phylny
phylny's JournalAbortion laws vs. Body Autonomy - copied from Twitter and Facebook
By the way, I did not write this, but I have long said that until the "pro-life" politicians write law forcing you to donate a body part, they're full of crap.
----------------------
"Last night, I was in a debate about these new abortion laws being passed in red states. My son stepped in with this comment which was a show stopper. One of the best explanations I have read:
"Reasonable people can disagree about when a zygote becomes a "human life" -- that's a philosophical question. However, regardless of whether or not one believes a fetus is ethically equivalent to an adult, it doesn't obligate a mother to sacrifice her body autonomy for another, innocent or not.
"Body autonomy is a critical component of the right to privacy protected by the Constitution, as decided in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), McFall v. Shimp (1978), and of course Roe v. Wade (1973). Consider a scenario where you are a perfect bone marrow match for a child with severe aplastic anemia; no other person on earth is a close enough match to save the child's life, and the child will certainly die without a bone marrow transplant from you. If you decided that you did not want to donate your marrow to save the child, for whatever reason, the state cannot demand the use of any part of your body for something to which you do not consent. It doesn't matter if the procedure required to complete the donation is trivial, or if the rationale for refusing is flimsy and arbitrary, or if the procedure is the only hope the child has to survive, or if the child is a genius or a saint or anything else -- the decision to donate must be voluntary to be constitutional. This right is even extended to a person's body after they die; if they did not voluntarily commit to donate their organs while alive, their organs cannot be harvested after death, regardless of how useless those organs are to the deceased or how many lives they would save.
"That's the law.
"Use of a woman's uterus to save a life is no different from use of her bone marrow to save a life -- it must be offered voluntarily. By all means, profess your belief that providing one's uterus to save the child is morally just, and refusing is morally wrong. That is a defensible philosophical position, regardless of who agrees and who disagrees. But legally, it must be the woman's choice to carry out the pregnancy. She may choose to carry the baby to term. She may choose not to. Either decision could be made for all the right reasons, all the wrong reasons, or anything in between. But it must be her choice, and protecting the right of body autonomy means the law is on her side.
"Supporting that precedent is what being pro-choice means."
https://twitter.com/fromthebunkerjr/status/1434850399995842562/photo/1
Liberty "University" leads the way in Virginia
Liberty University has more COVID-19 cases than 4 larger Virginia campuses combined
On Wednesday, Liberty University reported 488 active COVID-19 cases on campus. According to their COVID-19 dashboard, 430 of those cases are students. It's a big increase from last week when LU reported 159 total active cases.
…
Liberty University also has the smallest on-campus student population compared to the four other universities.
…
Another difference, all four of those universities require students to get the COVID-19 vaccine and wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. Liberty University doesn't require either.
https://wset.com/news/coronavirus/liberty-university-has-more-covid-19-cases-than-four-larger-virginia-campuses-combined?fbclid=IwAR3y_TLcBNrW1C2-nsXtVH5mcbUZQ2LUWcdxo2XNGlgL8RsAq6YXlZiHZIk
What we now know about how to fight the delta variant of COVID
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2021/08/10/what-we-now-know-about-how-to-fight-the-delta-variant-of-covid-column/?fbclid=IwAR3_3BGFgaa3aSNGmWnp0q8p9t35IOHOjfLESULYs6F_BSkevbkNg_cHT7YDr. J. Stacey Klutts
1. Like Gorilla Glue. The delta variant (lineage B.1.617.2) has a particular collection of mutations in the spike protein (that knob-like projection you see in renderings of the virus) that make it extremely effective in attaching to human cells and gaining entry. If the original COVID strains were covered in syrup, this variant is covered in ultrafast-drying Gorilla Super Glue (industrial strength).
2. 1,000 times higher. There are two recent publications which demonstrate that the viral loads in the back of the throats of infected patients are 1,000 times higher with the delta than with previous variants. I can tell you from data in my own labs, that is absolutely true. We are seeing viral signals we never saw last year using the exact same assays.
3. Much more infectious. This much higher load plus the ultra “stickiness” of the delta strains for adhering to human cells makes it remarkably more infectious than previous strains. You may have heard of R0 (Pronounced R naught) which is, in a nutshell, the number of people to which an infected person would be expected to transmit the virus. Early versions of the virus had a 2 to 2.5 R0 value. So one infected person would infect two or so people on average. Delta has an R0 of about eight! In the infectious disease world, that’s almost unheard of. Chickenpox and measles are about all we have ever seen that spread that efficiently from human to human. This changes the story line completely from earlier in the pandemic and makes this surge, in many ways, like a completely different pandemic event.
4. Five days. There is another recent publication out of Singapore with data that confirms something we suspected. I will explain more about the “why” on this below when I talk about vaccines, but the gist is this: The viral loads in the throats of vaccinated persons who become infected with delta rises at identical rates as in unvaccinated persons, but only for the first few days. After five days or so, the viral loads in the vaccinated person start to quickly drop whereas those in the unvaccinated person persist. This key set of observations is important for several reasons relating to vaccinated persons serving as vectors for spread.
More good info at link.
It's back to more careful Covid precaution basics for me, though I am fully vaccinated (Moderna).
Oh Saturday I brought a fully vaccinated (Moderna) friend of mine dinner as she, her husband, and her elderly mother-in-law are moving from one home to another a few miles away. We talked a bit outside and then went inside to drop the food. I’d guess we were inside for ten minutes. We hugged and I left.
She called yesterday and said her brother-in-law, who was living with them briefly because of a bad fall and subsequent knee injury, tested positive for Covid prior to surgery yesterday. He was also fully vaccinated (Moderna) and is asymptomatic.
I’ve been wearing either an N95 or KN95 mask to the grocery store, etc. but didn’t think of wearing it Saturday for my drop-off at her house.
We are expecting our first grandchild at the end of July and my husband and I are planning to be tested for Covid two or three days before we are supposed to go stay at our daughter and son-in-law’s house to help with their pets and then help when they come home from the hospital. We assume we will be wearing a mask around them and the baby when they come home.
"God will provide."
There’s a wacko couple in my country who hold an almost nightly Facebook Live event where she shares Qanon info and advice about the coming “reset” of world financial systems and TFG’s eventual return. She has quite a following.
I read it on occasion, mostly to watch for the changing goalposts. Something big was supposed to happen at 3 a.m. today but alas, it did not. Who could have predicted that?
One woman wrote that she will have to give up her well-paying job because her employer will require her to be vaccinated. She’s a little worried but knows “God will provide.”
Um, maybe God provided SCIENTISTS and a freaking VACCINE!
94-1. We're all glaring at you, Hawley.
Hawley was the lone vote against the Anti-Asian Hate Crime Bill.
Does anyone here live in/near Bridgewater?
Our daughter and son-in-law live in Harrisonburg and are looking to buy a house. They're looking at a home in Bridgewater tomorrow. I'm wondering about farm smells. I know there are lots of poultry farms and I think a pet food plant in the area.
Any info? Thanks 
ANTIBODIES! Science is wonderful!
I donated blood on 3/4 after my first Moderna vaccine on 2/8 and yippee! ANTIBODIES!
Sorry the images are so large - I tried to make them smaller.
Canned dog food advice?
We have two small dogs. I usually make our dogs’ food but realized during food shortages last year that finding ingredients could be challenging. Food is now back on the shelves, but we just had an ice storm with a power outage at home and all the dog food (that I just made and froze last week!) may be spoiled. We won’t know until we return back home in a few hours.
I’d like recommendations for a good canned dog food. I had previously used Merrick years ago.
Thanks in advance!
Man, the "Q" usage today is amusing me!
GQP and "Qrazy" are two of my favorites.
Any other good ones you've seen?
Profile Information
Member since: Tue Feb 24, 2004, 07:21 AMNumber of posts: 8,378
