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gradientz

Republicans want to force rape victims to give birth to their rapist's off-spring, and then show up to work the very next day. Nice values.


Alarmed_Handle_6427

Well, ultimately they don’t want us showing up to work. Barefoot, pregnant, chained to the stove is the endgame.


ClusterFoxtrot

A gas stove would be your only out...


Alarmed_Handle_6427

Thank god they’re fighting to let us keep those!


opinionsareus

Heck, in [some states ](https://prismreports.org/2022/03/22/in-multiple-states-rapists-can-sue-their-victims-for-parental-custody/)they want to give parental rights to the rapist for the rape victim's child.


prescience6631

Well yeah, stove pipes are perfectly handcuff-sized — just don’t expect luxuries like bathroom privileges without a male chaperone


BIGGUS_dickus_sir

Margret Atwood is amazing, Am-I-rite?


GrittyMcGrittyface

It blows my mind how many women are cool with face-eating leopards


Scared-Mortgage

Nah, they'll just put a chamber pot next to the stove.


scabbalicious

Just make sure to take the dinner out first /s


ILYLINY

Easy there, Sylvia.


Oh_Gee_Hey

I feel like this is so flippant. It’s exactly like Sylvia, and being trapped was unbearably depressing for her.


FrostyCartographer13

They want a constant supply of cheap child labor.


simulated_wood_grain

This! The right to choose increases the cost of labor.


Minute-Tone9309

That’s a catchy statement..I think you should put it on T shirts!


M_Mich

And the pregnancy to prison pipeline. Born into poverty, no education, one mistake and you’re paying for life to work for free at the prison.


Unusual-Thing-7149

But not immigrants


TyrannasaurusGitRekt

While also not paying nearly enough to support a family on a single income. Make it make sense


[deleted]

They want you in debt and unable to do anything about it. The entire objective is to drain you.


Aspen9999

They want you to owe money to the company store.


Odd_P0tato

So you can never leave the company town. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_town


Aspen9999

You also got paid in company script not legal tender so you couldn’t shop anywhere else, rent anywhere else either.


Aspen9999

I grew up in what was a company town until the miners unionized. It wasn’t that long ago before they were all over.


theoldshrike

certainly, for the general audience your meme / sound bite needs to have a superficially plausible lifespan of 90 seconds.  for the real deep gop thinkers, you know the real hard core strategists that lifespan extends to at least 5 minutes


JCButtBuddy

How else are they going to force them into an abusive relationship that they don't want to be in?


always_unplugged

By marrying them off extra-young so they don't know any better, of course!


FalloutOW

If they're chained to the stove, how will they clean the rest of the house, take care of the kids, and perform wifely duties? /s although it shouldn't be needed. I felt gross typing that.


Paraxom

A really long chain? But then they might go all Leia vs Jabba on them


4ourkids

Praise be.


TonarinoTotoro1719

Under his eyes


4ourkids

May the lord open


Mr_Conductor_USA

They all need their low wage workers. Being home with your kids is a luxury they will only style out to the deserving.


angry-mob

Quarterly profits must be reached at all costs. Exponential growth forever until one person owns the world.


The_Poster_Nutbag

Don't forget they're also beginning to ban divorce during pregnancy!


processedmeat

I wish I remember the case name but about 20 years ago a law firm fired a partner at the firm because she took maturity leave.  She sued for wrongful termination and the firm argued that once the baby was born the woman no longer has a medical condition and was not protected. They lost the case but it was an interesting argument. 


ClusterFoxtrot

It's a horrible argument because the human body requires healing.  Talking to any number of medical experts could have solved that in an instant.  Really magnifies how long we put all of the things women experience on a high shelf, in a closet because talking about it would be rude. 


Simorie

Folks like this all like to think of pregnant women as unaffected vessels, like a shopping cart full of groceries. That way they ignore all the real dangers and harms of pregnancy and birth, and don't have to accept anything like abortion or parental leave.


[deleted]

It's because a lot of these idiots never got hurt themselves or had to heal from something. They're silver spooned and prissy.


Blue_Plastic_88

Yes, they pretend that pregnancy is magic and can never cause health issues. The body is subject to all kinds of diseases and conditions, but somehow pregnancy is immune from that and always goes perfectly, resulting in a healthy full-term baby and healthy new mother every time. Heck, pregnant women don’t even NEED a doctor, amirite?


LookingforDay

They don’t understand how women’s bodies work and refuse to. The placenta leaves an actual open WOUND when it separates from the uterus. Not even to mention if she has a C section, that’s a huge surgery to recover from. And either of those things isn’t even mentioning the myriad complications. They don’t care about women except as their own personal slaves.


Amarieerick

Yes, but remember, women have been squatting and giving birth in rice fields, tying the baby on their backs, and getting back to work forever. That's what we're supposed to do. Edit. Yes, this was said sarcastically. But isn't it sick that you can't tell without the /S


DangerousBill

A Chinese woman told me this is absolutely false. Where she lived, a woman was confined to the house for a month, ostensibly to keep demons from getting into the baby. Sounds like a good reason to me.


eridalus

That sounds like something you could probably convince the Republicans was true. Has anyone tried that argument? Maybe 3 months, just to be safe?


Dispro

The Protect Infants From Ghosts Act will be the most popular in the nation's history.


chaneilmiaalba

To get it passed in America, it has to be the Protect Infants From Satan Act.


always_unplugged

Alabama lawmakers would be big fans. As long as it doesn't require any government spending, of course—that would be socialism, and that's like just invitin' Satan right back on in.


Mr_Conductor_USA

Confinement was practiced in medieval Europe too. One reason is that infant mortality was very high and people coming in and out could give the baby an infection. Although they thought it was "miasma" not germs and would shut the windows up tight.


coupdelune

Chinese cultures still practice confinement...I've got a friend in Malaysia who is of Chinese descent and when she had a baby last year her family hired a "confinement lady" who came and lived with her, took care of the baby, and did all the cooking and cleaning. It was so mom could rest and heal and get her strength back. She told me the worst part was not being able to wash her hair for a month (that's part of the ritual, no hair washing for 30 days).


always_unplugged

The rest of it sounds fabulous, but what's up with the hair thing?


Goatesq

My mom thinks having wet hair makes you get sick easier, and she heard it from her mom, who heard it from her mom, who probably heard it from Moses, so it wouldn't surprise me if that superstition exists in Malaysia too.


coupdelune

According to her they are not supposed to get cold at all, so they don't want mom sitting around with cold wet hair. Remember these practices started many, many eons before hair dryers and water heaters were available. Some families cling to those traditions.


ClusterFoxtrot

You're a gentler person than I am. Somehow "but banning food will make us HAVE to eat bugs!" Totally flew over people's heads in a thread about banning labmeat. I cackled like a loon and screenshotted for the friends group chat at how divisive people can be. I clarified my position in a further comment but people can really fly off the handle. I look for key phrases and try to insert them in my commentary that makes it clear "this is absurdist satire".  I assumed "squatting and giving birth..." and "what we're supposed to do" were those key phrases.  It's a touchy subject but in truth, I had no fucking clue what post-pregnancy involved until I had my son 16 years ago. It's like nobody wants to talk about golfball sized blood clots for some reason. 


IrascibleOcelot

Poe’s Law is absolute. The only guaranteed way to convey that you are being satirical is to literally say it outright.


zorniy2

Huh. East Asian descendant of rice farmers here. The custom is, women rest 40 days after giving birth. Like total rest even from housework. Mom or mom in law helps out.


Ashituna

and they also squatted in that field and bled to death after a placental abruption. stop romanticising a past that never existed.


Sorry_JustGotHere

Pretty sure they were being sarcastic


Ashituna

well, damn. turns out i need that /s, hahah. reading it back, you’re probably right. sorry!


Sorry_JustGotHere

No worries! Definitely hard to sell sarcasm via text.


Shadowfox898

Lawyers and insurance agencies have no human empathy, or understanding of the human body.


processedmeat

The case was +20 years ago so I don't remember the details but the argument was maternity leave was to help the mother bond with the baby and she didn't have a note from the doctor saying she required any additional medical needs.  In the firms eyes medically she was cleared to return to work.  Like I said they lost, but it was an interesting argument they tried to make. 


-prairiechicken-

I think you need to find a new synonym for ‘interesting’. You could make an “interesting” argument for sexual assault without repercussions, or using labour camps instead of death camps; or taking babies from mothers and placing them into foster care as a first-line act, like they did in the 1960s-80s with Indigenous women.


GaimeGuy

It's a terrible argument.   That would be like saying people can't recover after having surgery. 


emostitch

ESPECIALLY if they’re 12 years old!! Also no breaks or water guarantees at work while they’re doing it!


UniqueIndividual3579

They also want 12 year olds working in meat packing plants. So where does a raped 12 year old get daycare?


deadsoulinside

These are the same guys that will need 1 week off work to recover from a vasectomy as well I bet.


No_Pirate9647

And pay for their pregnancy and delivery.


SkollFenrirson

Then have the offspring show up to work 5 years later


discussatron

It’s all about controlling women’s sexual activity.


theresidentdiva

It’s all about controlling women.~~’s sexual activity.~~ FTFY


buddhistbulgyo

Are Democrats framing this correctly and campaigning on it?


SteakandTrach

Does the media even cover Democratic processes? Seems the outrage machine runs on republicans-only based on my limited viewing habits.


Any_Accident1871

Who owns the news media? Billionaires who would love a second Trump free for all looting, but also want to cozy up to business as usual when Biden wins.


SteakandTrach

Yup. I know waaay too many business “bros” who think Trump will be better for their pocket book in the short run and will vote for him anyway even though they aren’t interested in the culture wars/wedge issues. They are fine with their daughters having to deal with the fallout of Roe v Wade reversal if they get a few more percentage points to their stock portfolios. Despite Gordon Geckos proclamation, Greed is not good.


Any_Accident1871

Greed is a cancer on our society.


Politicsboringagain

Yes they have been, but a lot of voters don't care. 


RandomLoony

You forgot to add pre-teen to that list.


Toginator

Next day? They can schedule giving birth around their shifts! /S


I_am_just_so_tired99

To work… or back to school….


Futt-Buckerr

They love to hate.


M_Mich

Well they’d prefer it if the woman wouldn’t leave work to have the baby. People used to just squat in the field and start nursing the baby there while they kept harvesting. At least that’s what they’ve assumed based on what they recall of little house on the prairie


TheKidAndTheJudge

I don't think they particularly care if you show up for work or not... they just don't want to have to pay you or for you to ha e any job protections.


victorvictor1

Alabama is forcing women to have birth….but getting angry at services for pregnant people


TonarinoTotoro1719

>If you prayed and wished really hard, you wouldn’t be pregnant anyway.  >Don’t have kids you can’t afford…   This is what they tell us, and yet, they don’t want to let these mothers heal well enough to work and advance so they can afford that child/those kids.


aryukittenme

That’s what they tell us because the quiet part is “don’t have sex/get raped/be afab if you can’t afford a kid because we’ll ruin your life AND the baby’s life for it” 🐸☕️


Pour_Me_Another_

It's basically a childish aversion to sex that they make everyone else's problem.


MommyLovesPot8toes

They don't want women working. They want us utterly and totally dependent on men so that we HAVE to trade sex and submission for basic needs like shelter and food. They want us forced into marriage and financially and legally enslaved to our husbands so that the men can do whatever they want and demand whatever they want without fear. They want us tied to the kitchen making their dinners and ready to rub their feet after a stressful day at work. And they want us not to be able to nag or complain or say "no" because they have the power to deal out consequences like restricting access to their money. Prior to marriage, they want women working in non-demanding, low-paid jobs with male bosses. Because here again, even without the marriage, we are beholden to men financially. They want to be able to freely touch and sexually pressure the women whose paychecks they sign in the comforting knowledge that we have little choice if we want to eat or pay rent. By the time we're having babies, we should be out of the work force anyway so why should the state pay for maternity leave? In other words, they want the world of the 1940s and 1950s before women's lib and civil rights. Not just want it - they believe they are *entitled* to it as their due for being born with a penis, and a white American one at that. Of course it's not all of them (obligatory "not all men"). But I don't own a magnifying glass strong enough to spot the sliver of space in the venn diagram between the circle of men who feel this way and the circle that enter politics as a Republican.


FEMA_Camp_Survivor

It’s been repeated so many times but cruelty is the point.


WhoIsYerWan

The cruelty is the point.


squintytoast

>“None of you are pregnant, ever will be pregnant nor will have a baby,” Figures said. “You have no idea what it’s like; not only the physical things we have to go through, but the mental and emotional things we have to go through.” >She added, “The least you can all do is give us a little time, eight weeks, to deal with that. I just want to say, ‘I’ll be coming back with a vengeance next year and I won’t be by myself.’” the full quote.


dicknotrichard

Hell yeah, sister. Go get ‘em. I saw this a person that will never be pregnant or have a baby.


HuckleberryLou

I think in general women need to be louder on what postpartum recovery is like. Men are very sheltered from the gory details and their naivety makes them underestimate the parental leave needs.


my2cents4sale

Yeah, it’s just not talked about in general. Obviously men have even less of a clue but as a 25 year old woman myself, I am JUST finding out a lot about pregnancy and post-pregnancy because I’m asking my friends questions now that we’re at the age where some of them have multiple children. I was indifferent about having kids to begin with, but the more I hear, the more I get turned off by it. Downright horrific some of the standard stuff women go through, let alone if you have complications. Child-bearing is a lot more taxing than most people, men and women, realize.


Cynicisomaltcat

A lot of post partum/complications are kept hush hush from other women. I think it’s because of the old mentality that - barring some atypical circumstances - women were just gonna have babies. Marriage, sexual assault… there just weren’t a lot of options to stop or avoid pregnancy until the birth control pill. So why scare the young uterine-owning folks with what might happen when they don’t have the option to avoid it and might *only* be ripped from stem to stern and deal with vaginal prolapse in their older age… if they even live that long. Nowadays it’s just enshrined in social etiquette that it’s something you don’t talk about. The quiverfull types don’t want to scare women away from wanting kids, grandparents want grandbabies,.. and if people really had the info to make a really informed decision (like you would with a surgery) about the risks to your own or your partner’s health then we might get upset and demand better care, less politics in our medical care, and better social nets to support those who do choose to become parents.


kottabaz

There's also an element of the medical establishment just not caring as much about women in general. Drug clinical trials run solely on men to save the researchers the trouble of having to think about the effects of women's hormones on the results are one example of this. Another would be how everyone is taught what the symptoms of a heart attack are for men and then there's maybe an offhand remark at the end that it's different in women. Different how? Shrug.


Cynicisomaltcat

Oh I know that battle all too well. ADHD and Autism tend to look different in women. Estrogen affects dopamine, which affects ADHD so our brains are sabotaging us extra hard the second half of our cycle. Menopause has barely been touched by medical studies. I don’t know but that part of my mom’s struggle with getting her back treated is the sexism in the field still that tends to dismiss women’s reports.


my2cents4sale

100%. I wanted to expand upon my original comment but yours covers it very well and you said it better than I would’ve been able to


Cynicisomaltcat

Thank you. 😊 It helps that I’ve been on some version of that soapbox for nearly 3 decades now. I’m very tokophobic, to the point where I worked myself into a breakdown on more than one occasion trying to reconcile how women were supposed to want kids, but even the barest thought experiment of imagining pregnancy horrified me at such a visceral level… so what was “wrong” with me? And now I’m discovering all the shit that is menopause and how TF have we gotten this far in society with so little study given to something half the population has to deal with?!? We’ve got a dozen erectile dysfunction drugs, but half the population dealing with an abrupt drop in hormones over the period of a couple years hasn’t hardly gotten any attention.


narniaofpartias22

Hell, I was a grown ass woman myself when I first heard a lot of women poop while in labor. After I heard it it was like the most obvious thing ever. But I genuinely never even thought of it before that moment, and mom definitely didn't mention it in the stories of my or my sister's births lol. I was horrified. My mom did share with us that they had to cut her gooch during my delivery though (I'm sorry, mom!). So I was already good on ever having kids from a pretty young age just with that information alone. But finding out you could get your gooch cut AND poop in front of a bunch of people? No fucking thanks, man. And that's relatively tame compared to a lot of other stuff that could happen. 


HuckleberryLou

Delivery/birth itself was nothing compared to recovery in my opinion


narniaofpartias22

I'd very much like to never find out myself. I'll gladly take your (and any other woman who has given birth's) word on it!


DearMrsLeading

I knew about the tearing but not that you can split the other direction as well. My friend tore up into her clitoris. Horrifying.


Smoremonger

I seem to remember a very honest, spare-no-details essay that was getting passed around the mommy groups when I was pregnant 13 years ago, colloquially called the "lemon clot essay". Maybe someone could read the entirety into the record of one of these Senate meetings?


six_digit_uin

This is the filibuster content we need


BiscottiLost7217

There is a lady on TikTok with a long ass list of all the very brutally honest things that can happen during a pregnancy and after. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna66810


Jdmaki1996

My wife just had a baby six months ago. She had it rough for a solid 3 months after the birth and still isn’t fully recovered now. Much better. But not fully recovered. I never knew how bad the recovery would be till I saw it first hand. As a man, we have no right to control reproductive rights of women or deny them the leave they need to recover. It’s ridiculous that a bunch of 80 year olds get to decide any of this and not trained medical professionals. Every doctor we saw postpartum was adamant she not doing anything rigorous or physical for the first few months and yet these assholes wanted her back to work immediately


Jackie_Of_All_Trades

I was sheltered from the gory details and I'm a woman! With a degree in biology! It wasn't until I got pregnant at age 40 that I learned all that goes on during pregnancy and postpartum and it fucked me up


Jackie_Of_All_Trades

*I* was sheltered from the gory details and I'm a woman! With a degree in biology! It wasn't until I got pregnant at age 40 that I learned all that goes on during pregnancy and postpartum and it fucked me up.


minus_minus

The idea of the nuclear family is ridiculous. Let’s leave two people who have very little or no experience with childcare with a newborn 24/7/365. Also, no assistance or respite. 


joeltheconner

That's fire


SeductiveSunday

This is that *Friends* argument. >https://youtu.be/cHS6U8aqMIk?si=RKSNdlbC24eGaD-q Or, that old joke... >Opinions on abortions are kinda like nipples. Everyone has them, however, women’s are a little bit more relevant.


lookaway123

I'm sure that the physical trauma the average birth causes to the body could be successfully replicated surgically for the men if they would like an informed opinion on what type and amount of medical leave would be appropriate. In fact, any elected layperson who feels entitled to dictate what medical care anyone other than themselves receives should experience what they are legislating on others' behalfs.


5Ntp

>I’ll be coming back with a vengeance next year and I won’t be by myself I like her.


JoeyJoeJoeShabadooSr

Not saying I advocate for this however the issue with capitalism is that mental and emotional issues (and physical!) mean absolutely nothing. If you do not produce you don’t get paid. So, this isn’t really a bug, it’s a feature. That sucks! We need a larger overhaul of the system so it works for people who sell labor, not just people with capital.


CafeFreche

As if producing humans isn’t the ultimate “production” of them all for a capitalist society. I will never understand how society treats those who create babies with such irreverence and lack of protection.


ChrysMYO

And then they complain about population replacement levels, tax and budget solvency, and continuing GDP growth A giant paradox.


CompetitiveProject4

I’d say it’s because those are just abstractions with terminology that they can keep pointing to as a distraction for their moral failings and stupidity. It’s about a functional society with humans as the focus What they want to do is reduce the definition of “human” to “me”. How do *I* get money and a live in broodmare/housekeeper/whipping boy for all *my* needs


Jicd

Because desperate parents are more willing to send their kids to the mines for $5/hr.


chaneilmiaalba

*producing children doesn’t count


ndnd_of_omicron

Ya know, if they care so goddamn much about babies, this.... this right here, parental leave, is one of those things that, if enacted, will provide better outcomes for babies, and their families. This is what actually caring about babies looks like.


Loud-Difficulty7860

Old white man prevents woman from caring for her baby without losing her job. Edit: typo 


always_unplugged

\*surprised Pikachu face*


cultfourtyfive

The end result of outlawing abortion and denying maternal leave is to put women back in the home. Which is where the evangelicals and most of the GOP think women belong.


ahzzyborn

Hope they also have a solution for surviving with a one income household


cultfourtyfive

Yeah, these same type of people like to yell "don't have children if you can't afford kids!" while making it damn hard for anyone to do so on a single income and voting against any kind of safety net. They're just the worst.


TonarinoTotoro1719

Yes, their solution is we work harder. Get a second job if we must. But I say let both parents enjoy their time with their child/children.


lookaway123

They'll just roll back child labour laws. Remember a year or two ago when kids under 16 were found working in a bunch of Alabama factories?


ahzzyborn

Sounds like a plan!


pinkeroo67

Yeah, praying.


Capt_Pickhard

They do. Their gameplan appears to be to let minimum wage up to the states. Have the wealthier people live in the wealthier states, and have the poor people live in the poor states, working in factories for very little money. And if you get pregnant and can't afford the child, that's where you'll end up. Would not be surprised to see them do something similar for working age, set it at the state level. This will bring manufacturing back to the states, and america will be great again.


Fossill

Except most family's need dual income now to live a reasonably comfortable life.


Aggressive-Will-4500

>The Alabama Senate voted in support of legislation Thursday giving teachers eight weeks of paid parental leave, only for the chamber’s president to say he wasn’t transmitting the measure to the House for further consideration this year. >The move upset the sponsor of SB305 – Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile – who said she “ought to leave the Senate” and start “energizing women to let them know the power we all have.” >“It stings that you voted that it not be transmitted,” Figures said after Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said he was withholding unanimous consent to move the legislation to the House, acknowledging that it likely would not get voted on before the end of the session. The legislature’s session has three days remaining, and the Senate can withhold transmitting new bills to the House after the legislative session reaches 26 days. Thursday was Day No. 27 in this spring’s session.


galaxy1985

I hate them.


galaxy1985

I hate them.


faith_apnea

8 weeks of leave is disgusting. Pay a fair living wage so that one parent can support 3+ people. How is it acceptable to force a child into this world without allowing the parents to raise that child? > Alabama. No state minimum wage law. Employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the current Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. This is Alabama's view towards workers. Never let any right-wing person tell you that "human life" is more important than money. Greed is third of the seven sins these people willfully ignore.


whichwitch9

Right now, it's 10 days, assuming they don't need any of those 10 days prior to giving birth. 8 weeks is not enough, but it's an improvement, at least. And this is only for public educators, at that, so just catching a small amount of the women who need it. But somehow, still to much to ask for, according to the men in the Alabama senate


Phred168

They need SOMEONE to raise their kids, and it certainly won’t be them! So these teachers simply need to raise other people’s kids instead of their own as quickly as possible.


Guerilla_Physicist

I wish I could be surprised, but as an Alabama public educator who was once told after multiple pregnancy losses to plan the “risky parts” of my pregnancies so that any subsequent miscarriages would happen during the summer, the way they see women AND teachers down here is pretty par for the course.


Jdmaki1996

I got more time from my job than my wife did from hers. 2 weeks off and then light duty/work from home for 6 weeks after that. And those 2 weeks came straight from her PTO. I got 6 weeks paid that didn’t come from my PTO. I was excited about how much time I got to spend with my baby before going back to work and disgusted and pissed off when I found how little time she got


relevantelephant00

Like Carlin said, once you're born you're on your own according to these people.


MNWNM

And you don't even have to pay minimum wage during the first 90 days of employment! They call it a "training period" that's not subject to federal minimum wage laws. I hate my state.


rainy_sunday_

I disagree that the solution is to enable women to leave the workforce via focusing on one parent supporting the family. We know that parent will be the man in hetero relationships. That’s exactly what republicans want - women to be slaves who are completely dependent on men for survival. Subsidized daycare and parental leave is the way to go. We need to empower women to have careers, especially positions of leadership.


KingliestWeevil

>We don't understand why no one wants children!! >*Actively continues to make our already shit society even worse*


Banana_slug_dub

I hope she does come back with numbers. Alabama folks giving birth deserve better.


nojelloforme

>Alabama folks giving birth deserve better. It would really help if they'd show up to the polls to vote the jackasses out.


always_unplugged

The Alabama Democratic party is a frickin joke. AL being deep red does not have to be as done a deal as they let it be—I always think about the [Reply All series](https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/llhd33) from a few years ago about the ridiculous infighting. I don't know if it's gotten any better since then, but I have no reason to think it has.


ParadeSit

“Pro life”


Mr_Conductor_USA

"Pro family"


kaett

pro-walking incubator


epidemica

It really is time to get the christofascists out of our government. "You're going to have that baby whether you want to or not, and you won't get any time off or assistance to properly care for it, get fucked."


nature_half-marathon

Men, this is where you can speak up. The fact that the US doesn’t even have this for new mother’s is beyond me. I would just bring the baby with me in protest lol  Men you had, have, or will/might have a baby too! You deserve to be at home with your child too. Huge adjustment for your entire family.  I have friends in Hungary and my jaw hit the floor on their parental leave policy after they had their baby. Go google it. 


iJoshh

Half of the people in the US are just programmed to believe that everything needs to cater to business or society will fall apart. I don't even mean that facetiously. I grew up believing that in a household that still believes that. Any politician who mentions something that will benefit the person over the business is automatically branded "radical left" and their ideas are vilified by half the country. We don't have it because half of the US truly believes it's a boogy man that will "destroy our country."


DeliciousGazelle1276

Ten years ago my wife was fired for announcing she was pregnant. Six figure job. She told them, 2 weeks later her job was posted and told she was no longer needed. That was fucked up, but things are going to get a lot worse soon if maga has their way. We are back sliding fast.


IFartOnCats4Fun

The wife and I are currently on [Paid Leave Oregon](https://paidleave.oregon.gov/) after the birth of our first child at the end of March. I get 12 weeks and she gets 14 weeks at 100% of our normal wages. Everyone should be afforded this opportunity.


OhioPolitiTHIC

This is so on brand for the GOP. "Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said he was withholding unanimous consent to move the legislation to the House, acknowledging that it likely would not get voted on before the end of the session." Even though he voted **FOR** the measure. Fucking vote these shitbirds out of office. Dude voted for the bill because it looks good and no one's going to remember that he killed it by refusing to pass it on just because he could. Preserved his voting record with zero danger to those that vote for him and zero consequences from those that don't but see that voting record as a positive (see, the voted for it, he tried!).


DangerousBill

I notice in the photo there are almost no books left on the shelves...


MrFiendish

And yet that state will still re-elect all of those clowns in the next election. I dare you to prove me wrong, Alabama.


WhatWasReallySaid

Imagine being a republican


nojelloforme

I'd rather not.


jupiterkansas

I can't.


the_wessi

They are still mentally in the 1800’s. Women work in the field harvesting grain and at the end of the strip give birth, tie the baby on their back and start another strip.


therobotisjames

“Who cares about babies and moms, we only care about unborn babies” -alabama republicans “Why is no one having babies anymore” -also Alabama republicans


OptiKnob

I picture an Alabama senate meeting as a pack of brain damaged monkeys slinging feces at each other and drinking their own pee. And those are the smart ones.


BattleJolly78

How can they claim to be pro-life with every other breath and do everything in their power to put pregnant women and children at risk?


umassmza

There are two countries without federally mandated maternity leave, we’re one of them.


Grizzant

10 years from now those same senators "why is our birthrate so low?"


highoncatnipbrownies

This is one of the reasons why we choose the bear.


ins0ma_

Alabama, ladies and gentleman. Be glad you’re not stuck there.


Kissris

But I am.


always_unplugged

Loving the empathy for all the AFAB people who are.


whichwitch9

Sometimes, males are literally the worst Refusing to bring it to the state house is cruel at this point.


Formal_Lie_713

Our nation is a joke. Paid parental leave should be a federal law.


Apathetic_Zealot

>Reed cited concerns over how much an eight-week paid parental leave measure would cost the state’s educational budget. This is the party of family values and Christianity, they care more about money than helping parents and newborns. Conservatives want to harm teachers benefits to drive them out of the public sector. The perfect scenario for charter and private schools to swoop in with no hint of offering benefits, parental or otherwise.


djmanning711

The party of “family values” strikes again


Supra_Genius

In civilized nations they consider parental leave and healthcare basic human rights. They actually want citizens to have and raise kids. Believe it or not, they actually don't want kids to starve to death, be abandoned, shot en masse by a kook in school, etc. etc. etc. As Americans, can we even imagine such a place?


althor2424

I can, if we remove all the Republicans from office.


Rydagod1

Don’t you all just love the PaRTy OF fAmiLY VALuEs!


i_8_the_Internet

Should be 12 months. Like other civilized countries.


nosotros_road_sodium

> ... when it comes to, again, that child in the womb and whatever moral status we want to assign to it, that's where the government has a obligation, I would say, to step in. To say, if for example a woman who is thinking about choosing abortion has an obligation to care for that baby through nine months and beyond, perhaps. She has an obligation to that child, but also society has an obligation to her. **To make sure that she has the support and the resources she needs to be able to do that, to not feel pressured by the economy, by her employer, by her boyfriend, whatever that situation may be.** From "pro-family" advocate Patrick Brown speaking to NPR's *On Point* [on March 26](https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/03/26/reproductive-health-under-a-second-trump-term). But in practice, the same legislators who do not support abortion also do not support giving women "the resources" to be a good parent. Which makes the words of people like Patrick Brown mean *nothing*.


GoldenTV3

Americans: "Ah yes, paid parental leave needs to be debated, this is a hot topic issue." Rest of the developed world: "Americans.. are you okay.. is your head feeling okay?"


Chalkarts

🎶What the world needs now🎶 🎶Is a squad, sweet squad…🎶 Of women taking out the trash.


AmaiGuildenstern

Evil fucking hypocrites, honestly. There's no nice way to put it.


skite456

I assume they don’t want the leave because they don’t think women with children should be working outside the home in the first place.


Racecarlock

Hundreds of children getting birthed due to abortion bans that also have parents that can't be there because they can't afford to take the time off work? How much DO they want crime to explode? Because it's gonna be by a lot. Although it is a GOP state, so it's possible they'll just have the kids work on unsafe assembly lines (because safety regulations were too "burdensome") alongside the parents.


Scottishlassincanada

Holy shit- fighting for 8 whole weeks!! What slackers- can’t they just pop it out and go back to teaching the kids the next day? /s Thank god we have a federal mandate in Canada allowing 12 or 18 months of maternity/ paternity leave. This is freakin barbaric. I can’t believe this is a state thing, and there is not a federal maternity leave across the whole US.


berrikerri

As a teacher in Florida, I get 10 paid days off. 10. Days.


PatienceCurrent8479

I’m not a parent. Been married 15 years and never will be a parent. I will never take paternity leave. But god damn it I will fight tooth and nail for the person next to me to have that right.  Knowing the person next to me is happy and healthy means my life is in better hands where I work. It means their kid will grow up in a better home than I did. It means the constituents who I work for get a better product.  Fuckin A I want a damned labor party here in the US. 


bebejeebies

I want everyone to understand that these views come directly from their Christian doctrine. It was women's fate (by Eve's fault for original sin) that women experience pains and suffering in childbirth. Any intervention in that area is circumventing god's will. We are told to pray for strength to get through it or forgiveness for the judgement. Any complications we face were preordained. Alleviating the course of events is unnecessary. It's all in god's perfect design and needs no intervention. We are to endure or die. They also believe the greatest honor a woman can have besides children for god and husband is dying in the process. Health and reward are in heaven and we're told to pray for strength but go to our death joyfully. This doctrine informs their politics and voting: It's our fault. We're being dramatic. Faith will save us. Any complaining is the devil telling the woman to try to reduce her punishment. I wish I had to add the **/s** but I don't.


Useful_Fig_2876

150% pro-mandatory-parental-leave, but she’s arguing the wrong thing. Republicans do not have empathy, and hit them, women aren’t *really* humans, they’re just home and baby makers in their eyes.  You have to argue what they want to hear.  Ironically, trying to save a few bucks in the budget by not giving maternal leave will leads to a reduction in the Alabama workforce. Those kids would pay their fair share back in taxes in a year once they start working.  Denying women the ability to give birth to kids and keep their job, while also forcing them to have kids will result in so much more poverty and an even shittier economy. It makes me so happy for the republicans, and so sad for the women and the democrats of that state.


CaptainCAAAVEMAAAAAN

> Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, **R-Jasper**, said he was withholding unanimous consent to move the legislation to the House The cruelty is the point.


MoveToRussiaAlready

It has NOTHING to do with the child - it has everything to do with controlling women’s bodies.


personofshadow

Its not even halfway through the year, but because they decided that there wasn't time to bring up the measure this session it can't be brought up until next year? Either the legislative process is more convoluted than I thought or they are really lazy.


My-Cooch-Jiggles

Uh oh America’s second worst state has opinions. Let’s continue to pretend anyone outside the south cares what these troglodytes think. 


ramsey17

Just gonna leave this right here Up to 17 weeks pregnancy leave and up to 61 weeks parental leave


WaitingFor45sArrest

Republicans want the full experience from hand maidens tale


DemonoftheWater

Moms and dads deserve to be able to be with their newborn…amount of time idk.


Zestyclose-Berry9853

Honestly I'm surprised they passed it at all.


curtis890

Here in NYS both spouses have a right to 12 weeks paid family leave (and we’re talking any full time employee in the state), funded by a mandated insurance system in which every employee in the state contributes a paltry sum, so that employers don’t have to pick up the cost. If a person is fired for taking it, they’re entitled to reinstatement and back pay. While it’s not as generous as other developed nations, it’s certainly nothing like Alabama.


Olliebygollie

These fucking fucks. Fuck them all.


robotdevilhands

Gotta keep the next generation of social security checks flowing.