We kick off this Monday with three strong contenders for ticked off tee off:
Then we end the hour talking about drunk mice and a hormone that could speed up recovery from alcohol poisoning.
Check out this episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!
A Galveston, Texas, man is suing three women who allegedly helped his now ex-wife obtain abortion pills to end her pregnancy. The Texas Tribune first reported news of the lawsuit on Friday, which it says is the first of its kind since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The lawsuit is even more chilling than it initially sounds because of the legal arguments it makes. Yes, Texas has a total abortion ban, as well as an “aiding and abetting” law enforced by private lawsuits, but the man is suing under the state’s wrongful death statute. The lawsuit claims that assisting with a self-managed abortion qualifies as murder under state law, which allows the man to file a wrongful death claim. (Texas law exempts pregnant people from prosecution and his ex-wife is not named as a defendant.)
Since this is a civil suit, not a criminal case where search warrants have been executed, it’s not clear how Silva accessed the text messages, and many photos of the texts in the complaint appear to be photos of a phone, not screenshots. A thumb is visible in at least seven of the photos.
Silva’s lawyer is Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of SB 8, the bounty hunter law that allows anyone to sue someone who aids or abets an abortion. It’s notable that Mitchell isn’t suing under his own law but instead is taking a more aggressive stance to claim the women participated in a murder. And in other anti-choice news, Texas lawmakers recently introduced a bill that would censor abortion pill websites, including Aid Access. This latest action shows that anti-abortion activists will not be satisfied until people are too scared to help their friends. And just last week, South Carolina police arrested a woman who had allegedly self-managed abortion in October 2021.
Safe to say, the only thing Kristin Brey and Lauren Bobert have in common is their age: 36. Except, Kristin at 36 is trying to have her first baby and Boebert at 36 is becoming a grandmother. Which, you know, no judgment. But it’s the fact that she is walking around on the CPAC stage bragging about it like it’s such a good thing, while simultaneously arguing the same conference that she wants to ban comprehensive sex ed in public schools that’s really infuriating.
How we got here:
Boebert won the Mothers of Influence Award at the CPAC Women’s Breakfast last weekend and shared in her acceptance speech the news that her 17-year-old son, Tyler, had gotten his girlfriend pregnant, and they’re having a boy. Different reports that the girl involved is 15.
Here’s a partial clip of her comments, or you can watch the whole thing on YouTube at the one-hour mark:
But the real problem is that she tries to spin this into a story about rural teenagers being more pro-life than their urban peers:
“One of our biggest fears was not, “What are you going to do? What are people going to say?” Our biggest fear is, “Are they going to choose life?” And they did. We are so proud of them for making that sacrifice and being selfless in that position to say there’s something greater here. So we’re working together with them to make sure that they are amazing parents, that they have the love and support that they need. And you know there’s something special about rural conservative communities—they value life. If you look at teen pregnancy rates throughout the nation, well, they’re the same in rural and urban areas. However, abortion rates are higher in urban areas and teen mom rates are higher in rural conservative areas, because we understand the preciousness of the life that is about to be born.”
Could it also be that rural teens have more pressure from conservative parents? Or less access to abortion care?
Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally has confirmed that for “a little while” he has been liking and leaving comments on social media photos of an openly gay Tennessee man who often poses nearly naked. This is the same Randy McNully who has said he believes “sexual reassignment” surgery should be delayed until adulthood, even if parents give the OK. The same Randy McNully who, two years in a row, voted to limit sports participation on the basis of sex assigned at birth. The same guy who voted for another bill that allows individuals to refuse to share bathrooms and locker rooms with transgender people.
The call is coming fro inside the house Lt. Governor.
Either way – SNL nailed it:
Researchers at UT Southwestern may have found a way to sober you up fast. At the very least, they’ve figured out what to do with mice that might be chugging wine while living in your walls. They found that injecting the liver-produced hormone FGF21 into mice that were passed out from booze brought the critters back to consciousness in half the time it otherwise takes to sleep it off. If it works for humans, the research could lead to lifesaving treatments for alcohol poisoning. Good news for Wisconsin.
Reminder: There are 23 Days Until Wisconsin’s Spring Election.
