Sunday Morning ~ Happenings in 1849
Makumba-kumba mwalema, msakadandaula ndiwo. ~ You are fed up with digging (for mice), so do not complain about the relish you get.
~ Chewa proverb
April 2, 2023
Hi Everyone,
I’m thinking about next Tuesday and how much the future of our country depends on outcomes of that day. It’s not only the potential to see justice prevail, which, would be very sweet but I won’t chill any bubbly quite yet. It’s Wisconsin I’m worried about. The very consequential election there could be a tipping point.
Wisconsin, a very nice state, I have dear friends there, can mean life or death for women. The state has been gerrymandered into right wing oblivion while we ate their cheese and paid little attention. It is a really important state right now. It could have swung the last election toward our demise if it weren’t for a few good people. And since the overturn of Roe this past summer, a law in Wisconsin from 1849 banning all abortions is preventing any abortion services being provided. Yes, this law from 1849, seventy-one years before women had the right to vote, is now killing women in Wisconsin. But! There is an election this Tuesday in Wisconsin that can change that! It’s an election for a state Supreme Court justice that will either maintain the right wing majority on the court, or tip the balance 4-3 to reason and sanity. This is a choice between Janet Protaseiwicz a progressive judge supporting women’s rights, and an extreme right winger, Dan Kelley, who is anti-women and equates affirmative action with slavery.
Wisconsin courts haven’t ruled yet whether this1849 law is enforceable, but according to Fuck Bans Action Plan on Crooked Media “abortion providers have suspended services in the state for fear of violating the law, which makes it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy, unless it’s to save the life of the pregnant person. Last year Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul sued to block that state law. That case is currently winding its way through lower courts and will almost certainly end up in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which currently has a 4-3 conservative majority.” So, replacing the retiring–– extremely conservative–– justice with a pro-choice justice would create a majority that could save Wisconsin from becoming another state where women are not safe.
If you know anyone in Wisconsin, call them and tell them to vote for Judge Janet Protaseiwicz. Please. She can also prevent more gerrymandering and maybe reform some already in place. This could be huge if there is another contested election. Having a majority on this Supreme Court ahead of the 2024 presidential race means they’ll decide election lawsuits in Wisconsin, a critical swing state.
Or send a get-out-the-vote donation: https://votesaveamerica.com/roe/
For perspective I looked up what happened in 1849.
Events include:
*Louis Pasteur got married.
*Frederic Chopin died.
*James Polk became the first U.S. president to have his picture taken.
*The University of Wisconsin opened. It had one room and twenty students.
*A patent was granted for an envelope making machine.
*Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to earn a medical degree!
*Vancouver Island was given to the Hudson Bay Company. (You know, they just gave it to them)
*Great Britain formally annexed Punjab in India.
*British seize Tigre Island from Honduras
*The first poultry show opened in Boston!
*Harriet Tubman escaped slavery for the second time.
All this happened while Wisconsin was banning abortion. For the next hundred and seventy four years no one thought to update that. Let’s do our part to help with some upgrades.
Love to all,
Linda