It seems way to early to say "thank you, Brian," based on Justice Alito's abortion pill ruling

 By Hal Brown, MSW, retired after 40 years of practicing psychotherapy. Formerly director of a mental health center and in psychoanalytically oriented private practice.

By chance when this news (see article in Raw Story: "Justice Alito temporarily blocks court ruling revoking abortion drug)" broke I was at a friend's house where her 9 year old grandson was watching Monty Python's Life of Brian, hence my title and illustration. The New York Times used the word "briefly" and both The Washington Post and Raw Story used the word "temporarily". HUPPPOST was more specific:

Click above to read article

What all this means is impossible to determine except that given that this is the far-right vehemently anti-abortion justice dominated Supreme Court I am not about to thank Brian or any particular deity some people believe exists in a realm up there in the sky somewhere.

If you aren't familiar with who Brian is, he's Brian Cohen, a young Jewish-Roman man who is born on the same day as—and next door to—Jesus, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah. He is played by Graham Chapman. 

Just a short comment about Dianne Feinstein

By Hal Brown, MSW, retired after 40 years of practicing psychotherapy. Formerly director of a mental health center and in psychoanalytically oriented private practice.

There are more and more reports that Diane Feinstein is getting more and more confused and that she is contradicting herself from one day to the next regarding important matters. 

Her contradiction of her staff announcing her saying he had no imminent plans for this made the news but Raw Story + (subscrition) reports this:

Forgetting the assault weapon ban

In January, California endured back-to-back mass shootings within 48-hours of each other.

While celebrating the Lunar New Year on Jan. 21 in Monterey Park, 11 people were slaughtered and another nine left permanently scarred. Two days later, on Jan. 23, in northern California, a farmworker killed seven people while injuring at least eight others.

Later that day, as Californians reeled from their second mass shooting in two days, Feinstein’s office reintroduced the historic 1990s assault weapon ban she had championed.

Three days later, Feinstein couldn’t remember her own measure. .

Abortion confusion

Last year, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision that effectively overturned Roe v. Wade nationally while leaving abortion policy to each state, Democrats coast-to-coast cheered after Kansas residents voted to keep abortion legal.

It took a few moments for Sen. Feinstein to remember the earth-moving news from the Great Plains.

Once she remembered, Feinstein was optimistic as she told Raw Story that upending Roe was an "enlightened finding" by the right wing of the Supreme Court.

These kinds of forgetting often are signs of early demential or Alzheimer's. 

Articles about what was speculated to be her cognitive decline go back at least to 2020: Dianne Feinstein ‘seriously struggling’ with cognitive decline, NY Post Cognitive decline is a general term usually referred to older people who have a form of dementia. (Note: Alzheimer's and dementia: What's the difference?)

I live in a continuing care retirement community and know many people going through the stages of dementia. Of course lots of people have to deal with this with loved ones and friends. I see that some people grasp that this is happening to themselves and most tragically others are in denial. I have seen both. 

If Feinstein deteriorates rapidly and enters the middle or end stages of dementia or Alzheimer's what will happen then?

Related articles:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein faces first calls to resign from members of Congress NBC News

Dianne Feinstein vows to return to her post as Democrats call for her to resign, The Guardian 

At first the abortion pill appellate court ruling headlines looked somewhat positive, but then I read the fine print.

By Hal Brown, MSW, retired after 40 years of practicing psychotherapy. Formerly director of a mental health center and in psychoanalytically oriented private practice.

Here's the HUFFPOST article shown above.

I was feeling happy about yesterday's news that Justin Pearson joined his colleague Justin Jones in being returned to the Tennessee House of Representatives. This morning, could it be that I'd be reading happy news two days in a row?

I had a fleeting moment of feeling good when I saw the first part of the headline above but then reading the italicized "tighter rules" part I held my breath as I clicked to read the article.

"Tighter rules" indeed. Make that "insane rules" instead. Consider:

When the drug was initially approved in 2000, the FDA limited its use to up to seven weeks of pregnancy. It also required three in-person office visits: the first to administer mifepristone, the next to administer the second drug misoprostol and the third to address any complications. It also required a doctor’s supervision and a reporting system for any serious consequences associated with the drug.

If the appeals court’s action stands, those would again be the terms under which mifepristone could be dispensed for now.

Prior to the ruling of Texas Judge Kacsmaryk women could have the drug prescribed up to 11 weeks of pregnancy and could use Telehealth for doctor visits and have the pill sent by mail.

Just mentioned on MSNBC, previously the generic version was allowed. Now it isn't.

Women who want to terminate a pregnancy in the safest way and the doctors who now have to see a doctor three times are having to, at least for the present, go though, to say the least, a medically unnecessary hassle.

Have you tried to get into see your primary care doctor for an urgent problem recently? It's not like they have lots of free time to squeeze you in for an appointment within a week, let alone on the same day. 

This is why there are so many urgent care centers where people generally see a nurse practitioner or physician assistant who they've never seen before.

It is odd that the two Trump appointed judges who were responsible for the ruling of the three judge panel mostly likely believe that using any means to terminate a pregnancy is morally wrong and the equivalent of murder, while I would bet the farm that Donald Trump would throw a woman off a cliff if she got inconveniently pregnant with a child he wanted to get rid of.

Related: 

How the appeals court ruling makes medication abortion access more complicated, CNN

Update:

Click above to read article

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