As someone who strongly believes that one life is no more or no less valuable than any other, I sought to discover what the standard of practice actually is in cases like that of Savita Halappanavar. Of course with so little known about her case, I sought answers based on the scenario that Savita tragically suffered from second trimester septic inevitable miscarriage. In this scenario, what are the standards of care, and what do obstetricians believe and practice? A pair of experienced Senior Obstetricians from MaterCare International wrote their response,

MaterCare agrees with the opinion of Dr John Bonnar, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology who explained, in 2000, to an all party Irish parliamentary Committee considering abortion; “In current obstetrical practice rare complications can arise where therapeutic intervention is required at a stage in pregnancy when there will be little or no prospect for the survival of the baby, due to extreme immaturity. In these exceptional situations failure to intervene may result in the death of both the mother and baby. We consider that there is a fundamental difference between abortion carried out with the intention of taking the life of the baby, for example for social reasons, and the unavoidable death of the baby resulting from essential treatment to protect the life of the mother”.

Such an approach is justified ethically by the Principle of Double Effect, (a time honoured principle based on Aristotelian principles), which states that is morally permissible to carry out a procedure that has two effects, one good and the other bad which are practically inseparable.

The deVeber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research is holding a free event in Toronto tonight. More details can be found here.

Came across this web site to help people combat a porn addiction courtesy of this article on Life Site News. I’ve recently had a bad experience with pornographic Twitter spam and also popups (that came up under a football game I was watching through a free website–you get what you pay for.) Since porn is all around us, all the time, I think it’s good to draw attention to those sites dedicated to helping people stop. I can’t comment on this particular one, but I think it’s good when people raise awareness of the problem.

More information online:

Come join us on Monday, December 3rd at 7 PM in Montpetit 202 (125 University Private) to welcome MP Stephen Woodworth to the University of Ottawa for a public lecture and discussion.

An in-depth report about whether the provinces can decide whether to fund abortions or not:

A great number of Canadians do not believe that tax dollars should fund any and every abortion,” concludes Hutchinson. “A 2010 Angus Reid Public Opinion poll found that only 44% of respondents felt that the ‘health care system should fund abortions whenever they are requested.’ However, 39% felt that the system should only pay for abortions in cases of medical emergencies and 10% said that abortions should not be funded at all. That’s 49%, half of Canadians disagree with taxpayer dollars providing unlimited abortion funding in Canadian hospitals and private medical clinics. Our review of the law and funding practices in this area suggests concerned Canadians are on solid ground in communicating their concerns to elected provincial representatives.”

I wrote this piece for the National Post about the ongoing case of abortion denied in Ireland.

The tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, the Indian woman living in Ireland who miscarried at 17 weeks and then subsequently died herself, has brought with it a storm of protest. People across the globe are clamouring for the relaxation of Ireland’s strict abortion laws. “Are you willing to force a woman to endure days of agony, simply because her fetus is technically alive?” asked National Post columnist Chris Selley.

The question is whether pro-lifers who desire strict abortion laws have blood on their hands. For those of us who call ourselves pro-life, responding to this question is both reasonable and necessary.

The Pill is a bit like Communism. So many are fond of saying that Communism looks great on paper; it just doesn’t work in practice. (I don’t think it looks all that great on paper, but I digress. The point still stands that many people think it does look good on paper, whilst understanding that in this thing we call real life, it was a catastrophic failure.)

The idea of a foolproof means to prevent pregnancy may have looked like a good idea on paper, but in practice, it is very bad indeed. See here for a universal opposition to the Pill from PWPL’s first and only colloquium. Well worth reading, since there was no discussion prior to tossing the theme out and here you have it: Six strong, smart women all universally panning the Pill.

No need to be religious or pro-life to agree here, by the way, plenty of secular (more naturalistic) types of agencies are discovering the Pill ain’t great, too.

The Pill over the counter, which CTV is reporting on today, is an even worse idea. I wrote about that here in 2010, and I have nothing further to add to this today, except to sigh. Sigh.

I will not be the woman who puts her career ahead of love and friendship.
I am the woman who stays home and bakes Tilapia for my dearest, oldest friend.
And helps her be comfortable, and comforted, and safe, and important.
Many of us these days, we dread the death of a loved one. It is the ugly truth of Life, that keeps us feeling terrified and alone.
I wish we could also appreciate the time that lies right beside the end of time.
I know that I will feel the most overwhelming knowledge of her, and of her life and of my love for her, in the last moments.
I need to do my damnedest to be there for that.
Because it will be the most beautiful, the most intense, the most enriching experience of life I’ve ever known.
When she dies.

I think this is one of the most beautiful notes I’ve ever read and easier said than done, isn’t it, to put relationship over career. That Fiona Apple is writing about her dog does not bother me. I do wish we’d hear this more often about people, though, and actually applaud it. Seems to me that when women put relationship with their children or husbands over career they get lambasted for denying the sisterhood in some existential feminist struggle.

…When they are pro-life. The headline tells pro-lifers to “shut up.” An embarrassing editorial in the Vancouver Province:

Anti-abortionists need to get this through their skulls: the debate is over and you lost. Women long ago won the right to have control over their bodies, and the choice about whether and when to have children, and Canadians massively support that right. Abortion is not murder, so get over it.

Just by the by: When your talking points include telling people that something is *not* murder, you know you have a PR problem on your hands. That’s media training 101. By saying “Abortion is not murder,” the general public begins to wonder just why they had to say that. And so defensively, too. An epic fail for the writing, lack of logic and generally rude tone of this editorial.

My day job, separate from PWPL and yet ever so critical for a couple of reasons, not least of which is that they pay me and allow me to run PWPL, has just started up a Facebook page.

If you feel so inclined, please “like” the new Institute of Marriage and Family Canada Facebook page.