5mo ago

Threats follow Michigan lawmaker who said she had surgery to remove reproductive organs

State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky’s account was cheered by the left-leaning protestors and condemned by right-wing social media accounts.

The 36-year-old Democrat said the surgery was a personal decision she had been considering for a few years and was finalized by Trump’s election. She wanted to validate the fears other women might have about access to contraception by sharing it.

She told The Associated Press that she has received threats since speaking this week, referring at least one of them to Michigan authorities. The Associated Press reached out to Michigan State police for comment.

“I don’t fully grasp the level of animosity that people have about this,” Pohutsky said.

89 comments

I've had a vasectomy. Come at me, fascists.
- they don't actually care about making babies. what triggers them the most is women making decisions for themselves
  
  Oh they want more babies alright. They especially want more unwanted, orphaned, and abused children. People raised without support or guidance have limited options and make for ideal blue-collar workers who are less likely to band together in revolt.
  
  Some of the craziest do care about making babies. They think the white race is being outbred into extinction. They are fucking nuts.
  
  I won’t disagree with you, but I think there’s something else going on also.
  They’re really into symbols of allegiance and obedience. Once something becomes “officially” a bad thing, they have to show their loyalty by attacking it. Using language in a certain way, not wearing face masks, being officially Christian, being officially anti-trans/anti-woman, not watching the wrong news sources, watching the right news sources… they want to feel comfortable that they are part of the tribe, and you are too. If you make even a single decision that isn’t the official tribal decision, they’ll get wild and suspicious and angry towards you.
  I think that’s what’s going on here. What she’s doing isn’t contraception (strictly speaking) or abortion or transgender surgery… but it’s close enough to those things that she’s showing she’s not part of the tribe. And she’s a Democrat. So what do you do with people like that? You fuck them up because they are the enemy.
  If you’ve been close to a culture like this you will have seen it in action, how they attack in order to keep everyone in line.
  
  They do. They need the cheap labour!
- I will, but on/by your side. Snipsnip gang represent!
- Cool. But why advertise it?
  
  Probably has something to do with the thread he's posting in.
- FYI they dont give a fuck about men contraception, its even a bonus for them that you removed yourself from the gene pool.
  It is all about women and their control over their body. Stop making it looks like its not all about women, you are not helping them, you are making yourself look like a creep.
  This woman had to undergo the surgery because she wouldnt be able to control her body through abortion otherwise, this is sad...
  
  Stop making it looks like its not all about women, you are not helping them, you are making yourself look like a creep.
  Not sure what you're on about with that. My statement on its face is in solidarity with her. The subtext is that they don't care about men's contraceptive surgeries.
  Telling people who support your causes that they're not welcome to do so is counterproductive.
Wait until they go after women who have medically necessary hysterectomies.
- They already go after women, literally with legal persecution, for getting medically necessary abortions. Women dying for their control is absolutely acceptable in their eyes. I'm also convinced the reaction to this would be the same if her hysterectomy had been medically necessary.
  Do you remember when trolls like this lurked in reddit DMs and on 4chan? You can outright openly say the most heinous things now and it has literally no consequences for you.
- Medically necessary?
  You mean those who we should just let die, lest they undergo something that would prevent them from becoming a baby machine? /s
  
  Menopause is a liberal hoax by the Democrats.
  /s
  
  These assholes have already made comments like a woman is defined as a person who can get pregnant. Which eliminates millions of cis women from the equation.
- I've actually heard some transphobes say that hysterectomies should be banned because the uterus is a vital organ that women need to survive
  
  Terrifying.
Man, the "freedom" crowd really hates it when people exercise their freedoms...
- Freedom for me not for thee
condemned by right-wing social media accounts
Ugh.
I wish a meteor would hit Twitter’s HQ and main data center, right now, and I don’t understand why people are so addicted to such a gruesome site.
I found it spammy and annoying enough to never post, years ago, even with some of my niche communities largely there.
- Surely you'd also like the meteor to fragment and take out the white house and the shower of bastards inside it.
  
  I think that was implied
- It will never not be fucking hilarious to me that one of the most holier-than-thou textbook american white moderate liberal people I know works at xitter.
I like how "'libs of tiktok' posted a thing" is just immediately made into a story now.
Imagine thinking you have a justified right to tell someone what they can and cannot do with their own reproductive system- to the point that you feel righteous enough to protest publicly about it?
All while at the same time, cheering on the new regime’s dismantling of governmental protections while vomiting some nonsense about how governmental involvement is unconstitutional.
What's America's obsession with womans reproductive system?
- Big party of white supremacy is changing the demographics of the country to remain white, it's actually the only reason the US is still a white majority country, if they didn't genocide natives, ethnically clense Chinese Immigrants, and repeatedly try and ethnically clense the west for Hispanic peoples.
  They know white birth rates are not at replacement levels, that's why they are doing everything they can to force white women into a position of being baby factories with no rights to oppose or pervent pregnancy, is no wonder they are also floating making interracial marriage illegal again, this is all happening to one goal, get white birthrates to replacement levels at all costs.
- Divide et impera
The outrage machine is in full gear, fueled by manufactured morality. A lawmaker makes a personal health decision, and the reactionaries lose their collective minds. Threats over surgery? Unhinged. These are the same people who scream about “freedom” while weaponizing it against anyone who doesn’t conform to their theocratic fever dreams.
Pohutsky’s honesty is a mirror. It reflects the fear women face in a country where access to contraception and autonomy is under siege. That she tied her decision to Trump’s election? Poetic. It’s not just about her body—it’s about everybody under the shadow of regressive policies.
Keep speaking, Laurie. Their threats are the last refuge of those losing control over a future they can’t stop.
“I don’t fully grasp the level of animosity that people have about this,” Pohutsky said.
Yeah, neither do a lot of people. Its this weird fucking obsession that the idiots of this country have latched on to.
Pohutsky told large crowd gathered in Lansing at the state Capitol Wednesday that she chose last month to have a bilateral salpingectomy to remove her fallopian tubes. While abortion is constitutionally protected in Michigan and state lawmakers have bolstered contraceptive access, she said the decision was prompted by doubts that the Trump administration will not target access.
I do find this to be a little odd, kind of drastic. But, it's her body. What people choose to do, under the guidance and care of an ethical, reputable medical professional, is their business. I certainly don't understand getting so upset about it, especially not to the point where you would harass her for it. Even if you strongly disagree with her decision, just shake your head, shrug your shoulders and move on.
- People should be allowed to have diverse beliefs, and should be allowed to act on them ... as long as it does NOT adversely affect another person's life or safety.
  Right-wing fucknuts forget that last part.
  "Your body, my choice" is attempted murder and should be treated as such.
- I do find this to be a little odd, kind of drastic.
  I might do the same if i could be forced to carry a rapist's baby, especially with contraceptives on the p2025 chopping block.
  
  I think they meant removing the pieces rather than the much simpler and more common "tubes tied" procedure.
- It's not drastic! Look outside. Having kids in this world is outright cruel. Even within the wealthiest countries on earth, only a small sub section of the population can actually have children without bringing them into pure hell. Im an educator working in a poor to "middle class" area and even the more well off families are skipping meals, choosing to stop having children, choosing to forgo medical care, and making decisions that only you hear citizens in 3rd world countries make. If you have a kid today it's fucked.
- Are you a woman?
- I do find this to be a little odd, kind of drastic.
  Rather than drastic, there could be additional, medically informed factors that would make this totally reasonable.
  According to the book Blind Spots, fallopian tubes begin certain highly deadly cancers lacking effective screening tests & that are often incurable when discovered. For someone who's decided not to bear children, their physicians may reasonably recommend fallopian tube removal. It's a highly effective oncological intervention.

89 comments