20 hrs ago·edited 20 hrs agoLiked by Liz Gumbinner
Thank you for writing this, Liz. My daughter's also looking at colleges this year, and has excluded all anti-choice states for this very reason. Luckily she also decided on a 4-hour drive cap from where we are, so that pretty much leaves NY/VT/MA/CT.
Her college advisor gave her a list of maybe 30-40 colleges that fit her criteria, and I've found GPT to be super helpful. I uploaded the list, asked for a table with a new column showing distance in miles from our zip code, then more columns for tuition, student body size, and a brief summary of the vibe, which turned out to be pretty useful, actually, things like: "Artsy, creative, intellectually curious, progressive."
Anyway, all of this is a lot on its own, but all the more significant given the election, and all the complicated feelings of sending a daughter out into this world. I'm so glad for your writing, and will share this piece with her, too.
Thank you, Rob, and wow, you win the award for tech-savvy, organized dad! Sounds like they might have some similar Schools on the list. Good luck to her!
I applied to Emory for undergrad, applied to GA Tech and UGA for law school, at one time I loved the idea of living in GA. I did not think about healthcare access when I applied to college or law school in the early 2000s. I used Plan B twice in law school once when I had left my birth control pills in NC while visiting my family in SC and had sex half asleep when I came back without thinking about how many days I missed and then again when I was on antibiotics and didn’t know that was an issue. I used Planned Parenthood for Pap smears throughout law school because my parents’ insurance was out of network for everything. I hate that we are going backwards, I hate that I have to worry about my friends who are still trying to have kids and worry about what the hell is going to happen to my nieces. Amber Thurman should be alive. #votebluetosaveamerica
I read this with a lump in my throat. I’m 73 and helping to raise my 16 year old granddaughter, in Louisiana, of all states. She is bright, vibrant, loving, and so open to everything. She won’t be defined by labels, which I love about her. I’m scared to death for her. We talk a lot about everything, so I hope I’m giving her the tools she needs to navigate this crazy world.
Frankie, you sound amazing and so does she. She's lucky to have you, the same way my kids are lucky to have their grandmother. We're fighting for all of them, especially those not old enough to have their own votes yet. xoxo
My comment is going to be a little off-topic. UCI I am moved to tears reading about how you were mothering your youngest.
I’m gonna be 70 in a week and I too was the youngest daughter. But unfortunately, my mother was done mothering before I was born. She found a career with NASA about a year and a half after I was born because she had to go back to work. And her life became her career, leaving me to be raised by my grandmother and my oldest sister. When I was 10, I got a book thrown on my bed with thetitle “Now You are TEN!”
As I read through your struggle to finish sentences and include the words that are the hardest to include, all I could think was at least she wasn’t being thrown a book to figure it out for herself. Mama,
WE haven't done. It is being done to us and we all need to vote to ensure that ALL women, current and future, have bodily autonomy.
I have heard that the universities in the anti abortion states, even if they are a bubble of blue in a sea of red, are seeing a downturn in applications from people who can get pregnant. At least, there is still the "power of the purse".
Your message is so profund and real .. as a grandparent it brings tears to my eyes .. as I realize that the fears and issues you bring out are all real .. and none of them should be .. hang in there .. and get everyone around you to vote for Kamala ..
Thank you for writing this, Liz. My daughter's also looking at colleges this year, and has excluded all anti-choice states for this very reason. Luckily she also decided on a 4-hour drive cap from where we are, so that pretty much leaves NY/VT/MA/CT.
Her college advisor gave her a list of maybe 30-40 colleges that fit her criteria, and I've found GPT to be super helpful. I uploaded the list, asked for a table with a new column showing distance in miles from our zip code, then more columns for tuition, student body size, and a brief summary of the vibe, which turned out to be pretty useful, actually, things like: "Artsy, creative, intellectually curious, progressive."
Anyway, all of this is a lot on its own, but all the more significant given the election, and all the complicated feelings of sending a daughter out into this world. I'm so glad for your writing, and will share this piece with her, too.
Thank you, Rob, and wow, you win the award for tech-savvy, organized dad! Sounds like they might have some similar Schools on the list. Good luck to her!
You are an inspiration and a leader. 🩷
❤️ Thank you for being here!
I applied to Emory for undergrad, applied to GA Tech and UGA for law school, at one time I loved the idea of living in GA. I did not think about healthcare access when I applied to college or law school in the early 2000s. I used Plan B twice in law school once when I had left my birth control pills in NC while visiting my family in SC and had sex half asleep when I came back without thinking about how many days I missed and then again when I was on antibiotics and didn’t know that was an issue. I used Planned Parenthood for Pap smears throughout law school because my parents’ insurance was out of network for everything. I hate that we are going backwards, I hate that I have to worry about my friends who are still trying to have kids and worry about what the hell is going to happen to my nieces. Amber Thurman should be alive. #votebluetosaveamerica
💙💙💙
You are a great mom
💙🙏
Can I send this to @emory or @gatech (I'm in Atlanta).
Of course you can. 💙
I'll have to do it on Facebook.
do you have a preference which school (or both?)
I didn’t name any particular schools for a reason. But I wrote the piece and it is public so you can share it with who you’d like.
I read this with a lump in my throat. I’m 73 and helping to raise my 16 year old granddaughter, in Louisiana, of all states. She is bright, vibrant, loving, and so open to everything. She won’t be defined by labels, which I love about her. I’m scared to death for her. We talk a lot about everything, so I hope I’m giving her the tools she needs to navigate this crazy world.
Frankie, you sound amazing and so does she. She's lucky to have you, the same way my kids are lucky to have their grandmother. We're fighting for all of them, especially those not old enough to have their own votes yet. xoxo
My comment is going to be a little off-topic. UCI I am moved to tears reading about how you were mothering your youngest.
I’m gonna be 70 in a week and I too was the youngest daughter. But unfortunately, my mother was done mothering before I was born. She found a career with NASA about a year and a half after I was born because she had to go back to work. And her life became her career, leaving me to be raised by my grandmother and my oldest sister. When I was 10, I got a book thrown on my bed with thetitle “Now You are TEN!”
As I read through your struggle to finish sentences and include the words that are the hardest to include, all I could think was at least she wasn’t being thrown a book to figure it out for herself. Mama,
Lots of love to you. ❤️
As the blue state parent of two kids who went to or go to red state schools, we thought about this hard. I even wrote about it for HuffPo last year: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abortion-ban-anti-choice-college-students_n_65d7d3dde4b0189a6a7d5b98z. Everyone really does need to think hard about how they will handle this if their kids go to school in anti-choice states: what’s the plan, etc.
Thank you for writing about this. I think I found a working link for anyone else interested in some really helpful advice, and to-dos before your kid leaves for college: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abortion-ban-anti-choice-college-students_n_65d7d3dde4b0189a6a7d5b98
Your daughter's quote crossing the state line is a gut punch.
Thanks, Liz. She’s graduated now and, true to her plan, is putting her teaching degree to use in a state that respects her bodily autonomy.
WE haven't done. It is being done to us and we all need to vote to ensure that ALL women, current and future, have bodily autonomy.
I have heard that the universities in the anti abortion states, even if they are a bubble of blue in a sea of red, are seeing a downturn in applications from people who can get pregnant. At least, there is still the "power of the purse".
My friend’s daughter made a map last year and blacked out all the states she wouldn’t feel safe living in. 💔
That seems to be the thing kids are doing. It's terrible. I wish the colleges and the businesses could use their leverage more.
Thank you for writing this. As a mother of daughters and a world of women. We all deserve the right to make decisions about our bodies.
Of course we do. That it's even a question is despicable.
Such a horrifying reality.
Your message is so profund and real .. as a grandparent it brings tears to my eyes .. as I realize that the fears and issues you bring out are all real .. and none of them should be .. hang in there .. and get everyone around you to vote for Kamala ..
Thank you Gene. You don't know how much I appreciate a man's voice in this conversation, and in this fight along with us.