There is hope. 

In an effort to reduce the incidence of selective abortions, South Korea enacted a law in 1988 making it illegal for a doctor to reveal the gender of a foetus to expectant parents.

At the same time women were also becoming more educated, with many more starting to join the workforce, challenging the convention that it was the job of a man to provide for his family.

It worked, but it was not for one reason alone. Rather, a combination of these factors led to the eventual gender rebalancing.

I note they adhere to the studious conviction that the law played the least role but I suspect two things. One, that the law “set the tone” and acted as a teacher, as it tends to do. And two, that we’ll never know whether the law actually played a role or not, because abortion politics are so pervasive. If the law actually did something, well then, what would that say about laws on other abortion-related matters? 

The future is so bright, this little girl needs shades.

There’s a lengthy article here, in the Toronto Star (clearly not the mouthpiece of the pro-life movement) about young women moving away from the Pill.

I have been talking for a long time about the negative side of the Pill, mostly from a women’s health and welfare angle. I have also critiqued the Pill because it distorts the relationship between the sexes and harms women’s chances of long term relationship happiness in something called marriage.

This is something that ideologues have loved to critique. I’m “anti-sex” or “religious” or this or that. I’m betting they won’t say that about the Toronto Star.

I have been on the birth control pill, and the sadness factor, or feeling distant from life, the world and myself is what I experienced. It wasn’t pleasant but at the time, so many moons ago, I had no way to understand what was happening or connect the dots. When I came off the Pill that feeling went away. And so, in hindsight, I realize my life had became more difficult, and coping strategies that I would have had naturally were taken away, thanks to the Pill messing with my hormones.

Anyway, you can read more, for yourself. But let this moment stand, and enjoy it: People opposed to the Pill had good reason, and the rest of the world is now catching up.

Some of the women say they became uncomfortable with putting synthetic hormones in their bodies. Many say the pill affected their emotional state.

A large-scale, longitudinal study published in September in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, part of the Journal of the American Medical Association network, suggests hormonal contraception could cause depression.

The study analyzed data from more than one million women aged 15 to 34, collected from Denmark’s National Prescription Register and Psychiatric Central Research Register over 14 years. The authors concluded women who took the birth control pill had a 23 per cent greater risk of depression than those who did not take the pill. Compared to non-users, the risk associated with progestin-only pills was 34 per cent greater.

Other methods of birth control carried a higher risk of depression, which may be linked to dosage, the study says: women using the progestin-releasing IUD faced a 40 per cent greater risk than non-users; the risk for vaginal ring users was 60 per cent greater. The birth control patch doubled the risk of depression.

I’m a Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse fan. The article says it: people either find her plucky or abrasive. I find her plucky–what’s more, she is kind-hearted and treats everyone with respect. So I’m not sure how the abrasive thing happens.

Read more about the life of Dr. J here.

A portion of it:

Without strong families, you can’t have free markets or limited government. Instead, you get ‘The Life of Julia.’” This is a reference to a slide-show advertisement from President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign that treated a fictitious woman’s cradle-to-grave dependence on government as a triumph of progressivism.

and my favourite quote:

Is it really so hard to say that children are entitled to parents? This is the birthright of every child, not an impossible dream.” She pauses, then concludes: “When nothing is politically possible, you don’t need to trim sails. You can just tell the truth.”

Great article, with all the problems listed in one place.

Whether you are progressive or conservative, feminist or pro-life, straight or gay, surrogacy is not the answer.

Jennifer Roback Morse of the Ruth Institute http://www.ruthinstitute.org/

Articles like these do not reflect my sentiment as a pro-life woman. Being pro-life/anti-abortion/whatever-you-want-to-call-it reflects a genuinely pro-woman sentiment, not some rebranding so that my message can be more tenable. Ours is the novel idea that women ought to be accepted in all their reproductive capacities. Certainly my view also partners with the humanity of the preborn–we are not aborting cucumbers, after all–to suggest that there is something of value, a fetus, which is the result (in many instances) of a natural thing called sex. These are facts on the ground that we need to recognize.

The author also adds that pro-life folks lost the battle long ago. I’d argue the presence of his column is evidence that the pro-choice victory has not been complete. In order for a complete pro-choice victory to occur, we would have to wipe out all joy at the prospect of a wanted child being born. When that happens, women might feel entirely unconflicted about the act of abortion.

However, since that won’t happen, we will muddle through with pro-lifers and pro-choicers alike muttering about the matter. It’s just not going to go away quietly into the realm of non-controversial.