At Last! Common Ground (sorta)

Wow. Whodathunk? Both pro- and anti-choicers agree. Mandatory registration of pregnancy is a bad idea.

Over the xmas holiday, Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, used a sneaky tactic to implement just such a rule, under the 'guise' (critics claim) of improving maternal health.

Let's hear from a feminist.

If you want a peek into the future of women’s health should Republicans succeed in criminalizing abortion, look no further than Brazil. Provisionary Measure 557 (PM 557) signed into law just after Christmas, created a National System of Registration, Vigilance and Monitoring Women’s Care During Pregnancy and Post Childbirth for the Prevention of Maternal Mortality (National Registration System).

It’s a long name that masks the Orwellian reality Brazilian women now face–compulsory registration with the state of all pregnancies.

Now for some background from Slate.

So what is going on? Brazil, the most populous Catholic country in Latin America, finds its politics intrinsically tied to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Dilma, who won a last-minute reprieve from the church’s negative onslaught in the 2010 presidential elections once she disavowed any suggested support for abortion, is to a certain extent beholden to that base. Indeed, Dilma’s cabinet includes an unofficial church representative who was responsible for brokering an agreement between the Vatican and Brazil during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration. For years Catholic and evangelical parliamentarians have been trying unsuccessfully to establish a registry for pregnant women, with Dilma’s support they’ve finally succeeded.

. . .

It’s unlikely that Congress will review the new law until it next meets in March. In the meantime, it’s unclear whether women will be lining up to register their pregnancies and if they do what will be the consequence of a pregnancy that ends in miscarriage or an abortion—the latter of which, under Brazilian law, is criminalized except for cases of rape or risk to the life of the pregnant woman. One thing we can be certain of is that maternal mortality rates will not be dropping any time soon, but the prosecution of women for harming a fetus or for getting an abortion could be on the rise.

SHRIEEEK! The Handmaid's Tale and all that.

But wait. The Fetus Lobby doesn't like it either.

That Provisory Temporary was drafted by a government full of feminists that claim that legalization of abortion strengthens the women’s human rights, who treat abortion as a “right to choose” in the cases of normal pregnancy; in other words, to abort (kill) the baby “simply” because a woman should have the freedom of deciding if she wants to continue or not a pregnancy.

For the sane people, it's a matter of what use this registry will be put to. For the fetus fetishists, it's a matter of wrong focus -- on the woman, NOT on the fetus.

But I think a commenter at LifeShite approaches the crux of it-- except of course for the god/satan crap.

This is the right step, but as the article points out, for all the wrong reasons. First, it is the right step because when abortion is outlawed it will allow the government to protect the unborn by preventing pregnant women from going outside the jurisdiction to kill their children, and punishing those that do. Second, this shows why our nation and every nation needs to make the Church part of the government, to have Her steady guidance. The Brazilian government has been infiltrated by Satan.

I'd go further. For the Fetus Lobby, this is the right thing to do, but by the wrong people. It shouldn't be feminist socialists regulating women's bodies; it should be patriarchal churchy-types.

Politics in Latin America is hugely complicated by the MASSIVE influence of the Vatican Taliban. Remember lefty poster-boy Daniel Ortega? When he became president, he cut a deal with the devil and outlawed abortion altogether. Read this old piece at Birth Pangs for the dirty details. And this for the results of the complete ban -- unsurprisingly -- 'sheer horror'.

And don't forget: Ortega used his political immunity to avoid charges by his stepdaughter of rape and sexual abuse. Charges she has never withdrawn. (Dirty details of this also at BP link.)

I'll be keeping an eye on developments in Brazil. I do believe that Dilma wants to improve the status of women. Perhaps this is some kind of manoeuvre to thwart the church. If so, I hope it doesn't boomerang on her. Because in the wrong hands, it is just what the FFs most ardently desire.