Abortion is essential health care and a basic human right for people who have uteruses.
A number of countries are expanding abortion services and access.
In France, already the medical abortion capital of the world, they've approved a sweeping gender-equity bill that includes the abandonment of the requirement for women to justify their abortion decisions.
The [abortion] amendment is part of a gender-equality bill that is the most comprehensive legislation on women’s rights in the history of France. The bill seeks to give women parity with men by improving wages, strengthening laws against domestic violence and providing for equal representation in politics.Israel, the darling of Tea Bag Nation, is further liberalizing its already very liberal abortion coverage. The state will now pay for all abortions.
The bill also encourages fathers to seek parental leave to care for a new baby by offering six additional months of paid leave if taken by the second parent. In addition, it bans beauty pageants for girls under 13 and expands support for single mothers. Companies that do not show progress on workplace equality face monthly fines of up to 1 percent of their wage base. The bill enjoins the media from broadcasting sexist or demeaning images of women.
Even the Vatican Taliban stronghold of Ireland has been forced by the cruel and needless death of Savita Halappanavar to amend its abortion regulations.
And in Australia, ousted feminist Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, left a parting shot to the nads of the old boys by including abortion drug RU486 in the state-financed pharmacare plan, lowering its cost to as little as $12 for women on benefits.
Now the exceptions. The conservatives now running Spain have taken a page out of the USian anti-abortion play-book by tackling crippling economic problems with a roll-back of women's abortion rights. But they're facing pretty stiff opposition.
And of course the Tea Baggers in the US are engaged in a veritable orgy of abortion regulations, laws, and impediments.
But there too, it looks like the tide is about to turn. This month's annual March for Lies did not garner the MASSIVE turnout they trumpeted.
Truth is, no matter how much they pretend that their movement is growing, it's stuck.
Year after year, anti-abortion faithful assemble for the march, yet their goal is elusive. Gallup found last year that 26 percent thought abortion should be legal in any circumstance, 20 percent said it should be illegal in all cases, and 52 percent thought it should be legal in certain circumstances. In 1975, those numbers were 21, 22 and 54, respectively.
So, how is lawless Canada faring? Finally, at long fucking last, Health Canada may be about to approve "the gold standard" drug for medical abortion, RU486.
It's well past time for Canadian physicians to be able offer their patients expanded abortion options. Approval of RU486 will be especially important for women living in rural or remote areas or in provinces trapped in the previous century, namely New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
And yes, our own parliamentary dinosaurs continue to bleat about Canada's lawlessness on the abortion front. But they're going nowhere. Take note, Maurice.
Today, on the 26th anniversary of our historic Supreme Court decision in R. v. Morgentaler, we'll celebrate our lawlessness, but we will also keep up the fight for improved access and more options for reproductive justice.
UPDATE: CBC reports on the status of RU486.
FURTHER UPDATE: Opposition leaders weigh in. Mulcair firmly pro-choice. Trudeau namby-pamby.
2 comments:
More encouraging news: Some people in Spain are saying that the new restrictive law is "politically dead" because of the huge backlash to it across Spain and Europe. Feminists are cautious though and say the law could still pass, but with amendments making it less restrictive.
Thank-you Fern Hill for your hopeful post. Particularly amazing is the example from France of the turning tide - news of Hollande's private life notwithstanding.
One of my hopes is that a giant is waking - that the vermin who have sneaked and lied their way into legislative power have finally offended enough Canadians to have blown their cover. The french example of what's possible is very exciting.
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