Do not be fooled.
Extremists want to declare an embryo created in a petri dish for potential implantation in women dealing with infertility, a person. The Alabama Supreme Court ruling on embryo rights was issued on February 16, and the upheaval is palpable.
This has caused some infertility clinics to halt In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) services, leaving patients with even more uncertainty and delays that could render the opportunity for conception out of reach.
As if they didn’t have enough emotional stress to deal with.
Mary Riche joined our Monday Zoom call to discuss the ramifications of this ruling and why it matters. Riche has spent a good deal of her professional and personal time focused on preserving reproductive freedoms. She also brings to the discussion her experience of going through IVF treatments and her work as a therapist with clients facing infertility.
We all learned a great deal on this call. Two OBGYN physicians we had on a previous Monday Zoom call contributed to the discussion, Dr. Emily Boevers and Dr. Francesa Turner. They have created a PAC to help educate lawmakers and influencers on reproductive healthcare: Iowans4healthliberty.com
The myriad issues associated with a woman’s right to make health care decisions cannot be summed up in a 30-second soundbite or protest placard. Reality is so much more complicated, and disinformation is rampant.
That said, here is one of my all-time favorite signs spotted in the Women’s March on Washington in January of 2017:
Riche Follow Up
From Mary Riche: There are numerous resources on the topics of fertility and infertility, available in a variety of formats. Please check with your medical professionals for a list of what they recommend. My personal preference includes a wholistic approach that combines the mind, body, and spirit interconnectedness, recognizing the impact of an infertility diagnosis on a person’s family systems.
As a lifelong feminist supporting reproductive freedom, I continue my work as a volunteer member of the Executive Advisory Committee for Iowans for Health Liberty, the nonpartisan Political Action Committee (PAC) founded in 2023 by a group of Iowa women physicians to preserve the rights of their patients to make personal healthcare decisions, including the ability to become pregnant or to not continue a pregnancy, without interference from politicians or the government. More information on this group is available at our website Iowans4HealthLiberty.com.
If you want to reach Mary, she invites you to email her at maryriche@gmail.com.
April 11, Monday Zoom
Our guest on Monday, April 11, will be Wini Moranville. She writes a popular column called Wini's Food Stories as part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative.
Her stories are well-reported, objective pieces designed to tell readers about restaurants they might want to try. This is a terrific service for both diners and restauranteurs and a popular feature.
You must be a subscriber of this or Wini’s column to receive the link to the Zoom call on Monday morning, but it is free.
As an example, here is Wini’s most recent column on a new place that officially opened in January:
There’s More to Moxie Than Meets the Eye
Dear Readers,
As a so-called retired woman, I have a lot going on—producing the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat and figuring out how to reach songwriters to participate in this new track we’re offering. Please help by sending the link to the website if you know someone who would want to be on the ground floor of an event I am confident will go on in perpetuity if we launch successfully.
There isn’t room for more speakers, but we do have openings for participants, including a few partial scholarships if needed. We currently have a total of 230 on the roster, and I want to make sure we have songwriters, too, before I have to cap enrollment. It’s going to be such a blast.
Also, I manage the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative by onboarding new members and curating the Sunday Roundup of columns. I sure hope you have subscribed to the Roundup column. The collection of talent and perspectives is outstanding.
Finally, Richard and I brought a puppy into our lives this past September. The pup has his own Substack column, and he’s sometimes funny: J. Dudley’s World.
Early on, I decided not to subject this Potluck audience to the whims of a canine because we’re so darned serious here. There’s a world to save!
This is to say that I haven’t had time to write more personal commentary. Then again, when I read the work by my Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Colleagues, I figured there’s plenty far better out there already.
To underscore that point, here’s a column Art Cullen just posted about the benefit concert for Byron’s we promoted in the call last Monday. It was a big hit:
Fondly,
Julie
Mary Riche: therapist, women's reproductive health advocate,