New! Improved Whingening Power! Same Great Taste!

Since being disappointed that the 'trailer' being touted wasn't for another cheesy conservative Christian horror film, I became curious as to whether the perpetrators of the 'new' Abortion Caravan, "Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform" (Refoooooormmmm!) had any connections to Margaret Somerville. Bio-ethicist Dr. Somerville is the go-to source for Christian religious anti-choicers propping up the wrongitywrongwrongwrongness of abortion.

Poking at their site, it became apparent that while Dr. Somerville is not obviously linked to this 'bioethical' group, this fresh faced organization is staffed as a lesser satellite of the American (and original) Centre for Bio-ethical Reform (Reeeefoooooormmmm!) The penny bios of the Canadian satellite staff are weighted heavily with young campus veterans from the University of Calgary anti-abortion crusades and other Canadian university venues.  There is a strong inference of Catholic as well as evangelical Protestant support. The bios of the staffers emphasize how they "became convicted", always a dogwhistle for the conservative religious.  The site bluntly equates abortion with SIN and is trolling for religious converts in its encouragements.

I recommend giving the site a good read just to know where a lot of the tactics orginate, although possibly with an alcoholic beverage or five.  I'm preeettty sure there's a drinking game to be had on their 'publications' link page and their 'projects' page maps out what tactics they're using, which are wholecloth franchised from an American mothership.  I had an 'aha' moment when I discovered that I personally ran afoul of their martyred 'Choice Chain' protocol cluttering the sidewalks of all corners of a busy intersection in downtown Calgary during Stampede. These are also the same folks behind the carnage postcards gleefully stuffed into Canadian mailboxes.

I'd like to be a fly on the wall when the mothership project for picketing churches judged lacking 'true Christianity' shows up at a target. Especially if it pits Catholics against Protestants and vice versa.  What about synagogues and mosques as targets? Wiccans?  It's so very Westboro Baptist continium.

Their endorsement links page is also educational, in showing who really really really likes them and why. All Catholic and evangelical anti-abortionist testimonials to the saintliness of the CCBR staff; go figure. My favorite is Jeff Scott: 'Pastor of Young Adults, Singles and Sports, Metropolitan Bible Church'.  Sadly, I don't think he means sports the way I initially read his title.

Their videos page strikes me as the 'new' media generation approach they seem to be hinging the latest campaign on.  A mini-Youtube centre with a slant of martyrdom and fervent effort to wrap themselves in the human rights cloak.  They're all over dramatic music (which part of me finds annoying because I am a fan of the 'incidental music' genre), surgical close-ups out of context, etc. bring slightly better production quality to the Fallacy of Appeal to Emotion.

The darkly ironic thing is, their mothership has an abortion facts page that informs us how minimal abortions are after 9-12 weeks gestation, but that (somewhat outdated) reality impinges not on their stance.  They're aiming for conception as the start and end point.  You have to give them points for honest agenda.

The vids also clearly show the American mothership's presence and origination of the 'edgy young' tactics, going back years, so they're pretty much admitting this isn't new, it's re-packaging by a new marketing firm in an effort to up dismal sales, facts be damned.

Speaking of the mothership, you can tell I toddled over to their site.  I advise you right now, many of the tabs open into a 'horrific' abortion video autostarting...and then looping.  It's pretty much Christian Hellhouse meets out of context medical footage. When and if you wade through that, you find them mostly excusing using bloody pictures because 'Hey, it works for those tragedies we're equating ourselves with so ergo sum, it'll work for us because we've told you we're the same as those'. ...and other apologetics. It was founded by former GOP politician from the Reagan era, Gregg Cunningham, and now hosts the free speech of he and his like minded colleagues. Note the Canadian crossover in staff.

There is another gossipy irony in that, despite their aims, CBR are derided on the 'net by the Army of God's Dan Holman as being too pacifistic in their unwillingness to commit violence and too willing to sue others who don't want to pay copyright on Cunningham's galleries of photos used on all the trucks etc. (the claim is, as unlegimitately sourced as it is, that he paid an abortionist to photograph surgical remains).  I suppose there's a morbid comfort that CBR settles for psychological shock and awe.

PS: Did anyone else know there is an analogue of Facebook called Prolifebook?