The doctors told us IVF was the next step. And it was our saving grace. We put the truck up for collateral and took out a loan at the bank to pay for our dreams. It worked on the first try. I can’t even describe what it was like when we saw that heartbeat on the ultrasound at six weeks. It was miraculous.
Danger to the mother never crossed my mind. Because, hell, pregnancy can be risky. I wanted a child, and I would survive whatever test came my way to protect that baby—just as all mothers have done throughout the millennia. I did have a relative question our decision due to religious beliefs. All this did was make me dig in my heels: ‘Ok, then join me in praying to God that this works.’ Because this will be a wanted child, a cherished child, a prized child. A child of God.”
— Ginny Bowen Olson lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with her husband and their two sons. She runs a blog for moms called Mothersrest.
“The motivation to become a surrogate is deeply rooted in a desire to help other people create a family.”
Bjarke Damm, Lars Lundgaard Hansen, and their three daughtersCourtesy of Bjarke Damm
“Our girls came into this world exactly two weeks apart in early 2018. The girls all have the same egg donor, and [my husband] Lars is the biological father to Anna, and I am to the twins. It was important for us that the donor wasn’t anonymous, because we want the girls to meet her, when they are old enough to understand how they came into this world.
Being a surrogate is not for everyone, and it is clearly wrong if it for some reason involves the lack of free will or is done out of financial need. But it is important to remember that for some women the motivation to become a surrogate is deeply rooted in a desire to help other people create a family. This changes the perspective from a surrogate being a victim to her being a strong woman who is bringing something into this world that is deeply beautiful and meaningful. Our three girls have enriched all of us with so much love.”
— Bjarke Damm lives in Denmark with his husband Lars Lundgaard Hansen and their triplets.
Over the weekend, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed as an Associate Justice for the United States Supreme Court to applause from the right, many of whom celebrated his appointment with congratulatory tweets and beer (a nod to the many times he referenced the alcoholic beverage during his fiery testimony).
Meanwhile, Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee almost two weeks ago about her allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh, is still receiving “distressing” death threats and has been unable to return to her home. Ford alleged that Kavanaugh held her down and tried to remove her clothes, even covering her mouth at one point, during a 1982 party when they were both in high school.
Ford’s attorney, Debra Katz, revealed this information in an interview with MSNBC on Sunday. “This has been terrifying,” she said. “Her family has been through a lot. They are not living at home. It’s going to be quite some time before they’re able to live at home. The threats have been unending. It’s deplorable. It’s been very frightening.”
Katz said that Ford has “also received extraordinary letters of support and encouragement.”
The nomination, hearings, and confirmation vote have been one of the most divisive in history. An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted after Ford and Kavanaugh’s testimonies before the Senate Judiciary Committee showed that 43 percent of those surveyed believed the California professor to be telling the truth compared to 33 percent for former DC Circuit judge.
Even still, it is Ford who continues to pay the price for coming forward with her story. That she is facing such vitriol and extreme threatening behavior is horribly sad, but not even close to shocking. It is fear of this sort of response that can frighten women into not reporting their assaults.
But not Ford, who stated in her initial written testimony, “I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.”
Meanwhile, Kavanaugh is expected to hear his first case on Tuesday.
The devil works fast, but Saturday Night Live works faster: Somehow, between the close of the final Senate vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation around 4:15 P.M. ET on Saturday and the airing of the show less than seven hours later, the writers room managed to come up with a cold open that imagined how Senate Republicans must be celebrating Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
In the skit, GOP senators are cracking open cold brewskis in tribute to Kavanaugh, who mentioned beer no fewer than 30 times in his Senate hearing following Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s powerful allegations of sexual assault. The atmosphere? Full-on “locker room” vibes.
“Republicans read the mood of the country, and we could tell that people really wanted Kavanaugh,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett) told CNN reporter Dana Bash (Heidi Gardner). “Everyone’s pumped, from white men over 60 to white men over 70.”
Kate McKinnon also reprised an appearance as Sen. Lindsay Graham. When Bash asked how he felt about the vote, Graham had an ecstatic response: “How amazing is this? We made a lot of women real worried today, but I’m not getting pregnant so I don’t care,” he said as “This Is How We Do It” pulsed in the background.
“We couldn’t have done it without Susan Collins,” Graham continued, referring to Republican Sen. Collins’ pledge to vote yes on Kavanaugh’s confirmation. “Susie, get over here!”
“The last thing I wanted was to make this about me,” Sen. Collins (Cecily Strong) tells Bash. “That’s why I told everyone to tune in at 3 P.M. so I could tell all my female supporters, ‘Psyche!'”
Bash questioned if she thought there was any credit to Dr. Blasey Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh.
“Listen, I think it’s important to believe women, until it’s time to stop,” she said as Sen. Graham made bunny fingers behind Bash’s head. “I’m a guy’s gal, OK? I can party with the big dogs and, whoop whoop, we’re gonna have fun tonight…. Now we’re gonna party like it’s 2020 when Susan Rice takes my seat.”
Susan Rice, President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, had tweeted “Me” when Jen Psaki asked who would run for Senate in Maine in 2020, indicating she’s open to running.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed on Saturday as the 114th U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The final vote was the conclusion of a weeks-long process of primary confirmation votes, hearings, and powerful testimony—particularly the testimony delivered by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault and took her allegations to the Senate floor, where she unflinchingly and bravely detailed her account to the judiciary committee.
During the confirmation vote Saturday afternoon, protestors could be heard screaming and shouting from the public gallery, with cries of “Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “I do not consent!” Thousands of other protestors surrounded the Supreme Court Building and U.S. Capitol.
Twitter users, of course, took to the platform to express their feelings after Kavanaugh’s final confirmation vote on Saturday.
And finally, there was one strong message that shone through: “November is coming.” Kavanaugh’s confirmation—and nomination—seems to have raised awareness that voting in the upcoming midterm elections is more important than ever.
On the third day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Democratic senators continued their probe to get the conservative judge’s stance on women’s reproductive rights—and a clue in one of his answers may say it all.
In an exchange with Senator Ted Cruz (D-Tex.), Kavanaugh referred to birth control as “abortion-inducing drugs,” a term many women’s rights advocates say is dog-whistle politics and a clear nod to pro-lifers who oppose abortion.
Kavanaugh’s calculated answer came when Cruz asked the judge about his dissent in the case Priests for Life v. the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which involved an Affordable Care Act mandate that required employers to cover contraception for workers. Kavanaugh explained why he ultimately sided with the plaintiffs, who are an anti-abortion Catholic group.
“The question was first, was this a substantial burden on their religious exercise? And it seemed to me, quite clearly, it was,” Kavanaugh said. “They said filling out the form would make them complicit in the abortion-inducing drugs that they were, as a religious matter, objected to.”
For pro-choice supporters, the phrase “abortion-inducing drugs” is an alarm bell. Organizations such as the Center for Reproductive Rights pointed out that the verbiage is what many anti-abortion groups use to talk about contraception. “Saying ‘abortion-inducing drugs’ to describe contraception is straight out of the anti-choice, anti-science phrase book used to restrict women’s access to essential health care,” the Center for Reproductive Rights wrote on Twitter.
The wording is also just plain wrong. Contraception, which includes birth control and Plan B, does not cause abortions, despite the assertion of some organizations. Using contraceptive methods like birth control and IUDs can prevent fertilization from occurring, but it does not end existing pregnancies. But despite the facts, the concepts are often conflated among anti-abortion groups. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) reminded the public of the misconception by tweeting, “Newsflash, Brett Kavanaugh: Contraception is NOT abortion. Anyone who says so is peddling extremist ideology – not science –and has no business sitting on the Supreme Court.”
Kavanaugh’s stance on reproductive rights has been questioned by many pro-choice supporters since President Donald Trump announced his nomination. Although Kavanaugh has stated he will abide by precedent set in Roe v. Wade, his record suggests anti-choice leanings. In addition to his defense in Priests for Life v. the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kavanaugh also dissented in Garza v. Hargan and argued that an undocumented minor in U.S. detention could not receive an abortion. More evidence mounted late Wednesday, when leaked emails showed that while serving as a lawyer in the Bush administration, Kavanaugh had offered advice about changing a description that said Roe v. Wade was “the settled law of the land.”
On Thursday, Kavanaugh was also grilled by Senator Kamala Harris (D–Calif.), who asked him about the reproductive freedom of men compared to women. Kavanaugh stumbled while answering some of the questions—marking just another example of why Kavanaugh may be a threat to Roe v. Wade and other important principles of women’s rights.
You like drama? Stories with strong female voices? Shade in spades? Then Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings are the show for you—oh, also because they’ll directly, and significantly, affect your life. Unfortunately, this bit of must-see TV airs when most everyone’s working or watching their kids, so we’ll be here all to recap each day of these monumentally important proceedings.
Did everybody you encountered on Thursday seem a little more energized than usual? Did your boss whistle on her way to her desk? Did you spot your UPS delivery man dancing down the street with a package? Did even your dog seem to trot with a little more pride, perhaps forgoing her typical shame-eyes while she watched you pick up her poop?
That’s because all of them saw Senator Cory Booker (D—New Jersey) lean over his mic at the Kavanaugh hearings and utter two words in response to Senator John Cornyn’s (R—Texas) threat to have him expelled from the Senate for leaking committee-confidential emails.
“Bring it,” Sen. Booker said. “Bring it.”
Somehow the day managed to have a perfectly bitchy tension, kind of like when you rent a house with friends and the trip goes on one day longer than it should.
It was a hell of a kickoff—and a fitting one. Day Three, given that we watched the same people open their mouths, over and over, should have had all the thrill of a slowly deflating balloon. And if we’re honest, it wasn’t some great success. Both Democrats and Republicans spent much of the session launching valiant attempts to get Kavanaugh to promise he isn’t beholden to the president and that he wouldn’t thwart investigations into him. Kavanaugh’s response to their 600 efforts? Guys, stop! I hate labels—“yes” and “no” are so limiting. Let’s talk about something else—have I mentioned my “four greatest moments in the history of the Supreme Court?” Oh, I have, and it’s really pissing you off that I’m saying it again? Shh—gonna do it anyway!
Yet somehow the day managed to have a perfectly bitchy tension, kind of like when you rent a house with friends and the trip goes on one day longer than it should have and you’re like, Wait, I think I hate my friends. That’s where we’re at. Senator Mazie Hirono (D—Hawaii) is glaring at Kavanaugh like he’s the guy who picked the house but hasn’t paid his share yet. Senator Orrin Hatch (R—Utah) is grumbling about protestors like they’re the loud new boyfriend no one knew was coming. And Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D—Rhode Island) jaw is vibrating with that brand of fury specific to no one else but him ever taking out the goddamn trash.
Here’s your rundown of the best moments from the worst vacation ever.
Best 11th-hour sensation: Senator Kamala Harris (D—Calif.)
PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla
A mood.
Before we get to Day Three’s events, we need to talk about what happened at the end of Day Two—at least an hour after most of America had retreated from C-SPAN and rushed into the kinder arms of America’s Got Talent. As the eve wore on, Kavanaugh, too, looked like he was dreaming of getting home to his couch and his DVR pileup (Mentalist reruns in standard definition, I’d bet). Perhaps he was a little tired, and so he didn’t hear the bell ring when Sen. Harris took the mic. But soon enough, he realized: Night school was in session. She hammered him—watch the highlights here.
Fiercest ride-or-dies: Sen. Booker, Senator Dick Durbin (D—Illinois) and Sen. Hirono. After Sen. Booker’s “Bring it,” Sen. Hirono pointed out that she, too, leaked documents—come at her. And Sen. Durbin got all excited and said, “If there’s going to be some retribution against the gentleman from New Jersey, count me in.” Kinda love that Sen. Durbin’s rallying cry works equally well for Senate proceedings in 2018 and publick-house brawls in 1772.
Loudest dog whistle: In response to a question from Senator Ted Cruz (R—Texas), Kavanaugh used the term “abortion-inducing drugs” to refer to contraception. The language comes straight from the fiercest anti-choice advocates and is also inaccurate. Contraception is not abortion, signed millions of American women and all of our doctors.
Worst reverse age-shaming: Kavanaugh on Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of EducationSenator Amy Klobuchar (D—Minn.) voiced the question that’s been making heads across America hurt this week: How does Kavanaugh define the difference between precedent and settled law when it comes to Supreme Court cases? In his answer, Kavanaugh said that Brown v. Board of Education is settled law because it’s “historical”—64 years old. Sen. Klobuchar grinned. “Roe is now 45 years old,” she said. “Why isn’t that a thumbs-up settled law?” Kavanaugh didn’t have a good answer for her.
Hypocrisy slay of the day: Sen. Hirono. Sen. Hirono, once again running low on f—s, went in on Kavanaugh’s record concerning reproductive rights, making the man wish he never met the phrase “undue burden.” See, in one case Kavanaugh ruled on, he said that people who opposed birth control on religious grounds shouldn’t have to fill out a form approving their employees’ health coverage of it. That, in his estimation, was “undue burden.” The phrase came up again in Garza v. Hargan, in which Kavanaugh’s decision sought to deny an immigrant minor an abortion. Kavanaugh wanted the procedure delayed until the girl found foster parents who could talk it through with her—letting her pregnancy tick on towards the 20-week deadline for abortions under Texas law. That delay, he argued then, did not constitute “undue burden.” Sen. Hirono scoffed at the irony laid out by the two cases: “So filling out a two-page form was too much,” she said. “But it was not too much for [Jane Doe] to wait around for foster parents to be found.”
Best circus advocate: Senator Lindsay Graham (R—South Carolina).
PHOTO: Drew Angerer
Send in the clowns.
After Sen. Hatch mumbled that the proceedings had turned into “a circus,” Sen. Graham quipped, “I wanna defend circuses. Circuses are entertaining and you can take your children to them.” An excellent line, but I wasn’t surprised—the last 18 months have afforded Sen. Graham plenty of chances to defend a clown.
Guy we’re most done with: Senator John Kennedy (R—Louisiana). Of all the whining the Republicans have done this week about protestors exercising free speech, Sen. Kennedy’s has been the whiniest. After Kavanaugh himself said, in the wake of a protestor’s shouting, that the students behind him were getting a chance to learn about democracy, Sen. Kennedy—who’s a dead ringer for this choir-boy doll my grandmother used to put out at Christmas, though that’s neither here nor there—looked down at the girls and snooted of the interruption, “It’s happened over 200 times in the last three days. It’s not really how democracy’s supposed to work.” Actually, girls, it is. If democracy needs less of anything, it’s old white guys looking down from on high, telling you what to think.
The detective drama spinoff I’d most like to watch:Klobuchouse.
PHOTO: Bloomberg
Nothing but respect for my Law & Order candidate.
She—Sen. Klobuchar is the unflappable good cop, smiling with catlike calm when a suspect spits her questions back in her face. He—Sen. Whitehouse—is the keyed-up bad cop, a cross between Statler from The Muppets and that one snappish teacher from high school who, looking back, probably had some stuff going on at home. They’re good cops on their own—but together, they’re great.
