Ms. Valenti continues to be my go-to source as I want to keep up with the continued attacks on women’s body autonomy across the country.
Republicans Want to Change the Definition of Abortion
Jessica Valenti and Kylie Cheung
Mar 04, 2026
Tennessee GOP Using AI Bill to Codify Fetal Personhood
This is wild: Rachel Wells at TN Repro News flags that Tennessee Republicans have introduced a bill (HB 0849) that would redefine personhood as beginning at fertilization—and they’re doing it through an AI regulation bill.Fetal personhood is already written into Tennessee abortion regulations and criminal code, but as Wells points out, this legislation would establish personhood in the state’s Title 1 definitions. “That means, if passed, this phrase could be used as a legal framework throughout the Tennessee code,” she writes.
They really are coming up with some new nonsense every day.
Republicans Want to Change the Definition of Abortion
While we’re on the topic of Republicans futzing with language, let’s talk about the latest legislative trend: anti-abortion lawmakers in multiple states are trying to change the definition of ‘abortion’.Longtime readers know that I’ve spent years tracking this tactic: in 2023, I warned in The New York Times that anti-abortion legislators and activists were increasingly claiming that women didn’t need life-saving abortions because they could have “maternal fetal separations” instead (aka c-sections and forced delivery). And in 2024, I laid out the goal: to divorce abortion from healthcare entirely and eliminate exceptions for women’s lives.
Conservatives Want to End ‘Exceptions’ for Women’s Lives
Jessica ValentiNow, Republicans are ramping up those efforts.
Utah lawmakers, for example, want medical records to distinguish between “elective” and “medically indicated” abortions. Under HB 480, patients who miscarry, face ectopic pregnancies or fatal fetal abnormalities, need life- or health-saving abortions—or are pregnant after rape—could have their medical records formally changed to note they had a good abortion. Not like those other bad women who wanted their pregnancy to end.
A sign that the bill is part of a coordinated national strategy? Utah isn’t alone. A pre-filed Louisiana bill would do much the same thing: HB 288 mandates that when doctors code pregnancy loss as “spontaneous abortion”—which is standard medical language—that they add a parenthetical that says “miscarriage.”
Meanwhile, the South Dakota Senate just passed HB 1257, which would change the definition of abortion to exclude treatment for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and “any medical procedure performed for the purpose of saving the life or preserving the health of the unborn child.” (aka, c-sections.)
South Dakota lawmakers say they’re just trying to “clarify” the state’s abortion ban because pro-choicers have scared doctors out of providing legal care. That, of course, is the same excuse anti-abortion legislators and activists have used across the country to pass other so-called “clarifications”—bills that actually further restrict women’s rights. (See: Kentucky)
The ACLU of South Dakota points out, for example, that HB 1257 defines an “unborn child” from fertilization, which “could create a legal domino effect that triggers broader restrictions on hormonal contraception, emergency contraception and in vitro fertilization.”
All of which is to say, these bills are not being introduced to help women! The goal is to eliminate all abortion—even to save women’s lives—and to attack any bit of freedom we have.
they spent too much time in 2016, telling us
1. Hillary had to EARN THEIR VOTE
2. That we couldn’t threaten them to vote for Hillary by using the Court
When I say, I will NEVER EVER forget the 2016 receipts…I mean it.
I WILL NEVER EVER FORGET THOSE CLOWNS.
Matthew Yglesias
@mattyglesias
An interesting asymmetry is that when Trump lied to portray himself as the peace candidate, right-wing hawks stayed chill and just let their preferred candidate do what he had to do in order to win while leftists pretended to believe Trump to try to gain intra-coalitional clout.
https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/2031695940382294379?s=20
tré easton
@treeaston
Hard leftists see the Democratic Party as a threat to their priorities.
Hawks, neocons, and other hard right entities see the Republican Party as a conduit.
Judge for yourself which approach has been more successful.
https://x.com/treeaston/status/2031717217365058050?s=20
Tim
@trouble_man90
A smart leftist movement would’ve used Hillary as a means to secure the Supreme Court for the rest of our lives. When you think about all the progressive things we could have done over the next 30 years with a 6-3 liberal Court, I just don’t understand why they didn’t want that.
https://x.com/trouble_man90/status/2032063656591327609?s=20
Cameron 🇺🇸 🗽🦅
@CameronCorduroy
for literally my entire life every single Republican Presidency has left the country in crisis such that the next Democratic President has to spend most of their time cleaning it up
12:30 PM · Mar 11, 2026
·
245.1K
Views
Patrick S. Tomlinson
@stealthygeek
I’m 45. Every last one. And then voters get frustrated that Dems can’t fix everything the GOP broke fast enough and put the arsonists back in charge to break even more as punishment.
We are a nation of goldfish brained nitwits.
coming to another Red State near you
Election 2026
Government
New South Dakota law allows voters to challenge other voters’ citizenship
By:
Seth Tupper
–
March 8, 2026
8:19 pm
Voters in South Dakota will soon be able to challenge other voters’ citizenship.
Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed legislation into law last week that authorizes challenges by individuals and election officials.
“We do a lot of things right in South Dakota, and our election integrity is something to be admired and emulated by other states,” Rhoden said in a news release.
The new law will not affect the June 2 primary election, because it won’t take effect until July 1, which is the regular effective date for new laws in the state.
State law already allows challenges to a voter’s registration up to the 90th day before an election, if a person is suspected of lacking South Dakota residency, voting in another state or being registered to vote in another state. The new law adds citizenship as a justification for a challenge.
https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2026/03/08/new-south-dakota-law-allows-voters-to-challenge-other-voters-citizenship/
Soda
@fredsoda
it’s pretty clear the next decade (or two) will be awful for the US, regardless of who succeeds Trump
he’s permafucked the situation tbh
6:51 AM · Mar 11, 2026
Dan Shapiro
@DanielBShapiro
President Trump needs to find an off-ramp.
Militarily, Iran is no match for the power of the US and Israel. Their combined campaign has done great damage to Iran’s leadership, missiles, nuclear sites, navy, and regime targets. Of the military objectives US commanders have described, there is not that much left to do.
What is a weaker party to do? Expand the playing field: hit Gulf states, drain their air defense assets, activate asymmetric threats (terrorism), and cause major economic pain by shutting down Strait of Hormuz.
Iran is playing a long game. The regime thinks it will survive this war, weaker and with a degraded military and proxies. But for them, survival is a form of victory. Worse, it still holds its HEU (at least some in its possession) and could try to activate additional nuclear sites for enrichment. All of its efforts are attempts to establish deterrence against being attacked again.
If the war and closure of the Strait continue, there is serious risk of global economic catastrophe. The US is also enduring a major drain on air defense assets needed elsewhere, already in evidence as THAAD components are arriving in the Middle East from South Korea. There are fewer Patriots available for Europeans to buy to donate to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia’s ailing economy gets a boost from spiking oil prices. The war in Ukraine gets longer.
Trump, as he has said, can claim victory at any time. He should do so now. He will say: We have hit their leadership, missiles, nuclear sites, navy, and regime targets hard. We have left the regime much weaker, and limited their ability to project power, threaten their neighbors, and suppress their people. Their leadership knows what we are capable of, they are deterred, and if required to prevent a nuclear breakout, we have additional means of attack. We are open to talk to the new leadership about the peaceful dismantling of their nuclear program. We will shift our focus to helping the Iranian people in non-kinetic ways in fighting for their freedom and their nation.
Israel’s “mow the grass” strategy is widely panned. Even Israelis question it after October 7. But there is logic to shorter, periodic, suppression of threats rather than seeking their full dismantlement, when that is not possible through military means or the costs are too high — while shifting to other means (non-kinetic support to the people) to hasten the end of the terrible regime, still a worthy goal.
That is not a perfect off-ramp. Far from it. But wars end messy. (More so when they shouldn’t have been started in the first place.) Unconditional surrender is rare. There is certainly no history of regime change by imposed by air power alone, and little sign it will be achieved here. It will represent a serious divergence of war aims with Israel, which wants to keep pushing for regime change and wants more time to weaken Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran may indeed not even accept a ceasefire and continue to attack, which would require some US response, scoped to encourage gradual mutual deescalation.
But costs to the US, its partners, and the world are rising fast. Failing to find an imperfect off-ramp now, may lead to the utter absence of any available exit later when the costs are much higher and expansive goals are still unattainable.
11:54 AM · Mar 12, 2026
https://x.com/DanielBShapiro/status/2032138132918096311?s=20
Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي
@NTarnopolsky
💥Netanyahu just said, categorically, that he did not ask Donald Trump to intervene regarding a possible pardon– which would be a crime under Israeli law– and contradicts Trump, who said on-camera that Netanyahu asked him to bring it up.
Marc Elias
@marcelias.bsky.social
Follow
Republican leadership is setting the stage for some high dudgeon political theater next week, planning a multi-day, overnight debate on the SAVE America Act that will likely culminate in the protagonist proposal’s death on the Senate floor. http://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
https://bsky.app/profile/marcelias.bsky.social/post/3mgux6gnruc2x
The Republicans have been told since the original incarnation of this nightmare bill that it had the potential to disenfranchise MILLIONS of American women.
MILLIONS OF THEM
They have been told this and have been unwilling to change the language to allow for Marriage Certificates as proof.
That they are unwilling to change the language means that this A DELIBERATE CHOICE TO POSSIBLY DISENFRANCHISE MILLIONS OF WOMEN.
And, while, the disenfranchisement of women has been brought up, the disenfranchisement of possibly millions of Black Americans has not.
Who am I speaking of?
The millions of Black Americans born in the Jim Crow South. People like my mother, father and eldest sister. NONE of whom could get their original Birth Certificates as easily as I did, because I was born in a hospital with a doctor in attendance. They were all born at home, attended to by midwives. Because, they were not allowed in Whites-Only Hospitals.
Then, there is the part of the POLL TAX for those who would have to change their documentation, or get a passport.
The Constitution set up Elections in this country to be run by THE STATES.
That was a very deliberate choice.
We have a very DE-CENTRALIZED election system – by design.
The SAVE ACT would fundamentally change that to a FEDERALIZED SYSTEM.
PLEASE understand what a nightmare that would be.
They would force states to send their voter rolls TO DHS.
WHY does DHS need voter rolls.
They would also demand that states do a voter purge every 30 days.
WHY?
Then, there is the CRIMINALIZATION of people whose jobs are to do voter registration. If they make a mistake, they can be CRIMINALLY CHARGED, even if the person is an American Citizen?
PHUCK OUTTA HERE
Chuck Schumer
@schumer.senate.gov
Follow
The SAVE Act is Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of millions of people.
If Trump is saying he won’t sign any bills until the SAVE Act is passed, then so be it: there will be total gridlock in the Senate.
Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances.
https://bsky.app/profile/schumer.senate.gov/post/3mgkvqi2abk2u
Jenny Cohn
@jennycohn.bsky.social
Follow
“A foundational rule of computer security is to never create a ‘single point of failure,’ meaning a centralized system or node whose compromise wld cause widespread damage.” The Trump administration’s “SAVE” voter purge system—an underreported key part of the “Save America Act”—violates this rule.
https://bsky.app/profile/jennycohn.bsky.social/post/3mgktz65jbk2j
Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com
Follow
Schumer on the SAVE America Act: “It is not about showing ID when you show up to vote. It’s about the voter registration rolls, destroying them, purging them, not letting people know, and taking the rights in an algorithm but together by DOGE and Musk — it’s an outrage”
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mgq3u2tsth2j
clown
Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com
Follow
Mike Johnson on House Republicans’ Islamophobic rhetoric: “There’s a lot of energy in the country and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia Law in America is a serious problem”
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mgppwhzxdh2s
Dean Obeidallah
@deanobeidallah.bsky.social
Follow
WOW!!! GOP Rep James Comer Says Trump DOJ Asked New Mexico Officials to End Jeffrey Epstein Investigation! The property was being probed in 2019, but Trump DOJ took over and shut things down. This is the cover up in action! http://www.mediaite.com/media/news/j...
Dean Obeidallah
@deanobeidallah.bsky.social
Follow
This is backed up by NY Times reporting last week: “A state-led inquiry into Mr. Epstein’s actions was taken over by federal prosecutors in 2019, and then apparently fizzled, according to New Mexico officials and recently unsealed records.” NY Times Gift link: http://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/u...
https://bsky.app/profile/deanobeidallah.bsky.social/post/3mgrs4vybb222
InteractivePolls
@IAPolls2022
Jeannie LaCroix (R) defeats Muhammad “Sef” Casim (D) in Prince William County’s Woodbridge District special election for Board of Supervisors.
The GOP flipped a seat, but here’s the background of that win.
Miss Aja
@brat2381.bsky.social
Follow
🧵
Y’all want to see a cautionary tale of exactly what Black Folks have been trying to warn y’all of for years?
This guy Sef Casim ran as a young progressive candidate against a BW and all the usual suspects lined up behind him.
After he won the caucus/primary a bunch
wjla.com/news/electio…
of old racist and antisemitic social media posts he made were found and posted.
As you can imagine a lot of folks were pissed. In spite of that the young progressives and some Dems said he was forgiven and the base of the party should just move on.
Guess what…THAT DID NOT HAPPEN.
The usual suspects voted for the racist antisemite anyway but this time the base told them to kick rocks and wrote in the BW’s name.
A Republican just won this seat and some of y’all might think that’s awful but damn that. The party should have sat his racist antisemitic ass down instead of
trying to force him down Black and Jewish throats.
Knock this bs off Democrats. The base is fed up and we’re all about showing y’all about the finding out stage of life🤷🏾♀️
9:43 PM · Mar 10, 2026
And here’s what happened tonight. Make sure y’all read the part where it basically implies Montgomery split the party instead of racism, misogyny, and antisemitism splitting the party.
Wild shit but bravo to those that took a stand.
http://www.potomaclocal.com/2026/03/10/r...
https://bsky.app/profile/brat2381.bsky.social/post/3mgquh5s4rd2n
PhillipUSA
@phillipusa.bsky.social
Follow
Where are the people who were obsessed with gas and grocery prices while Biden was president.
Crickets.
7:28 PM · Mar 10, 2026
https://bsky.app/profile/phillipusa.bsky.social/post/3mgqmw3myxk27
Reuters
@reuters.com
Follow
BREAKING: Iran’s sports minister said Iran cannot participate in the 2026 World Cup after the US killed their leader. ‘Considering that this corrupt regime has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances can we participate in the World Cup’ reut.rs/413RFjD
https://bsky.app/profile/reuters.com/post/3mgry2nu4xk2e
Robert L. Tsai
@robertltsai.bsky.social
Follow
Nadia Schadlow, Trump’s former Deputy National Security Adviser, hasn’t read the Constitution
https://bsky.app/profile/robertltsai.bsky.social/post/3mgrxve3vvs2y
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊