Invisible Women: a uterus stuck into a male pelvis

A complete female skeletal system includes a wide array of unique features, rarely seen in anatomical texts. Sexual differences have been applied to areas such as the pelvis and skull. Long bones have been proportioned, and bone angles accurately reflect the uniquely female architectural skeletal base.

The female-specific regions have been created in detail that is equivalent to the male counterpart.

Within a matter of months, women in about half of the United States may be breaking the law if they decide to end a pregnancy. This will be, in large part, because Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is surprised that there is so little written about abortion in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. As it happens, there is also nothing at all in that document, which sets out fundamental law, about pregnancy, uteruses, vaginas, fetuses, placentas, menstrual blood, breasts, or breast milk. There is nothing in that document about women at all. Most consequentially, there is nothing in that document—or in the circumstances under which it was written—that suggests its authors imagined women as part of the political community embraced by the phrase “We the People.” There were no women among the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. There were no women among the hundreds of people who participated in ratifying conventions in the states. There were no women judges. There were no women legislators. At the time, women could neither hold office nor run for office, and, except in New Jersey, and then only fleetingly, women could not vote. Legally, most women did not exist as persons.

The rulings in Bostock, Roe, Brown, Obergefell etc are a very wobbly edifice on which to construct the protection of human rights—and a uniquely American one, fetishising the constitution and relying on the vague words of legislators from an earlier era to rule on situations they never envisioned. Alito’s judgement mentions 13th century jurist Henry de Bracton’s opinion on abortion—but not that Bracton believed the Pope was the supreme arbiter of earthly laws. It cites Matthew Hale, a seventeenth century English barrister who executed two women for witchcraft. It mentions, too, the English jurist William Blackstone, who believed married women had no legal rights, and could therefore not own property or make contracts: “By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage … For this reason, a man cannot grant anything to his wife, or enter into covenant with her: for the grant would be to suppose her separate existence; and to covenant with her, would be only to covenant with himself”.

Help me out here. Modern America does not share these men’s opinions on witchcraft, papal infallibility or women’s legal existence. Why deify their thoughts on “quickening”? All of those men believed in monarchy, so why not defer to their wisdom and apologise for kicking out George III? Oh wait. In some circumstances you believe that attitudes, and laws, can change.

Argh. Still, this is what you get when you can’t pass new primary legislation: endless judicial chicanery and sleight of hand. Across the US, there is majority support for gay marriage, for abortion rights, for laws to prohibit firing people for being gay. But under the current system, these rights are fragile, and will always be fragile—the whim of a handful of lifetime appointees.

I use the Jennis app! I’ve been a very active yogi for the past couple years - hour long sessions multiple times per week. I found I didn’t have the energy for it some days with no apparent explanation. It would feel really hard to do the moves, I would tire more quickly. Then I saw a video on TikTok about our hormonal cycles and energy levels and it all suddenly clicked. So I got Jennis and it tells me what kind of workout to do when and also when to rest, mapped to my cycle and my symptoms. It feels really good to go with my flow rather than always trying to go harder and being frustrated when my body isn’t on the same wavelength. 🙌

Poor women, women of colour, women with disabilities, undocumented women, and girls, will all be disproportionately affected since they are the least likely to be able to find the money, the time, and the wherewithal to travel out of state.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, “in analyses that exclude China and India, whose large populations skew the data, the abortion rate is actually higher in countries that restrict abortion access than in those that do not.” And “in countries that restrict abortion, the percentage of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion has increased during the past 30 years, from 36% in 1990–1994 to 50% in 2015–2019.”

An abortion ban could mean a 21 percent increase in maternal mortality — rising by 33 percent for Black women — and those who survive physically still face a lifetime of discrimination and disadvantage. (Source)