Sex: pre-death or post-life? Discuss

DAMMIT JANET! has learned that Monsanto International is currently in the process of seeking approval from Health Canada to proceed with the wide agricultural exploitation and industrial application of genetically modified garlic. Substances in this GMO would replace formaldyhyde and many other conservation and preservation agents in the food and funeral industry.

Corporate interests in Alberta are keen to obtain from Monsanto an exclusive agreement for a world-wide franchise for this product since it appears to flourish on land that has been ravaged by tarsands development.

As a result of this extraordinary scientific break-through, a Catholic Conservative MP has been quietly exploring how to correctly articulate the text of his private members bill. He hopes to set up:

a special committee of the House be appointed and directed to review the declaration in Section 182 of the Criminal Code of Canada which states that every one who neglects, without lawful excuse, to perform any duty that is imposed on him by law or that he undertakes with reference to the burial of a dead human body or human remains, or improperly or indecently interferes with or offers any indignity to a dead human body

to answer the questions hereinafter set forth;

(i) what medical evidence exists to demonstrate that a woman is no longer able to give consent to sexual activity after death?,

(ii) is the preponderance of medical evidence consistent with the declaration in Section 183 that a female body is actually dead?,

(iii) what are the legal impact and consequences of Subsection 182 on the fundamental human rights of a Catholic husband to enjoy conjugal rights with his legal wife before and after the moment of complete death,?

(iv) what are the options available to Parliament in the exercise of its legislative authority in accordance with the availability of scientifically developed products and applications that extend or alter the definition of human life?

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If you consider this spoof to be over-the-top, please consider the rather interesting ideological positions and historical practices of the Catholic Church, with regard to allowing the desecration of people, post-life.

The cult of relics gave a reason for digging up, boiling and dismembering dead bodies, a practice that must have appealed to necrophiliacs, and perhaps other sexual deviants. Sometimes crowds would gather when a saint was known to be dying, ready to dismember him or her while still warm. Dismembered limbs of saints are still popular, and may be seen slowly decomposing in tens of thousands of churches around the world. Bodies are still occasionally dug up to remove fingers or limbs as relics, as happened for example to Eva Peron.

The idea for the above blogpost came from Godel Noodle who alerted me to this islamophobic nonsense.

Source for the photo.

Excommunicated for saving a life

A Catholic nun in Arizona was reassigned and 'automatically excommunicated' for her role in deciding to provide a life-saving abortion. She was a nurse and a senior administrator at the hospital.

A statement released by the hospital said, "In this tragic case, the treatment necessary to save the mother's life required the termination of an 11-week pregnancy. This decision was made after consultation with the patient, her family, her physicians, and in consultation with the Ethics Committee, of which Sr. Margaret McBride is a member." According to The Arizona Republic, the patient suffered from pulmonary hypertension, which limits heart and lung function and can be fatal during pregnancy.

Pulmonary hypertension in pregnancy is a killer.

From a blogger, who describes herself as:

As the daughter of a Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) patient myself, I've come to learn a lot about the condition. Pulmonary Hypertension's a killer, not least because there isn't enough information out there about it. Please let people know this site exists, and hopefully we can work together to save lives!

some (non-jargony) information:

An early case series reported a 50% mortality rate associated with pregnancy and Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH). A more recent account noted a 30% mortality rate and partly attributed the decline in the mortality rate to earlier recognition, better understanding of the pathophysiology of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH), along with improvements in medical therapy and critical-care obstetrics. Recognition of the elevated maternal-fetal mortality rate has led physicians to recommend effective contraception and, in the event of a pregnancy, early fetal termination.

Now, we don't know the severity of this woman's disease, but presumably all those medico-types at her bedside had an excellent opportunity to assess her chances. One in three or one in two chances of dying sounds pretty dire to me.

But the bishop, who, as far as we know, is not the possessor of any kind of medical degree, disagreed.

Reverand Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix said in a statement "I am gravely concerned by the fact that an abortion was performed several months ago in a Catholic hospital in this Diocese. I am further concerned by the hospital's statement that the termination of a human life was necessary to treat the mother's underlying medical condition." Olmsted also said "If a Catholic formally cooperates in the procurement of an abortion, they are automatically excommunicated by that action."

Boom, yer outta here, sistah!

So, who is this guy Olmsted?

He's described as a 'Hardline Catholic' and he has the mean-spirited history to prove it.

Thomas J. Olmsted, the Catholic bishop at the center of the abortion excommunication controversy once refused communion to a 10-year-old child with autism.

He refused to allow the child, who could not swallow, to take communion.

Olmsted, of Phoenix, Arizona, also tried to shield his archdiocese from clerical sex abuse suits by incorporating the local parishes individually.

Tellingly, he did not speak out on behalf of the victims, preferring to protect the financial interests of the Church.

Beating up on women and children while protecting the financial interests of the church. Yup. 'Hardline', all right.

You know, sometimes I really really really hope there is a hell.