U. of Idaho may stop providing birth control under new abortion law

[Demovictory9]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/26/u-idaho-may-stop-providing-birth-control-under-new-abortion-law/


U. of Idaho may stop providing birth control under new abortion law
Employees could be charged with a felony and fired if they appear to promote abortion, according to new guidance

The University of Idaho’s general counsel issued new guidance on Friday about the state’s near-total abortion ban, alerting faculty and staff that the school should no longer offer birth control for students, a rare move for a state university.


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“In this new and evolving legal landscape, how these laws will be enforced remains unclear,” the University of Idaho’s general counsel wrote in the Sept. 23 message to all university employees. “Accordingly, the university and its employees should be aware of the potential risks and penalties associated with conduct that may be perceived to violate the laws.”

Because the language of the law is “unclear and untested,” the message reads, “we are advising a conservative approach here, that the university not provide standard birth control itself.”

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“I think there’s a lot of fear,” said the employee, who said she cried in her office after receiving the message on Friday afternoon.

“I think about the resident hall advisers. This is the kind of advice they give out if students are sexually active and not ready for a family,” she said. “Now it’s the kind of thing that could get them fired and charged with a felony.”

[ananda]

1. Wouldn't it be interesting if women just exited the red states?

I like that idea.

[LisaM]

2. Or millions of women moved TO the red states

And changed them.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Nope. Even as a woman well past the age of

needing birth control or abortion (I'm 74) I am simply not willing to live in one of those states, thank you very much.

But, where are you moving to?

[LisaM]

8. It actually wouldn't take that many.

I have thought about this. If I were just out of college (with options) I could see myself going to a place like Nashville or St. Louis, or other cities like Lincoln, Nebraska. (Usually college towns are optimal).

Tech workers pour into the blue states, but this model (besides piling up all the blue voters in one place) is becoming an environmental disaster. It's simply not going to be sustainable.

The larger point is that if we drain the red states of population, their power will become even more disproportionate and we will never get a SCOTUS majority.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. So where do you live?

I happen to be in New Mexico. I moved here in 2008 from Kansas, after a divorce. I love it here. Like any state, it has its flaws, but there is a reliable blue-ness that I like.

Yes, college towns are wonderful. Considering them is good. But you really need to look at the larger picture, especially what makes sense for you. So tell me you have moved to a red state. If not, pfffft!. Do not tell others to do what you will not do. And if I'm wrong, my apologies.

[LisaM]

10. Well, I was actually responding to a suggestion that everyone leave red states.

I live in Seattle, which by the way is an awful place right now, tech workers cramming in, they won't shop in stores, they order everything online, they won't support the theatre scene which is on life support, frankly, they could live on the moon for all the reason they have to live in an old union town that used to have a good working class vibe and is now awful. I have been here a while and I came for a relationship and now moving is not an option.

But you can't say the solution is for women to leave the red states, some of whom might be with people or in places they love, and then criticize me for suggesting that the reverse solution would be as effective!!! It would take about ten thousand voters to flip Wyoming or South Dakota, but that same number of people won't change voting patterns in the blue states at all.

Frankly, no one should have to move, but some of those states have populations that are lower than most big cities.

If women flee those states, they'll probably rig up some mail order bride system with women from other countries. Who knows?

But, I have as much right to suggest a solution as anyone. And blue city or not, I wouldn't recommend anyone move to Seattle right now. It's virtually unliveable.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. Umm, you did say that women should go to red states.

"Or millions of women moved TO the red states" which is a quote.

So don't pretend you said something different.

I am not suggesting the solution is for women to leave red states, although I personally wouldn't stay in one, nor would I move to one. But that's just me, one person.

A second issue, which you've alluded to, is the huge rise in the cost of living in so many places. I happen to live in Santa Fe, NM, which has become more and more unaffordable since I moved here in 2008. I frequently point out that I own my home, I can afford the mortgage, and can afford to live here. Perhaps I moved here at a very fortuitous time, although I don't know if that matters. Much of my life I have lived at the margins, just making enough money to survive. I learned early on to be frugal, to spend only what was needed, to save as much as I could, and to be grateful for a free meal. That last matters more than you might know. In my early adult years I often either went hungry, or skirted the edges of going hungry, only because I got a free meal somewhere. Even today, when I can readily afford to feed myself, I'm appreciative of a free meal.

[LisaM]

12. I responded to a demand that women move to blue states.

I also was using hyperbole and I emended my number (though I should know from years of being on DU that hyperbole flies over most people's heads here).

But the problem is, if everyone leaves blue states, the power those states have will become more disproportionate. We can't ignore that. We still have two senators per state and we still have the electoral college. If relatively small numbers of blue voters - and it's easier for people fresh out of college to head somewhere rather than for someone to pull up stakes after decades, let's be honest- chose liveable cities in red states, the calculus could change.

[CanonRay]

3. There is always fear when the fascists are in charge.

Goes with the territory

[niyad]

4. FUCK EVERY SINGLE WOMAN-HATING, THEOCRATIC, CHRISTOFASCIST

GESTATIONAL SLAVER.

[MissB]

5. If I remember correctly, felony convictions

means no access to federal student loans.

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Next semester the Board of Regents ponders, Why all the women left and U of Idaho is a Sausagefest?