Archives for February 2011

Read it in full, here. An excerpt to whet your appetite:

CMAJ: In the last 15 years, amniocentesis has allowed us to diagnose genetic disorders in utero. These include neural tube defects such as spina bifida, metabolic disorders such as Tay Sach’s  disease and chromosomal abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome. Do you believe that selective abortion for eugenic reasons is a desirable option?

Morgentaler: Yes, I do. I believe that if a couple has to choose and if they want to have one or two children, they would rather have a normal child than a child with a defect. If. amniocentesis  shows  Down’s syndrome, which severely limits the ability of this child to enjoy life or to have a normal human life, it is obviously much better for the parents to decide that “we are going to  abort this embryo and have another pregnancy where we can look forward to having a normal child”. I think amniocentesis is one of the scientific means now available which permits couples to make intelligent decisions as to whether a particular pregnancy should continue or not. Eugenic reasons are very important.’

This news item about the birth of Rufus Wainwright’s daughter is remarkable in that it is actually very confusing but no one is supposed to notice. I gather Rufus and his partner had a baby daughter with a surrogate (the daughter of Leonard Cohen) but she is not the surrogate. She is the mom. And Rufus is “Daddy #1”. My only point is that it’s hard not to read and reread to try and figure it out.

So I did so listening to this. Still love this song regardless of the mess that is his  personal life.

Read all about it, here:

“We believe that the behaviour of the University is actionable. We have suffered discrimination and intimidation, we have been arrested and threatened and we are seeking restitution”, said Ruth Lobo, President of Carleton Lifeline. “The University’s discriminatory actions are shocking, to say the least. We want to ensure, through law, that this behaviour is not repeated at Carleton University ever again.”

Lifeline is asking the Court to declare that Carleton University and its administration have breached their own internal policies regarding freedom of expression, academic freedom and discrimination. As such, Lifeline is also requesting that the University is ordered to comply with these internal policies.

On October 4, 2010, Carleton University had members of Lifeline handcuffed, arrested, charged and fined with trespassing for attempting to display an exhibit that the University administration deemed disturbing and offensive due to the graphic nature of the display. In November 2010, Carleton University’s administration provided Lifeline with an ultimatum regarding the expression of their opinions and threatened further arrests.

“Carleton University has allowed other exhibits using graphic images on campus” commented Albertos Polizogopoulos, Carleton Lifeline’s lawyer. “Clearly the University opposes Lifeline’s message and not its medium. This is censorship and viewpoint discrimination and it violates Carleton University’s internal policies.”

Please note they aren’t going to a human rights tribunal, they are going to a court of law. I think they have a strong case. Good for them.

An interesting development:

Arizona is one step closer to making it illegal to perform abortions based on the gender or race of the fetus – a move that critics say is a solution in search of a problem.

But a majority of the Arizona House of Representatives on Monday agreed that there should be safeguards against such a procedure and passed House Bill 2443 a 41-18 vote.

The measure now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Here’s my question: If most people agree that it’s wrong to abort a baby just because it’s a girl or because its father is black, then why isn’t also wrong to abort a baby because it’s not convenient for the mother to have a child right at the moment?

Exactly. That’s why such measures will be fought very hard. And the fight will expose just how extremist the “pro-choice” position has become. Here again, I don’t particularly care whether this specific measure becomes law or not. I’m just delighted there’s a debate about it.

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Andrea adds: Which is why “reasonable” pro-choicers will be voted down by their own colleagues. It takes an unreasonable dedication to abortion at any time for any reason to keep abortion around at all.

Good news:

An anti-abortion activist jailed nearly two years ago for refusing to stop picketing a Toronto abortion clinic will get her case heard in the Supreme Court of Canada–but it does not mean she will be released soon.

Linda Gibbons has been arrested roughly 20 times for various offences under the Criminal Code since a civil court granted a temporary injunction around several abortion clinics in downtown Toronto in 1994. She has been behind bars nearly nine of the past 16 years — nearly much time as Karla Homolka spent in prison. 

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case to determine whether the criminal court can be used to prosecute injunctions by civil courts.

Bernard Nathanson has passed away at the age of 84. Initially one of the founders of the abortion rights movement in the USA, his conversion to becoming a supporter of the pro-life cause was an amazing turn around for someone so embedded in the abortion world. It would be as if Henry Morgentaler changed his mind tomorrow. He is also the doctor who said they made up the numbers of women dying from unsafe abortions, as they did with the numbers of women undergoing illegal abortions. I remember reading his autobiography, The Hand of God and thinking how mundane his change of heart was… there were no bolts of lightening, no visions from on high. He (as I recall, it’s been a while since I read the book) basically realized one day he couldn’t deliver babies on one floor of a hospital and kill them on another.

A life story of redemption and courage.

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Brigitte adds: His documentary, The Silent Scream (warning: graphic) was an important turning point for me. I used to be against abortion, but this film made me want to do more – in particular help Andrea launch and maintain this website. I challenge every pro-choicer to watch it.

The President of the United States is criticizing Lila Rose and her organization for having “manufactured” some issues we shouldn’t get distracted by.

Pro-life politicians have often gone after the abortion provider, while pro-choice politicians like President Obama have rushed to its defense. In our exclusive interview, the President deflected the impact of the video sting.

“I think sometimes these issues get manufactured,” he said “they get a lot of attention in the blogosphere.”

[…]

Meanwhile the President believes the group’s work speaks for itself.

“You know my bottom line is I think that Planned Parenthood in the past has done good work. If there was a specific problem at this center, it should be addressed, but we shouldn’t get so distracted with some of these issues.”

First of all, congratulations Miss Rose! If Barack Obama personally took exception to something I’d done, I would be mighty pleased indeed. And second of all, those issues that we shouldn’t get distracted with include covering up an underage sex ring. That’s why it doesn’t matter too much what happens to the recent House amendment to defund Planned Parenthood. What matters is that these issues are now out in the open. This can only be good for those of us opposed to abortion.

Creating conditions so you can create drugs to treat said conditions: Does Female Sexual Dysfunction actually exist? This doctor doesn’t think so:

When there is a biologically driven male/female mismatch in sexual drive, which partner has the mental disorder? Is it the relatively undersexed woman or is it the relatively oversexed man?Should we diagnose her with FSD and prescribe a testosterone patch–or should we diagnose him with hypersexuality disorder and prescribe a course of estrogen? Of course, both suggestions are equally ridiculous– neither partner has a mental disorder. The mismatch is just an inevitable, biological fact of life–one that currently has no proper treatment and no real justification for diagnosis. There is certainly no logic to singling out the woman in the pair as the one who is mentally disordered or sexually abnormal.

So three ProWomanProLife ladies walk into a bar… no this isn’t the start of a lame joke but rather exactly what Brigitte, Véronique and I did last night. Now why would you care about what I did last night? You wouldn’t. Except that at one point Véronique gestures for us to listen more closely to the two guys sitting at the table next to us. These guys looked like they were in their late 20s, having dinner, and discussing…Justin Bieber’s comments about abortion. It was too noisy to really eavesdrop but it just goes to show you that what a 16-year-old celebrity says gets heard.

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Véronique (who has better hearing) adds: The dudes had more issues with Rolling Stone misquoting JB than with the teen idol’s position on abortion. Which is good in a way: It shows acceptance of the pro-life position.