This is what it’s come to in this country since the fall of Roe.
I think it’s outrageous.
All Steven knew was what time and where. A part-time pilot from the Chicago area, he was picking up a total stranger in his single-engine plane, a passenger who needed to fly more than a thousand miles, across state lines, from the midwest to the east coast.
“Within 15, 20 minutes of arriving and meeting the person, we were in the plane and I got the engine fired up, ready to go,” he said.
“It felt weighty,” he added. “Every time I fly, even by myself, there’s sort of this heightened level of alertness … This flight was even one more notch above that because this is someone who I don’t know, they don’t know me..”
The passenger was seeking reproductive health services and needed to travel to a state where they could access them. Steven is just one of hundreds of pilots across the US, who have been volunteering the use of their small planes to fly people seeking abortions and other services from states that have outlawed it to states that haven’t.
The effort to connect volunteer pilots with patients is led by Elevated Access, a non-profit organization based out of Illinois. It was founded in April in response to a growing number of women being forced to embark on expensive and time-consuming journeys in attempts to obtain abortions.
……………………………
The flying costs are covered by the volunteer pilots, and the trips are free for passengers. Pilots pay for fuel, and those who do not own their own aircraft pay for rental fees.“This is their weekend pastime, if you will,” Fiona says. “Fuel alone for one of our flights is several hundred dollars, so every time a pilot does a flight, several hundred dollars of gas money is coming out of their pocket.”
To Steven, there is a strange irony in his work with Elevated Access.
“We constantly read, as general aviation pilots, about how lucky we are to have the flying freedoms that we have in the US compared to other countries, with some very minor exceptions,” he says of being a pilot in America. “I could basically hop in my plane anytime I want, fly anywhere I want. I don’t have to talk to a single air traffic controller. I could file a flight plan and I don’t have to check in with some government entity.
“I think as pilots, we’re very proud of the freedom we have and so it seems appropriate for me to use the freedom I have to help out people whose much more fundamental freedoms – [such as] rights to medical care or decisions about how they want to control their own body – are being jeopardized right now.”
This is life saving medical care that these women are getting. This is what is happening to women in Red States, and what the GOP wants to happen to women EVERYWHERE.
CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) tweeted at 5:20 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
CVS, Walgreens and Walmart have tentatively agreed to pay at least $12 billion to settle a number of lawsuits alleging the retailers mishandled prescriptions of opioid painkillers, according to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters
https://t.co/YLa4dlcHT3
(https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/1587751416592056320?t=ZI1ZQlgSkDPxMuL1rlDYlg&s=03)
👀👀 for the lie.
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) tweeted at 7:36 PM on Tue, Nov 01, 2022:
Biden on Ketanji Brown Jackson: “I promised you I’d have a Black woman on the Supreme Court. She’s on the Supreme Court. And she’s smarter than the rest of them.” https://t.co/JtcV3bzCMG
(https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1587604457122140168?t=I3VbOW17tBzsENftIaio4A&s=03)
David Darmofal (@david_darmofal) tweeted at 6:41 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
Biden quietly but clearly prepares a potential reelection bid
The president and his wife have been meeting with a small group of advisers to pave the way for a 2024 campaign
https://t.co/4PdL8oOjoN
(https://twitter.com/david_darmofal/status/1587771832190455808?t=BPXKfAzYlkKozDi12FCH5g&s=03)
Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) tweeted at 7:29 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
🚨 “Congressional Republicans,
[…] have embraced plans to reduce federal spending on Social Security and Medicare, including cutting benefits for some retirees and raising the retirement age for both safety net programs.”
https://t.co/mv6Uoz0hIt
(https://twitter.com/JesseFFerguson/status/1587784017440546816?t=X5BlPSaqh0hCSIlG6mur2A&s=03)
The ‘ change’ to the American Social Safety Net that the GOP wants…
Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) tweeted at 6:41 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
Let’s just be clear, the “change” is:
— Lower SS benefits
— No SS benefits at all for seniors 65 & 66
— Higher co-pays for Medicare
That’s not a “change.” That’s the shaft for seniors. https://t.co/0OcAvccp6s
(https://twitter.com/WHCOS/status/1587771983714213894?t=PvoA9l1_xWUwEczZmO2cBA&s=03)
Acyn (@Acyn) tweeted at 10:48 PM on Tue, Nov 01, 2022:
Obama: You don’t need to take my word it. 14 members of his family announced that they would support Masto. You know, we all have a crazy uncle. But if you have a full Thanksgiving dinner table.. https://t.co/5ZttIgDjk6
(https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1587652738959253506?t=TZk3AcvzkTmO18s8vYBeqw&s=03)
Nikki Barnes (@NikkiBarnesFL) tweeted at 7:01 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
Don’t you dare tell a Black person in the South not to vote Democrat from the comforts of your Blue State legislatures & Governors. Y’all are clowns for that! The South is still fighting against an oppressive Jim Crow 2.0 regime without Democrats in power & people are SUFFERING!
(https://twitter.com/NikkiBarnesFL/status/1587777011061297153?t=BUMO1fihgAD6y_S8HWspVQ&s=03)
Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) tweeted at 7:12 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
Good morning everybody. 6 days of voting left!
Some things I’m seeing:
– Dem overperformance in House specials & Kansas showing up in early vote, Senate polling
– Good youth, Hispanic polls
– McConnell final ad buy not red wavey
– Liz Cheney, Barack 1/
https://t.co/LqolsS8cJC
(https://twitter.com/SimonWDC/status/1587779668043776006?t=TS4QP5927C5GLptjhAHToQ&s=03)
OH REALLY?
Andrew Wortman 🏳️🌈🇺🇸 (@AmoneyResists) tweeted at 11:04 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
John Eastman’s emails say that Clarence Thomas was “the key” in their plot to overturn the 2020 election. An impeachment investigation into Thomas needs to be announced and every current or formerly elected official with even an ounce of integrity should call for his resignation.
(https://twitter.com/AmoneyResists/status/1587838123970789376?t=FxTF9xiN2frB4elNIHHZ0g&s=03)
Brynn Tannehill (@BrynnTannehill) tweeted at 8:09 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
The credible, close-call attempt to kill or maim Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a second time, and the GOP response, signals how close the US is to the end of the road as a Democracy. It also tells us about what comes after the fall. 1/n
Brynn Tannehill (@BrynnTannehill) tweeted at 8:09 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
The GOP has generally treated it as a joke, denied that DePape was conservative, or spread conspiracy theories that it was a gay quarrel during a hookup. There’s been a lot of wink and nudge, “Sure it was bad, but whatever gets Nancy out, amiright?” comments like Youngkin’s. 2/n
Brynn Tannehill (@BrynnTannehill) tweeted at 8:09 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
There has been almost NOTHING done to deter other would be assassins from killing Democratic officials. When people protested outside homes of SCOTUS justices, security was immediately increased. Dead silence now. 3/n
Brynn Tannehill (@BrynnTannehill) tweeted at 8:09 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
The difference is that Dems and Republicans are willing to protect conservative officials, but Republicans aren’t willing to protect Dems, because they know that actual violence against officials is driven by the right wing base. 4/n )
Kenny BooYah! 🖖🏾 (@KwikWarren) tweeted at 9:28 AM on Wed, Nov 02, 2022:
Wow. The Saudis and the Russians appear to be working with American oil companies and the Republican Party to prop up gasoline prices at least through #ElectionDay. Shameful.
(https://twitter.com/KwikWarren/status/1587813914666217472?t=s7BI84E7CHIOZqS2fF2AcA&s=03)
UH HUH
UH HUH
I look better in a mask (@cindywish) tweeted at 6:15 PM on Tue, Nov 01, 2022:
Excellent point made by Hillary Clinton just now on Joy Reid: all Republicans talk about is crime, but when an actual crime was committed against Paul Pelosi, they couldn’t care less.
(https://twitter.com/cindywish/status/1587584218925875202?t=9HAcIk63jYqsSSerCXjChQ&s=03)
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊