AOC’s Eggs

AOC’s 2028 aspirations? “This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life,” said 36-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.), announcing on Instagram that she was beginning the process of freezing her eggs. Today’s highly educated, high-earning, big-city moms and potential moms—like Ocasio-Cortez—want to be in control of their fates. When we have children, though, we must inevitably surrender a bit.

The fact that Ocasio-Cortez was able to throw this news on Instagram and command a whole news cycle over the weekend points to her earned-media skill. And to the fact that she could possibly be gearing up for a 2028 run: She’s choosing not to have kids at age 36, but rather to hold off for several years at minimum. This indicates to me that she might be throwing around the idea of running for president, if her party will give her its blessing.

But whether she’s running for president or just hoping to hold onto her congressional seat, she’s clearly trying to “normalize” (can we just abandon this stupid term?) being candid about reproductive decisions. “I want you all to see that. And because women can do anything, and I think it’s badass that I’m going to be giving myself shots in the green room [as I] get my glam on,” she said, noting she would be appearing on ABC shortly (thus the shots in the green room).

“A 2025 UCLA study found that between 2014 and 2021, there was a sharp increase [quadruple] in the number of planned elective egg-freezing cycles. In that period, women began freezing their eggs at younger ages, with the average age dropping from 36 years in 2014 to 34.9 in 2021,” reports The Washington Post. “The study also landed on the surprising finding that only a small number of women—5.7 percent who froze their eggs between 2014 and 2016—returned to use their eggs in the next five to seven years.”

God bless her. Having kids is a wonderful thing! For me, becoming a mother reinforced the idea that the state can never usurp the family. Maybe she’ll come to the same understanding.

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s plan: “The Israeli government has rejected a 15-point plan backed by the Trump administration aimed at disarming the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday,” reports The New York Times. “It appeared to be an unusually public break with President Trump, whose relationship with Mr. Netanyahu has had a dizzying and often unpredictable arc. The two leaders launched the war against Iran together in late February. But they have since clashed over how to end it, as well as over the future of Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.”

“The U.S.-backed proposal envisions a phased process in which Hamas would hand over its weapons in stages to a new Palestinian administration in Gaza,” adds the Times. “In exchange, Israel would gradually withdraw from the more than half of Gaza that it has controlled since the cease-fire last October.” For Netanyahu, this proposal doesn’t go far enough in terms of what it expects from Hamas: The terrorist group must be fully disarmed before Israel will draw down its troops.

Scenes from New York: “Should N.Y. Bathhouses Be Allowed to Offer Space for Sex?” reads a New York Times headline. “Two state lawmakers have proposed repealing a health code that prohibits establishments like bathhouses from allowing sexual activity.”

QUICK HITS

• Check out my piece on Substack, “The Perversion of Montessori.” When did we stop believing that kids can do real work?
• “Nestled within a sleepy community campground and roadside cafe, hundreds of Canadians are gathered to imagine a new country of their own. It’s July 1, and they’re hosting a family-friendly event that looks like a typical Canada Day celebration. Live music, a farmers’ market, hamburgers on the grill. Except there isn’t a Maple Leaf in sight,” reports Politico. “Instead, people have wrapped themselves in Alberta’s flag, wave ‘we’re done’ banners and wear ‘Trump 2024’ and MAGA—Make Alberta Great Again—ball caps. This is an ‘Albertans’ Day’ gathering at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which gained notoriety for bucking pandemic-era rules and which former Alberta premier Jason Kenney calls ‘ground zero’ for the province’s fast-growing separatist movement.”
• “Rep. Max Miller, the embattled Ohio Republican who faces accusations of domestic violence from his ex-wife, appears almost certain to remain on the ballot in November after a key deadline in the process to replace him passed Saturday,” reports The Washington Post. “Miller, who denies any wrongdoing, has resisted growing calls to drop his bid for a third term and resign from Congress.”
• “The U.S. economy shed jobs in July, yet the unemployment rate improved—an unusual pairing that points to a worrying story unfolding behind the numbers for some economists,” reports The Washington Post. “That’s because even as the U.S. economy lost jobs, American workers left the labor market faster.”