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Self-care, Messaging to Others

“you matter,” “next year, when we are boyfriends” and “this is the best date I’ve ever been on”… they were all lies to get me to do things for him. I’m a helper. I pride myself in my ability to help others. I think the worst thing you can do to a helper is to make them feel like their help isn’t enough. It devalued my self-worth. If I couldn’t help the man I loved more than anyone, the man I put above my own needs, then who could I help? Could I even help myself?

Q: You sing about the devaluing of your self-worth in “Tiny”.

A: Yes, “Tiny” is about how I was made to feel by the end of a very deceiving relationship. It’s a song for anyone who has a man in their life that makes them feel so diminished, they can’t see their own worth anymore. It is about me reclaiming my price tag. Thank you. I’m bigger now.

Q: What was it about this last relationship that affected you so much?

A: I think it was the false hope I was given. The master manipulation. He made me believe he was more important than me. I started doing everything I could to please him, and when I couldn’t help him anymore, because his needs were greater than my means, he cut me off with no explanation.

Q: That’s cold.

A: Every “you’re important to me,”

Q: It's a dark track. What happened to the bright and sunny J.R. Price that sang about “Body Positivity”?

A: I was living in a daydream. Now I’m coming out from a nightmare. It is the result of a man casting a shadow over my light. I am not the type who can paint a smile over my pain. I actually think that it is more debilitating to bottle things up, lie to people, say I’m fine when I’m not fine. If I can’t be honest in my music, where can I be

Court’s decision to overturn the rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade. I am very proud that, with the signing of this legislation, Massachusetts will continue to be a national leader in protecting and defending the rights of our residents and of those people who come here seeking access to health care,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka. "Pregnant people, trans people, and all people must be allowed to make their own health care decisions in consultation with their physician without fear. Our fight to protect the rights and dignity of our residents cannot end today, however, and so the Senate will continue to explore ways to uphold our fundamental rights. I am grateful to my colleagues in the Senate who stood together to act quickly and decisively on this issue, to Speaker Mariano and the House of Representatives, and to Governor Baker for his quick action as well.”

“In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to ignore nearly 50 years of judicial precedent and overturn Roe v. Wade, and as states across the country move to restrict access to abortion, I’m incredibly proud of the fact that elected officials in Massachusetts have acted to ensure that the Commonwealth can serve as a safe haven for women seeking reproductive health care services, and for providers whose licenses could be at risk because of laws passed in other states,” said House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (DQuincy). “The protections that are cod- ified into law with this legislation, which will help to ensure that no woman will ever be forced to leave Massachusetts to access reproductive health care services because of devastating medical news during the later stages of their pregnancy, have never been more important. I want to thank all my colleagues in the House, as well as our partners in the Senate and in the Administration, for their commitment to protecting a woman’s right to choose, and for the hard work and cooperation that ultimately facilitated the passage of this legislation.”

Protections

With abortion bans being reactivated in multiple states, and with at least four states to date passing bills criminalizing parents and doctors for providing established, best-practice medical care for transgender youth, this bill clarifies and ensures that such care is a protected right in Massachusetts and provides safeguards for providers as well as patients who seek care in the state.

The new law protects patients and providers from legal interference when they are engaged in accessing or providing reproductive and gender affirming health care services that are legally protected in Massachusetts. The law also codifies several protections that Governor Baker put in place by Executive Order (https://bit.ly/3dTR5Qs) last month to prohibit the Commonwealth from assisting with other states’