A Meatloaf Sandwich & A Medical Marijuana Card for a Fetus?!
The GOP is making it increasingly obvious that they're waging war on pregnant people.
Hi friends,
It’s been a little while since I last posted, I’m so sorry I’ve been AWOL! I had some unexpected stuff crop up, and had to step away from sandwich stuff for a moment, but I am back in the kitchen, right where I belong according to white Christian nationalists ahahahahahaha!
Anyhow, you probably know that I make sandwiches and chat about sexism, misogyny, reproductive rights, and other stuff on TikTok and Instagram. I wrote about how it all started in this post. Thank you for being here. Please tell your friends if you dig my sammies. I made a delicious meatloaf sandwich this week.
This sandwich vid about Brittany Gunsolus, an Oklahoma woman who has been charged with felony child neglect due to her medical marijuana use while pregnant, struck a chord on TikTok. It’s currently at 1.4 million views, which blows my mind. I wrote about Gunsolus, and how the war on reproductive right parallels the War on Drugs, for the High Times WEIRDOS column this week. Here’s my rant.
This week, attorneys for an Oklahoma woman filed an application asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to stop state prosecutors from criminally charging women who use medical marijuana during pregnancy.
The filing centers around the case of Brittany Gunsolus, a 27-year-old woman who used edibles and topicals during her pregnancy at the recommendation of her doctor. She legally obtained a medical marijuana license to do so. In October 2020, she gave birth to a healthy baby, who tested positive for THC. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services investigated and found no evidence of neglect, reporting that Gunsolus’s home was a clean and safe environment. Still, the district attorney of Comanche County, Kyle Cableka, charged Gunsolus with felony child neglect in May 2021.
Prosecutorial Absurdity
At a court hearing in August of this year, a prosecutor argued Gunsolus broke the law because her unborn child did not have its own, separate state license to use medical marijuana. Yes, you read that correctly — prosecutors say that Gunsolus is liable for felony child neglect because her FETUS DID NOT HAVE A MEDICAL MARIJUANA CARD. Felony child neglect charges carry a potential life sentence in Oklahoma.
Of course, it’s ludicrous to say that a fetus should require a medical license, but it’s in keeping with the absolute insanity unfolding around the country since Roe v Wade was overturned 18 months ago. Republicans are waging war on women’s bodies with a fervor that I can only compare to the horrors of the War on Drugs. And they definitely don’t give a flying fuck about women, or children.
The Alarming Implications of Fetal Personhood
Brittany Gunsolus was investigated for using prescribed medicine, and found to be a good, loving parent by the DHS. But Kyle Cabelka isn’t interested in the welfare of Gunsolus’s child, or her rights as a parent. His argument that Gunsolus’ fetus didn’t have a medical marijuana license stems from the alarming legal theory of “fetal personhood” that’s being weaponized to criminalize pregnant people.
Dana Sussman, deputy executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), said in a March 2022 interview with Jezebel that “fetal personhood is about normalizing the idea that a pregnant person is not their own person anymore, that they’re subservient to the rights, individuality, and full personhood of a fetus.”
If a fetus is considered to be a person with legal rights, and the pregnant person’s rights are secondary to the fetus, Sussman said, that “lends to an environment in which violence — whether it’s state violence like imprisonment or interpersonal violence — can be committed against pregnant people with far less accountability.”
Reproductive Rights as a Tool for Control
Sound familiar? State violence being committed against people by targeting, criminalizing and imprisoning them? If you’ve ever been arrested for weed, you know exactly what we’re talking about here. The War on Drugs was created as a political tool to control Blacks and hippies — and we know this because former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman went on the record saying so in an interview with Harper’s Magazine.
“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and Black people,” Ehrlichman told writer Dan Baum. “You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or Black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
The GOP's Terrifying Agenda Is a Threat to All, Regardless of Gender
The war on reproductive rights is tearing a page out of the very same playbook: criminalizing behavior to control people. We should all be fucking terrified — not only people who could become pregnant; not only women of childbearing age; ALL OF US. Because it doesn’t stop here. The anti-abortion movement is fueled by white Christian nationalism. As outlined in an essay in the Washington Post, white Christian nationalism is a toxic ideology upheld by the three pillars of freedom, order and violence. The freedom belongs only to people that white Christian nationalists see as like them (white men). The order is to be imposed on all those they don’t (everyone else). And righteous violence is to be deployed to achieve their vision. If you’re not a straight, white, Bible-thumpin’ bro (and even if you are!!), the shit the GOP is trying to pull should give you chills.
Take a Stand Against the Criminalization of Reproductive Rights
I wrote an essay for this column about sexism last year, and the comments from many, many dudes that I should “shut up and make them a sandwich” inspired me to start a project where I make myself sandwiches and chat about things that interest me, a woman who is a person with a uterus who enjoys sandwiches. The sandwich I made about Brittany Gunsolus’s fetus needing a medical marijuana license is currently at 1.3 million views on TikTok. So, to all the dudes who are going to come for me for this big fat rant about reproductive rights: make yourselves a fucking sandwich. The GOP is criminalizing pregnant women; you can be sure they’ll come for you next.
You can learn more about Brittany Gunsolus and her case at Pregnancy Justice, a non-profit with the mission of defending the “civil and human rights of pregnant people, focusing on those most likely to be targeted for investigation, arrest, detention, or family separation — poor people, people of color, and people who use drugs.”
A Spicy, Garlicky Meatloaf Sandwich
The meatloaf sandwich I made to pair with this story was from a particularly tasty recipe by the wonderful Melissa Clark at NYT Cooking. I skipped the pine nuts because those things are worth their weight in gold! I can’t afford coffee and pine nuts! Jeez.
INGREDIENTS (Yields 6 to 8 servings of meatloaf, so prepare yourself for leftovers)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 scallions, white and light green parts, finely chopped
1 medium jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup dried bread crumbs
3 tablespoons chicken stock, heavy cream or milk
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
salt and pepper
PREPARATION
Step 1: Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, garlic, scallions, jalapeño, sage, salt and black pepper.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, stir together bread crumbs and stock, cream or milk. Let stand five minutes.
Step 3: Add pork, beef and soaked bread crumbs to egg mixture. Knead ingredients together until just combined. Press mixture evenly into an 8- or 9-inch loaf pan. Bake for 55 minutes.
Step 4: Meanwhile, whisk together the tomato paste and olive oil. After meatloaf has finished baking, brush top with glaze; sprinkle with pine nuts, if using. Bake 15 minutes more (glaze will be thick and a meat thermometer should read 160 degrees). Let meatloaf rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Make Yourself a Sandwich
Slice yourself a thick piece of meatloaf. Spread two slices of bread — I used untoasted sourdough — with Dijon and mayonnaise. I’m really enjoying Spicy Truff Mayo at the moment! Add a couple of salted tomato slices, slice your sandwich in half, and eat it with your eyes closed to shut out the absolute lunacy of people like Comanche County District Attorney Kyle Cabelka, while feeling the deep gratification of your delicious sandwich, which you made for yourself.
Last Licks
Celebrate the holiday season by supporting some amazing abortion rights groups — and donating in someone’s name if you want to make your support into a gift! Jessica Valenti posted a fantastic list of groups to support on her must-read Substack Abortion, Every Day. Gift someone you love a subscription to Valenti’s Substack while you’re at it! Plus she has merch! Look at these hats! (I have merch as well, FYI. I’m buying an Abortion Every Day hat to go with my T-shirt!)
Happy holidays, everyone. I am very grateful to you for hanging out with me, and I’m looking forward to making many more sandwiches in 2024. - MJ 💚