JillyMom

I'm a labor/birth doula and SAHM to three beautiful boys. I am a breastfeeder, babywearer, anti-circumcision, cloth-diapering attachment parent. I'm also pro-choice, anti-bullying, and pro-equality. I am pansexual, but I am currently in a monogamous heterosexual relationship.

[writertobridge-deactivated20230]

Measles making comeback as parents opt out of vaccines

A Texas medical researcher is raising concerns about a potential large-scale comeback of the measles.

I am. So angry.

Listen to me.

I do not care whether or not you believe vaccines cause autism. Even though studies have shown time and time again that vaccines don’t cause autism and the original study stating that there was a link with autism and vaccines was fraudulent, it does not matter.

The reason that people are concerned about vaccines causing autism is because they’re not thinking of the long-term. Here’s the truth: when you are choosing to not having your child vaccinated because you’re afraid of autism, you are actively choosing death over a neurodevelopmental disorder. Let me phrase that in another way – you are either picking autism or death. It doesn’t have to be the death of your child. It can be literally any child. And death is the worst case scenario. Autism is not the worst case scenario. Death is always and will constantly be the worst case scenario.

There are children who are too young to get vaccines. There are kids who have compromised immune systems that cannot get vaccines. Your child getting vaccinated prevents these illnesses from spreading and keeps those children safe. It’s called community immunity and it’s important to maintain that so people don’t die.

tl;dr - Stop being a selfish asshole and get your kids vaccinated. There are worse things in the world than autism.

And before anyone starts coming to my inbox screaming about how “I don’t know how bad autism can be”, I know. Not only do I have a neurodevelopmental disorder, but I also had a friend with a severely autistic brother that could not talk when he was fifteen. I know. And even after witnessing him and being through my own shit, I would still get my kids vaccinated because I want them, and other kids, to live.

[shrewreadings]

WTF, people.

Why the fuck do you think that your fear of autism (ungrounded, btw), beats someone else’s RIGHT TO LIVE?!?!

You don’t want to vaccinate your kid. Goody gumdrops.

You expose your godchild - who’s too young to be vaccinated.

You expose your sister-in-law - who is going through chemo (because having cancer isn’t bad enough), and immunocompromised.

You expose everyone they come in contact with - BECAUSE MEASLES STAYS ACTIVE FOR UP TO TWO HOURS ON SURFACES AND IN THE AIR OF A SPACE.

Number of people killed by symptoms associated with autism diagnoses: 0.

Number of people killed by measles in 2015: 134,000

Number of people killed per annum before vaccination became widespread in 1980: 2,600,000 (paraphrased from WHO).

(Source: World Health Organization. http://who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/)

VACCINATE YOUR FUCKING KIDS.

[orgy-of-nerdiness]

Measles is not harmless. Researchers noticed that after the measles vaccine came out, kids started dying less from other diseases as well. It turns out that measles suppresses your immune system for YEARS (and no, no amount of vitamin C or zinc is going to make up for that).

Source (on mobile so these are going to be ugly links) NPR article (easier reading, you don’t have to be a scientist): http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/05/07/404963436/scientists-crack-a-50-year-old-mystery-about-the-measles-vaccine Article in Science (a very highly ranked journal): http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6235/694

VACCINATE YOUR FUCKING KIDS

[jillymomcraftypants]

See, every time someone rails at "the anti-vaccinators" they bring up autism like that's the one and only fear any parent has in mind when considering vaccines. Vaccine injury is real. You can't argue that it's not because there's an entire system designed specifically to record incidents of vaccine injury. You can find numerous videos and stories from families who were devastated by vaccine injuries and would have gratefully accepted autism instead. There are a hundred different side effects of varying severity that no parent wants for their child. Whether or not they are worse than death is debatable and subjective. Is autism worse than death? Certainly not. Is autism what intelligent, informed parents are afraid of when choosing not to vaccinate? No. Some of the families choosing not to vaccinate have had a child with vaccine injuries. Some of them have genetic mutations that make them susceptible to certain things. There are so many reasons and concerns that go into making the decision not to vaccinate. YOU don't get to dictate other people's reasons because it makes you feel more secure. You can stand on your soap box and call people selfish assholes for making a medical decision that you don't agree with but you're no different, demanding that people make the decision you agree with despite having no insight into these people's lives or medical history like a selfish asshole. FURTHERMORE. MEASLES IN THE UNITED STATES HAS DECLINED. In 2014, hundreds of people contracted measles over dozens of outbreaks. In 2016, 70 people caught measles. Most outbreaks are caught by overseas travellers. Some experts say 1 in 10 adults who were previously immunized may no longer be immune to measles. Despite vaccine immunity not being eternal, I notice that adults who don't keep up to date are rarely targets of vaccine rage. And nevermind that even the vaccinated can contract these illnesses. Despite the multitude of factors in situations of disease outbreak, let's just pin it all on parents and say that it's all because of autism. And ONEMORETHING. I'm from Texas, and when they say that "45,000 texas students opted out of school-required vaccines," what they mean is that 45,000 waivers were requested from the state. These waivers arrive blank for parents to fill in and return to the school, to be kept by the school. The state does not know what vaccines these students opted out of and cannot verify that any or all of these students are missing the measles vaccine. Also? That 45,000 sounds like a lot but they make up less than 1% of the student population in the state. Which is more than sufficient for herd immunity. The school district with the highest rate of excemption was about 2%, still not enough to undermine herd immunity. Also, per the CDC as of 2015 MMR is one of the four vaccines that actually met it's target of 90% coverage around the country, with some states reaching 95%. Maybe before you hop on your sanctimonious soap box, you could talk to intelligent people from the other side and rage against accurate views instead of your preconception of them as autism-fearing morons.

[demain-et-demain]

The campaign from the March on the Capitol here in Texas is running again for anyone who missed a chance to get a shirt during the first run! 

All Proceeds from this second runthrough will be going to The Lilith Fund, Texas Equal Access, AND Jane’s Due Process.

We will be helping support giving access and funds to safe, legal abortions.

Shirts are  available: [here] until February 7th Find them on Facebook: [here].

(As a side note, any questions about the campaign or charities should be directed at their facebook. I only did the graphic and and don’t want to speak for the group)

[jillymomcraftypants]

Got those clogged duct blues.

[wonderswoman]

Brie Larson didn’t even hug him. Legends only.

[reallytiredofyourshitglee]

Hollywood hypocrisy: Why aren’t we talking about Casey Affleck’s abuse scandal?

Producer Amanda White claimed she was subjected to repeated harassment and physical intimidation from Affleck, including one incident when Affleck allegedly ordered a crew member to show White his penis, despite her objection. She claimed Affleck bragged openly about his sexual encounters and told her she should get pregnant with a crew member.

She also alleged that during filming she was prevented from returning to her bedroom, because Affleck and Phoenix were having sex with two women in there. White also claimed Affleck tried to coerce her into sharing a hotel room with him and when she protested claimed he grabbed her and attempted to scare her into submission. She said he then allegedly sent her abusive text messages for refusing to spend the night with him.

The film’s director of photography Magdalena Gorka alleged similar harassment. In her complaint, she described Affleck’s treatment of her as “the most traumatising of her career.”

Gorka claimed Affleck openly discussed engaging in sexual activities with her, and jokingly suggested that she have sex with the camera assistant. She also alleged that during filming she woke in the night to find Affleck lying in bed next to her wearing only his underwear and a T-shirt. He was allegedly hugging her and caressing her back. When she ordered Affleck out she claimed he reacted angrily.

She alleged that for the next few months of filming Affleck encouraged crew members to subject her to a daily barrage of sexual harassment and unwanted advances.

[jillymomcraftypants]

My 5 year old watched National Geographic's In The Womb series this weekend. He has told me all about chromosomes, cell division, and amniotic fluid. I love it. Science is life.

[destinyrush]

People who think a woman breastfeeding her baby is sexual seriously need professional help.

[labellabrianna-deactivated20250]

Reblogging again.

[karayray1-deactivated20230129]

Forever reblogging

[rasen-shuriken-blog]

abortion that late should 🚫❌

I did not know that in 7 states in America, you can carry out an abortion the day before you give birth (allows abortion at any time). That’s so fucking disgusting. And other states allow abortion up to 28 weeks. That’s not a ball of cells no more, that’s a damn baby. It’s good that abortion is legal but not the fucking late into the pregnancy 😷😷 nasty

[evilterf]

You do know the reason abortion is carried out that late in a pregnancy is because of fetal abnormalities, right? There’s no woman that stays pregnant for 8 months and then decides “Meh, I’m just gonna have an abortion instead.”

These women are not nasty, they are not evil, they are women who were so excited to welcome their little one into this world. They are women who had a nursery set up and baby clothes bought. They are women who excitedly waited for their due date, took belly photos and updated the world on how their pregnancy was coming along. They are the women who woke up one day and felt that their baby wasn’t moving anymore. They are the women that felt in their gut that something was terribly wrong, just to have their worst fears confirmed.

They are the women who went to a regular checkup to find out that their baby is severely deformed and won’t live outside the womb, or will but only for a few days and suffer terribly the whole time. They are the women who have to make a decision to not let their baby suffer.

Women having abortions that late are not women who just decided to get an abortion 8 months into pregnancy. While that is there right to do so, know that isn’t what happens. Know that that isn’t the reality.

[fem-bomb-om-em-deactivated20180]

This is really upsetting to read but it is the truth, more people need to know this.

[appropriately-inappropriate]

Something like 90% of abortions are first trimester, which is so early that the medical terminology vacillates between “zygote” and “fetus”, and whatever the name, the thing’s the size of a pencil eraser and has 0% ability to survive outside of the womb.

The remainder are performed in the 2nd trimester, generally as a result of fetal abnormality or a severe congenital defect.

The vanishingly rare 3rd trimester abortions are generally for one of two reasons:

1) the life of the mother is in serious danger 2) the fetus is either dead or dying

So no. Women aren’t just bouncing on coat-hangers at 37 weeks for a giggle, they’re undertaking a serious medical procedure for a heartbreaking reason.

But nice try, jerk.

[taraljc]

THISSSSS.

[kailyndavillier]

FOR EVERYONE THAT MIGHT BE CONFUSED READ THIS

[lauraannegilman]

Banning a D&C at later points also forces a woman to carry a dead fetus within her, full term. Even if it endangers her life (or, possibly, the life of a still-developing twin).  Because some men think human woman are the same as pigs and cows, and should behave accordingly.

[demain-et-demain]

Consider purchasing a shirt for the 44th Annual Roe v. Wade rally in Austin Texas. 

The fundraiser is running until the 30th of November and proceeds are used to support the organization for the rally itself. 

Their site is here.

If you can’t attend and don’t want a shirt, consider reblogging to spread this around!

[demain-et-demain]

On Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/552852861574202/permalink/595135154012639/ as well

[jillyfishmcbacon]

So my sister fell and broke her hand in three places. If she doesn’t get surgery within a week it will begin to heal. If it heals as is, she will lose most of the mobility in the affected fingers. But she doesn’t have insurance and the procedure is about $6,000. If you can do anything, be it a reblog or a single dollar, pleas please please. I and she would appreciate it so much. She’s got four kids who depend on her and is someone I’ve always looked to as an example of strength and grace.

[jillymomcraftypants]

She was denied medicaid. Because a single parent with four children has to make less than $427 to qualify.

You have to literally be destitute and dying before the government will say "oh fine, throw them a bone."

In the meantime my sister is in severe pain, trying to care for four kids, and now faces permanent pain and loss of mobility.

This country disgusts me so much. :( Special thanks to the state of Texas for refusing to expand their medicaid program to cover the gaps left by obamacare.

[jillyfishmcbacon]

So my sister fell and broke her hand in three places. If she doesn’t get surgery within a week it will begin to heal. If it heals as is, she will lose most of the mobility in the affected fingers. But she doesn’t have insurance and the procedure is about $6,000. If you can do anything, be it a reblog or a single dollar, pleas please please. I and she would appreciate it so much. She’s got four kids who depend on her and is someone I’ve always looked to as an example of strength and grace.

[sheafrotherdon]

On Thanksgiving

Dear U.S.-based Friends - This Thursday is Thanksgiving, a day on which we remember an almost entirely fictional encounter between the settler-colonists in Mâsach8sut and the local Wampanoag people.  While the details of the Thanksgiving story are largely mythical, it is true that the settler-colonists would have died without the aid of the Wampagoag in those first few years.  If we go to the heart of the story we’re remembering a moment where Native people helped non-Native people survive. Now it’s our turn. You’ve probably heard about the Water Protectors in North Dakota, trying with all their might and main to stop an oil pipeline crossing the Oglala Aquifier and going beneath the Missouri River.  Millions of people downriver of the crossing depend on the Missouri for their drinking water - the Lakota at Standing Rock reservation would be the first and most drastically hit. The protectors have a phrase: Mni Wiconi - Water is Life.  They are standing between the company and the river for all of us. There are thousands gathered at the three camps that make up the Water Protector presence.  Local law enforcement has violently tried to disperse the camps - they have attacked Protectors with rubber bullets, sound canons, concussion grenades, and high-pressure hoses.  The Water Protectors have done nothing wrong.  The land on which the pipeline is to be built belongs to them - the Supreme Court upheld it as such in 1980 when it agreed with the Lakota that the U.S. government had broken the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which promised the Oceti Sakowin (the seven council fires of the Lakota) the Black Hills region forever. On Sunday night, after dark, when temperatures were at 27F, local law enforcement attacked one of the camps.  (Warning for graphic video of the confrontation at the next link.)  A concussion grenade exploded on one female protector’s arm - she was flown to Minneapolis, and it looks like her arm may have to be amputated.  An elder went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated by camp healers.  26 people were injured badly enough to be taken to hospital.  Many hundreds more were hurt. Local law enforcement is knowingly risking killing people.  You don’t spray people with high pressure water hoses when the temperature is below freezing because you want them to back off; you do it because you want to cause hypothermia.  Amnesty International has decried the attack as an attack on human rights, and has appealed to local law enforcement to stop these tactics.  The United Nations has condemned what’s going on.  Oh, and Protectors are being arrested for “rioting.”  Mmmhmm. Once again, Native people stand between non-Native people and catastrophe, and this time we have to do more than be passively grateful.  This Thanksgiving, could you pass the hat at your dinner table for money to send directly to the camps? If you raise $5, and everyone did it, that would be an enormous influx of resources. Those resources would enable camp leaders to buy the supplies that are most needed - medical equipment (local law enforcement road blocks make getting anyone out of the camps by ambulance very tricky); below-zero-grade sleeping bags; camp heaters; winter-ready tents etc., as well as provide legal counsel to those who have been arrested. You can donate at the following places: To Standing Rock Directly (The tribe is funding the portable bathrooms, trash pick up, and other infastructure) To the Sacred Stone Camp legal defense fund To the Red Warrior Camp (direct action camp within Oceti Sakowin) legal defense fund The Mní Wičhóni Nakíčižiŋ Owáyawa school at camp To Oceti Sakowin Camp (the main camp) directly All of these have been verified - your money really is going directly to the causes listed. Please think about the encounter at the heart of Thanksgiving as you gather with your nearest and dearest (and those you don’t feel so near and dear toward) on Thursday.  Give back.

[theywontletmedeletethisblog-dea]

as a circumcised male who has talked about this with other circumcised males, it makes me incredibly annoyed when idiots trying to make a point about “men’s rights” pretend we’re somehow oppressed by it or whatever bullshit point they’re trying to make. especially when they’re trying to equate it to the horrific practice of female genital mutilation.

[meatswitch-deactivated20231107]

So what’s the point you’re trying to make here, exactly? That men’s rights don’t matter because worse things happen to other people?

Children die from circumcisions. They’re left with horrifying complications, sometimes lose their entire penis. Oh yeah, and those same regions that practice female genital mutilation? They do the same shit to men, too. 250 initiates on the west coast of Africa lose their penises every year because it’s forced on them as children. But we don’t hear about that because women’s issues are always at the front.

I don’t want you to care more about men’s issues more than women’s, just give a single shred of a shit about men’s for once.

[theywontletmedeletethisblog-dea]

i have all my rights as a male…. i don’t live in a world that dehumanizes, exploits, disadvantages me because i’m male….

my main point is that when people act like male circumcision is in any way the same as female genital mutilation, i literally don’t care about anything that comes out of their idiotic mouths.

[meatswitch-deactivated20231107]

You really don’t have all your rights. Do you have any idea how disposable you are to society as a man? It’s completely legal everywhere to chop your genitals apart, risking your life and well-being, just because your parents think it’s a neat thing to do. Do you realize that young boys everywhere are used as child soldiers and sent to die in wars as young as eight years old, while the world focuses on the girls taken by the same terrorist group? Do you have any idea what you have to do to be considered more than a checkbook to most people?

As a man, your options to be worthwhile to society are to be unbelievably sexy, or immeasurably wealthy. Anything else, you get tossed to the gutter. Millions of homeless men wander the streets in despair, starving, and our newspapers talk about the one in six homeless people who have a vagina.

It is similar to FGM, sorry you don’t like that but it’s true. Just because you refuse to believe something doesn’t make it less of a fact.

[theywontletmedeletethisblog-dea]

lmao @zacaman i found another idiot….

[writched]

oh my loooooord……. i agree that circumcision is an archaic and perverse practice that seems exercised out of the notion of ownership of human children and i do definitely see it as something that should be a rights violation wrt childrens rights and medical consent laws but………….. yikes….

[theywontletmedeletethisblog-dea]

that’s my thing, too, it’s an issue of children’s autonomy which is basically nonexistent, but the reasons behind it and the repercussions of it are completely 1000% different from FGM. the overwhelmingly vast majority of us grow up to live healthy lives completely unaffected by it happening, it’s not something that’s even on men’s minds (or else you know fathers would stop their sons from being circumcised, which you know they don’t).

[intact101]

“Millions of women have undergone it and they’re living very healthy, full lives.” X

“She’s been cut and look, she’s fine - she’s getting an education, Memunatu says, her large round face lighting up.” X 

“It’s done within a few seconds… I brought my baby there when she’s about 2 months old. Doc will then give you a cream to apply on your baby. My girl recovers very fast. She gave a quick shriek during the process but after that she’s fine. She never even cry after that. you can just give the doctor a call if you want to find out more.” X

“Oh, it’s just a small cut so why are you complaining? The retired civil servant, who asked not to be named, said this improved hygiene and had no adverse affect on a woman’s sex life.” X 

“What western audiences rarely see and anti-FGM activists would prefer them not to see is the fact that many circumcised women who support their tradition are healthy, lead sexually fulfilling lives and they as well their partners quite like their circumcised bodies.” X

“Some forms of FGC are less extensive than the newborn male circumcision commonly performed in the West. In addition, mutilation is an inflammatory term that tends to foreclose communication and that fails to respect the experience of the many women who have had their genitals altered and who do not perceive themselves as mutilated.” X 

“Even when mothers are aware of the pain and other attendant issues that FGC can cause, and even if both parents are aware of the health risks involved, they will often still allow their daughter to undergo FGC due to the social sanctions in place. Many parents fear that a girl who remains uncut will not marry well, will be seen as dirty, and may even be ostracised by their community” X 

“Local explanations for female circumcision center around the lack of harm that it causes to the girl, and that it has positive benefits, which broadly fall under concerns for hygiene (keeping clean), femininity (reducing or stabilising libido, increasing attractiveness to husband) and ritual (bestowing gender identity, honour, dignity).” X

“Parents who continue this practice are compassionate and loving. They believe that they are protecting their daughters from harm.” X

“explain the custom of FGC… to help maintain cleanliness and health” X

“A girl who is uncut is often seen as dirty and can be ostracised.” X

“…the form of FGM they practised is ‘helpful to girls’ health’. ” X

“Various reasons are offered for female circumcision, for example, to keep clean, to purify the genitals…” X

“Many women fear uncircumcised children… will have genitalia considered unclean or ugly…” X

“Parents who insist that their daughters undergo FGC are driven by a fear that their daughters may never marry… and may be seen as unclean, unhygienic…” X 

[jillymomcraftypants]

Male and female genitalia are analogous. They start off exactly the same in the womb. The complications may differ slightly because the anatomy has developed differently, but it is similar enough that the differences in the details of post-operative issues are of little relevance.

Both are mutilation of healthy genitalia. Both carry the risk of death or disfigurement. Both are unnecessary cosmetic procedures, typically carried out on unconsenting minors. Neither has any scientifically substantiated benefit that outweighs the risks enough to justify routine genital alterations. The reasoning behind circumcision doesn't even differ much between the two.

If a circumcised man feels like what was done to him is not as bad as what's been done to girls, that's fine. I'm not gonna say you're wrong. It's your experience and perception.

But I am going to say that all boys and girls should be protected from genital mutilation. It is wrong regardless of gender and equally so.

The idea that male circumcision is not as bad because men don't think about it and aren't affected by it.... Well, that's what happens when something becomes an ingrained cultural norm. Men ARE affected by it and MANY have come forward to talk about it. Besides the immediate risks of disfigurment and death, circumcision can also lead to painful erections in boys who had too much skin removed, loss of sensation, erectile dysfunction later in life...

Anyway. If you don't feel like it's that bad, then that's how you feel. But it's kinda shitty to undermine the rights of others to bodily integrity because you're okay with what was done to you.

[plannedparenthood]

Does Planned Parenthood offer Hormone Replacement Therapy for transgender people?

Someone asked us: 

Can Planned Parenthood provide hormones to transgender people? And if so, what are the costs?

Why yes, yes we do. There are an increasing number of Planned Parenthood health centers that offer hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for trans clients. (Cost will vary depending on your insurance and Planned Parenthood health center policies.) Currently, the Planned Parenthood health centers that offer hormone treatment for trans folks are: 

California:

Fresno

Mountain View

Sacramento

Santa Cruz

Walnut Creek

Colorado:

Denver

Maine:

Biddeford

Portland

Sanford

Topsham

Montana:

Billings

Great Falls

Helena

New Hampshire:

Derry

Keene

Manchester

West Lebanon

New York:

Ithaca

North Carolina:

Asheville

Chapel Hill

Raleigh

Vermont:

Barre

Bennington

Burlington

Hyde Park

Middlebury

St. Albans 

Washington

Bellingham 

- Calvin and Maureen at QueerTips

[4lung]

IMPORTANT NOTE: OBTAINING HRT THROUGH PLANNED PARENTHOOD DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY SORT OF PSYCH DIAGNOSIS OR SEEING A SEPERATE ENDOCRINOLOGIST. IF YOU LIVE IN THESE PLACES AND WANT HRT, PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS

[thesassyllamass]

When it comes to parenting, especially spanking, fucking stop the excuse, “my parents did it and I turned out fine.”

NO YOU’RE NOT. If you deem it acceptable to inflict physical pain as a form of punishment on a child, YOU ARE NOT OKAY. PERIOD.

It’s sad to see so many people that are victims of normal bias, and cultural conditioning once again.

[funny-offensive-antireligion-de]

Infant circumcision is child abuse straight out. In an adult wants it done then that’s his choice and nobody else’s. I do know that there is no way I’d be parting with my foreskin

[foreskins-ok-usa]

[tastefullyoffensive]

(via sulde)

[jillyfishmcbacon]