DL Open Thread: Weds., September 18, 2024

Georgia Woman Died Because Of The Supreme Court And Ignorant Georgia Elected Officials.  Correction: Women:

Candi Miller’s health was so fragile, doctors warned having another baby could kill her.

“They said it was going to be more painful and her body may not be able to withstand it,” her sister, Turiya Tomlin-Randall, told ProPublica.

But when the mother of three realized she had unintentionally gotten pregnant in the fall of 2022, Georgia’s new abortion ban gave her no choice. Although it made exceptions for acute, life-threatening emergencies, it didn’t account for chronic conditions, even those known to present lethal risks later in pregnancy.

And then there was Amber Nicole Thurman:

In her final hours, Amber Nicole Thurman suffered from a grave infection that her suburban Atlanta hospital was well-equipped to treat.

She’d taken abortion pills and encountered a rare complication; she had not expelled all of the fetal tissue from her body. She showed up at Piedmont Henry Hospital in need of a routine procedure to clear it from her uterus, called a dilation and curettage, or D&C.

But just that summer, her state had made performing the procedure a felony, with few exceptions. Any doctor who violated the new Georgia law could be prosecuted and face up to a decade in prison.

Thurman waited in pain in a hospital bed, worried about what would happen to her 6-year-old son, as doctors monitored her infection spreading, her blood pressure sinking and her organs beginning to fail.

It took 20 hours for doctors to finally operate. By then, it was too late.

The otherwise healthy 28-year-old medical assistant, who had her sights set on nursing school, should not have died, an official state committee recently concluded.

I know that some of you are loathe to watch MSNBC.  But please watch Lawrence O’Donnell place the blame squarely where it should be placed.  I found it very powerful:

Rethugs Vote Against IVF.  America’s ‘Great Fertilizer’ Remained Silent.

A U.S. Senate bill aimed at enshrining federal protections and expanding insurance coverage for fertility treatments failed on Tuesday, as Republicans voted against it days after Donald Trump surprised supporters by voicing support for such a policy.

The bill failed 51-44, falling short of the required 60-vote threshold after most Republicans voted against it for the second time. Democrats control the chamber by a slim 51-49 margin.

Just a thought–The only two R’s to vote for the bill were Senators Murkowski and Collins.  I think there’s at least a chance that one of them–more likely Murkowski–could become an independent and caucus with the D’s.  Wishful thinking?  Perhaps.  But not impossible.

What If The Election Isn’t Close?  Yes, polls are just a snapshot, but there has indeed been a post-debate surge towards Harris:

My point here isn’t that we should be confident of a Harris victory or that a decisive win, which Rothenberg believes is possible, is the likely outcome. It’s a bit different than that. It’s that there are a number of data points which are consistent with those outcomes which for a variety of reasons — some good, others less so — we’re deciding not to look at. It is probably best not to look at them too closely. Because Trump winning is a very real possibility and the consequences of such a catastrophe are profound. It’s good to feel like you’re running as the underdog because it makes you hungry and smart rather than trying, defensively, to sit on a lead. As long as it doesn’t get to the point of demoralization, it’s good to assume you’re behind because you might be. But we should retain in the back of our minds that there are real reasons to think it won’t actually be that close.

John Carney Let This Man Suffer.  Better that than to take a stand on this bill that he didn’t bother to retrieve until–you know, after the primary.  Watch that video.  I mean you, John.  You caused that man to suffer.  Don’t you ever feel anything?

Canvassed the News-Journal, WDEL, and Bay To Bay (Delaware State News) this morning.  None of them apparently felt that an auditor’s report that names public officials who illegally double-dipped was newsworthy.  Pathetic.

What do you want to talk about?