defending Snape and admonishing James—demonstrate her clear disdain for bullying. Furthermore, the assumption that Snape called her "Mudblood" because of her reaction is also unlikely; Snape was too preoccupied with his own humiliation to notice a fleeting twitch. Harry, observing his parents closely, might have been the only one to catch it.

Criticizing Lily for this brief, involuntary reaction and portraying her as evil is deeply unfair. It shows that she is a flawed human being like the rest of the characters.

Lily's Stance Against Bullying

Another argument I’ve heard is that Lily didn’t defend Snape from the Marauders' bullying at all or does a half-assed job. While our information is limited, we do see her stand up to James when he and Sirius insult Snape on the train to Hogwarts in their first year. Before that, when Petunia called her a freak, Lily stood her ground and told her sister it wasn’t a nice thing to say.

"“Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike. “Come on, Severus, let’s find another compartment.””

And:

“—you think I want to be a–a freak?” Lily’s eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away. “I’m not a freak,” said Lily. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”

Lily is depicted as a person who stands against injustice and bullying. She consistently demonstrates moral courage and empathy, defending those who are mistreated, even when it involves confronting her peers or family members. Her actions reveal a strong sense of fairness and a willingness to speak up for what is right, showcasing her integrity and compassion. Given this, it's likely she defended her best friend on numerous other occasions. Additionally, Snape probably kept most of the bullying incidents a secret from her, viewing it as humiliating. Even Sirius noted that Lily wasn’t aware that James continued to hex Snape in their seventh year. This suggests that it’s not far-fetched to assume Snape may have kept much of the bullying from her.

Lily's Marriage to James

At last, I understand why some might feel uneasy about Lily marrying James Potter, given his history as a bully toward Snape. It's completely reasonable to feel conflicted, as reconciling her choice with her past can seem challenging. However, it's important to note that by the time Lily had gotten with James, she and Snape hadn't been in touch for about two years. Their friendship had ended, and she was no longer involved in his life. This doesn’t mean she was dismissing her past with Snape; rather, she had moved on from that chapter of her life. As I mentioned earlier, Lily likely wasn’t fully aware of the extent of Snape's bullying. Additionally, she saw qualities in James that indicated he had matured to a point she could accept. Lily is not a grudge holder; she is a forgiving person who is willing to give second chances when she perceives change, which she probably saw in James.

All of this doesn’t diminish Snape’s suffering or the challenges he faced, but it highlights the complex realities of both their situations. It’s crucial to consider Lily’s perspective and avoid unfairly condemning her. She shouldn’t be demonized; her actions reflect her own limitations and struggles. Just like all the characters in the series, Lily was flawed and real. Recognizing this can help us move past the simplistic view of her as bad person and appreciate her as a multidimensional character who, like everyone, had her own battles and growth.

[bluespiritshonour]

Aang gets a lot of hate for not giving up on Katara in The Guru. While I don't like the fact that they never had a plotline dedicated to the concept of love and attachment not being the same thing, I love Aang as a male protagonist for that reason.

The hero sacrificing his family, friends, lovers, children is a trope as old as time. You find it in Indian mythology, Chinese mythology, Greek mythology. It's what leads to the fridged woman trope, the noir detective’s dead wife, Batman's ‘good soldier’ in modern day pop culture.

You'd also notice how it's a singularly male hero trope. The female hero, rare as she is, never even gets put into a position where she has to choose between her loved ones’ safety and the greater good. Almost as if subconsciously the writers can't fathom a woman choosing to sacrifice her family, no, when it's a woman her most important duty suddenly is about others.

Aang, in his quest to be a hero, didn't let go of the girl he loved. And when he did he did it for her safety and was narratively punished because of it. And if it means the end of world, well, what's it to a woman's love?

Except we also see how Aang takes his responsibility seriously too!—or he'd just have stood his ground on not killing Ozai and not have done any energy bending. I don't care it was a deux ex machina. I'm just glad to have a hero who didn't think his morals were more important than actual breathing people (cough, Batman, cough).

Why is it that a villain is considered a good lover because he won't sacrifice you for the world, but the moment the hero does it, it's a bad thing?

If you're going to say “it's because a he's a hero,” well then, being a hero then equals being a man who only sees the world through his man eyes. Where the narrative makes everyone else's pain his man pain while stripping the same characters of their right to have their pain acknowledged.

[shift-shaping]

very funny when someone who tries to tell you porn addiction is real is already marked with shinigami eyes. like oh really? i never would have guessed a transphobe would buy multiple strains of fundamentalist christian propaganda. anyway

like i cannot stress enough that porn addiction is a fake thing made up by fundamentalists to make you demonize sex. it is not a real thing. you can have all manner of compulsions, sure, but a porn compulsion is no more harmful than a compulsion to doomscrolling or washing your hands or brushing your teeth. which is to say, it's not great to have a compulsion at all, but a compulsion to pornography is not uniquely concerning in and off itself.

research on this subject is very clear that porn and porn consumption itself is not the issue. what causes distress and shame is the culture surrounding porn and the way our society demonizes people for normal sexual feelings.

porn is morally neutral. you are not a bad person for enjoying porn. the real-life porn industry is a shitshow, but there are many ways to enjoy pornography that are entirely harmless. support your favorite independent porn producers.

[valinoar]

i know everyone is like no no alicent wasn’t jealous of rhaenyra she always had her best interests at heart etc etc but i want to propose: alicent was jealous of rhaenyra. maddeningly so. like imagine being married to your childhood best friend’s father who has a weird valyrian fetish and can’t seem to let go of his doomed homeland which isn’t even really his homeland and then you’re suddenly being put on a pedestal with all these expectations placed on you while (as far as you are aware) your friend seems to escape all the scrutiny and despite being afforded all these options and freedom that you had a hand in convincing be given to her, she still doesn’t seem to understand nor care. i would be green with envy and i think that is alright!!!! let her be jealous! because what else did u expect from the child bride who’s been fed alternating agendas from everyone around her since the moment of her marriage??!

[femmesandhoney]

no offense but if you knew the majority of your followers were radfem or rad aligned feminists and knew how they would react to pro-life christian feminism put on their dashes from someone unexpected, i would almost wager you purposefully wanted to stir up drama on here. bc at that point why don't you delete your blog and create one unaffiliated with the feminism you no longer agree with. weird af to me.

[lenbryant]

Think think think

[reasonsforhope]

"Bria Peacock chose a career in medicine because the Black Georgia native saw the dire health needs in her community — including access to abortion care.

Her commitment to becoming a maternal health care provider was sparked early on when she witnessed the discrimination and judgment leveled against her older sister, who became a mother as a teen. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Peacock was already in her residency program in California, and her thoughts turned back to women like her sister.

“I knew that the people — my people, my community back home — was going to be affected in a dramatic way, because they’re in the South and because they’re Black,” she said.

But even though Peacock attended the Medical College of Georgia, she’s doing her obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of California-San Francisco, where she has gotten comprehensive training in abortion care.

“I knew as a trainee that’s what I needed,” said Peacock, who plans to return to her home state after her residency.

Ever since the Supreme Court decision, California has worked to become a sanctuary for people from states where abortion is restricted. In doing so, it joins 14 other states, including Colorado, New Mexico, and Massachusetts. Now, it’s addressing the fraught issue of abortion training for medical residents, which most doctors believe is crucial to comprehensive OB-GYN training.

A law enacted in September [2023] makes it easier for out-of-state trainees to get up to 90 days of in-person training under the supervision of a California-licensed doctor. The law eliminated the requirement for a training license and also permitted training at programs such as Planned Parenthood that are affiliated with accredited medical schools.

“By allowing physician residents to come to California, where there are more opportunities for abortion training, and by allowing them to be reimbursed for this work, we’re sending a message that abortion care is health care and an essential part of physician training,” said Lisa Folberg, CEO of the California Academy of Family Physicians, which supported the bill.

The question of how to provide complete OB-GYN training promises to become more urgent as the effects of abortion bans on medical education becomes clear: 18 states restrict or ban abortion to the point of effectively stripping 20% of OB-GYN medical residents of the opportunity to get abortion training, according to the Ryan Residency Training Program in Abortion and Family Planning. That’s 1,354 residents this year out of 5,962 OB-GYN residents nationwide.

The restrictions in some cases aim to reach beyond state borders, spooking medical students and residents who fear hostility from anti-abortion groups and right-wing legislators...

Pamela Merritt, executive director of Medical Students for Choice, pointed to a Kansas law that requires repayment of state medical school scholarships — with 15% interest — if residents perform abortions or work in clinics that perform them, except in cases of rape, incest, or a medical emergency.

Doctors point out that abortion training is not just about ending pregnancies. Peacock recalled a patient who started hemorrhaging badly shortly after a healthy delivery. Peacock and her team at UCSF performed a dilation and curettage — a procedure commonly used to terminate pregnancy.

“If we did not have that skill set, and the patient continued to bleed, it could have been life-taking,” said Peacock, chief OB-GYN resident at UCSF...

Peacock, for her part, is adamant about returning to Georgia, where abortions are banned after six weeks. “I’m still going to provide abortions, whether that’s in Georgia or I need to fly to a different state and work in abortion clinics for a week out of the month,” she said. “It would definitely be a big part of my work.”"

-via The 19th, January 2, 2024

[xxchromies]

One of my more controversial opinions is that I think what pro-life women have to say about abortion is a thousand times more important and worth listening to than what pro-choice men have to say about abortion. The opinions of pro-life women mean something and the opinions of pro-choice men mean literally nothing.

[melisssg99]

I'm so done with the divide.

Left, Right, Moderate,

Far Left, Far Right, Center,

Liberal, Traditional,

Progressive, Conservative,

Pro Life, Pro Choice,

Religious, Secular,

Queer, Straight,

Pro This, Pro That,

Anti This, Anti That,

"You can't follow this person, you can't be friends with that person, if you even just share a space with a person from "the wrong side" you are part of the problem"

I'm done

I'm a human who cares about humans

I'm a human who feels sick and tired of these labels that truly tell you nothing about a person.

Not who a person really truly is.

I'm a human who would like to live in peace.

I'm just a human

[sapphic-agent]

"If I was surprised at anything, it may have been that it seemed like people were less willing to let her make mistakes than they were with Aang."

I hate Bryke's guts, but the one thing I will agree with him (Bryan) on is this.

I've gotten heat from Aang stans for saying this, but for me Korra will always be a better written character for me. Not because Aang's childish and optimistic and naive or anything like that. That doesn't matter to me. Hell, it's not even for his actions during DOBS or EIP or Kataang. Sure, those things aren't great, but they aren't the issue with his character.

It's not about Aang's actions, it's about how Aang's actions are treated by the narrative.

This is nothing new obviously, I've said this before. Many times. Aang kissing Katara in EIP is treated as him messing up his chances with her, not because he forced something on her she didn't want. The kiss in DOBS doesn't even come up again in the show (and when it did in the comics, Aang blew up and nearly melted her face off so-). I've spoken enough about his holier-than-thou attitude in TSR too and how his message of forgiveness is perpetuated as the right one.

It's one thing that is 100% better in LOK; Korra is held accountable for her actions, by the narrative, the other characters, and herself. A big part of LOK is Korra acknowledging her actions and making the effort to change and be better.

A great counter to Aang repeatedly crossing boundaries with Katara is in Reunion when she warns Asami about trusting Hiroshi and Asami calls her out on giving unsolicited advice. Korra immediately backs off and tries to apologize when she sees that she upset her.

Now compare this to Aang's behavior in TSR or EIP.

And before anyone says it, I know Korra's older. I also know Asami reconnecting with her father is different than Katara wanting to kill Yon Rha. I get all of that.

But honestly? That doesn't matter to me. Because when you're talking about fictional characters- especially character progression and development for the protagonist- addressing flaws is important. Accountability is important. Especially when it comes to how they treat the people around them (love interests like Asami and Korra probably being the most important).

This is what solidifies Korra's character development as being better than Aang's for me.

However, I do think it's because of this framing (and the fact that she's a woman, but shh) that Korra gets more hate. Her flaws being addressed also means that they're constantly apparent. The audience is always aware of them. Whereas Aang's worse actions tended to be brushed over or excused. Or the context of those mistakes were maneuvered to make the audience feel bad for him instead of the one affected by his actions (EIP EIP EIP EIP).

So yes, Bryan, people were more willing to let Aang make mistakes because you and your bestie failed to actually address them

[rynnthefangirl]

I love how Fire and Blood shows time and time again how Targaryen women are passed over, usurped, abused, killed, raped, and slandered, all building to Daenerys, a Targaryen woman who rises to great power while seeking justice and salvation for all those crushed beneath the oppressive systems of her world... just to be usurped and killed so that we can place a man on the throne again.