…er, I mean, “shady suitcase found empty.”

A suitcase that prompted a bomb scare Monday afternoon outside a downtown Ottawa abortion clinic turned out to be empty…

the large black suitcase leaning against a post…was empty and had been left out for disposal.

You know how it is. The Canadian press is riddled with stories of abortion-clinics exploding. No wonder someone thought is was a bomb.

But, wait a sec, the one and only bombing ever to occur in Canada in relation to an abortion clinic was in 1992. Hmm, that’s (…1…2 …carry the 4…) over 16 years ago!

I wonder if the reaction from emergency services would have been the same had the suitcase been found outside a Denny’s.

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Brigitte adds: As a certified paranoid (perhaps in part due to having spent time in France during a Vigipirate episode), I admit I always look twice at such objects. You never know, and failure to notice a dangerous package might easily be catastrophic. But  there’s a difference between looking twice and freaking out unduly, given that abandoned empty suitcases are mostly an affront to our aesthetic sensibilities. Oh, and I love the last line in the story Tanya links to:

Anti-abortion protesters often march and wave placards outside the clinic.

But of course. Placard wavers! Not far from an abandoned suitcase! Who wouldn’t call the police?

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Andrea adds: What is more interesting than the short news story are the comments, including this one from one “Bunty W”:

So yeah, I’m glad I killed that fetus! Morgenthaler deserves sainthood as far as I’m concerned.

and this on the “clump of cells” argument:

You (who have clearly never read a science textbook) will be amazed to know that YOU are just a cluster of cells. Trees are clusters of cells, fish are clusters of cells… everything in the living world, AMAZING!

The comments go on for a long while. This is interesting, because the issue is resolved and has been closed for a very long time…this I know, for pro-choice advocates tell me so… (Sing with me.)