ProWomanProLife

…to get the good people who want to make a movie about America’s worst serial killer to their goal. These fine Irish folks are on to something. Talented people with a good idea. And a mere 3000 dollars gets you Ann’s signature dish! What could be better! Donate here. And forward to friends.

And isn’t that what this here World Wide Web is about? I was angry with the Sports Illustrated display all around me, roughly two months ago. Why is it OK to display porn like that? How many times have I been in convenience stores and wanted to turn magazines around? I need to figure out a way of coping. These ladies found one. Thank you, Photoshop.

They posted this on Facebook with the following comment:

I was all charged up for National “Make A Scene At Your Local Grocery Store” Day since the Sports Illustrated Swimsuits edition just hit stands. However, I’m very pleased to announce I was instead able to celebrate “Thank Your Local Grocer For Having Common Sense And NOT Putting Porn At Kid’s Eye Level” Day. They don’t make cards for that one. Furthermore, because I had to re-channel all that unused rage, here… the most useless and stupid graphic we’ve ever made.

I was almost (ALMOST) ashamed to put our name on it.

Almost ashamed to re-post here, and on such a time lag, too, but really, I was mad about that cover and never did get to talk it out anywhere. Posting this is part of my healing journey. And nobody can deny me my healing journey. Noooooo body!

So, so very often, when pro-choice feminists study what it means to be pro-life, they totally and utterly miss the mark. I agree with Big Blue Wave’s assessment of this attempt. (I have not yet read the full article, which appears to rely heavily on only one pro-life group for the pro-life side.)

I suppose this is what happens when you don’t know any pro-lifers:

Pro-lifers aren’t given a balanced description; words and assumptions are put in their mouths.

I should make a better attempt to put forward a bit of a Pro-Life Manifesto. Here’s what I believe, and why. I mean, I have tried, but clearly, it’s not enough.

A young woman who believes marriage still matters. Crazy.

Thoughts on Jesus and leadership from Brian Lilley: “Couldn’t we use a little of  that servant leadership today?”

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?

I don’t know. But that’s where our minds went.

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.

Here’s more about her.

(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.)

Something all pro-lifers, myself included, need to work on. A good read here, looking at the Biblical example of Daniel.

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!

Here’s another clip from two supporters.

Donate here.

It’s alarming that it would be so hard to find a suitable bra for teenagers but I’m not terribly surprised. I like the story behind founding the company:

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.

___________

Faye adds: Lea Singh wrote about this issue recently (yup, I’m a Lea Singh fan girl):

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.