No Proclamation for Fetus Fetishists

Woo-hoo! After five straight years of bending over for fetus fetishists, the City of Kelowna has declined to proclaim the last week in September "Protect Human Life Week".

It's a yet another straight-up victory for sane people who oppose this tiny minority of fanatics in our midst.

In a long overdue move, Kelowna has changed its criteria for issuing proclamations to focus on local common issues and, more importantly, to take into account the human rights issue so often glossed over by these anodyne statements.

"Although the wording of the proclamation may have sounded harmless, anti-abortion groups can and do exploit official declarations," said [Executive Director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada Joyce] Arthur, arguing cities must look critically at the groups behind these requests.


She pointed to an incident in August when Regina declared European Heritage Week which the mayor immediately rescinded after discovering a white supremacist group was behind the request.


"The underlying intent of the Protect Human Life message is instantly recognizable by women who are aware of right-wing attacks on their rights," said Arthur.


"The main purpose of the Kelowna Pro-Life Society is to oppose abortion. The organization has used proclamations in the past as a vehicle to challenge women's right to access safe and legal abortion, and thereby women's basic legal rights and equality. The mayor was right to deny the group its proclamation this year because it amounted to discrimination against women.


"All cities across Canada need to respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights codes by not approving cloaked messages from groups seeking to overturn those rights," added Arthur. 


In an earlier statement opposing the proclamation, [local pro-choice activist Dianne] Varga described the society's display graphic photos of fetuses at KSS and other actions as "disgusting, fanatical, offensive and inappropriate."


"While it's legal for them to have done so, it does give a clear indication of the extremist nature of this organization. It's been 40 years since abortion was legalized in Canada and the majority of Canadians support a pro-choice position. Yet the anti-choice movement continues to employ this and other shock tactics to try to move public opinion."

Last week, the forced pregnancy gang took their gory fetal pron signs to protest outside a high school. As usual, this upset people and caused controversy.

These are the grounds on which to oppose attempts to strong-arm local governments: the groups are fanatical, anti-human rights, and not at all representative of the community. In fact, their message is offensive to the majority and needlessly divisive.

Maybe the good people of Ottawa can offer a similar schooling to Mayor Jim Watson in time to cancel the annual proclamation of "Respect for Life Day" to coincide with the March of the Feti in May.

ADDED: Wingers whinge: Mayor kow-tows to pro-aborts. Hee.

Dear Mayor Watson,

About that *Respect for Life But Only If You're Pre-Born* proclamation ...

@Momforchoice tweeted. She linked to a kick-ass letter from Joyce Arthur, the executive Director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. It reads in part:

We are writing now to request that you please refrain from issuing any “Respect for Life” proclamation in the future, on the basis that they fail to meet the criteria in your Policy. The proclamation contradicts your policy in two fundamental ways: 1. It endorses discrimination against women via the removal of their constitutional rights (and arguably promotes hatred against women), and 2. It is religiously motivated because it promotes a sectarian religious doctrine on abortion.

We note that your policy “emanates from the desire to uphold the intent and spirit of the Ontario Human Rights Code” – under which “sex” is a protected ground against discrimination. The “respect for life” that is promoted by this proclamation is disingenuous because it actually promotes discrimination against women. Its context refers to respect for fetal life at the expense of women’s lives, health, and rights. The goal of the anti-abortion movement is to restrict or re-criminalize abortion and force women to complete any and all pregnancies. But in Canada, women have constitutional rights under the Charter, while fetuses do not. Several Supreme Court of Canada rulings have said that fetuses cannot be persons, that a pregnant woman and her fetus are “physically one” person, and that all rights must accrue to the pregnant woman because she already has established constitutional and equality rights. (See for example: Dobson v. Dobson 1999 2 SCR 753; Tremblay v. Daigle 1989 2 SCR 530; and Winnipeg Child and Family Services v. D.F.G. 1997 3 SCR 925.) Therefore, it is not possible to give rights to fetuses without severely compromising the rights of pregnant women. This also means that laws that restrict abortion discriminate against women, and that calls to pass such laws promote discrimination.

Read the whole thing, it is a splendid tonic against the ShrieeeeeK!!!

Ruh-Roh! (Updated)

Ottawa mayor Jim Watson may have dodged a bullet over naming a city building after former mayor and anti-semite Charlotte Whitton. If this is true, he'd better get out his full-body armour when the good people of Ottawa find out.

The Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, has proclaimed that the day of this year’s National March for Life, May 12th, be honored as ‘Respect for Life Day’ in the city.

“The rights of the people of Canada including the unborn, the elderly and those with handicaps are gradually being eroded,” the proclamation reads, adding that “the community needs to get involved to ensure the rights of all people are respected and upheld.”

The proclamation notes that the National March for Life has taken place for the last fourteen years “to bring awareness for the need for life-affirming solutions rather than life-destroying results.”

“Thousands of people from across Canada and the United States will be coming to the National March for Life on Parliament Hill to witness to the sanctity of human life from conception until natural death,” it reads.

The theme of this year’s annual march, which will commemorate 42 years since abortion was legalized in Canada, is “Abortion Kills a Human Being.”

The Ottawa Citizen says:

Watson, as mayor, tries to be a unifier rather than a divider. That, in part, might explain his urge to rush decisions; perhaps fearing delay will encourage unnecessary debate -a major failing of Ottawa's past.

DJ! wants to help.

May Jim Watson

Contact Information

Phone
613-580-2496

Fax
613-580-2509

Address
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1

E-mail
Jim.Watson @ ottawa.ca

Just another hasty decision, Jim?

UPDATE: Mayor Jim Watson says women's rights are open to interpretation. Well, that's my interpretation.

He said that as long as the proclamation doesn't breach the Ontario Human Rights Code and meets the standards of city staff, he has no issue with reading the statements.

But the city's policy states the proclamations should not be "politically or religiously motivated," and Watson said that criterion is open to interpretation.

"I suppose you could probably claim anything is political to some degree," said Watson. "But I rely on the advice of the clerk's office and the protocol office, they are the one's who prepare these proclamations and I sign them."

Methinks a fetus fetishist in the clerk's office pulled a fast one. I hope this gaffe inspires some caustic signs at the counter-demo.