I have to say, I see plenty of ‘servant leadership’ from the pro-lifers with whom I connect. They pour out their lives for those who can’t speak up in defence of their own lives.
I’m a member of the pro-life movement because I don’t feel like I have a choice to do otherwise. Abortion is a gross human rights violation.
But it’s the people – the people in this movement – that make fighting this fight a little…easier. If I can put it that way. It’s hard topic to think about day in and day out, but pro-lifers are some of the most selfless, loving people I have ever met. And I think that’s a great credit to this movement.
Last weekend was eventful. I developed complications following the birth of my son, and ended hitting one medical clinic and two hospitals before being hospitalized Friday night. (We also paid $52.50 in hospital parking fees over 24 hours, but that’s another issue.)
Friday afternoon, my husband and I were sitting in the waiting room of a hospital wing. At one point a hospital staffer walked by, pushing a long cart stacked with large plastic biohazard bins.
We looked at each other and realized that we were thinking the same thing: Did any of the bins contain bodies of aborted children?
I don’t even know if abortions are performed at this particular hospital, or if the bodies of children are placed in such bins following abortions.
Were we morbid? Realistic? Are such thoughts just a consequence of both of us being members of the pro-life movement?
Today we welcome a new blogger, one Johanne Brownrigg, to the team. I’m excited because Johanne is very fun. In fact, at pro-life meetings, there’s her and one or two others I look to to spice things up. Kindred spirits. Johanne is also warm and empathetic, on top of being fun. I think we have all gone to her with our woes at one time or another. And she speaks French! So it’s a great honour to have her join us to blog.
(I very hastily set up Johanne’s new account this morning, did a fake test, which I did not mean to publish and then ran out the door to a meeting. Only to return to find the post went live–”Testing Johanne’s account” is not a terribly thought provoking post. Johanne, I can assure you, will do much, much better.)
I’ve been checking every day to see how the fundraising is going for the Gosnell movie. If you haven’t given yet–one dollar or ten thousand–then please do what you can. They need 2.1 million to make the movie.
So why do I care about this, apparently more than other worthy campaigns?
Because I have seen two of the documentaries done by this two filmmakers and they were both excellent. Because this is a culture changing enterprise. Because this will be a movie to expose hypocrisy. Because no one else will. Because it will cause people to think about what abortion always is. Because I’ve always been cynical that the political process will achieve anything in this domain, and if you believe cultural change is where it is at, then we need more pro-life movies. Because, please note, they don’t call it a “pro-life” movie… which is good because then half the continent would choose not to see it. Because when they make it, it will be fun to know I helped!
Having lost my other younger sister, Caroline, at the age of five I learned how short our adolescence really is. For Caroline, all it took was a simple misstep off of a decorated, moving float in a parade. Just before my eyes, I saw her blue ones close for one last time. However, in her absence, Caroline is still powerful in my mind. She taught me through both her life and her sudden death, to slow down and enjoy each day as its own. It wasn’t until years after she died that I really understood her most meaningful mantras. They are now the backbones of my company Yellowberry.
I recently ordered a bathing suit online, here. Good things are happening, though you’d never know it walking through the mall. The mall is not a place for sensitive souls… I almost feel assaulted by some of the ads. But that’s just me.
Look out stroller moms, our weekday hunting grounds are about to get a lot more racy. Victoria’s Secret has come to town. A massive store will open at the Rideau Centre in May, taking up a whopping 10,000 square feet of second-floor retail space. One floor down, Victoria’s Secret will be opening PINK, which is specifically targeted at teenage and even pre-teen girls.[...]
Just last year, PINK caused an uproar when it launched a line of sexy underwear for teen and pre-teen girls, printed with phrases such as “feeling lucky”, “I dare you”, “let’s make out” and “call me.” Are these the kinds of products we want our daughters to wear? At a time when young girls are under growing pressure to be sexy, we are only upping the ante by introducing stores like PINK into our malls.
In 2012 the CBC exposed the alarming consequences of growing up in our “porn culture” in a disturbing documentary entitled “Sext Up Kids”. According to that program, “as girls hit puberty, they start seeing themselves as objects of someone else’s needs and desires.”
I just avoid malls all together these days. I need to buy new pants this weekend, and I cringe that my husband and I have to hit the mall. Le sigh.
Like millions of women in North America, it’s the situation I’m in and it’s the situation author Melanie Notkin is in. She calls it “otherhood,” a demographic of women who would like to be mothers, but who want to have children within the framework of a loving relationship, a.k.a. marriage. Notkin claims this is a growing demographic — nearly half of North American women of child-bearing age are childless — and my own anecdotal evidence supports this. Yours probably does, too. How many fantastic single women do you know? Now, think about how many single men you know. I’m betting heavily that the answer is far fewer of the latter.
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For women of the otherhood, this book provides assurances that what they’re feeling and experiencing are real and valid, but it still doesn’t address why this is happening. Of course, Notkin can’t provide answers because there aren’t really any to be had. If there were, the number of single, childless women wouldn’t be on the rise.
In the following satirical sketch, pro-choicers are played by the men. Pro-lifers are played by the woman who believes we ought not return to the gold standard. Enjoy.
Ten minutes you REALLY won’t regret listening to. CS Lewis on sex, happiness, morality, freedom, order in society and the right to all of the above. An essay told in doodle form. (h/t)
