Before I get to the topic of this post, here’s a picture I took yesterday at a Love’s truck stop in Ontario, Oregon, Almost every consumer good is transported using diesel for at least most of its journey from producer to consumer. This will lead to hyperinflation and the fed’s interest rate cuts aren’t going to do anything about that. I’ll note also that Love’s is doing strange things with its pricing, I’m guessing because they’re about to run out of either diesel or gas at some locations. For example, two days ago, gas at Love’s was 25 cents/gallon more than other competitors in the same area. This is the highest price for diesel that I’ve seen during this trip, or in my life, but I think it’s a signal that Love’s was short of diesel in that area. When the real shortages come, $7.68/gallon will be low.
Back to the topic of abortion: We were in Boise last night, staying near the Capitol, and it’s a nice city. Good restaurants, beautiful yards, etc. There were trans flags on display, Pride signs (this weekend is Pride there), and “Yes on Prop 1” signs.
Prop 1 is a “reproductive freedom and privacy initiative” which essentially tries to restore women’s rights to reproductive care, including the right to abortion (as far as I can tell, it’s not 100% clear). Idaho currently has a full ban on abortion.
Idaho has several abortion ban laws that, if violated, could allow doctors to be prosecuted and lose their medical licenses, as well as allow them to be sued for at least $20,000 by family members of a person who obtained an abortion. Idaho’s law allows abortions that are needed to prevent the death of the mother, but not to protect her health.
A study from last year found that over 35% of the OB/Gyn specialists left the state after the ban went into effect. Most of the remaining OB/Gyns practice in the 7 most populous counties. The remaining 23 physicians in 37 counties serve 569,000 persons. As usual, MAGA mostly hurts their rural base.
So Boise might be a cosmopolitan city, but the backwards laws that govern the whole state make the place unlivable for any woman of childbearing age, and their partners, unless they want to risk their health. My guess is that even if Prop 1 passes, the state legislature will do what other Republican-dominated legislatures have done across the country: nullify the law in some way or other.
Oddly enough, as soon as we crossed the border into Oregon, we saw some abortion-related billboards with messages I’ve never seen before, and believe me when I say that I’ve seen a lot of abortion billboards.
One said that even if a woman has taken the abortion pill (I assume they meant mifepristone), it could be reversed. How the hell that can be done is beyond me. I’ve got to guess that it would lead to a very high-risk pregnancy. Another sign from the Catholic Church said that family reconciliation is still possible after abortion. That’s just another way to intimidate women: it’s a sly way of pointing out that their family might disown them if they have an abortion.
Those billboards appeared immediately after crossing the Idaho/Oregon border because abortion is legal in Oregon. I assume a bunch of women from Idaho make the trek to their neighboring state to get an abortion, so the forced birthers want to make sure they feel shame and have bad medical advice during their journey.
Idaho is also one of the strictest states when it comes to cannabis — no medical marijuana and posession of even a small amount is a misdemeanor.
The concept of a “blue dot” is fine in theory. In practice, there’s no escaping MAGA.
