For those who think abortion should be illegal: continued

Last week, I made this post, hoping to survey people who think abortion should be illegal. It's not going so well; the post is getting hits, but nobody is answering the survey.

Well, not nobody. One person has. So that person is lucky enough to get personal responses today. Please keep sharing! I want more data.

Q1: What ought to be the criminal penalty for (a) the doctor; (b) the woman; (c) any coconspirators in the commission of an abortion?

Well, that would depend on whether it's going to be classified as a civil or criminal offense. I would push for it to be a criminal offense, which carry harsher punishments. I would want to do more research before providing more of a response.

I apologize for any confusion, but I am specifically talking about making abortion criminal. It doesn't really make sense to call it a civil matter, as I don't see who would have the standing to sue the pregnant person, the doctors, or the coconspirators. I suppose the argument could be made that someone has the right to sue on behalf of the fetus, but that opens up the same nightmare that any "personhood" amendment does. If a fetus is subject to all rights and responsibilities that go along with personhood, lots of legal absurdities would result, like the possibility of me being able to sue my fetus for various torts associated with the pregnancy.

Regarding having to do more research, do it. If you want to push to criminalize abortion, you need to be able to answer this question.

Pictures of Sparkle

I'm having all the feelings right now as I hug my Sparkle, think about how she almost was killed before I adopted her, how many doggies there are who need loving homes like mine, how very very much I love her.

So I'm just going to post pictures of her.

Think Abortion Should Be Illegal? Please take this survey.

I have never been pregnant. I have many friends who have had abortions and none of them regret it. I believe that the choice to terminate a pregnancy belongs to no one but the pregnant person.

I've explained before why, if your opposition to abortion is based on the idea that fetus should have the same rights as a person who has crossed the bright line of birth, you must be in favor of some sort of criminal penalty for the pregnant person seeking the abortion. If you are not, then you are dishonest with yourself somewhere; it's up to you to figure out where.

Some shoeshit politician in Idaho finally got honest and alluded to advocating the death penalty for people who have abortions (though he quickly walked it back). I hate his politics, but I admire his consistency. So I'd like to know what others who would like to make abortion illegal think ought to happen in various circumstances.

If you would like to make abortion illegal, please take the following five-minute survey below. I'll write a future post about the results. Thanks for your participation. Please share.

Create your own user feedback survey

#LaughCryMad

Lately, on the Facebook, I've been using the phrase "laugh cry mad," perhaps better expressed 😆😭😠. It's a sentiment common among people who use humor to cope.

Today, this was the cartoon that evoked that triple-emoji:

It's funny - hilarious, actually - because it's true. And the fact that it's true makes me sad. And the fact that we're still fighting this battle and making these jokes to cope in two thousand muthafuckin' eighteen makes me really, really mad.

You'll know when the right time to use it is. You'll hover over the "laugh" emoji for a second, but you won't really want to laugh at it, and maybe you should use the "cry" emjoji but then you get pissed off so you click "like" and put "laugh cry mad" in the comments.

I'm going to try to make it a thing. #LaughCryMad. Hashtags are for searchability, after all, and it might be handy to catalog all examples of the phenomenon. I could turn that into an inspirational speech or some shit. 

Remember: #LaughCryMad. Use it.

I'm Back!

When I did the math, I realized that I was contributing a fairly large amount of content to petty Facebook arguments while complaining that I never had time to work on my blog. And yet every one of these petty Facebook arguments - and the musings and the rants and the bon mots - could be expanded upon and made into a blog post. And so it will be. I'm a blogger now, muthafuckas.

The blog you're reading, accordingtovikki.blogspot.com, started as a political blog but has evolved into a catch-all of whatever I feel like blithering about. I also write Cousin Geri, a blog dedicated to the beloved 80s television show The Facts of Life, which you can find at www.cousingeri.com. My goal, now that I'm taking blogging seriously, is to get content up on According to Vikki four times a week and to get Cousin Geri content up once a week. 

Both blogs will also be undergoing a face lift; keep your eyes open for the eventual unveilings.

Meanwhile, please browse accordingtovikki.blogspot.com and www.cousingeri.com to get to know me or to revisit your favorites. See you tomorrow!

No More Planes

Several weeks ago I went to Chicago to see some friends and judge my law school's Moot Court competition. I don't typically take flights at 6 a.m., but the ticket was only $40, so I went for it. My night-person ass managed to get up at 4 a.m. and drive to the airport. There was nothing remarkable about security or boarding at that hour. Next stop: Chicago!

Unfortunately, fog in Chicago prevented us from landing. We held around Midway airport for an hour or so, and then had to divert to Columbus, OH to refuel. By now it was noonish, so I just hung out at the wine bar with soup and champagne while awaiting further instructions.

The flight ended up getting cancelled, and immediately a gigantic line formed as every person on that flight had to rebook through the single agent available at the gate.

I don't do lines. I stayed at the wine bar waiting for the line to diminish. Meanwhile, I also used the telephone - what a concept - in hopes that I could get my situation fixed without having to deal with the gate agent at all.

Well, it turns out that in this particular situation, the folks on the phone were unable to help. I was told that the only option was to rebook through a gate agent at Columbus airport.

On Guns

I don't own guns, but I have handled and shot a variety of firearms, from a .22 handgun to a 30 0 6 rifle. Somewhere in this house I have some great photos of myself shooting cans in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico, and if I can ever find them, I'll add them to this post. Shooting is fun, no doubt. Not so fun that I want to own a gun; I was persuaded that a gun in the home is more likely to be used for domestic injury than for self defense and I decided I am better off without them.

Regarding hunting, I respect people who kill and dress their own meat more than I respect people who eat meat out of the grocery store. Factory farming is heinous and any attempt to undermine it, whether it be by killing your own, going veg, or limiting your meat purchases to small farms that nurture the animal from birth to slaughter, meets with my approval. I find sport hunting and captive hunts unconscionable violations of an individual animal's autonomous right to life.

My husband owns a 12 gauge shotgun and a .44 magnum Blackhawk. He once shot and killed a bear who was carrying away his sheep. I've never seen his guns; they are currently in a safe in storage in a town other than the one we live in. He doesn't miss them.

Lately, I've found that the pro-gun response to suggestions of various control methods is simply, "that won't work." Well, you know what? You have no idea whether it will work or not. One huge problem in addressing gun violence is that no one knows what will work, because until last week, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) was not allowed to use congressional funding to do any research on guns. The new spending bill clarifies that the CDC can in fact do firearm research, and I hope that they will. I am optimistic that this country will go further in that direction, in part due to the heroic organizational efforts of the inspirational Parkland students, but I remain concerned, because the NRA still exists.