Read about this concept in the New Statesman:

Abortion is one of those rare political issues on which left and right seem to have swapped ideologies: right-wingers talk of equality, human rights and “defending the innocent”, while left-wingers fetishise “choice”, selfishness and unbridled individualism.

A thoughtful Member of Parliament writes a piece about M-312 and discussing when we choose to value life in the National Post. The Conservatives who “went against their Prime Minister” are courageous, but John McKay might be more so, since there won’t be many friendly faces on his side of the partisan aisle for this view.

People, consider buying a ticket for this soiree, in support of First Place Options, one of the very few places women and men can go for pregnancy counselling, support and care.

It’s 50 bucks, this Friday, October 19. Be there or be square. (Who says that anymore? Apparently I do.)

This story is from the UK. But I have personally heard two exactly the same stories in Canada:

My own experiences of maternity care so far have been a mixed bag, my GP’s first question to me not being “How are you feeling?”, but a growl of “Do you want to keep it?”

“Do you want to keep it?” is not the standard of care I’m after. She makes some other sensible points throughout the article, all the while maintaining her pro-choice status. It is possible to find these points of agreement. However, I’d argue that a hospital that aborts babies on one floor and delivers them on the next isn’t in the world’s best position to really help women through their pregnancies.

________________________

Deborah adds: When I first found I was pregnant with my first, I didn’t have a doctor yet, so I went to the local walk-in clinic in hopes they could refer me to someone. The doctor could tell I was pleased to be pregnant, but guess what the nurse asked me after he sent her in to try to set me up with a (regular) doctor? She came in and first said, “I’ll see about getting you a doctor appointment” then left the room and returned a few seconds later, “do you want to keep it? What doctor I send you to depends on that.” I was absolutely appalled. (My husband said that I should have exclaimed, “you can kill it for me?!”)

Fortunately with my current second pregnancy even the receptionist at my doctor’s office immediately congratulated me, and my doctor didn’t even have to ask (and yes, the most common question I keep getting is “how do you feel?”). I still very uncomfortable going to a hospital that aborts babies. With my previous high-risk pregnancy, how could I trust that they would give their all to save my son if things didn’t go well and they don’t even recognize him as a person?

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.   Lao-Tzu

A fellow pro-lifer, active in the struggle sent me this quote from her breakfast reading this morning, along with the following comment:

I think we should adopt it as our new mission statement. It would take a lot of stress off. Think of all the kitty snuggling and cocoa drinking we could take up. And we’d no longer be misogynistic, bigoted idiots. There’s really no down side to this.

Made me laugh. I appreciate her and the sarcasm. It’s good to be working alongside so many great folks.

My friend Faye Sonier has this letter in the National Post today:

Laurel Broten, the minister responsible for women’s issues in Ontario, made three assertions in this story, all of which leave someone with even a rudimentary understanding of law and public opinion reeling.

She stated that there is a right to abortion. There is no such right. In R. vs. Morgentaler, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously said that Parliament has the jurisdiction to pass abortion legislation. Ms. Broten also stated that Catholic schools would be bullies if they taught their position on abortion — that life is worthy of dignity through all its stages. This discriminatory statement belittles the faith of numerous Ontario voters, disregards constitutional provisions for religious freedom and trivializes the bullying that children face. Finally, the Minister’s statements indicate that she believes that Canadians are fine with our country’s abortion status quo. Wrong. A 2012 Ipsos Reid poll found that 60% of Canadians support the introduction of legislation that would limit abortion access. Most of us believe that abortion shouldn’t be available throughout all nine months of pregnancy for any and every reason. It would serve the Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues well to familiarize herself with women’s issues.

Faye Sonier, Legal Counsel with The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, Ottawa.

Do I necessarily have a problem with paying attention to girls? No. Only when it’s all PC and major issues like sex selection abortion are largely ignored.Furthermore, from what I can tell with regards to some of the problems like human trafficking and prostitution, there’s a question of demand. Who is trafficking the girls? Who is using their services?

There is a lot of international attention paid to girls and women. But we aren’t going to resolve problems unless we’re working with and for boys too.

Heartwrenching letters here, from mothers and in one case, a father, who are giving up their children to be cared for by nuns at the Foundling Asylum in New York City in the late 1800s. They can’t care for them, so they give them up. We don’t have asylums or orphanages today because we kill kids in utero instead. And indeed, some today claim these children would be better off dead. I’m not sure why they feel so confident about that. Who is to say?

As a side note, it appears consistently in the letters that the children are referred to as “it.”

My title is a fairly accurate paraphrase from our esteemed education minister here in Ontario. No comment, just read this, and let it sink in:

Broten also said publicly-funded Catholic schools in Ontario should not be teaching students that abortion is wrong because the anti-bullying law prohibits misogyny. “Taking away a woman’s right to choose could arguably be considered one of the most misogynistic actions that one could take,” she said. “I don’t think there is a conflict between choosing Catholic education for your children and supporting a woman’s right to choose.”

It gladdens my heart to read letters like the following. Truly. When the world is upside down, it is simple, small gestures that restore my hope in humanity. Here, it’s the fact that Dr. Harding took the time to write this thoughtful letter. Not everyone walks in lockstep. Some people do think differently and furthermore, have the courage to make their voice heard.

If time got away from you, please note it is not at all too late to show your support for Minister Ambrose and all those who voted in favour of M-312 by writing the PMO ([email protected]) and signing this petition.

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

My path toward a career in medicine began when I was 12 years old and taking a grade eight course in human biology. I was particularly fascinated by fetal development, amazed at what could transpire over nine months. I was correspondingly appalled when I came to understand that a pregnant woman could ever be so desperate as to terminate the life of her unborn child, and remain so. I am burdened by the knowledge that Canada shares with the likes of North Korea and Cuba the dubious distinction of having no legal limit to abortion. I am deeply disturbed that sex selection abortion has made its way to Canada.

M-312 was about having an honest conversation in plain English (and French!) about whether our established understanding of the status of the fetus should be amended in light of current knowledge. In all other aspects of medicine, we teach medical students to use plain, everyday language when speaking with patients and their families. Only when discussing unplanned pregnancies are we encouraged to use euphemism, obfuscation and tergiversation. In all other situations, our goal is to ensure that patients are making fully informed choices as autonomous adults. Only when considering so-called termination do we continue to “protect” patients from full knowledge of the facts, reverting to otherwise discarded patterns of paternalism and condescension. Paradoxically, the so-called “right to choose” most often refers to situations in which we refrain from providing information in language that would ensure clear understanding of the choice in question.

There is, perhaps, some comfort to be derived from the fact that you personally voted against M-312. Your vote was a tacit acknowledgement that any careful examination by Canadians of what is currently known about the human fetus would lead inexorably to a reconsideration of abortion in Canada. I give you credit for keeping your promise to not  re-open the abortion debate, although the promise itself gives me pause. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that you may never allow yourself to examine this issue too closely. I continue to hope that there are others around you in the Conservative Party of Canada who have the intellectual honesty and courage to do what you will not. I am disappointed to learn that my own Member of Parliament, Ms. Lynne Yelich, is not apparently among them.

And so I am writing in support of Mr. Woodworth, Ms. Ambrose, and all those in your party who supported M-312, and the courage they demonstrated in doing so. I will be watching carefully to see what befalls them in the months ahead, and will watch the outcome of M-408 with keen interest. I have, until now, voted for Ms. Yelich despite her party’s overall lack of leadership in this arena. I may continue to do so as long as it is clear that those who are willing to question the status quo on abortion are not penalized for doing so.  Should it become apparent that they are being quietly muzzled, shuffled, sidelined, punished, or worse, then the time will have come for me to direct my support elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Sheila Harding, MD, MA, FRCPC