Despite what I know about China’s one child policy, gendercide and forced abortions, I am still stunned and horrified by this story:

The Chinese government recently admitted that over the last four decades the country has aborted 336 million unborn children, many of them forcibly…

To put the numbers in perspective, the 336 million deaths in China are:

• More than the entire population of the world at the time of the Crusades (c. 1100 AD).

• Equal to the entire combined populations of the United States and Australia.

• More deaths than were caused by (in millions): the Bubonic Plague in Europe (100), the Great Chinese Famine (45), the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (40), the HIV/AIDS pandemic (25), the Holocaust (13), the Soviet famine of 1932-1933 (8), the Russian famine of 1921 (3), and the American Civil War (.8).

• More than all the people killed in the 10 ten deadliest wars in human history (Based on highest estimates (in millions): World War II (72), World War I (65), Mongol Conquest (60), An Lushan Rebellion (36), Taiping Rebellion (30), Qing Dynasty conquest of the Ming Dynasty (25), Conquests of Timur (20), Dungan Revolt (12), Russian Civil War (9), Second Congo War (5.4))

• More than all the children that will be born in the world over the next ten years.

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Andrea adds: If abortion doesn’t horrify you, then neither will these numbers. Perhaps the forced part might horrify some. But other than that, we are in little position to judge, with our modern western provision of abortion on demand. In our world today, this is 336 million medical procedures, nothing more.

The administration, citing security concerns, told the UFV Life Link club that the event was cancelled due to the possible presence of protestors. The presentation by Mike Schouten, Campaign Director of WeNeedALaw.ca, concerns the current legal status of abortion in Canada.

Earlier in the semester the administration had banned the students from distributing anti-gendercide resources that highlighted the missing women worldwide and the fact that this practice is occurring in Canada.  The university told the students they would only be able to distribute such resources in a closed room.

Some of the bravest people I know are pro-life university students. They need to be. They face battle after battle simply to share their perspective on an important human rights and public policy issue.

Read more here.

Wowza, this is one strongly worded editorial piece:

There is more than a whiff of soft racism in this refusal of Mr. Warawa’s motion. Gendercide, it seems, is perceived not really to be a Canadian problem, but rather a problem confined to certain cultural ghettos. And so the government’s chosen path is simply to avert our eyes to the practice, as if it were so much shark-fin soup.

For a decade, left-wing politicians have been insisting that Stephen Haprer has a “secret agenda” to take away the “right to choose” of Canadian women. It turns out they were 100% wrong: By censoring Mr. Warawa, our Prime Minister effectively has established himself as the country’s most powerful pro-choice activist — for the gesture indicates that there is no mode of abortion so frivolous and morally odious that our “Conservative” government will not condone it, so long as a few grubby votes can be picked up as part of the bargain.

Rest in peace, Margaret Thatcher. A strong woman and a role model, whether or not you liked her politics, which I (mostly) did.

We’re spending a lot of time these days talking about bullying and arguing over the most effective ways to address it. Today, Tricia Lott Williford offers an inspiring example of a parent’s role in this fight against cruelty. In her post, she describes how she handled peer pressure and bullying when it came to her two young boys.

Dear Neighbhoord Bullies, there’s a new sheriff in town. She has snacks in her pantry, chocolate in her purse, and fun in her home. But she has boundaries and rules and a firm voice.

We love you, and you are welcome here. Provided you follow the rules.

If I’m fortunate enough to be a mother someday, I hope I’m able to react to these types of situations with similar grace and wisdom.

(Tricia is my favourite blogger. Check her out.)

The Globe and Mail that is, wearing her IMFC hat.

(On an extended email thread with a few friends, one said “My mom thinks I’m important because I know Andrea.” I think all our mothers feel that way, just a little. 😉 )

Very tragic story told through photos. Following up on yesterday’s post, we have health care in Canada and women don’t die in childbirth. For this we can and should be very grateful.

Well, articles like this one are what happens when academics study topics whilst refusing to speak to people who are actually engaging in said topics.

Paul Saurette here claims that if M-408 becomes about freedom of speech, then anti-abortion activists have cunningly won a significant victory.

The problem is in his thinking that anti-abortion activists actually want to be free speech activists. The people I know who are engaged in the fight for life actually want to debate abortion, not free speech, but because we are so often told we can’t speak freely, we end up talking about free speech. He doesn’t know this, because he doesn’t talk to pro-life activists. Not me, anyway. Perhaps he’s been around the block speaking to others.

I also had a good solid laugh because apparently funding to the status of women department actually correlates to increased women’s rights for him??

Say it with me, because I’m guessing you do too. We all have “enough,” even, more than “enough” to make us happy.

Reading this Atlantic Monthly piece from July 2012 reminds me of this fact. The author’s son is disabled and she describes how she cares for him and is still happy. This is the kind of view into life that no student in first year facing an unplanned pregnancy can have. I wish this author would do public speaking. Maybe she does, for all I know. It’s an inspirational story.

For all the people who are puzzled by my seeming happiness, I’ll be glad to let them know my “secret.” I’m not in denial, I’m not on antidepressants, and I don’t live in a fantasy world. I have a wonderful husband and I am pursuing a career I’ve dreamed of since I was nine years old. I have a beautiful son, friends, and a working stove. I am not paraplegic. I have parents who, through luck and fate, had me here in the United States, and not in North Korea. I live in a time where my awful vision can be corrected with glasses. I am a college graduate. I am never hungry unless I choose to be.

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Faye adds: You know those snapshot memories we probably all have from when we were kids? A moment captured in memory, without much context?

I have one where I’m young – young enough to be playing with some toy on the floor as my dad watches the news. At one point, my dad  turns to me and asks me whether I realize how lucky we are to have been born in Canada, and to live here.

As a child, I had no context for what his comment meant, but for some reason that brief exchange stuck with me. I remember it each Canada Day and every time I read about something truly horrific happening elsewhere in the world.

(And yes, in this same country, a doctor suggested to my mother that an abortion might be the best response to her pregnancy with me, but I digress.)

A new poll out today. You can see it here.