A member of the Salt Lake County Council is the latest example of why dudes should keep their mouths shut about abortion rights until they learn some basic anatomy.
Dave Alvord decided to teach Vice President Kamala Harris a thing or two after she tweeted, “We trust the judgment of the women of America to make decisions based on what is in their best interest. We trust the women of America to make those decisions about their own bodies.”
Alvord responded, incorrectly: “The baby is not part of the body of a woman. The umbilical chord and placenta do not directly connect to the woman. The baby floats inside the woman. It is not about the woman’s body, it’s to kill then remove the baby’s body. It is done in greater proportion to black babies.”
The umbilical “chord” and placenta do not directly connect to the woman? Does this whiz kid imagine that the placenta just sort of manifests the nutrients and oxygen a fetus needs to survive and grow? It just all kinda comes from nowhere? If so, then why do we need human beings to go through pregnancy and labor and delivery? Why are we doing this very burdensome, dangerous thing if apparently the uterus and the entire human being around the uterus are not providing anything but a little space for a placenta, umbilical cord, and fetus to float around in?
RELATED STORY: Sen. Tim Scott fundraises with factless fearmongering: 'Dems will grant abortions up to 52 weeks'
In reality, of course, the placenta attaches to the wall of the uterus. The placenta detaching from the wall of the uterus—called placental abruption—is dangerous. How dangerous? Let’s kick it over to the Mayo Clinic:
For the mother, placental abruption can lead to:
- Shock due to blood loss
- Blood clotting problems
- The need for a blood transfusion
- Failure of the kidneys or other organs resulting from blood loss
- Rarely, the need for hysterectomy, if uterine bleeding can't be controlled
For the baby, placental abruption can lead to:
- Restricted growth from not getting enough nutrients
- Not getting enough oxygen
- Premature birth
- Stillbirth
Those are some very grave consequences for a condition that noted maternal-fetal medicine expert now-famous schmuck Dave Alvord thinks is the natural state of pregnancy, in which the placenta floats free.
When Alvord’s tweet drew attention a few days after it was originally posted, he stuck by it. People asking questions about it, he insisted, “seem to be missing the point.” You know, the point that he based on a false claim. “My tweet was not a biology lesson but was intended to simply point out that a baby, the umbilical cord, and the placenta are part of a new and developing body, with its own unique DNA and gender, separate from the mother,” he continued.
Yeah, I’ll say it wasn’t a biology lesson. Except, again, his whole claim here rests on “separate.” Which it’s not.
Alvord, in 2021, made a little splash with a Facebook post beginning, “The left won’t be happy until we each have light brown skin, exactly alike, (or else there will remain someone whiter than another,” and going on in that vein for another eight paragraphs. So, I think we know who he is, and that’s some interesting added context for his decision to tweet this specifically in response to the vice president.
Many people on Twitter had thoughts, starting with very basic lessons on how pregnancy and placentas work, and going from there:
Alvord’s ignorance—or at least his defense of it—is strategic, of course. It’s about putting fetuses above the rights of pregnant people, again. But the fact that his original argument relied so fully on a false claim, whether one made in ignorance or with intent to mislead, is telling.
RELATED STORIES:
Detectives use Facebook messages as evidence to charge Nebraska teen with illegal abortion
Doctors say government interfering in reproductive health care 'incredibly dangerous' for patients