Here we go again: Henry Morgentaler has been nominated in the Globe and Mail as a transformational Canadian. Nominations are open until November 26, so I’d suggest pro-lifers get in there and nominate many, many more, lest Morgentaler actually be chosen.

Morgentaler did transform us, I suppose. He popularized the idea “of expendable human lives” and “turned this great land of ours into just another exclusive reservation where only the perfect, the privileged and the planned have the right to live.” (Paraphrased from Dr. Jefferson) He made it possible for women to use abortion as birth control, whilst denying them fundamental information about the baby and what abortion does to women. And he transformed us with his obstinate pride (when he was received into the Order of Canada, he said “he deserved it”–quite an acceptance speech) and his strange poetry. Transformational, indeed.

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Jennifer adds:  Ugh! The quote in bold on the left just ruined my day…
“Were every child a wanted and loved child, the world would be a substantially better place.” So then it’s our job to love them all then isn’t it? I’m loving some right now… get to it people!

Our very own Rebecca Walberg is moderating a live chat about managing Canada’s water resources with the Financial Post. You can learn more about it, here.

Poor Big Pharma, not making quite the profits they hoped to on the HPV vaccine? So they’ve done what any business would do. Put it on sale! Now you can force school age kids through school programs. But what about women in college?

Young women are clearly not aware of how important it is to be vaccinated against this cancer,” said Joan Murphy, head of the division of gynecologic oncology at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. She said vaccination, along with regular Pap testing, provide the best protection against cervical cancer.

I don’t really think the price point is the problem.

I wish I could have gone to this conference at Princeton. Sounds interesting. And I enjoy going into environments where there are the most extreme kind of pro-abortion people. The quotes you get are worth the entry fee in gold. Take this, as an example:

Kissling shocked the audience in the last session by saying, “I don’t care how you accomplish it [the right to abortion], whether through a constitution, the UN, state laws or federals laws, or by the Taliban.”   The University of Pennsylvania, where Kissling is a visiting bioethics scholar, has drawn criticism for appointing the long-time abortion activist who lacks significant academic credentials.

Now that’s dedication.

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Jennifer adds: Here’s a good article about Singer and the fact that he paid for care for his aging mother with Alzheimer’s, going against his utilitarian ethics. “Singer forgot to look on page 2 of his book Practical Ethics, where he asserts, “…ethics is not an ideal system that is noble in theory but no good in practice. The reverse is closer to the truth: an ethical judgment that is no good in practice must suffer from a theoretical defect…” It seems that not only his critics think his action towards his mother negates his ethical theory, he does too! Will he take his own advice and admit that his ethical theory must suffer from theoretical defects, since it is no good in his very own practice?” (Source)

A horrible story from China:

BEIJING, China – A pregnant woman in south China was detained, beaten and forced to have an abortion just a month before her due date because the baby would have violated the country’s one-child limit, her husband said Thursday.

Construction worker Luo Yanquan said his wife was taken kicking and screaming from their home by more than a dozen people on Oct. 10 and detained in a clinic for three days by family planning officials, then taken to a hospital and injected with a drug that killed her baby. Family planning officials told the couple they weren’t allowed to have the child because they already have a 9-year-old daughter, Luo said.

We are so used to hearing about the one-child policy that I don’t think it quite registers how the mere presence of this law is repressive. Even if no one were ever taken away kicking and screaming, it would still be horrifying, because it is contrary to fundamental human desires to have a family.

And to think, Marie Stopes International is expanding their presence there.

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Update: You can see a news report about this case, here.

Since two people have jokingly asked, no, “Andrea” in this column is not me:

Last Saturday I chatted with a young woman I met after a panel discussion I’d participated in. “Andrea” has high ambitions typical of most young women today, but she also looks forward to marriage and a lot of children. She asked what advice I might have for her.

I was stymied, I must admit. She is already 25 years old and in no hurry to settle down, statistically about par for the course. Her career ambitions demand heavy educational investment, but to end up with her big family she should have started yesterday. A woman’s fertility peaks between the ages of 15 and 25. After 30, fertility declines somewhat, and after 35, a lot.

Andrea is a complete anomaly these days. There are certainly millions of women in the world who willingly accept and make room in their hearts for as many children as nature provides. And there are millions of women of ambition pursuing higher education and demanding careers. But there are hardly any women in both camps.

Ah, 25. At the time I had returned from an internship in Europe, was unemployed, looking for work and was in the midst of a relationship breakup that lasted almost as long as the relationship itself. Needless to say, I don’t long to be 25 again.

I never said things like what this “Andrea” has said anyway, though I might agree in principle. I did my Masters degree by accident, yes, by accident, and have generally speaking been nonchalant about “career” (in a meticulous, please, dear God don’t ever let me be fired kind of way). That’s one of life’s great ironies–you think you can control it but you can’t.

I’m not surprised Barbara Kay couldn’t give any advice. Because there’s no micromanaging life, fertility, babies or careers, which is the general opinion of this blog and the main reason why young, early 20s students who get pregnant unexpectedly should be strongly encouraged, indeed, admonished to keep their babies. Because life isn’t actually going to go according to their powerpoint plan anyway, so why not just do the right thing now?

Never miss a chance to express your opinion, so they say. Bottom line, that “Andrea” wasn’t me.

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Véronique adds: As an higher-educated woman with a career and a super-sized family, I feel compelled to have  a whack at this one!

First, she should indeed have started yesterday. At 25, I had three children and a law degree. But more fundamentally, she needs to know that she can have it “all”… but not at the same time. When I hear women ask how they can have an education, a career, a functional marriage and a family, I get the impression that what they really want to know is how they can have all these things concurrently. But the fact is that all these things must be pursued relentlessly to achieve success. As a result, “Andrea” must have vision, patience,  and focused attention. All her decisions — starting at 25 — will be determined by whether or not they “fit” in the bigger plan. And that includes decisions about dating and education.

Secondly, at the risk of sounding like a crusty old goat, she must find Mr. Right. Because to be a working/studying mother of a large family, she will need a partner who is 100% committed to the end game and to the family. But marriage is never a one-way street and she shouldn’t expect her partner to commit to her objectives if she doesn’t commit to his. Teamwork and focus: both spouses have to be pulling in the same direction.

Once you accept that you can’t have it all at the same time, go ahead and have your children young. You will be healthier. They will be healthier. They will have the chance to enjoy their grandparents. And they won’t have to care for aging parents at an age where they should be starting a family and a career. In my case, I cannot say that I have it all yet. I have a solid 15-year marriage. I have half-a-dozen healthy and happy children. I have a house. I am healthy and fit. I have a university education. And finally, I am starting a career. But I make 1/5 of my husband’s salary with more education. And my peers on Parliament Hill are 10 to 15 years younger than me. All in all, I expect that by my 50th birthday — by then my children will be 14, 17, 21, 23, 26 and 27 — I will finally “have it all”.

From a moment of silence for Dr. Mildred Jefferson, to a silent day, this time a campaign to draw attention to the unborn who are forever silenced when their lives are aborted. Seems like it’s more for high school students, but I appreciate the sentiment and the effort.

This is a good overview of the issues with regards to Roxanne’s Law, or Bill C-510, which will undoubtedly be a bill we hear more about.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHuN3hKaUF4″>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHuN3hKaUF4]

One week today there’s a conference in Ottawa for married folks put on by the folks at the Neeje Association for Women and Family. I hear good things about the speaker. I also hear that most married people long for better communication. So here’s the info:  

In an era of social networking, what about communication in marriage?

Friday, October 22, Ben Franklin Place (101 Centrepointe) 7:30 p.m.

Tickets www.neeje.ca
$25/person $40/couple free refreshments and parking

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Véronique adds: I also hear that I am on the organizing committee. Tickets anyone?

…by yours truly, in today’s Post about when abortions occur: