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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 3, 2023

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Is that a serious barrier to anyone not living off food stamps? You can just drive across state borders the few times this is a concern.

The nearest abortion clinic to the actually populated parts of Texas is in Kansas. This is a 6-7 hour drive from one of Texas' main population centers and a 10+ hour drive from the other two. That's the high water mark for difficulty getting an abortion; a three day round trip(one for each leg plus a day to actually get the abortion) from Houston(Americans would drive that distance, although they'd fly if going to New Mexico instead because Texas' population centers have reliable air service there, so you could substitute airfare to Santa Fe or Albuquerque one a two day trip). And of course even when abortions were widely available in Texas, they weren't exactly free here, so you'd add in another thousand dollars. A thousand dollars, plus 1-2 nights in a hotel(women seeking abortions are not going to sleep on the streets, even if they can get away with it), plus either air fare to New Mexico or gas to Kansas, plus missing time at work- you'd exclude a pretty substantial chunk of the working class from being able to get abortions even allowing for their credit limits.

Now in other states which have banned abortion things are substantially easier for poor-but-not-impoverished women, although if they miss their window under state law in eg Florida they might be somewhat harder.

I'm simply built different. Semi-unironically. I know how to operate a gun, and I'm confident in my ability to be friendly and charming to win over anyone who isn't a card-carrying KKK member.

(Nor am I a Hindu, if one is allowed to shed the religion of one's ancestors)

I won't dispute your self assessment, although unless you convert to Christianity rednecks will probably reckon you a Hindu despite your lack of belief or practice.

In most plausible worlds, we can afford health insurance.

Yes, you can afford health insurance on a doctor's salary, and if you work for a hospital can afford really comprehensive health insurance. It's still probably more expensive than you'd expect even if you come out ahead on the whole compared to Britain.

You are of course correct about gun violence; don't stick one in your mouth or head into the neighborhoods the locals tell you to avoid and you'll almost certainly be fine.

I could have sworn that I wrote a lengthy post in response, but I'm already sleep deprived so it could all have been a dream.

Thank you for elaborating, I didn't consider there were actually some parts where abortion did get that difficult to come by.

I'm all for abortion rights, so far in fact that even some abortion rights activists would run screaming in terror. So you can imagine I sympathize with their plight, while still thinking that it's unlikely to be an issue for me and mine.

Yes, you can afford health insurance on a doctor's salary, and if you work for a hospital can afford really comprehensive health insurance. It's still probably more expensive than you'd expect even if you come out ahead on the whole compared to Britain.

For anything not acute or that didn't need ongoing care, I'd fly to another country and get it done cheaper. Mexico is quite literally across the border.

If it was a more intensive issue, then I'd just move to a place where it was cheaper for the interim.

I won't dispute your self assessment, although unless you convert to Christianity rednecks will probably reckon you a Hindu despite your lack of belief or practice.

Makes little difference to me since I don't think they're being malicious. I don't think the initial barriers will persist when they see that we share some common interests, and I think at one point they'd be calling their buddies over to get a load of this funny Indian dude who knows about guns and how to shoot them.

Makes little difference to me since I don't think they're being malicious. I don't think the initial barriers will persist when they see that we share some common interests, and I think at one point they'd be calling their buddies over to get a load of this funny Indian dude who knows about guns and how to shoot them.

This is probably correct if your self assessment is accurate.