Non-parents should tread lightly into the arena of how to parent. Lightly, or not at all. But you know who else shouldn’t intervene? Government. To bottle or to breastfeed: That is Not the Question (for government to ask).

The problem is: So Much of Everything IS government-subsidized that they get understandably mixed up on what the real issues are for governments to undertake.

Then they end up doing pro-breastfeeding campaigns.

I realized the other day that all of us love having the state in the bedrooms of our nation. We love it. (And the living room, and the kitchen, the deck, the backyard, the bathroom and the study. We have government everywhere.)

At this point I will add the great irony that many a pro-choicer will gladly shout “my body, my choice” but they will also decry defunding abortion. That’s a little bit like a teenager boldly declaring they are going to leave home and be independent, while asking for the parental bank account number and pin.

That pro-lifers are anti-science is oddly, a charge often thrown. But when a bunch of doctors fail to acknowledge what medical textbooks already say, confuse American jurisprudence with Canadian and give power to a motion that not even an official bill would have, there’s not a peep from the media. Cue the chirping crickets.

Brian Lilley and I discuss the recent Canadian Medical Association decision on M-312, here.

Saying that you wish your mother had aborted you because she would have been better off is certainly provocative.

However, claiming that saying this is proof-positive that abortion is necessary is gobsmackingly ridiculous.

As long as anti-choicers are spinning (sometimes obviously false) narratives about last-minute epiphanies and divine deliverance, we need people like Beisner to tell their own stories—even the deep, dark, painful ones—about the necessity of abortion for women’s equality.

There is no reasonable way, ever, to prove this is true. I could say “My parents would have been better off had they emigrated to the UK,” or “I would have done better in life had I gone to Harvard,” however, since we only get one go round in life, and my parents came to Canada and I went to UofT, none of this can ever be proven.

The Sliding Doors phenomenon is reserved for the movies. This is why it is entirely not compelling to me to hear someone say “I wish my mother had aborted me” claiming she would have been better off. She doesn’t know. No one knows. “Better off dead” philosophies aren’t generally very compelling. For who is to say an abortion would not have caused her mother to commit suicide or some other tragedy? Wouldn’t be the first time.

Imagine how this would change the landscape. Would men take such a pill? Would women trust them to?

In the search for a cancer cure, researchers have developed a molecule that could function as a non-hormonal, reversible form of male birth control.

The Canadian Medical Association votes against Stephen Woodworth’s motion, saying “life begins when a baby emerges from it’s mother’s womb.”

I’m sure the ob-gyns who do surgery in utero are pretty confident there’s something going on in there. This is a purely political statement from a medical body.

I also found this interesting:

This attempt to modify the definition of a human being could legally recognize the fetus, which would give the fetus rights,” said Montreal physician Dr. Genevieve Desbiens “This constitutes a recriminalization, not only of abortion, but any form of contraception,” she said.

Would that mean, finally, an admission that contraceptives don’t always work simply to prevent pregnancy?

I’m trying to think through the bigger picture, the philosophical side, the logical reasoning on why I long ago started disliking Cosmo. You could say, oh, she’s religious, and the Pope told her to hate it, or you could say she’s conservative, which for some, apparently discounts all logical thinking. But the truth is I disliked Cosmo long before I was religious, and before I had words to give to my probably then-latent conservatism. I think in my gut I found it demeaning. And dare I say it: Predictable, aka just a little boring. Then I read this piece in the Post and of course, I disagreed with it, but what I want to do is think more seriously about why. The woman just passed away and I’m inclined to not speak ill of the dead. But I can’t help but see someone whose potential and talents were wasted by her pruriency.

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Update: A good article about the hidden conservatism of Helen Gurley Brown, here.

Lovely little piece on what parenting is: Hard and rewarding. Rewarding because it is hard?

Wish we could read more pieces like this. Realistic and inspirational.

Perhaps they can double as purses. No comment on whether I think this is effective activism. More just a little bit strange to me, to be honest.

Neither had I. She was a pro-life Democrat who ran for the Democrat nomination for President in 1976. We don’t hear much about pro-life Democrats: this sort of strong woman doesn’t make it into the movies. (Although I will grant that the recent Thatcher movie was a rare and welcome exception to the rule.)

You can read more about her, here.

From a wise woman, who I am honoured to call a friend. She once competed against Jessica Zelinka:

I was obligated to wear a bikini to race in all relay events that I competed in during university as it was our team uniform. However, I asked for permission to be allowed to wear a loose pinney (sp?) and short tights while I competed in individual events. I was just more comfortable with not having my ass and stomach exposed every 4 seconds. That being said I also never felt “fit enough,” which is hilarious, in retrospect. My coach was constantly telling me I was too fat. Perhaps had I felt fit enough (ie skinny enough) I would have happily worn the bikini? In reality, I don’t think I would have ever feel completely comfortable wearing it, but who knows. There is definitely peer pressure to wear the bikini. In my humble opinion, the men’s tight shorts are also far too revealing. Who wants to see all that? Not me. Especially not when their uniforms are white. Thank you very much.

I think it (image/looks) will always be an issue for female athletes. It’s an interesting dynamic as I think women feel just as strong a desire to be taken seriously as athletes as they do to be attractive to men. After all, the track (or field) is just a micro stage for the greater stage that is life, no?