Archives for April 2010

Well, not very useful anyway. As Brian Lilley reports, if all you knew about abortion you’d read in polls, you’d be quite lost.

News you need:

Women with degrees are almost twice as likely to drink daily as those without, but they’re also more likely to admit they have a drinking problem, according to a new study. While the same link is seen among men, the correlation is less strong, the UK Telegraph reports. In the study, researchers from the London School of Economics tracked the lives of thousands of women and men, all born in the UK during the same week in 1970, and at the time aged 39. Women’s drinking habits can even be predicted from scores in school tests from as young as five, say the authors, who suggest several reasons: better-educated women tend to have children later, putting off the accompanying responsibilities. They also have more active social lives, and often work in male-dominated offices with a drinking culture. They might have grown up in middle-class families, and seen their parents drink regularly. The study found that women with some educational qualifications were 71 per cent more likely to drink on most days compared to women with none; women with degree-level qualifications were 86 per cent more likely to do so.

This letter by a doctor in Oregon about euthanasia and assisted suicide is interesting. It made me think of those women I’ve heard of who wished they hadn’t had a choice because they felt like they were a burden, and were pressured into having abortions:

[The patient] acknowledged that multiple sclerosis was a major challenge and told me that if he got too much worse, he might want to “just end it.” “ It sounds like you are telling me this, because you might ultimately want assistance with your own suicide- if things got a worse,” I said.  He nodded affirmatively, and seemed relieved that I really understood what he was feeling. I told him that I could readily appreciate his fear and frustration and even his belief that assisted suicide might be a good option for him. At the same time, I told him that should he become sicker or weaker, I would work to give him the best care and support available. At the same time, I told him that no matter how debilitated he might become, that, at least to me, his life was, and would always be, inherently valuable. As such, I would not recommend, nor could I participate in his assisted-suicide.  In response, he simply said, “Thank you.”

Point being, I don’t think offering abortion offers too much hope or love to too many, in particular the very many who feel pressured into not keeping their babies in the first place, be it by boyfriends, spouses, parental expectations or self expectations.

If this were written on April 1, I would have thought it had to be a joke. Unfortunately, not:

Now he is good, but it did not go away with just a loving hug — his status was accomplished once his friends saw our house and other possessions.

(h/t)

Here in Ottawa, at least, it’s not a day for blogging. I understand what to do with 25 degree and sunny days in April that make up a long weekend, and typing/taxes/working were some of the things on my list but aren’t anymore. It it is also Easter, and so while I’m out in the sunshine I’m going to sincerely repent of all my many mistakes. So many. And yet what are you gonna do in this life? The definition of success is that that we get up when we fall down…

Happy Easter Saturday.

David Pratt ends his political career. The only Liberal I would ever have considered voting for, had I lived in his riding.

Michael Ignatieff “explains” his abortion motion fiasco.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw7jT938pi0&feature=player_embedded]

Well done!

The headline could be “Majority backs abortion rights” *or* “Liberal pollster needs a competing headline.”  

“Would you call yourself pro-choice or pro-life?”

versus

“Is abortion morally wrong?”

These are two different questions. Many who would say abortion is morally wrong would also say they are pro-choice. (This is the rather large “wrong for me but I can’t tell others what to do” category.)

What is legal is not always moral and what is moral is not always legal.