Take Your Foul Postcards and Go Home, It's Over

There is plenty to say about the brand-spanking-new Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

But for now, I want to focus on one exhibit, entitled "The Safety of Women."

The default position of the museum is stridently progressive. That factor alone will lead many to conclude it is biased and ignores the sentiments of many Canadians.

For example, in one gallery visitors will view videos depicting forceful pro-life and pro-choice arguments. The videos appear on screens above a circular table with digital tablets that allow visitors, upon completion of the videos, to vote on the issue -- for or against.

It's all fair save for the fact the subject of that exhibit is called The Safety of Women. It is a reference to the 1988 Supreme Court decision that found using the Criminal Code to deny a woman's access to safe abortion services violates her rights to "security of the person" under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The exhibit is factually accurate, and unfailingly fair. Having said that, the title of the exhibit leaves no doubt the museum is celebrating the SCOC decision as a victory for human rights. That alone will be viewed as offensive by those who condemn abortion.

Let's repeat that, shall we? "[T]he museum is celebrating the SCOC decision as a victory for human rights."

A new museum funded in large part by the Canadian Harper government celebrates abortion rights.

Oh, and look at this.

Once the CMHR is open, the operating budget will be provided by the government of Canada, as the CMHR is a national museum. The estimated operating costs to the federal government are $22 million annually.

Yep, that's right, fetus freaks. Your tax dollars will continue to be handed over by your friends the Harper Government to CELEBRATE abortion rights.

It's all over. The fetus freaks have lost. Decisively.

And while all things ain't hunky dory in Lawless Abortion Land, there is clearly no going back now.

Even the Harper Conservatives, so willing to meddle in areas outside their jurisdiction or remit, dare not mess with this museum exhibit.

Because it is the only fitting accompaniment to the life-work of a true hero, Dr. Morgentaler.

Whose life-work is now properly commemorated for all time. At taxpayer expense.


Image source.

We Will Win

May 30 and 31 are important dates for progressives in Canada and the US.

We remember two heroes: Dr George Tiller, who was vilified, persecuted, and assassinated, and Dr Henry Morgentaler, who had his share of troubles, but who was celebrated and died in his home at the age of 90.

By the way, abortion services have have returned to the very same building Dr Tiller had to turn into a fortress.

We lose some battles, but the war will be won by the sane, compassionate people.

Abortion in New Brunswick: It's Time

By now you've heard that the Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton (one of only two abortion clinics east of Montreal!) is closing. CBC report and Al Jazeera report with photos and tweets.

What I hadn't realized is that New Brunswick is the original home of the TRAP law. TRAP (Targetted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws are increasingly common in the abortion wars in the US.

But New Brunswick blazed a trail, legislating against ONE SPECIFIC CLINIC.

From the press release by the clinic:

From the moment Dr. Morgentaler announced his intention to open an abortion clinic in Fredericton, the provincial government planned to thwart his efforts.  The premier at the time, Frank McKenna, stated that: “if Mr. Morgentaler tries to open a clinic in the province of New Brunswick, he’s going to get the fight of his life.”

Subsequent New Brunswick governments have continued to block access to abortion services in New Brunswick.

Dr. Morgentaler was immune to their threats.  He had already survived jail, threats against his life and the bombing of his Toronto clinic.  The actions of the N.B. government only served to strengthen his resolve to ensure that New Brunswick women would have access to safe abortion care in his clinic and that no woman would be turned away regardless of her ability to pay.  The Morgentaler Clinic opened in June, 1994 and since then has provided abortion services to more than 10,000 women in a non-judgmental, evidence based, and professional environment.

The main obstacle the New Brunswick government created for New Brunswick women who needed to access abortions was, and still is, Regulation 84-20, Schedule 2(a.1). It states that an abortion will only be covered by Medicare if:
1. It is performed in a hospital by a specialist in the field of obstetrics or gynaecology and that
2. Two doctors have certified in writing that the procedure is ‘medically necessary’.

(Note that NB has never bothered to define "medically necessary." Read the whole press release for the history of their struggles and the heroic contributions of Dr Morgentaler. Also, DJ! has been covering the clinic's travails for years.)

So. Hats off to the innovative fetus fetishists of New Brunswick!

The deranged anti-choicers, rather than celebrating, are suspicious. They think the closure announcement is a stunt. Well, they don't want to dry up all those tasty donations, do they?

While it's idiotic to think of this desperate measure as a stunt, I think it will have serious unintended consequences that both the governments of NB and PEI (10% of abortions done at the Fredericton clinic are for women from PEI, where abortions are simply NOT DONE) will have to deal with.

The Morgentaler Clinic acted as a safety valve. For women who could afford it and arrange the travel, time off work, child care etc, the clinic provided an "out" for these two governments.

Fine, they could say, you want a "non-medical" abortion? Go to Morgentaler's and pay for it yourself.

Not anymore.

So what will the governments of NB and PEI say to women now?

Will this be the wake-up call for women and their allies previously shamed into silence? Will this be the rallying point for pro-choicers across the country to demand that ALL Canadian women get equal access to health care?

I hope so.

Now for the public service part of this blog post.

Here's a petition to sign. Now at over 6400 signatures, when I signed yesterday, it was just over 3000.

Next, here's a list of NB legislators with email addresses for letter writing.

And here's a blogpost by a former clinic worker, Pedgehog, with her own insights and suggestions.

It's time. Let's drag New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island into the 21st century.

UPDATE: There's an election in NB this year. Looks like Liberal Leader is "softening" support for government 2-doctor policy without actually coming out in support of repeal of the regulations.

UPPITY-DATER: There's a rally next Thursday, April 17. 2,000 already confirmed.

MORE: There's NBProchoice tumblr. Upload a picture.

Join the Pro-Choice Truth Squad

I have a nifty idea for fashion writers hard-up for ideas for next season's trends and must-haves. When you're talking about clothing, it's only fair and balanced to also talk to nudists (or naturists as I think they prefer to be called).

You know, get their take on how clothing is restrictive and unhealthy and expensive and often silly. Get their views on fashion designers who are just in it for the glory. And on workers in the fashion industry who are just in it for the (miserly) income. And on the selfishness and vanity of people -- women in particular -- who buy and wear clothing.

It doesn't matter that naturists are a small minority in Canada. It doesn't matter that most sensible naturists would think you nuts for inviting them to opine on fashion. And it doesn't matter that the vast majority of Canadians are stout defenders of pants and shirts and sox and toques and so on.

See, fashion writers, you've got to be FAIR and BALANCED.

OK, that's loopy, but that kind of thinking seemed to bestir the mainstream media in reporting on the death of Dr Henry Morgentaler.

Although nearly all mainstream media sources quoted pro-choice views, most also interviewed at least one anti-choice spokesperson (22 out of 35 news articles or broadcasts that I reviewed). Apparently, the media thinks that view has some kind of legitimacy and must be presented against the pro-choice view in the name of "balance." Well, NO. The anti-choice position -- that women must be compelled to carry every pregnancy to term under threat of criminal law regardless of circumstances -- is an extremist view held by only 5 per cent of Canadians. It is also profoundly mistaken, cruel and undemocratic. As such, it does not deserve equal time or respect in Canada.

Joyce Arthur of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada has had it with the lying bullshit spewed by fetus fanatics and the obligatory obeisance of the media.

And so have we.

There was absolutely no point in polling the forced pregnancy brigade on Dr Morgentaler's 'legacy'. We know what they thought of him and his work. They loathed him. They attacked him, his motives, his personal life, his clinics, and his person. Even -- especially gleefully -- after he was dead.

As for his legacy, they simply want to obliterate it.

There was plenty of grave-dancing going on in their own media, why the hell did the mainstream media -- who purportedly serve us all -- feel they had to give equal time to this tiny minority of lying nutbars?

Joyce again:

The lives and health of half the population are at stake here, so why is the mainstream media casually repeating dangerous medical misinformation from the mouths of zealots without any correction? Why did the media allow extremists to propagate their vicious libel and stupid lies about Dr. Morgentaler? And why is the media still giving equal time to interviewing these pro-death proponents, as if women's right to life is up for debate in Canada? Pro-choice advocates have had enough.

It's cheap, lazy, and stupid. It misrepresents Canada to itself.

And it's got to stop.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada is collaborating with Dammit Janet! bloggers on a project to hold mainstream media to account when they publish or broadcast anti-choice hatred and propaganda in the name of "balance." Please email joyce[at]arcc-cdac.ca to alert us to examples, or to help with the project.

Go read Joyce's whole piece. It's brilliant.

Enough.

I know, I know. With so much else to get exercised (or exorcised) over in public matters these days, it's kinda silly to retread old ground.

BUT I AM TOTALLY FUCKING SICK OF THIS.

Today, stenographer L. Stone reports on Maurice Vellacott's musings on Dr Morgentaler's death.

He trots out all the old lies and she dutifully notes them.

The release goes on to list the “physical complications” of abortion: breast cancer, cervical lacerations and injury, uterine perforations, bleeding, hemorrhage, serious infection, pain, and incomplete abortion.

It discusses “placenta previa” – the improper implantation of the placenta, in future pregnancies. It lists the psychological harms linked to abortion including increased risks of major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal behaviors and suicide, and substance abuse and dependence.

“The pregnant women who get assaulted by their boyfriends, lovers and husbands because they refuse to get an abortion are among the often silent victims of Morgentaler’s unrestricted abortion regime. These women have been harmed immeasurably by Morgentaler’s unrestricted abortion regime,” it reads.

“Victims of sexual assault who are dragged to abortion mills by their abusers or pimps when pregnant cannot count on abortion providers to report these cases of suspected sexual assault. Many of these victims of sexual assault are minors. These women have been harmed immeasurably by Morgentaler’s unrestricted abortion regime.”

She even notes that Vellacott provides a handy list of 'more than a dozen links to articles and anti-abortion websites', not one of which she consulted.

As I just pointed out to her on twitter, I -- and many, many others -- have made it our business to counter this crap whenever it appears. And it appears that there is an endless taste for it.

This has been going on long enough. I've been cataloguing the bullshit for six years.

Here's our work on Vellacott's crap in particular, and on BAD (bad, agenda-driven) Science in general.

Others have also worked this beat for years. Here's Dr. Dawg from 2008.

And here's Alison on Vellacott again from the year of grace 2006.

Others, including the American Psychological Association, Canadian and US Cancer Societies, British Psychiatric Society, and on and on and on, have weighed in authoritatively on all the bullshit.

Enough. Call the fetus fetishists out or don't report on them.

UPDATE: Our pal and sister blogger on this beat (as well as others) Alison sends an informative link. Joel Brind, one of the old sweats of the Abortion Causes Breast Cancer canard, was debunked 21 fucking years ago. So why are we still dealing with this? Why isn't the MSM grown up enough to check their own bloody sources?

Hmmm?

Juxtapose: Morgentaler and Tiller

Nothing could be starker in a comparison between the US and Canada.

Yesterday, Dr Henry Morgentaler died at home at the age of 90. (The best profile I've read is by Sandra Martin.)

Four years ago tomorrow, Dr George Tiller was gunned down in the vestibule of his church.

In coverage of Dr Morgentaler, Canadian media seem to want to stir things up, giving equal time to fetus fetishists to sanctimoniously offer condolences while lying their asses off about the growing strength of their movement.

Here's CBC's Power and Politics interviewing Carolyn Egan and Alyssa Golob.

Really? @pnpcbc had a fetus fetishist on? OK then, when Nelson Mandela dies, they'll have have a KKKer, right? #WhatFuckingYearIsIt #cdnpoli

— Fern Hill (@fernhilldammit) May 29, 2013

But here is the thing. Despite anti-choice lies and sneaky back-door attempts to reopen the debate, abortion is a totally dead issue in Canada.

In fact, support for unrestricted abortion is actually 'skyrocketing'. From October 2012:

A Forum Research poll for the National Post recently asked 1,735 randomly selected Canadians 18 years of age or older when abortion should be legal.

A full 60% of Canadians said always.

That’s surprisingly high. Even more surprising: That number’s skyrocketed in recent months. In a similar Forum poll conducted last February, only 51% of Canadians took that position.

Yes, we have more work to do on access. And yes, we will remain eternally vigilant because the fetus fetishists will NEVER give up.

But Canada is undoubtedly pro-choice. And we have Dr Morgentaler and countless others to thank for that.

Take That, Henry!

Who didn't see this coming?

Two convicted serial clinic harassers 'pro-life heroines' -- one actually in jail at the moment -- receive Queen's Jubilee Medals.

After all, REAL women was one of the non-governmental 'partner' groups advising on the award of 60,000 of the honours.

REAL Women is outspoken on several issues: They are strictly anti-abortion, believe in the traditional definition of marriage, oppose Canada’s “promoting [of]easy divorce legislation” and say the Supreme Court has too much power. They say Winnipeg’s Human Rights Museum project was spearheaded by “left-wing extremists” that included “representatives of homosexual and feminist interests.”

They also have criticized the “wayward” Michaëlle Jean, the former governor-general, who they say “cavorted” with separatists and Liberals. They wrote that Ms. Jean “appears to be a lightweight with little or no grasp of Canadian history, culture or traditions.” (A spokeswoman said Ms. Jean, now chancellor at the University of Ottawa, wouldn’t comment on the issue.)

This did not deter the office of Ms. Jean’s successor, Governor-General David Johnston, from inviting REAL Women of Canada – an order Rideau Hall says came from the federal government.

From the federal government, eh?

REAL Women, in addition to being fervent fetus fetishists, are also virulently homophobic.

It is simply pay-back for Dr Morgentaler's Order of Canada, a point Gwen Landolt of REAL Women makes perfectly clear.

Landolt pointed out that if Henry Morgentaler, Canada’s ‘father of abortion’ who “kills for a living and destroys human life,” can receive the Order of Canada - Canada’s highest civilian honor - then “its about time that someone who fights to protect life gets recognized”.

What vile, petty little people they are.

Abortion Access Is a Human Right

I'm surprised no one has thought of this before now.

The New Brunswick Human Rights Commission is holding an inquiry into the province's abortion policy.

Randy Dickinson, chairman of the commission, confirmed Tuesday that the human rights organization received a complaint relating to New Brunswick's Medical Services Payment Act, which sets out the conditions under which the province will pay for abortions.

The provincial Department of Health's policy stipulates that it will only pay for an abortion if a woman gets a referral from a family doctor and if the procedure is performed in a hospital.

"That issue has been brought forward as a complaint," Dickinson said.

After an initial investigation into the complaint, he said, the commission has determined "there is sufficient evidence to send it to an official board of inquiry."

Dickinson declined to comment on the specific details of the complaint.

The situation in New Brunswick is scandalous, not to mention in blatant contravention of the Canada Health Act. And so far, only Dr Henry Morgentaler has been fighting back.

Abortion is legal in Canada. Access is a matter for a human rights commission.

And Canada is a strongly pro-choice country. For yet further proof of that, go to this CBC story and order the comments by most agreed. Here's the first one:

New Brunswick has to enter the 21st Century instead of remaining in the 19th.

About freaking time.

More on the Australian 'self-abortion' case

The bizarre Australian 'self-abortion case may be over, but its impact may be long lasting.

Queensland Council of Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said the jury had correctly represented society.

"[It was a] sensible decision by the jury," he said.

"It's always difficult to know what motivates a jury but I'm sure part of it was the common feeling that [Ms Leach and Mr Brennan] had been put through more than enough.

"One of the great things about juries is the history is that they have been prepared to deliver verdicts contrary to the law and this is what they have done in this case."

Canadian readers will immediately see the similarity to the trials of Dr Henry Morgentaler.

On June 1, 1970, Morgentaler was arrested in Montreal for performing illegal abortions. In 1972 he ran in the Federal Election in the riding of Saint-Denis as an independent, finishing fourth with 1,509 votes. Later in 1973 he claimed to have performed 5,000 illegal abortions. He was acquitted by a jury in the court case, but the acquittal was overturned by five judges on the Quebec Court of Appeal in 1974. He went to prison, appealed, and was again acquitted. In total, he served 10 months, suffering a heart attack while in solitary confinement. Morgentaler first went to the Supreme Court of Canada in an attempt to overturn the country's abortion law in Morgentaler v. The Queen but was unsuccessful.

In 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted as part of the Canadian Constitution. Morgentaler was charged again in 1983 in Ontario for procuring illegal miscarriages. He was acquitted by a jury, but the verdict was reversed by the Court of Appeal for Ontario. The case was then sent to the Supreme Court of Canada. He was acquitted once again, and the Canadian Supreme Court declared the law he was convicted under to be in violation of the Charter and thus unconstitutional in the case of R. v. Morgentaler 1988 (1 S.C.R. 30). This ruling by Justice Brian Dickson essentially ended all statutory restrictions on abortion in Canada.

The over-reaching cops and prosecution in Oz may well come to regret the Pandora's box they've opened.

Sheesh

Who knew this was still going on?

The Federal Court: 'Get over it already.'

A Federal Court ruling this week has said that the Governor General's highly controversial induction of Canada's "father of abortion," Henry Morgentaler, into the Order of Canada last summer cannot be legally contested.

In a decision released this week, Order-inductee Frank Chauvin's application for a federal court review of the award was rejected on the grounds that it is "plain and obvious that [it] cannot succeed."

Remember Frank Chauvin, one of the recipients of the Order so pissed off that he vowed to return it way back in July 2008?

Local Order of Canada recipient Frank Chauvin is returning his award to protest the appointment of abortion activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler to the order.

"Yes, it's definitely going," Chauvin said Thursday from his Windsor home. "I don't want to be painted with the same brush as Morgentaler. It's definitely going back."

Well. Seems he hasn't. Yet.

"I have been quoted in the media as intending to return my award," said Mr. Chauvin in response to the news of the decision. "I may yet do so, but I first wanted Canadians to have a chance to take a close look at what can happen when an Advisory Council abandons a consensus model and uses the award to advance a highly divisive view, in this case the effective promotion of the tragedy of abortion in Canada."

I guess he's not done stomping his tiny feet.

Old white men. They're so cute when they're angry.

Paging Mother Teresa's Heirs

After JJ posted about Bill Ayers Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize, I had this comment:

I’m most looking forward to the frothing fetus fetishists’ reaction to the PEACE prize going to the most babykillingest prez evah. Especially those ff’s who promote the idiocy that abortion equals Holocaust/genocide.

Well, they are starting to weigh in. JJ has a link to Nurse Stanek. (I don't want to approach that level of insanity, even virtually.)

Here's LifeShite's early take on it.

All terribly predictable, including this:

If she were alive today, Mother Teresa would return her Nobel Prize in response to today's award to Barack Obama, John Smeaton, the head of the British pro-life group Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), told LifeNews.com.

Hey, that shouldn't stop anybody.

During the MASSIVE shit-fit the fetus fetishists threw over the award of the Order of Canada to Dr. Henry Morgentaler, previous recipients threatened to return theirs and some actually did.

Or, as JJ summed up: '9 returns so far, 4 from beyond the grave.'

Wasn't one of them a religious outfit that saw fit to return the medal received by its (dead) founder?

So, easy-peasy. The fetus fetishists can organize a MASSIVE effort to get her order or whoever has possession of the thing to give it back.

And the money, too, of course.

New Brunswick: One Step Closer

Is New Brunswick seeing the headlights of the twenty-first century bearing down on it?

The government of New Brunswick will not appeal a court ruling that gives Dr. Henry Morgentaler the right to sue the province to pay for abortions at his private clinic in Fredericton.

Thank the goddess Peggy Cooke was wrong in thinking the province would try to outlast Dr. Morgentaler.

After all, the suit has been going on for only seven years.

Survivor New Brunswick

The craven government of New Brunswick is trying to outlast Dr Henry Morgentaler, who seven years ago filed a lawsuit to get the province to play by the same rules the rest of Canada does.

Morgentaler wants medicare to pay the $750 fee for each abortion in his Fredericton clinic, and last week the New Brunswick Court of Appeal cleared another hurdle that the province erected to block the court challenge.

Peggy Cooke, who works at the clinic, hopes the province will stop stalling the legal process.

"So I think they're kind of waiting for him to give up and waiting for him to be incapable of doing it anymore," she said.

Morgentaler is 86 years old and there have been reports his health has been declining.

Morgentaler's name is on the lawsuit. His death would force another plaintiff to restart the legal process.

New Brunswick is considering appealing the last ruling that went against it to the Supreme Court of Canada. It is still arguing that Dr. Morgentaler doesn't have standing even though two courts in NB have ruled he does.


Join the 21st-century, New Brunswick.

Fetus fetishists are *secret* judeophobes.

There is one element in the CCBR's MASSIVE propaganda a.k.a. Genocide Awareness Project that has puzzled me.

Why do fundamentalist christian and catholic abortion criminalizers insist that they have the right to exploit the Holocaust?

Where does this virulent sense of entitlement, the refusal to listen to Jewish organizations, the opportunistic use of a historic event originate?

How can these fetus fetishists usurp the Shoah to justify their murderous accusations against women?

Then I remembered that Dr Henry Morgentaler is Jewish and he survived Auschwitz.

Of course. Fetus fetishists have one goal that they proclaim over and over - to criminalize abortion. They are poaching the Shoah because a Jew who had the temerity to survive became a pro-choice physician, health care practitioner and advocate for women's reproductive options. Implicitely and by logical extension, the use of violence to stop abortion is authorized, just as military force was required to close down the extermination camps.

And in the news, the Vatican's Head Zygote Zealot is furiously back-pedaling.

The latest trouble began when Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of British-born Bishop Richard Williamson and three others belonging to the Society of Saint Pius X, an openly anti-Semitic Catholic sect.

Any day now, the Magisterium will announce their plans for The New™ Inquisition.

F*ck the Debate!

Out of all the brouhaha over the long-overdue recognition of Dr Henry Morgentaler's service and commitment to the women of Canada, there has been much hand-wringing (not to say pearl-clutching) over the abortion so-called debate. Headlines shrieeeeking that the debate isn't over, we need to reopen the debate, we're afraid to have the debate, etfuckingcetera.

(Here is Andrew Coyne's confused blethering, more than ably taken apart by Dr Dawg and here is a more recent, but drearily similar, call for debate.)

The main reason we don't need a debate on this is that it concerns women's rights and in a democratic society, human rights are not up for debate.

But this week we've been treated to another display of why we will not debate with the fetus fetishists on abortion rights.

Because they lie and cheat.

They gleefully freep polls as we reported here.

They are 'economical' with the truthiness when fundraising as we crowed reported here.

Then, when caught in said economy in truthiness, they sue the truth-tellers.

And this week's 'Massive Poll Scam' is yet another example of blatant attempted deck-stacking.