Give that guy a really loud microphone

Oh, look. Mr. Kicking Abortion's Ass is at it again. Referring to the sad story deBeauxOs mentioned yesterday, the lying liar uses this headline:

Another Unborn Victim and Mother Die; Pro-Aborts Shrug Shoulders Vow to Press On Approving of Double Homicide

He quotes some of the LifeShite article including this:

Current Canadian law has no legislation regarding the unborn. Hence, White will escape unpunished for the murder of his child.

That's a lie. He has been charged, is in custody, and if found guilty, will serve time. That is not escaping punishment.

But note also -- not even LifeShite claims 'pro-aborts' did any shrugging of shoulders over this story. Nor did it claim 'pro-aborts' approve of double homicide.

We at Birth Pangs usually prefer to giggle at our enemies opponents, but this is a bit much.

Looky here at his conclusion:

I’m sure the cold, heartless butches will be gnashing their teeth about this one and the bad PR this is going to have for their inalienable right to prevent women from giving birth. They’ll be screeching something about the baby not being worthy of protection and how the family is just overreacting to a clump of cells.

I know it makes us puke to hear them speak, but we must encourage them to keep talking. Everytime they utter a word in opposition to C-484, the more fanatically pro-abort they sound.

So hand them the mic and turn it up real loud.

Actually, this is pretty funny, considering it comes from the guy who coined the cute nickname we have co-opted, The Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill. Ya think it's sweethearts like this that Ken Epp is attempting to distance himself and his bill from?

[T]his Bill, if it becomes law, will enhance the rights of women, and certainly not jeopardize their freedom of choice on the question of abortion. I have had to remind pro-life supporters of this very point. This Bill is not what some of them are thinking, hoping or wishing it would be.

Yeah, well, that's a lie too. This bill is exactly what the no-choicers think, hope, and wish -- a sneaky backdoor attempt to create fetal rights.

We at Birth Pangs will certainly keep talking about this. And we'll happily share our microphone with Mr. Kicking Abortion's Ass. Much as Ken Epp wishes he'd STFU.

(First published at Birth Pangs.)

Blogosphere Gob-Smacked!

Well, golly gosh and gee. The progressive blogosphere is all agog. It seems a sneaky little private member's bill, C-484, aka Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill, came RIGHT OUT OF THE BLUE and bit them all on their cute little tushes.

Now, we at Birth Pangs realize we're not really a political blog, seeing as we cover female stuff like justice, equality, and human rights. And we really are very pink, which we understand is the International Female Colour/Color.

But if the boyos had been paying the least bit of attention to us or the dozens of other bloggers who started harping (oooh, can I say that?) on this topic on February 9, they may not have been quite as gob-smacked as they are today.

In fact, the boyos could have had an even earlier heads-up by visiting JJ at Unrepentant Old Hippie or here at BP back on November 23, 2007.

After the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill -- though it wasn't called that yet; I think it was called 'The Dirty Rotten Sneaky Backdoor Attempt to Recriminalize Abortion Bill' or something like that -- got a bit of debate in December, we blogged again here. (I think JJ did too but I'm too lazy to go look.)

C-484: Incrementalism Starts Here

Ken Epp on The Current on Monday misspoke or was confused. He said the vote on the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill (C-484) is this Friday. IT IS TODAY. Or at least scheduled for more debate and vote today.

Lest any of you have lingering doubts whether the Krazy Konservative Kriminalizers are wetting their pants in joy, hop over to Unrepentant Old Hippie and bastard logic for some enlightening screen-shots.

We at Birth Pangs couldn't put it any plainer than the 'Support C-484' group at Facebook:

If passed this bill . . . would be a key step in recriminalizing abortion.

What this is about, fans of freedom, is incrementalism.

We'll leave you with an editorial on the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill from last year at the Catlick organ, The Interim:

In the United States, incrementalist legislation – informed consent, waiting periods, defunding, clinic hygiene laws, etc. – have successfully reduced the number of abortions. . . . Every restriction decreases the number of babies killed in the womb.

In Canada, there is NO law on abortion. If we let them win on this, it will be just the beginning of a series of incremental steps towards recriminalizing abortion.

Please, if you haven't yet taken action, go to our Activist Page to get started.

(First published at Birth Pangs.)

My Bad?

Those hapless fetus fetishists. Remember when Ken Epp was yelping all over the place that his private member's bill, C-484, had zip zero nada to do with abortion and his lie was abruptly and definitively shot to shit by the big-mouthed blogger subsequently dubbed Mr Kicking Abortion's Ass?

It seems that Rod Bruinooge's current backdoor attempt to restrict abortion, aka Roxanne's Law, has just had its very own Kicking Abortion's Ass moment.

And I may be responsible for it.

Yesterday, I blogged about the bill and included a link to its inevitable Facebook page and my intention to join to ask questions.

I did and my question was deleted, so I unjoined. Others reported that all critical and/or pro-choice comments were being deleted. Fine.

I didn't keep a copy of the question -- my first bad -- but it was along the lines of: 'I'm getting flashbacks to C-484 which was also not atall atall about abortion except all its supporters knew it was. If this new bill is not atall atall about abortion, why are all Canada's most famous fetus fetishists joining this group, starting with Faytene Krystow as administrator?'

I did not mention in my comment that I had noted Canada's maddest homophobe and fetus fetishist, Bill Whatcott, was also a member.

Sometime yesterday or last night, as reported by Bene Diction Blogs On's Rick Hiebert and BeneD, the group disappeared.

When I last looked before it hit the black hole, there were almost 300 members and lots of comments on the wall.

Well, now it's back, whittled down to only 99 members and three comments.

Oooh, and Faytene is no longer administrator. Just Bruinooge is listed as 'creator'. I bet he likes that. ;) Faytene is not even a member.

The members list has been purged. No more Bill and no other notable fetus fetishist that I recognize anyway.

Did they twig? Did I help? My bad?

Shhhhhh

OK, we admit it. Sometimes we at Birth Pangs make shit up. But we didn't make this up.

Back in March we started calling Bill C-484 The Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill after a prominent fetus fetishist called it that on his blog.

So, despite the fact that an anonymous commenter there helpfully pointed out that the post had just made a liar out of Ken Epp, today the same blogger posted Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill - The Sequel. (The Freak Dominionists are also discussing it.)

He links to a LifeShite story about Courtney Love refusing to have a abortion despite her heroin use. This is of course celebrated (though we doubt very much else about Ms Love's life would be celebrated by the fetus fetishists). Then the article maunders on about proposed legislation in the US somewhere about banning 'coerced' abortions. This is par for the course for fetus fetishists. They believe that most abortions -- except those for Culture of Death Feminazis -- are coerced, mainly by the menfolk in these women's lives, and of course by Culture of Death Feminazis. They figger if they can outlaw 'coerced' abortions -- presto change-o! -- abortion would just about disappear -- except for those of the Culture of Death Feminazis of course. He wants such legislation here.

Here, we'll let him tell you:

With C-484 and then this as a follow-up? Holy smokes, Batman, talk about having the devil on the run.

Can you imagine how much this kind of legislation is going to cut down on abortion in Canada when we truck it up here? It will show just how fraudulent the whole “choice” of abortion really is.

But, please, nobody go over there and tell him he's just made a liar out of Ken Epp and his minions. Again.

(First published at Birth Pangs.)

Back to the Barricades!

Remember this guy? Mr. Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill, in whose honour we nicknamed Ken Epp's private member's Bill C-484, the bill that was Totally Not About Abortion, until the Cons threw it under the bus because it 'might' reopen the abortion 'debate'.

Well, it seems the FFs at the recent Conservatard Convention may have learned something.

They passed a resolution verrrry much like the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill but looky here:

Although the resolution does indicate a pro-life sentiment among Canadian Conservatives, in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, John Hoff, President of Campaign Life Coalition B.C., reminded pro-life activists to take this resolution for what it really is – one seeking to protect pregnant women and not unborn babies.

"As the President of Campaign Life Coalition of B.C., P-207 is not a resolution I would propose to protect unborn children. As much as I stand up for the lives of pregnant women, this resolution doesn't do anything for unborn children," said Hoff.

Hoff said the resolution is one which he wholeheartedly supports and that it is a great step forward in protecting pregnant women. However, he indicated that pro-life supporters should keep their mouths shut about it being about recriminalizing abortion feet on the ground.

However, someone's whose feet were actually on the ground at ConCon, liveblogging as much as they'd let him, Dr. Dawg, put it like this:

It became pretty obvious that the "protecting pregnant women" resolution (P-207) was all fetuses all the time.

Yup. That's pretty much what we expected.

Bookmark this page again. *sigh* We're going back to the barricades.

ETA: Check out Danielle Takacs who was also there liveblogging. She has the down-and-dirty details.

More Support for the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill!

Woowee! Off to update our Activist Page. Another heavy-hitter has come out in support of Ken Epp's sneaky backdoor attempt at creating fetal rights, Bill C-484, aka The Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill.

What heavy-hitter, you ask?

The Centre for Reproductive Loss. (And no, we didn't forget the linky; the Centre seems not to have a web presence.)

Here's its mouthpiece messenger:

In related news, advocates of private members bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Bill, received further support in form of the Centre for Reproductive Loss, which, for over fifteen years, has provided grief care support services to bereaved mothers and fathers whose lives have been affected by miscarriages, stillbirths, infertility and other related losses.

The centre released a statement giving their support to the bill,

"The traumatic loss of a woman's unborn child by assault or violence intentionally inflicted upon her child, whom she holds dearer than even her own life, can give rise to serious health complications and consequences," read the statement.

The statement detailed the many sufferings only a mother who has experienced the loss of an unborn child can understand: "The additional traumatic nature of this loss can intensify, compound and prolong her grief. She may suffer from a profound clinical depression or manifest post-traumatic stress disorder. As well, her ability to have other children may be seriously compromised, should she survive the attack, as indeed this may have been the one and only time she would be able to conceive."

Update on the Stringing Fetus Fetishists Along Bill

The Stringing Fetus Fetishists Along Bill is NOT about abortion, right? Let's hear again from Rod Bruinooge on the matter:

Bruinooge insists he’s not trying to push the Commons into a debate the Prime Minister has specifically banned, arguing that nothing in his bill would make it illegal to obtain an abortion.

“This bill doesn’t affect gestational limits or access to abortion in Canada,” Bruinooge told reporters Thursday morning. “It’s something that in fact doesn’t reopen the abortion debate but it does make it a crime to threaten or intimidate a woman into abortion.”

Now let's hear from Mr Kicking Abortion's Ass: Dern tootin'! It is ALL about abortion.

For all the fans of “Kicking Abortion’s Ass” Alert: Abortion.is.going.to.die.in.Canada.

You watch. It’s gonna happen. Not now, but in our lifetimes. It’s something for you to look forward to.

See the problem of whistling to your cretinous followers, Rod? They know what the bill is about but they won't toe the party line and keep their gaping maws shut. Oh, and that 'in our lifetimes' bit? Not bloody likely, according to a poll released today indicating that young Canadians are more abortion- and gay-marriage-loving than ever.

Meanwhile, membership is growing at the new Faytene-free Facebook group, while the wall there is strangely moribund. They seem to be allowing hardcore fetus fetishists again, including Mr KBA -- using his real name, John Pacheco -- and whackjob Bill Whatcott, who writes:

I should also add brutal and premeditated murders like this one, strengthen my belief in the efficacy of capital punishment.

Odd, innit? Fetus-fetishizing and outlaw-lynching so often go together.

And there's a new feature at the website, Share Your Story.

Since the launch of Roxanne's Law we have come to discover that women being coerced against their will to have an unwanted abortion is very common. Many women and men have been coming forward to share their stories. This is your chance as well. By sharing your story you can make something good come out of a horrible experience. Sharing your story will strengthen the argument for Roxanne's Law and help ensure that a woman's right to choose to keep her baby is protected.

Please write your story in 800 words or less and e-mail it to us at contact @ roxanneslaw.ca.

Thank you for your courage.

This will no doubt elicit some creative -- if nearly illiterate -- glurge.

And to round out today's coverage of the Stringing Fetus Fetishists Along Bill, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada today issued a media release*.

Pro-Choice Group Calls for Law Banning Coerced Childbirth
NATIONAL – A bill recently introduced by a Conservative MP to criminalize “coercing” a woman into abortion should be scuttled in favour of a bill prohibiting the much more common practice of coercing a woman into childbirth, says the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC), a national pro-choice group.

“It’s wrong to pressure women into an abortion, but this does not occur on the grand scale often claimed by anti-choice propagandists. It mostly stems from situations of domestic abuse,” said Joyce Arthur, Coordinator of ARCC. Arthur pointed to a recent U.S. study that examined reproductive control of women by abusive male partners. “Some were pressured to have an abortion, but women also reported that their partners prevented them from obtaining or using birth control, threatened them with pregnancy, or forced unprotected sex on them. If they became pregnant and wanted an abortion, some partners threatened or pressured them to carry to term.”

In 1989, Chantal Daigle of Quebec had to travel to the U.S. for an abortion after her boyfriend got an injunction preventing her from having an abortion. Canada’s Supreme Court subsequently ruled that male partners cannot force a woman to have a baby.

“It’s not just partners or family members who try to compel women and girls to have babies against their will,” said Arthur. “The entire anti-choice movement has been trying to force women into pregnancy and motherhood for decades, by working to outlaw or restrict abortion. Perhaps we need to protect women from this coercion by criminalizing anti-choice activism!”

Hee. Wouldn't that be fun? Call the cops! SUZY ALL-CAPS is posting fetal pr0n again!


*You can download a pdf of the whole thing, including references, here.

We *heart* Quebec, Part deux

Again, we get further proof that our sisters and allies in Quebec totally get the danger posed by Bill C-484, aka The Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill. (Our deBeauxOs does a round-up of Quebec organizations and bloggers opposed to the bill here.)

Yesterday, there was a kick-ass demonstration in Montreal. La Presse reports that there were 1,500 protesters.

At babble, poster martin dufresne gives a first-hand account:

The demo was TREMENDOUS!!! Between 1,000 and 1,500 people, bilingual speeches and chants, walking and almost dancing to Aretha's RESPECT and local feminist bands on the sound system, applauded by onlookers. The organizers were a kick-ass group of young feminists and despite the pouring rain it was easily the most empowering demo I have seen in decades. A local sexploitive sect (Raelians) tried to crash the event, insinuating itself in the march, with their website plastered on their garish pink get-up: it was a hoot seeing these fifty-something men, bluetooth in ear, with pink t-shirts proclaiming "FEMININITY is the future of humanity". They were booed and finally pelted with a few chocolate cream pies.

The post also helpfully includes this translation from La Presse story:

Dueling sounds

On the front steps of St-Jean-Baptiste church, organizers used a megaphone to denounce the "Religious Right". The church bells started ringing and went on for more than five minutes. A few of the demonstrators entered the church to play the djembé.

Fun.

(First published at Birth Pangs.)

Fucking Liberals

So there I was, having a quite pleasant day, happily anticipating the Liberal abortion gotcha -- backed by the NDP and the Bloc -- designed to force the TheoCons to show their true colours over family planning and women's rights.

Earlier, after an 'emergency' caucus meeting, the ReformaTories had come up with an absolutely brilliant counter to it -- the motion is 'anti-American'.

No. Really. They went with that. I was laffing my ass off all over the Intertoobz.

I was enjoying the witty comments at the various sites that reported the Cons' genius move.

Like this one from the Globe site:

I suppose its Anti semitic as well.

The Freaks were exercised too -- always fun to watch.

The CBC's Question of the Day was: Should access to safe abortion be part of a maternal health plan? The sane answer to that was doing very well indeed.

And, extra bonus! Kady was going to liveblog the latter part of the debate and the vote.

I mean, it was a no-brainer, done deal, all the Opposition would vote for it and the Cons would look like ijits. Poifect! Non-binding but at least Canada wouldn't look quite so stooooopid on the world stage.

Well. If you haven't heard yet, the MOTION WAS DEFEATED.

BY THE FUCKING HARPER LIBERALS, to wit, Dan McTeague, Paul Szabo, and John McKay, who voted with the TheoCons against family planning.

Yes, indeedy, in the 21st century, there are people who have the gall to call themselves Liberals and yet vote against their party in order to tell the wimmins -- yet again -- what we can do with our lady parts.

Two other Harper Liberals -- Albina Guarnieri and Gurbax Malhi -- abstained.

And here's Kady on the other Liberal no-shows:

Curiously absent from the Chamber, despite having been there just a few moments earlier: Derek Lee.

Other Liberal absences, some of whom, at least, were simply not in Ottawa and would almost certainly have supported the motion had they been around, from a list provided by the ever helpful PMO: Anita Neville, Gerard Kennedy, Andrew Kania, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Alan Tonks, Marlene Jennings, Joe Volpe, Lawrence MacAuley, Stephane Dion, Mario Silva (paired with B. Calkins), Jim Karygiannis.

Just when I was developing a smidge of respect for the Liberals. . .

Just when I was not quite so despairing of Opposition cooperation . . .

Well. That shows me, I guess. Women's rights, here as in the Excited States, are always negotiable. At least for Liberals.

Here is Sister Pale's take complete with a reminder of where that other great Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion, was when another assault on women's rights was passing second reading. When the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill was being voted on, Dion was absent, eating little pink hamburgers in celebration of -- are you ready for it? -- International Women's Day.

Ah well. As the Liberal boyos are saying today, 'no big diff'.

You look like absolute, complete idiots, Liberals. You couldn't organize a piss-up in a brewery. And the Cons are crapping their pants laughing at you.

You deserve every snide snigger and gloating guffaw.

Be sure to kiss him, Ken

Holy moly. Rob Nicholson just screwed Ken Epp.

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says his Conservative government will not reopen the abortion debate, but it will penalize offenders who endanger the lives of unborn babies.

Nicholson says he will introduce new legislation that will include a victim's pregnancy as an aggravating factor when judges consider sentencing violent offenders.

But the justice minister says the new law will be written in such a way that it cannot influence the abortion debate and legal interpretations of the rights of the unborn.

BWAHAHAHA!

Say buh-byeeee to The Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill.

We can't wait to hear what the fetus fetishists have to say about this.

UPPITY-DATE: The Globe:

Tories abandon 'unborn victims' bill

The Harper government cut loose a contentious private member's bill that would have made it a crime to take the life of a fetus just as election speculation hits fever pitch.
. . .

"We've heard criticism from across the country, including representatives of the medical community, that Mr. Epp's bill as presently drafted could be interpreted as instilling fetal rights. Let me be clear. Our government will not reopen the debate on abortion," Mr. Nicholson said.

"For this reason ... I'm announcing that the government will introduce legislation that will punish criminals who commit violence against pregnant women but do so in a way that leaves no room for the introduction of fetal rights."

MORE: CBC's take:

The new law will be written in such a way that it cannot influence the abortion debate and legal interpretations of the rights of fetuses, Nicholson told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.

First published at Birth Pangs.

C-484: The Bill That Is Totally NOT about Abortion

Except that a lot of people -- Conservative Party people -- think it is.

Remember when the 8,000-member strong Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ) came out in opposition to Bill C-484, aka The Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill?

Well, according to the Canadian Press, the president, Dr. Barrette, is taking some heat for it. Apparently he is getting hate mail from English Canada hoping he'll «brûler en enfer».

But there's also this:

Cependant, il ajoute avoir aussi reçu confirmation de gens du Parti conservateur dans l'ouest canadien que l'objectif du projet de loi C-484 était bien d'établir une reconnaissance des droits du foetus dans le but d'interdire l'avortement.

Translation:

However, he [Dr Barrette, President of the FMSQ] adds that he received confirmation from people from the Conservative Party from Western Canada that the objective of Bill C-484 was clearly to recognize rights of the fetus with the goal to ban abortion.

OK, we glad that's cleared up.

Check out our newly updated Activist Page to see who else may be getting hate mail. The Canadian Bar Association? The Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians? The YWCA?

h/t choice joyce at Bread and Roses

(First published at Birth Pangs.)

Sterility Tax

Now this is a genius idea from one of our fave fetus fetishists, Mr Kicking Abortion's Ass.

No children? No work force. Unsustainable social programs. Economic collapse.

It’s time for Western goverments to consider a sterility tax for all of the free-loaders who expect “the government” to pay for their entitlements without the necessary workforce to support those entitlements.

I say…

500% tax on contraceptives.

Major tax incentives for families who have many children. The more children you have, the less tax you pay. A future workforce, after all, is essential to the growth and continued existence of the State.

Sterilization and masturbation, we are finding out, have their own social and economic costs. And they are not unsubstantial.

Even some of the Freaks think it's a bad idea.

And what about teh Gays? They don't need no steenking contraception. How are they going to pay for their 'entitlements' in this new Republic of Gilead?

Mr KAA may be a good Catlick truly concerned for the souls of us sterile heathens, but I'm thinking he may be more than a little motivated by this report today from StatsCan.

About one-third of Canada's population -- or 14.4 million people -- will be a visible minority within three decades, Statistics Canada projects -- that's more than double the 5.3 million visible minorities counted in 2006.

(snip)

The percentage of foreign-born people in Canada is projected to grow about four times faster than the rest of the population between now and 2031. That would mean the total proportion of foreign-born people would account for between 25 and 28 per cent of Canada's population, or up to 12.5 million.

Me, I don't care who pays for my entitlements or what colour their skin is. Other people, it seems, do.

That Abortion Debate? Bring It On!

Seriously. I'm having too much fun with Iggy's Abortion Gambit/Gauntlet/Grenade.

First, cast your minds back to the brouhaha over Ken Epp's private member's bill, C-484, or as we followed one of its proponents in calling it, The Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill.

Back then, people with more than one functioning neuron saw it -- as its supporters did, despite the mewling of Ken Epp et al. -- as a sneaky, backdoor attempt to open the abortion so-called debate with the aim of restricting and ultimately outlawing abortion.

We, the sane people, said: 'NO. We are not debating women's rights.'

Well, many pundits -- I'm too lazy to go back and find all the links but you know who and where they are -- opined: 'We need to reopen the debate.'

To which, we, the sane people, said: 'FUCK the debate.'

Welly-well-well.

Look who's saying FUCK the debate now.Lorrie Fucking Goldstein in the Toronto Fucking Sun:

Is this really what Ignatieff wants pre-occupying Parliament when it resumes? To roll back the clock and reignite the debate over abortion?

Hee. What's that acronym floating around these days? Something like: IOKIYAADSHA -- it's OK if you are a desperately spinning Harpocon apologist.

No Family Planning, No Contraception, No Abortion = Maternal Health, Public Version

What was behind the subscription wall at Embassy Magazine is now publicly available.

That great friend of women and limousine-hopper, Bev Oda confirms: No abortion or contraception for developing countries because our fundy base wouldn't like it, unless the racists thought about it and then they might.

The federal government won’t add contraception and abortion to a package of initiatives aimed at improving women and children’s health despite pleas from the Opposition to include the practices.

International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda said Thursday that Ottawa isn’t changing its policy on what measures will be part of a major initiative with G8 countries to improve the lot of women and children in the world’s poorest countries.

“Canada is not currently going to be changing its approach to improving maternal and infant health,” Ms. Oda said in Halifax, where she announced the port city will host a G8 development ministers meeting in April.

Ah, but, you see, that's a great big porky pie. Canada -- under the ReformaTories -- is changing 30 years of foreign aid policy that, in consultation with the receiving country of course, did include the full range of reproductive services for women and men.

Now, have a gander at this swerve:

“The Prime Minister has been clear since we became government that there’s no intention on regenerating any debate on abortion.”

That is true -- but only for Canada. And he had to say that when Ken Epp's private member's bill, aka the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill, was about to bite the Cons on the butt before it was tossed under the bus just before the last -- or was it the one before that? I'm losing count here -- election.

(Read the comments at the Globe link -- over 450 when I was there. Just about universally appalled.)

Now, go read Joyce Arthur who has a slew of facty-truthy thingies about how hellyeah access to safe abortion is an integral part of maternal health.

Conservative politicians and commentators have heaped scorn on Ignatieff's concerns, however, and condemned him for turning women's health into a "political football." But most of the politicking is actually coming from Ignatieff's critics, who have launched attacks without the benefit of any facts, and even less compassion for women. Some of the coverage is so shockingly ignorant that it qualifies as being misogynist. Please, if we are going to have this discussion — and we should — please, let's pay attention to some key facts:

* 19-20 million women in developing countries resort to unsafe (usually illegal) abortions every year. 98% of unsafe abortions occur in countries with restrictive abortion laws (generally archaic laws passed by former colonial powers). There are 42 million abortions a year in total.

* 68,000 women die every year from unsafe abortion. 8 million women experience complications serious enough to require treatment. Of those, 3 million never receive medical treatment.

* Thirteen percent of all pregnancy-related deaths are due to unsafe abortion.

* Unsafe abortion is the only cause of maternal mortality that is entirely preventable.

* The highest abortion rates in the world are generally in developing countries with strict criminal laws against abortion. Laws don't stop abortion; they only drive it underground and make it dangerous. (Abortion rates are lower and have been declining in countries where it is legal and widely available.)

* 220,000 children worldwide lose their mothers every year from abortion-related deaths. (Most women in the developing world who have abortions are married with children.)

* When a pregnant woman dies from unsafe abortion, her existing children are 10 times more likely to die within the next two years.

* 215 million women in the developing world have an unmet need for modern contraceptives (meaning they want to avoid a pregnancy but are using an ineffective family planning method or no method).

* Lack of contraception contributes to high rates of unintended pregnancy, which in turn contributes significantly to the maternal death rate. That's because childbirth is dangerous in many developing countries. For example, the lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 17 in West and Central Africa, and 1 in 8000 in industrialized countries.

* Additional consequences of unsafe abortion include loss of productivity, economic burden on public health systems, stigma, and long-term health problems like infertility.

* The costs of treating the 5 million women who are hospitalized every year after unsafe abortion is at least $460 million. In Africa, complications of abortion account for 30 to 50 percent of maternal deaths, and hospitals' maternity wards and budgets are often largely diverted to treating these complications.

* Safe legal abortion saves women's lives. Without exception, every country that has legalized abortion has seen dramatic decreases in deaths and serious complications due to unsafe abortion. In western industrialized countries, death from unsafe abortion has been virtually eliminated.

Let's hear from somebody else who knows a thing or two, Keith Martin.

Liberal MP Keith Martin, a doctor who is an expert on the sorry state of maternal health around the world, is one of those supporters. Martin has travelled to Africa dozens of times, and worked there as a doctor several times. He has also been involved in previous attempts to get the G8 to take strong action on improving maternal mortality. He has chaired pre-G8 summits on international health, including maternal and childhood mortality.

Martin says the federal government must articulate exactly what it is going to do when it comes to the G8 maternal health initiative and access to reproductive technology. "I hope they don't take an ideological position."

Harper will be "turning back the clock," Martin says, if the initiative does not include reproductive health: "I can't think of another country that would take that position."

Yeah, well, the Excited States went down that foreign policy abstinence only and screw people vulnerable to AIDS road under the influence of their ChristoTalibaners. And now Motherhood Steve is taking up that slack now that grown-ups are in charge in Washington.

So, I say again: Yo, Iggy, Jack! Ride this horsey!

March for Lies A Bust

I'm calling it. March for Lies was a huge bust. Look at all the weaselling.

LifeShite:

Up to 25,000 pro-lifers packed Parliament Hill today under threats of thunderstorms. The bad weather, however, held out, providing sunny conditions for the 16th National March for Life.

This year was another record-breaking year for the federal parliament's largest annual rally. Organizers estimated the crowd at likely near 25,000 given the evident substantial increase in numbers over last year, when the count was 19,500.

Because, you know, every year must be bigger than the year before. And 19,500 was a pretty large porky last year.

Other news outlets were a bit more cautious.

More than 10,000 people joined the 16th annual anti-abortion March for Life on Parliament Hill Thursday, with several Conservative MPs adding their support to the throng.  A small group of pro-choice advocates staged counter-demonstrations.

But the real knee to the nads comes from Stun News.

A count of the crowd by QMI Agency set the attendance of Thursday's rally at about 5,000.

The RCMP estimated a crowd of 12,000, while organizers said there were 15,000.

And now a note from the Martyrdom and Mail, aka Kicking Abortion's Ass:

Just heard from a friend of the family that the cops prohibited the last 2000 people on the Hill from marching. Probably couldn’t handle the numbers. Too many people. In the future, there will be so many people on the Hill, it will overflow to the Streets. There won’t be any room to march.

Buses carry, what, 50-60 people? So that's 35 to 40 buses diverted, cordoned off, or something by police?

Yeah, right.

And nothing says 'take us seriously' like a bunch of men in feathered hats.

ENOUGH KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS TO BESIEGE A SMALL CASTLE. #MFLtwitpic.com/cpf2uj

— InfoAlerteBot (@InfoAlerteBot) May 9, 2013

The last word goes to veteran March of the Feti watcher, David Akin.

I say again: March For Life easily the largest annual protest on the Hill - and all to absolutely no effect. #cdnpoli #mfl

— David Akin (@davidakin) May 9, 2013

The real tell is that they're not even protesting the numbers very hard this year.

They know it was a bust.

Hill Cam shot from 1:15 yesterday. That look like even 15,000 people to you?

Get Over It Already

The annual Fetus Fetish Festival is going to be especially um, spirited, this year, according to Mr. Kicking Abortion's Ass. They've got a round number to commemorate.

This year on May 14, 2009, Canada will mark 40 years to the day Canadian Parliament passed the infamous Omnibus Bill, C-150, the legislation decriminalizing contraception, abortion, and homosexuality.

SHRIEEEK!

Before he goes on to detail the ensuing decades of moral decay, he adds this:

(Votes: 149-55).

Wow. I did not know that 40 years ago just about three-quarters of our MPs stood up for human rights. Not to mention common sense.

Maybe the fetus fetishists should try real hard and wrap their tiny minds around the fact that THEY LOST THIS FIGHT FORTY FUCKING YEARS AGO.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

Abortion Is All About Men

Another glimpse into the misogynist, fetus-fetishizing so-called mind. Abortion is all about men".

Linking to a LifeShite story about a young Welsh woman who died after a chemical abortion at six weeks, Mr. Kicking Abortion's Ass writes:

Pro-aborts read. Nod. Eyes Glaze Over. Ask, “What’s the problem? She’s gotta die so I may have my freedom of choice.”

Abortion: what a great invention for selfish men.

“Honey, you’re going to the abortion clinic tonight and you’ll like it, dammit. If you don’t, I’ll kick you in the stomach and kill that clump of cells.”

No law against coercion. No law against harming an unborn child.

Abortion: what a great invention for selfish men.

They really think like that. Abortion was 'invented' for men. Because unless a 'selfish' man coerces and/or threatens her, a woman would just naturally follow her gord-given essence and never ever nohow noway consider terminating a pregnancy.

By the way, expect this story -- here's a link to the BBC on it -- to have legs like a centipede with the fundy crowd.

The inquest on Thursday heard how Miss Jones, a Christian who had an active social life with the church, had decided to terminate her pregnancy because she had concerns for her boyfriend and his family who were Muslims.

The concerns are unspecified -- and there is no mention of any kind of coercion -- but it's enough that she was Christian and he is Muslim.

And, according to the inquest, it was mostly a case of over-stretched medical services that caused Miss Jones's death.

Following the procedure, she went on holiday, despite medical advice not to.

She cut short her break after feeling ill and returned to Bristol, where she was a student, and admitted herself into Southmead Hospital.

Blood tests showed she needed a blood transfusion, however she was left waiting for the blood when another emergency broke out on the ward and her condition deteriorated resulting in her needing life support.

MORE: You think we're pissed? Go read Unrepentant Old Hippie

(First published at Birth Pangs.)

Uterus or Brain?: Choice for Zygote Zealots.

Over in the comments after unrepentant old hippie's blogpost regarding a zygote zealot who advocates violence against abortion providers, The Fetus©™ fetishist in question, bayouchild/Jill, offers herself up as "proof" that as Gawd gave women wombs so must they breed.

It's strange, isn't it? Neither my father nor my mother made me feel that I had to choose between using my brain or my uterus. But then, I didn't grow up in a familial environment that supported fundamentalist religious gynophobia.

Thus it was possible for me to choose to give life without having to abandon the ability to reason and the capacity for rational compassion.

It appears that choice was not available for bayouchild since she utters predictable, programmed pro-natalist glurge and fundamentalist Catholic dogma. No need to engage the brain, the default propaganda simply spews out.

It's no wonder that fundamentalist Catholic men, like John "Mr Kicking Abortion's Ass" Pacheco, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi and Pope Benedict prefer women who are certifiably brain-dead but still able to breed.

Stick a Fork in It

We're flying here at Birth Pangs, but we had to do this:

The Canadian Medical Association tells Ken Epp and his band of lying liar fetus fetishists to f*ck right off.

Canada's largest doctors' group has strongly condemned a private member's bill it fears could limit women's access to abortion and criminalize doctors who assist them.

By a wide margin, the Canadian Medical Association voted yesterday to oppose Bill C-484, "and any legislation that would result in compromising access for women to the medical services required to terminate a pregnancy."

Seems the FFs can't get a single professional health care association to back their ploy.

We know. It's not over yet. But it's getting harder and harder to argue that the people opposed to the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill 'misunderstand' it.

UPPITY-DATE: Radio Canada has the numbers on the 'wide margin':

"Réunis en séance plénière, mercredi, 88 % des quelque 300 médecins participant aux assises annuelles de l'AMC ont voté pour la résolution."


(First published at Birth Pangs.)