Survey says one in three German students would consider sex work to pay for school.

Now that would be shocking, however, my hope is that it is purely theoretical since higher education in Deutschland is free.

Good news for women’s health:

Kansas will require annual, unannounced inspections of abortion clinics, impose new health and safety rules specifically for them and prevent them from using telemedicine systems to dispense pregnancy-terminating drugs under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Oftentimes women are under the delusion that abortion has no side effects, or that taking Plan B type drugs to terminate at home are easy. This is not true and taking steps to ensure abortion clinics can’t get away with facilitating what are actually difficult procedures is a good thing.

SlutWalks are what you get when graduate students in feminist studies run out of things to do.

-Margaret Wente

Almost missed this column from Thursday, May 12, about the “Slutwalk” phenomenon. I had avoided commenting on that precisely because I view it as what you get when grad students in women’s studies run out of other things to do.

It’s kind of a big deal to have this kind of national event, so I’m going to add just one more post about the March for Life. Below are some photos from the Halifax event. You can also listen to my own presentation here, as well as other presentations here. Thanks to everyone who was able to come out that day!

And those are real women’s rights she’s fighting for, as opposed to the fake reproductive kind:

A Saudi mother said Sunday she defied a ban on women drivers in the ultra-conservative kingdom by getting behind the wheel for four days without being stopped. Najla al-Hariri, a housewife in her mid-30s, said she drove non-stop for four days in the streets of the Red Sea city of Jeddah “to defend her belief that Saudi women should be allowed to drive.”

“I don’t fear being arrested because I am setting an example that my daughter and her friends are proud of,” Hariri told AFP, adding she was offering driving lessons for women.

I didn’t think to film the whole thing, but I got the most important parts. This is Faye Sonier, a smart, fun woman, who also happens to be a lawyer with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, speaking to the thousands at the Ottawa March for Life. I didn’t know her story and I always find it profound when I meet people who “should have been aborted.” It’s jarring, because certainly without Faye, the world would be a less happy place.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4SV-fGGPko]

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Update: Faye’s whole speech is available, here.

I took some photos as well from our March for Life. I couldn’t say how many people were there, but it was the biggest turnout we’ve ever had (and while we were there they announced that Ottawa’s was as big as ever as well, very nice to hear!).

The march started out in a very packed Centennial Square (city hall). I wish I had brought my wide angle lens with me to capture it better!

Walking down Government Street, the end in sight. It was a little more crowded than usual (well, for a Thursday) since at least one cruise ship was in port.

Arriving at the legislature lawn. We could not have asked for better weather. The forecast threatened thunderstorms, but we didn’t see a single raindrop and the temperature was perfect (strange, because it has been an unusually cold and rainy spring).

As far as I could tell, the orange sign there was the only anti-March for Life sign there. I wonder if anybody else around knew that one of the people holding the sign actually benefits financially from assisting in abortions.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any good photos of the speakers since I was at the very back of the crowd. You can view all the rest of my photos here though. Overall it was a very great, positive event. I went to the banquet afterward in the evening which was even better because I could hear the speakers (Rebecca Kiesling and Alex Schadenberg) better than at the rally, both of whom were inspirational and informational.

I’ll be on “The Rick Howe Show” on News 95.7 radio in Halifax at 5:15PM AST talking about the recent March for Life and other life related issues. You can click here to listen live. I’ll admit I’ve never done anything like this before, so if anyone has a rabbit’s foot or recently found penny I’d be happy to take it off your hands!

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Andrea adds: Way to go, Jennifer. I’ve heard you speak before and I know you’ll do splendidly.

Some photos from the rally on Parliament Hill yesterday.

If only the whole “pro-choice” movement were this lacking in communications training. “I hate life”? The flip side of that sign said “I love condoms.”

“Pro-life is anti-woman.” Let’s talk about that.

Media camera man who filmed the pro-abortion crew and then patted them on the back, literally, and thanked them for being there. NB: Individual members of the media have a lot of power just based on the footage they choose to film. Or not film. (I don’t begrudge him his bias, I’m just saying we ought to be aware of it and oftentimes pro-choice media are the ones claiming they make up a neutral middle ground.)

Some pro-life high school students from Keswick. I asked them if they had been forced to come or if they were only there for the day off. Apparently not. 

A pro-lifer from Toronto. Yes, there are pro-lifers in Toronto.  

Ruth Lobo on the right, and other reps of Carleton University.

Faye Sonier, lawyer with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, gives an amazing speech. Video footage still to come.

A new poll out today:

More than one quarter of Canadians, 27%, said that human life should be protected from conception onwards, 21% said there should be protection after three months of pregnancy and 11% after six months. Only 22% agreed with the status quo which is no legal protection until a child is born.

“Politicians are out of touch with Canadian sentiment,” said Andrea Mrozek, manager of research at the Institute for Marriage and Family.

Mrozek also thinks most media are out of touch with public sentiment on this issue.

“We’ve been told that women are of one unanimous opinion on abortion, and that women are overwhelmingly pro-choice,” Mrozek said. “As it turns out this poll shows much more diversity and even much more of a pro-life sentiment amongst women.”

The poll shows that 63% of women believe in restricting abortion either before or at the sixth month compared to 56% of men.

Just to be clear, I don’t think most women are pro-life, either. But what I do think is that there is no one “women’s viewpoint” on this issue and if there were “my body, my choice” wouldn’t be it. It would be much more nuanced than that.