Thread by @jallen1985

THREAD: @LynnFitchAG says overturning Roe would empower women because they would "get a chance to redirect their lives."

Fitch's remarks evoke fairytale language in her SCOTUS brief that turns a blind eye to burdens working women and families face throughout Mississippi. 1/

Fitch's brief argues that legal protections, social programs, and public benefits extended to women and families since Roe render parenthood unburdensome. supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…

But how do Fitch's references to, for example, family leave and subsidized childcare hold up? 2/

154 economists filed a brief noting, among other things, that the United States is one of only two countries LACKING paid maternity leave, and that childcare remains unaffordable: supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/1…

These points ring true in Mississippi. 3/

MS's employee handbook provides no paid maternity leave program. If you have children while working for Fitch, you likely need to take unpaid leave: mspb.ms.gov/media/132615/e…

Meanwhile, MS just purged masses of working mothers from childcare benefits. 4/

But if you look back further, before birth, the lack of health services available to women and children—deficits that contribute to MS's inordinate rates of underweight births and infant and maternal mortality—the warm picture Fitch paints increasingly contrasts with reality. 5/

"Over half of the counties in Mississippi do not have an OB/GYN, and over half the counties in Mississippi don't have delivering hospitals." —@babydocAnita 6/

Issaquena County:

"During her second pregnancy, she had to drive more than an hour to the nearest hospital while having contractions." 7/
wlbt.com/2021/03/11/mis…

Quitman County:

"There is neither a grocery store with fresh produce nor a women’s health physician in the entire county." 8/
actionnews5.com/2021/03/12/inv…

Harrison County:

"Patients don’t have the access financially or transportation complications or just the intellectual ability to know that we need to do simple things like get ourselves healthy, start a prenatal vitamin, & get into good care early." 9/
wlox.com/2021/03/11/inf…

But Fitch comes back to her talking point that overturning Roe is about empowering women.

"How do we empower women?" Fitch asks. 10/

Perhaps we want to empower women by closing gaps in health services, but here, Fitch has not helped.

To the contrary, Fitch unsuccessfully urged SCOTUS to cancel 111,000 MSians' health insurance and eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions. 11/

How about the #MSleg? Do they want to participate in this "new direction," as Fitch puts it, of empowering women?

Well, the MS Senate wants to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to cover the first year after birth. However, the MS House does not. 12/

As a result, tens of thousands of new mothers each year can expect to be kicked off their health insurance a mere two months after birth—which, to put that in a different perspective is likely several weeks after returning to one or more of their jobs. 13/

This picture does not become rosy if you consider women's pay, as MS is the only state with no law guaranteeing equal pay for equal work for women.

Here, for instance, is state Sen. @NicoleAkinsBoyd presenting this year's bill, which did not pass. 14/

The MS Senate continues to press for equal pay—in fact, celebrated equal pay advocate Lilly Ledbetter will attend an equal pay hearing this week!

Equal pay is likely to pass the MS Senate next year, as it did last year, but the MS House shows no signs of warming to the idea. 15/

All of this is why one lawmaker debating MS's 15-week abortion ban asked what would happen to babies whose mothers can't keep them—esp. considering our current inability to place many of our wards.

Unfortunately, the bill's sponsor refused to answer. 16/

Fitch remarked that abortion policy should be let up to the state legislators because legislators can reflect the will of the people.

There is a specific reason why this week was an odd time for Fitch to make such an argument, which is that just this week, Fitch's office... 17/

...presented oral argument urging the 5th Circuit to uphold provisions of the MS Constitution that target black voters for disenfranchisement but and effectively strip the #MSleg of power to pass ordinary legislation restoring rights. 18/

To that end, 74% of MS voters believe disenfranchised MSians should regain their voting rights upon completing their sentence and parole or at an earlier time.

Yet, Fitch argues that not even the #MSleg should be able to pass general law to enact such a reform. 19/

At one point in Fitch's appearance, EWTN did ask a salient question—namely, how Fitch responds to those who say MS's abortion law is unconstitutional.

Fitch's answer may surprise you. 20/