Why We Won't Debate (Part Umpty-Three)

Because they lie. They distort. They dissemble. They move goalposts.

And they cheat.

That CBC 'unscientific' poll is running now at about 64% in favour of reopening the abortion debate.

Yeah. Right.

As opposed to a scientific poll from May 2010.

In the lead up to the G-8 and G-20 summits to be held in Muskoka and Toronto, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s maternal-health plan for under-privileged countries and his refusal to include access and funding of abortions in the plan has once again raised the issue of abortion in Canada. By passing a unanimous motion calling on the Prime Minister to end its ambiguity on the subject, the members of the National Assembly of Quebec have brought attention to the fact that since 1988 Canada has been without a law that regulates abortion.

A new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Canwest News Service and Global Television has revealed that only one in three (34%) Canadians believe that the federal government should ‘reopen the issue of abortion’. In fact, nearly one half (46%) think that the federal government should just ‘leave things as they are’, and two in ten (17%) ‘don’t care one way or the other’, while 3% don’t know.

And they believe their own bullshit.

Here's SUZY, with a small correction by me. Plain text because SHE plays silly buggers with linkies.

http://www.bigbluewave.ca/2012/05/canadian-pro-life-movement-will-not-die.html

There's one thing people forget about pro-lifers: what they lack in numbers they make up for in determination dishonesty.

Remember the Great Canadian Wish List contest in 2007? How is it that in a country where legal abortion garners the support of the large majority of Canadians, pro-lifers were able to win that contest, even though they are outnumbered?

Oh yeah, we remember the dumbass Great Canadian Wish List. Fetus fetishists freeped the hell out of it and BRAGGED about doing so.

We at DJ! say: Keep it up.

In the Excited States, the constant yammering necessary to the War on Women is backfiring. USians who view abortion as morally wrong number below 50% for the first time.

And as commenter Mercedes says here, there may be another unintended consequence.

The latter [reopening the abortion debate], however, is something that can become a boon for women.  A generation of youth who hadn't been exposed to the nuances and implications of the anti-abortion agenda before has been swayed somewhat by emotional arguments during the years of non-debate, while the public (not saying the ARCC [Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada] of course, but the public at large) had been largely afraid to speak about reproductive rights.  It's no longer a question of whether we people are comfortable talking about reproductive rights, and this new generation can be shown why "personhood" can impact IVF or contraception as well as how the agenda could negatively affect women in ways that Canadians have largely not experienced for some time. This is what started to turn the debate around in the US, and it's an opportunity to turn the debate around here while there has not yet been major legislative onslaughts (although there have been pushes against funding, which is probably where the focus will turn after M-312).

It's important to not simply counter this motion, but to keep countering the rhetoric that is certain to persist afterward.

And not just the rhetoric. The persistent and pervasive dishonesty of anti-choicers.

Duelling Petitions

Despite the fact that Canada's Parliament has archaic rules for petitions (i.e. paper only), both sides in the fight over Woodworth's Wank are running online petitions.

Pro-debate has just over 3300 signatures.

No fucking way are women's rights up for debate side has over 16,200.

Of the total so far, percentages for and against running about 17 to 83%.

Sounds about right to me.

Go sign the sane one if you haven't already. The fetus fetishists are notorious for freeping polls.

Who? Us? Freep?

Just like Canadian Cynic, we at DAMMIT JANET! are far too principled to encourage reverse freeping of the braindead Canadian Blog Awards.

But -- speaking of braindead -- just have a look at which total idiot appears here. Twice.

No, nope, uh-uh, we'd never advocate helping to further discredit a seriously fucked-up awards event. But, you gotta admit, sometimes grrrlcotting feels just a tad passive.

ADDED: Here, about-to-be-most-awesomest Canadian blogger, Dodo, demonstrates her fascination with shitting in a bag. No shit. Vote Dodo!

From Sadly, No! ....

we hear that Five Feet of selF-InFlated Flatulence has withdrawn her name from the Gay Patriot's "Grande Conservative Blogress Diva 2009" web Poll where she held something like 75% of the votes before she pulled out of the race.

It wasn't because she's a raging homophobe and that she was afraid of catching cooties or an alternate sexual orientation from being associated with the contest. Actually, she gave no excuse. But we suspect the reason that FFFtt! withdrew is that ultimately, there was no cash prize.

Freep This Poll!

Via Canadian Cynic. Go read Sadly No, or go directly here. You'll know what to do when you get there. :big grin: (She's winning at the moment.)

UPDATE: Damn, we're good. She's winning by a country mile: 743 votes or 53%.

And the insults just keep coming

Gimme a freepin' freakin' break.

Canadian Blog Awards hits another one out of the park. Not only did they screw the pooch on the feminist category, they've just poked us wimmins in the collective eye again by naming ProWomanProLife Best New Blog.

Yeah, 'new' as in astroturfed newly minted right around the time Ken Epp decided fetuses needed rights. See PWPL's category on C-484. Lotta support there for it.

And it got 596 votes? The second-place winner got 161. Total votes: 1009. I smell freeping. . .