Question and Answer time
Janet Kuypers
1/9/23, amended 1/16/23
Since I have been researching women’s rights
Post- the overturning of Roe v. Wade, I should
Have known the questions would come...
Can you tell me, in these United States, which
State has the highest maternal mortality rate?
We’re sitting here at a brewery in Austin, Texas,
So I can infer the answer is Texas, but I don’t want
To say it aloud. So, they continue questioning:
Did you know Texas has the highest maternal
Mortality rate in the entire developed world?1
Really? Versus any other state and/or country?
Why do these questioners ask me these questions
If they already know the answers? Or is this
Their way of feeding me more data to inflame me,
To elevate an already morally tumultuous issue?
—
Then I was given a study, where I learned in Texas
Republican-led state legislatures slashed funding to
Reproductive healthcare clinics, and after that the
Maternal mortality rate doubled over two years.
But as I search, I find that the maternal mortality
Rate in the U.S. continues to exceed the rate in other
High-income countries. But why? Is it having more
cesarean sections, inadequate prenatal care, or is it
more suffering from obesity, diabetes, or heart
Disease? Well, the slashing of funding for clinics
Might be part of it, but the questioner then asked me:
What about when a woman has an ectopic pregnancy?
Now, since I am not so wise in the ways of maternity,
I had to look this up, to learn this is when a fertilized egg
Implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus
(most often the fallopian tubes). This is fatal for the fetus;
Ectopic pregnancy is also the most common cause of
Maternal mortality in the first trimester. (Oh, now
We’re getting back to that slashed funding to
Reproductive healthcare clinics thing...) Because
In this case, banning abortions would lead to a
Woman’s death — protecting something that
Could never live. And for many state legislatures
Seriously considering human embryos for legal
Personhood with total abortion bans from the
Moment of conception? Most human embryos
Die before anyone knows they even exist. A
Five-day-old blastocyst, a hollow ball of cells
No larger than 0.008 inches (0.2 millimeters)
With a high likelihood of disintegrating in a few
Days2 means unbeknownst women are mass
Killers — and there isn’t even a doctor alive
Who could prove woman’s biological “crime”.
Now... because you hear me bitch and moan
About abortion rights and think I’m over the
Top, please realize that this debate is about
So much more. These laws restrict the rights and
Harm the safety of women (while these same
Lawmakers forget about caring for children
Once they’re alive across this entire country).
These bible belt conservatives claim to care
For the unborn, and forget that something like
Sixty percent of those days-old embryos don’t
Even survive. They want to make more laws
And slam that gavel down against woman-
Kind, and choose to ignore the science instead.
For you know, I’ve heard these ads now
Playing on TV for men to take pills, to
Increase their testosterone and be more “manly”
(Alongside ads for genetically defective men to
Get rid of their baldness, but that’s another
Story for another time), but if they really
Wanted to look at the science of it, studies
Show that higher testosterone leads to a more
Laid-back and relaxed mood in men, where
Low T, and increased levels of estrogen in
Either sex, can lead to that anger-response
That “man” kind has labeled a testosterone-
Fueled rage. (It’s really not, It’s an estrogen-
Fueled rage, so... let that sink in for a minute.)
Because maybe the bible belt southern states
Don’t feel it, but your law changes put women
On an estrogen-fueled rage that fuels our fight
Against these backwards injustices. Although a
Penis makes half the equation, once a woman
Chooses to carry a child, she becomes the
Ultimate life-giver. And as I said, yes, a
Penis makes half of the equation at its
Inception, but after that, this penis-bearing
Half wants to subjugate all women to a
Lifetime of living with his wrong choices.
Sorry if I sound like I’m ranting. It must be my
Estrogen-fueled rage that’s worked me all up.
No, wait, it’s not that at all. This estrogen-
Fueled rage is only because those religious
Southern states are taken more rights away,
When they never had the right. Slave-owners
Did this too... But your relying on an insanely
Old book with no basis of truth is not the answer.
So, seriously, just read the evidence. And let me
Cool down for a minute, and look at the proof.
Go ahead, if you must, keep asking me questions.
If you listen, you might actually learn something —
If, once and for all, you let the answers sink in.
1 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/
20/texas-maternal-mortality-rate-health-clinics-funding
2 https://www.wavy.com/news/national/most-human-
embryos-naturally-die-after-conception-restrictive-abortion-
laws-fail-to-take-this-embryo-loss-into-account/amp/
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