As residents and first responders scramble to save lives in Texas, one feminist is concerned about something entirely different. On Thursday, writer Verónica Bayetti Flores asked Americans to help hurricane victims in Texas – by donating money for abortions.
May I suggest that, among your donations for #Harvey relief, you consider also donating to a Texas abortion fund? This, too, is needed.
— vero bayetti flores (@veroconplatanos) August 31, 2017
But that was just the beginning of her Twitter plea.
Besides writing for feminists, Bayetti Flores co-hosts a “Latinx music podcast” and serves as managing partner at the Center for Advancing Innovative Policy where she describes herself as a “New York City-based queer, immigrant Latina.” She also (surprise, surprise) is co-president of the Board of Directors at the National Network of Abortion Funds.
On Twitter, Bayetti Flores went to outline why money is needed for abortion at a time when people’s homes are flooded and families are mourning the loss of their loved ones.
“Disasters mean missed appointments,” she worried. “Mass disruptions like this wreak havoc on people's lives, particularly w this time sensitive care.” (Never mind the havoc abortion wreaks on the unborn.)
Disasters mean missed appointments. Mass disruptions like this wreak havoc on people's lives, particularly w this time sensitive care.
— vero bayetti flores (@veroconplatanos) August 31, 2017
Plus, she blamed Harvey for raising the cost of abortion.
“Every week beyond 12 weeks of pregnancy means it gets more expensive,” she complained. “For most people, the cheapest legal & safe options are still too expensive. So a missed appointment can be devastating if you'd just managed.”
For most people, the cheapest legal & safe options are still too expensive. So a missed appointment can be devastating if you'd just managed
— vero bayetti flores (@veroconplatanos) August 31, 2017
And, she added “mass missed appointments” or “disaster situations” also translated to longer waits. And if “any clinics had to close due to flood damage ppl will have to travel to get the care they need” which “adds gas, lodging, lost wages.”
If any clinics had to close due to flood damage ppl will have to travel to get the care they need. That adds gas, lodging, lost wages.
— vero bayetti flores (@veroconplatanos) August 31, 2017
This is why, she next tweeted, “narratives around climate disaster are deeply tied to repro oppression.”
It’s “another arm of the same monster,” she continued, with “WOC [women of color], immigrants, gender nonconforming ppl & ppl w low incomes” affected most.
This is just another arm of the same monster. And of course WOC, immigrants, gender nonconforming ppl & ppl w low incomes suffer most.
— vero bayetti flores (@veroconplatanos) August 31, 2017
She went on to list five different groups to donate to that would “help ppl w the cost of procedures, and also lodging, travel, transportation day of” in Texas. “They truly help w ACCESS on all levels,” she hyped.
These folks will help ppl w the cost of procedures, and also lodging, travel, transportation day of. They truly help w ACCESS on all levels.
— vero bayetti flores (@veroconplatanos) August 31, 2017
In the past, Bayetti Flores has written on abortion. In 2016, for Rewire, she even insisted on calling abortion an “social good.”
