Cons for the pre-born. After? Not so much.

A member of the NDP says the Speaker of the House of Commons, Andrew Scheer, demanded that her 3 month old infant be removed from the House before a vote in connection with the bill on the abolition of the gun registry, yesterday. The office of the Speaker refuses to confirm or deny these allegations.

The MP for Verchères-Les Patriotes, Sana Hassaina gave birth to a boy that she named Iskander-Jack, in memory of the former NDP leader. She had recently returned to work and since she is breastfeeding, her husband who is on paternity leave accompanies her to Parliament. She was warned the vote would take place and finished nursing her baby. She searched the crowded lobby for her husband but not finding him, entered the House with her infant.

Once inside, she was told by a page that the Speaker wanted the baby to leave.

News item, in Google translate.

Original version here.

The CONtempt Party that's providing one of its MPs an opportunity to explore the legal status of the unborn - and reopen the abortion debate - won't let a tiny infant stay briefly in the House while his mother votes.

"Family values" - unless it's inCONvenient.

Grand merci to lagatta who provided the original news item.

UPDATE: @vickyatclc links to this - labour standards & women breastfeeding in the workplace.

CBC coverage of incident and Speaker's denial.

Where Are the "Pro-lifers"?

Check out this blogpost. Cathie from Canada dissects this editorial and its callous misrepresentation of why it's important to investigate the preventable deaths of infants, babies and other vulnerable human beings, to ensure that such tragedies do not keep happening, and to demand accountability.

Here is the story of Mason Fullerton's death.

Where are the "Pro-lifers"? At Lifesite.ca, there's a button link that keeps flashing the message: "Healthcare reform should save lives, not destroy them." A search for the term Mason Fullerton came up empty.

"Pro-lifers" remain silent about the death of this BAY-BEE!!! because their extreme concern is all about The Fetus©™. BAY-BEEZ!!! no longer in residence inside their Fetal Support Unit (aka pregnant women) are not the focus of their ideologically-driven crusades.

The Onion has nothing to fear.

If this is the competition, The Onion still reigns supreme for the best in parody and satirical writing.

The object depicted is a Nipple Tassel t-shirt that, according to its creator,

"... was designed as a response to my own distaste at seeing mini versions of sexy clothes on young children. Five-year-olds wearing slashed mini skirts and boob tubes, little thumb-sucking Britneys.”

It's a modest design, though I'd imagine those tassels would go all gnarly in the dryer.

Gateway Pundit aims for ... sarcasm? Disapproval, yes that's the dominant note and underneath there's a dissonant and off-key attempt to besmirch all non-conservatives parents as godless, perverted and mmm, godless for even thinking that the above is an wry response to fashion that sexualizes toddlers.

And the comments! Don't look for any humour there. Typical tone-deaf shrieeeking.

No iPhone Shake-A-Babe game.

While rightwingnutters, religious zealots and assorted abortion criminalizing batshit crazies drool over this, organizations who are seriously committed to the health and safety of vulnerable babies and infants who have come into this world expressed strong concerns about an iPhone game.

Apple Inc. pulled a 99-cent iPhone game called "Baby Shaker" from its iTunes store Wednesday after its premise — quiet a crying baby with a vigorous shake — prompted outrage.

According to screen shots posted on several Web sites, "Baby Shaker" displayed black-and-white line drawings of a baby. The iTunes description included the line, "See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!" Once the iPhone owner finishes shaking the device, the on-screen baby is depicted with large red X's over its eyes. ...

Public outcry ensued, with organizations including the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation condemning Apple for approving the game's sale.

For those not familiar with Shaken Baby Syndrome it's important to stress that grave injuries occur when parents, care-givers and child minders are unaware of the extreme harm this action can produce and unable to access other strategies to calm and soothe a crying infant. In recent years a number of community-based initiatives have been successful in reducing incidents and increasing awareness of this public health issue.

Shaken Baby Syndrome is neither a laughing nor a gaming matter.

Social deprivation, not genetics, accounts for children's deaths.

An international, groundbreaking new study led by Dr Janet Smylie of the Centre for Research on Inner City Health based at the Keenan Research Centre, St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto has released its findings. The infant mortality rate for native babies in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand is higher, as much as four times that of non-native newborns. It also identified spikes in occurences of SIDs, injury, suicide and accidental death among aboriginal kids in all four countries.

"Every infant who dies … I believe is a tragedy we should follow up on," Smylie said. She also spoke of stereotypical and at times racist treatment received by native people.

"I saw a lot of challenges when I was delivering babies here in Ottawa. Young aboriginal moms who had perfectly good networks of family support — sometimes they were being referred to have the social worker see them even though their family was strong. I remember [another] … patient who had called into the hospital in a little bit of a panic. She had some anxiety and a strong accent. The triage nurse called me and said: 'There's something wrong with your patient. I think she's retarded.'"

"Those are stories that are just a little too frequent."

The organizations and researchers who instigated, implemented, charted and compiled the results of the study hope that the information produced by this report will become the basis for stronger policies and programs to improve children's health in the aboriginal and indigenous communities.