Wednesday's M312 Report

On the Twitter #M312 timeline there are a few new players, some yet to be blocked by the Woody Wankers.

One such, Voice of Reason, tweeted at Stephen Woodworth himself:

‪@WoodworthMP‬ ‪#M312‬ You do of course realize that you are becoming single-issued. What would be your favoured outcome of this debate?‪#cdnpoli‬

And s/he got the typical weaselly reply.

‪@V_of_tReason‬ ‪#cdnpoli‬ My favoured outcome of ‪#M312‬ would be that Parliament&Cdns are better informed abt the implicatns of S223(1)

Voice of Reason immediately recognized this for the faux-innocent dodge that it is and returned with:

@woodworthmp #M312 "Just asking the question" - exemplifies a common logical fallacy often preferred by conspiracy theorists. #cdnpoli

— Voice of tReason (@V_of_tReason) August 1, 2012

Rev Paperboy jumped in and a genius hashtag was born.

@v_of_treason Does @woodworthmp still take heroin when he worships Satan? #justaskingthequestion #prettysureanswerisNO @fernhilldammit

— Rev.Paperboy (@revpaperboy) August 1, 2012

I applauded the good Rev's genius and asked him to use the #M312 hashtag. He said he was a tad busy but told me to feel free.

Then Voice of Reason spelled it out for the dimmest of fetus fetishists.

@fernhilldammit @revpaperboy #justaskingthequestion a.k.a "begging the question", a.k.a "JAQing off" #CPC practices logical fallacies daily

— Voice of tReason (@V_of_tReason) August 1, 2012

Surely the smart creative people who read DJ! can come up with some other fun snarky questions for the pro-M312 crowd to be tagged with #justaskingaquestion or #JAQingOff for short(er). (Goes well with Woodworth's Wank, doesn't it?)

In related news, every day certain people spam-tweet MPs and other politicians with one or both of two scripted tweets. Today I noticed that the same MPs and politicians are targeted each day. Are they programmed? Are they bots?

And speaking of bots, another new player is M312FETUSBOT, who is totally pro-M312 and a demanding little twerp to boot.

Viz.

Okay, that's it. I'm trading her in for a Porsche. As a person, I am entitled to apply for credit. Where do i sign up? #cdnpoli

—M312FETUSBOT (@M312FETUSBOT) August 1, 2012

With all this fun stuff going on and more and more uncomfortable questions being lobbed at the fetus fetishists, I'm thinking that Woody regrets swapping his spot. He probably had a better chance of sneaking his sneaky motion past MPs in June.

The second hour of debate is on September 21, with the vote on September 26.

If you don't do Twitter, you might consider busting a cherry for this one. ;-)

Dishonesty

Woodworth's Wank has been insultingly dishonest from the get-go.

As JJ said:

Pro-#M312: if you'd just come out from the start & said what u really wanted (#personhood), I could have respected that. But u had to lie

— JJ (@jjhippie) August 16, 2012

.@fernhilldammit Exactly. Had they been honest, I'd have disagreed but would have respected their democratic right to pursue that end #M312

— JJ (@jjhippie) August 16, 2012

But no. Woody thought he was sooooo clever. Faffing about with talk of a '400-year old law' that needed 'modernizing' with input from experts.

If they were serious about imprecise, antiquated language, there is a simple fix as JJ has pointed out repeatedly on Twitter. In sec. 223 of the Criminal Code change 'human being' to 'person'. There. Problem solved.


But no. Because while SHRIEEEKING (as usual for Fetus Fascists) that their cute little ploy had nothing zip zero nada rien to do with abortion, it is about if not personhood then about gestational limits to abortion.

The ploy itself is a lie. And the ensuing 'campaign' has been a laff riot.

Why Lifesite would choose to publish this less-than-encouraging data at the height of the battle of words & wits over Motion 312 is a mystery.  But then again, why not: it’s in line with the haphazard and utterly clueless way the rest of the M312 campaign has been run, a confused and riotous crusade of Twitterspam, fetusmobiles, inconsistencies, transparent lies and general dumbness.  For an initiative thought by some to be the last kick at the anti-abortion can for a long, long time, the ineptitude of its handling has been breathtaking to behold.

And fun to watch.  Did I mention fun to watch?

They could have salvaged some cred by -- as I relentlessly asked -- offering up some examples of experts MPs should hear from should M312 pass.

Fumbled that ball too.

While JJ finds it fun to watch -- and it has been -- I'm getting really bored. (Betcha regular DJ! readers hit that wall months ago.)

It's soon over. The second and final hour of 'debate' is on September 21, with the vote on September 26.

How big will the FAIL WHALE be? According to ARCC, there are 108 anti-choice MPs. Those among that number with any political sense or ambition in Stevie Spiteful's caucus are booking dental appointments for September 26 as we speak.

How many will be left? I'm thinking Woody will be lucky to get 70 yeas.

What do you think?

Invitation to the M312 Bun-Fest

I just sent this email to: mike @ weneedalaw.ca, contact @ whenamihuman.com, stephen.woodworth @ parl.gc.ca

Good morning,
I am a prochoice blogger, resolutely opposed to M312. I blog here.

I have been asking at my blog and on twitter a simple question for M312 supporters: If M312 passes and a committee is formed to hear testimony intended to 'modernize' the definition of personhood, which experts would you like MPs to hear from?

There have been no replies.

Presumably, in your research and activism on this subject, you have identified, at least provisionally, a list of such experts.

Since Canadians will be paying for this exercise, I think we are entitled to a glimpse at the proposed guest list.

After all, how can MPs be asked to vote for a discussion without some idea of the sort of information they will be seeking? Science? Law? Medicine?

I await your answers.

Thank you.

fern hill

Will there be any replies?

Me, I don't think so.


UPDATE: Zoom! Auto-reply.

Thank you so much for contacting us! This site is run by volunteers (not Mr. Woodworth or his staff), and we will get back to you as soon as we can. For all media inquiries, please contact Mr. Woodworth directly at stephen.woodworth@parl.gc.ca. Sincerely, the When Am I Human Team.

UPDATE 2: More auto-reply.

Good morning Ms. Hill,

On behalf of Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre, I would like to acknowledge receipt of and thank you for your email.

Please be assured that your correspondence will be brought to Mr. Woodworth's direct attention.

Sincerely,

He's got me blocked on Twitter. We'll see how much direct attention I get.

Today in M312 News

I started the conversation here. I reported on the first reply from the author of Woodworth's Wank, aka M312, here and what I thought would be the end of it here.

But no. There's more. From today's email:

I`m sorry that you find an honest attempt to initiate an evidence based dialogue about the important implications of a law which deems to be non-human children who are in all likelihood as humans as you and I to be insulting. Rest assured that I do not consider scientifically descriptive evidence of the development of a child to be a "circus", regardless of what might occur elsewhere.   I simply believe we all have a grave and clear duty of conscientious objection when faced by a law like subsection 223(1) which constitutes an assault on the principle of universal human rights.

My staff apologizes for the typographical error which you so importantly noted.

Typical Con, eh? Superiority, condescension, snark, and blame shifting. Some crappy sentence structure to boot.

I am leaving the conversation here.

In other M312-related news, there's a new arrow in the fetus fetishists' quiver. Yet another website pressing the 'personhood' gambit.

But like the zygote zealots yipping on Twitter and blogs, this gang didn't get the memo about M312 NOT being about abortion atall atall.

Look what adorns its Contact your MP page.

The usual headless, featureless incubator with the All Important Fetus.


And look who holds the copyright. A gang called Life Issues Institute. Surprise! It's USian!

We don't want this BS in Canada. Contact your MP and tell her or him that.

The Pre-Born Personhood Initiative

Boo-hoo-hoo.

An anti-abortion group in Ohio is facing a significant shortfall in the number of signatures needed to ask voters in the presidential battleground this fall whether the state constitution should declare that life begins when a human egg is fertilized, putting up another obstacle for the "personhood" movement.

They've got just 5% of the signatures needed.

And they don't seem to be trying very hard. They're not spending any money. Even the the Catlick Church isn't on side.

I wonder why.

Oh look.

The personhood movement has already faced setbacks in other states this year. Supporters fell short of the required number of signatures to qualify for the November ballots in Nevada and California. And in Oklahoma, the state's highest court halted an amendment effort there to grant personhood rights to human embryos, saying the measure is unconstitutional.

Voters have rejected similar proposals that made ballots in 2008 and 2010 in Colorado.

They also defeated the initiative in November 2011 in Mississippi, which has some of the nation's toughest abortion regulations.

Coz it's a loser idea?

On Twitter, I've been annoying the heck out of @roseblue/SUZYALLCAPS by characterizing Woodworth's Wank (M312) as a personhood initiative and posting links to possible implications of it, including criminalizing miscarriage, outlawing all abortions, banning hormonal and IUD birth control, possibly even banning in vitro fertilization treatments.

Those concerns have been raised in Ohio, but are dismissed by the measure's proponents.

Supporters in Ohio have hoped to alleviate those concerns by rephrasing their proposed amendment to say it wouldn't affect "genuine contraception" or in vitro fertilization procedures.

Well, then.

On Twitter, when I asked if M312 would entail investigation of miscarriages. @roseblue/SUZYALLCAPS said: 'No'.

And we all felt reassured.

@fernhilldammit You & Canada have >@Roseblue 's< word on that! (Well I'm sure everyone will sleep better now - NOT.) ;-) #m312 #prochoice

— Lynne A (@lahtay44) June 21, 2012

Thing is, SUZYALLCAPS doesn't like the characterization as 'personhood'. SHE knows that under that rubric, it has LOST big time, and among the strongest voices against it are 'infertility advocates'.

(Plain text to avoid juvenile fetal porn redirect.)
http://www.bigbluewave.ca/2012/05/one-way-to-fight-personhood.html

SUZY says:

This is why I think pro-lifers should use the label "fetal rights" or "unborn rights" advocate.

Because that's what it ultimately is about.

Right, then.

Here's your assignment, fans of women's rights: Tweet, blog, and talk about Woodworth's Wank as a 'personhood' initiative.

It's not, of course, but as I'm saying on Twitter:

@roseblue doesn't want us to call #M312 a #personhood law. OK, it's a #preborn law on #personhood. #Preborn thingies exist, dammit!!!!

— Fern Hill (@fernhilldammit) June 21, 2012

FFS, Stop Lying

Over at SUZYALLCAPSLOCK's Fetal Pr0n Gore Fest, the top three categories/tags are prolife, abortion, and fetal rights. So maybe it's just a twitch when SHE tags nearly all HER tweets about Woodworth's Wank, aka M312, aka The When Does a Blob of Tissue's Rights Outweigh the Incubator's Rights Motion with #fetalrights.

Right? Just an automatic typing twitch. SHE's feeling revved and types #fetalrights because it feels gooooood.

Because M312 is NOT about abortion.

Right?

Let's look into fetal rights.

Much opposition to legal abortion in the West is based on a concern for fetal rights. Similarly many pro-choice groups oppose fetal rights, even when they do not impinge directly on the abortion issue, because they perceive this as a slippery slope strategy to restricting abortions.

Oh dear. 'Fetal rights' and 'abortion' together right there. Also. 'Slippery slope'.

Last night, SHE tweeted:

SHE has me blocked like most of the gutless yobs who are whining for the Debate, but block anyone who comes back with facts or uncomfortable questions. Also, being blocked is a ginormous pain in the butt. I can't retweet, can't embed, can't expand the conversation, i.e. see the context...

I replied:

@roseblue: Examples of countries 'recognizing' #fetalrights without affecting abortion, please? #M312

— Fern Hill (@fernhilldammit) July 27, 2012

I've repeated it at least three times since and it's been retweeted a few times too.

There's been no reply.

So, again I do the fetus fetishists' research for them. Back to wiki.
I found four countries that have enshrined fetal rights in law: some US states, Iran, Ireland, and Germany. The case in Germany is a bit twisty.

In 1993, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany held that the constitution guaranteed a right to life from conception, but that it is within the discretion of parliament not to punish abortion in the first trimester, providing that women agreed to undergo special counselling designed to discourage termination and "protect unborn life".[citation needed] The intermediate decision was the result of an attempt to join East Germany's abortion law to that of West Germany after reunification in 1990.

Ireland is no surprise. The case in Iran is also a bit twisty.

And we know how fetal rights play out in the US. In the ipso facto criminalization of pregnancy.

Under the heading 'Behavioral intervention', wiki says:

No U.S. state has enacted a law which criminalizes specific behavior during pregnancy, but, nonetheless, it has been estimated that at least 200 American women have been criminally prosecuted or arrested under existing child abuse statutes for allegedly bringing about harm in-utero through their conduct during pregnancy. Reasons for pressing charges included use of illicit drugs, consumption of alcohol, and failure to comply with a doctor's order of bedrest or caesarean section. Drug addicts have been accused of "supplying drugs to a minor" through unintentional chemical subjection via the umbilical cord. Others have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon with the "deadly weapon" in question being an illegal drug. Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota allow women who continue to use substances while pregnant to be civilly committed. Some states require that medical providers report any infant who is born with a physical dependency, or who tests positive for residual traces of alcohol or drugs, to child welfare authorities.

Giving fetuses rights takes rights away from women. Moreover, fetal rights creates a new class of people -- pregnant people.

Every pregnant person would be subject to an entirely different regime of law.

The fetus fetishists know this. Are okey-dokey with it.

But continue to lie that Woodworth's Wank is NOT about abortion and women's rights.

It bloody well is.

Halloween Jailbirds

*Sigh*. One of the Jubilee Jailbirds has been arrested again.

Yes, Linda Gibbons is up to her one-trick-pony trick again. Outside an abortion clinic, but according to the LieShite story, now with supporters. Plural.

One of her supporters had a video camera, proof at the link.

Maybe Linda wanted to join her pal Mary Wagner, who is still in jail, to show her what her little trinket looks like. Mary will get one too, courtesy of one of Canada's fetus fetishizing MPs, Maurice Vellacott.

In Canada, we celebrate the Queen's Jubilee by giving commemorative medals to convicted serial clinic harassers.

A petition asking the Governor General to correct this travesty is here.

BONUS: At Twitter, on the Zombie Hashtag #M312, insane fetus fetishists (well, only one so far) are tweeting about abortion as a satanic ritual.

Letting SmokeOut ‏@LettingSmokeOut
“Satanists view an abortion to be the most highly valued form of human sacrifice." Former satanist, Doc Marquis ‪#m312‬ ‪#ProChoice‬

Letting SmokeOut ‏@LettingSmokeOut
Abortion & the occult: a look inside life at a death mill ‪http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/abortion-and-the-occult-a-glimpse-into-a-planned-parenthood-death-mill …‬ ‪#cdnpoli‬ ‪#m312‬ ‪#ProChoice‬ = Death ‪#Obama2012‬ ‪#p2‬ ‪#WarOnWomen‬

Well, 'tis the season, after all.

(Check out the holiday decorations at A Creative Revolution.)

Lying AntiChoice Liars on M312

The above drawing, from here, encapsulates the odious dishonesty at the heart of M312.

The pregnant women are featureless incubators, whose human rights are secondary to the *personhood* rights that Blob Blogging Whinge-Nut SUZANNE and other assorted lobbyists for The Fetus©™ would shove down the throat of the majority of Canadians who believe that the current manner of administering abortion works well.

The fetuses look like one-month-old infants, not the *preborn* that the lying liars are always yammering about.

The various antichoice dissemblers quoted want to criminalize a medical intervention that is currently provided to pregnant women by healthcare professionals. Those are not practiced capriciously, as the grotesque caricature suggests, 2 days before the end of gestation.

Here's a good example of prevarication and extreme ideological glurge, as expressed by Stephanie Gray:

We support any incremental measures that are effective in saving lives and which act to limit, not introduce, the evil of abortion. Evangelium Vitae provides a helpful guideline by stating, “when it is not possible to overturn or completely abrogate a pro-abortion law, an elected official, whose absolute personal opposition to procured abortion was well known, could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law and at lessening its negative consequences at the level of general opinion and public morality. This does not in fact represent an illicit cooperation with an unjust law, but rather a legitimate and proper attempt to limit its evil aspects.”

Because Canada has an absence of any law on abortion, and because in such a situation that means any abortion is permitted, and because our criminal code does not consider the pre-born human beings until they have “completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of [their] mother[s],” we support gestational limits on abortion. Our ultimate goal is that all abortions be banned, but we recognize that achieving that larger goal means meeting smaller goals in the meantime. Every year in Canada, 100,000 children are killed. We believe all 100,000 need to be saved, but if we cannot save 100,000 right away, we believe that saving 10,000 (or whatever number we can in the meantime) is better than 0. Because no abortions are currently banned, introducing a gestational ban on abortion acts to limit, rather than introduce, the evil.

More DJ! posts about MP Woodworth's M312.

Quick Way to Tell Your MP How to Vote on M312

For people not on Twitter, leadsnow.ca has an automated email to PMSHithead and your MP on Woody's Wank.

It's gratifying to see so many different people on the #M312 hashtag making the announcement 'Stop the covert attempt to criminalize abortion' and the link to leadnow.

The fetus fetishists infesting that hashtag have numbered about five, twit-spamming the same message over and over: 'I love #M312. Please vote for it' aimed at today's short list of MPs. Amusingly, the NDP Communications Twitter account is almost always included.

So, if you haven't yet emailed your MP, this is a really quick way to do it.

Just say 'no', Canada

So, last night on Twitter, SUZYALLCAPSLOCK, as @roseblue, was squatting on the #M312 (Woodworth's Wank) hashtag in a prolonged fit of echolalia, obsessively repeating her mantra: 'It is *so* human. It's a fact.' Over and over and over again.

I got a little annoyed and decided to post links to Canadian Cynic's scathing take-down of her endorsement this past January of a USian hit list for abortion providers. SHE thinks we should have one here too. I thought that maybe people on the fence on M312 ('what's the harm in discussing when life begins?') might be interested in the sort of person who is fanatically in favour of it. And, in particular, what a lying, eliminationist nutbar SHE is.

By the way, I think desperation is setting in to the pro-M312 camp as they realize the truth of what Chantal Hébert said on May 11. They are going to lose. Big. Time.

A defeat this time — at the hands of the most socially-conservative friendly majority government in decades — would be a crushing blow to the anti-abortion cause.

It could be construed as its biggest setback since the Supreme Court ruling.

Given the active opposition of the prime minister to the motion, it would likely put the issue to rest at least in Parliament and, if not for all time, at least for the rest of his term in office.

This morning it dawned on me that today is the *third* anniversary of the assassination of Dr George Tiller. A man who had been targetted and hit-listed by the very group behind the new hit list SHE endorses. His murderer was, in fact, aided by a member of Operation ReScum.

What do we call that again? Oh yeah. Terrorism enabling.

While we in Canada have our insane fetus fetishists, overall we are not nearly as nutz as the US.

And we are not nutz because, well, we're Canadian, but also because abortion is a settled matter here.

Settled. As in, been there, done that.

No abortion doctors or clinics have been attacked here for years and years.

Let's keep it that way. Don't let the terrorism enablers have a platform for their hate and insanity.

Fuck the debate.

Personhood: 'Against Science & Scripture'

Yay! I got an answer to my question: 'What experts would pro-Wankers propose MPs listen to on prebornchildology if M312 passes?

This morning I noticed that SUZY said:

‪@j_tick‬ ‪@fernhilldammit‬ Scott Gilbert. I think he'd come up to Canada to give his information. ‪#M312‬

Note lack of helpful link for a quite common name.

I googled and hit this as most likely, but alas it has no linkie either.

Biologist Scott Gilbert, an expert in human development, tells us that there are at least four distinct moments that can be thought of as the beginning of human life. Each can be said to be biologically accurate.

Googled some more and found this.

Professor Gilbert received his B.A. in both biology and religion from Wesleyan University (1971), and he earned his Ph.D. in biology from the pediatric genetics laboratory of Dr. Barbara Migeon at the Johns Hopkins University (1976). His M.A. in the history of science, also from The Johns Hopkins University, was done under the supervision of Dr. Donna Haraway.

Seems likely, eh? Real credentials in appropriate fields even.

More google and then this article by the good professsor from last year on the occasion of the thundering defeat of the personhood initiative in the Mississippi election.

In 2007, the Legionaries of Christ, one of the most conservative Catholic orders, asked me to speak about the question Mississippi voters confronted this week: When does personhood begin? I was surprised at the invitation because, as an embryologist and historian of biology, I had written that there was no scientific consensus on this issue.

He then lists the various points at which religious and non-religious people have speculated 'life' begins.

Sounding good for the fetus fetishists, eh?

Oh-oh.

The conclusion.

Still other biologists contend that only birth itself makes us physically distinct individuals, independent of maternal physiology. The anatomy of our heart, lungs, and blood vessels changes at our first breath.

This, interestingly, is where the Bible claims personhood originates. Genesis 9:6 says that one who murders a man must himself be destroyed. But Exodus 21:22 says a man who causes a woman to miscarry is not to be put to death, but rather should pay a fine. In the Bible, personhood is a birthright.

The advocates of "zygote rights" - who plan to pursue measures in several other states following their Mississippi defeat - are going against both science and Scripture. It is a dangerous thing to equate a fertilized egg with an adult human. It not only makes the zygote like the person; it makes the person like the zygote. As less than half of normal human conceptions make it to term, most zygotes don't become babies. Zygotes can be cheap, and human life never should be.

Weeks after I started asking about experts, Chief Fetus Fetishist comes up with ONE.

And -- surprise! -- he's NOT on HER side.



UPDATE: Apparently that was a (weird) fetus fascist joke.

Suzanne Fortin ‏@Roseblue

@fernhilldammit Haha. I knew you'd fall for that. #M312 #cdnpoli

I don't geddit. He has exactly the right sort of credentials to speak to the subject.

MORE UPDATE: I still don't geddit.

http://www.bigbluewave.ca/2012/08/why-does-this-poor-choicer-think-scott.html

But SHE does admit that when life begins is merely an opinion, NOT as SHE has been screeching on Twitter a Fact.

The article also does not give Scott Gilbert's opinion on when life begins. And it is his opinion that will matter when he testifies in Parliament (assuming he would come to Canada for this purpose.)

SHE says he's staunchly 'pro-abortion' so I think we know his opinion.

Eenie-Meenie, Pro or Anti

After I wrote the open letter to opposition women's caucuses and Antonia Zerbisias retweeted it, it got some attention from Elizabeth May and Carolyn Bennett. (Djaouida Sellah is on twitter [@DSellahNDP] but hasn't weighed in and BQ's Maria Mourani seems not to have a twitter account.)

May said:

@ElizabethMay: @AntoniaZ @DSellahNDP @Carolyn_Bennett Thanks so much for your work! Do not leave out #CPC women MPs. Many (most?) are pro-choice. #cdnpol

Well, Antonia and I got busy checking both at ARCC and Campaign Lie.

According to ARCC, there are only six known pro-choice CONs: John Baird, Michael Chong, Peter Kent, Gordon O'Connor, Joe Oliver, and Lisa Raitt.

This surprised Ms May.

@AntoniaZ @fernhilldammit @DSellahNDP @Carolyn_Bennett I am surprised. Thanks for checking. #TellAntiChoiceMPsEverything #cdnpoli

— Elizabeth May MP (@ElizabethMay) March 27, 2012

ARCC's 'probable' anti-choice MPs list

Listings are based on voting record, anti-choice designation in previous elections, partial survey responses to Campaign Life Coalition, indicative public statements, and/or statements made to individual constituents. They are all Conservatives unless otherwise noted, and newly elected MPs are in bold. These MPs are also included on the Unknown list.
• Eve Adams
• Steven Blaney
• Ray Boughen
• John Carmichael
• Tony Clement
• Jim Flaherty
• Parm Gill
• Ed Holder
• Kevin Lamoureux (Liberal)
• Ben Lobb
• Lawrence Toet
• John Weston
• Terence Young

All of these are rated by CLC as 'caution', with a cute little yellow traffic light. They are 'still evaluating'.

There are a good number of MPs whose position is unknown, including three Liberals, rated by CLC with a 'caution': Sean Casey, Kevin Lamoureux, and Francis Scarpalggia.

Interestingly, CLC rates Shelly Glover and Mike Wallace, who told a constituent he'd vote against M312, as pro-abortion.

For CON MP Bruce Stanton, who told a local paper he'd vote against it, CLC has 'evaluation pending', but notes his position on M312.

For the record, here is Carolyn Bennett's reply:

@ElizabethMay @AntoniaZ @DSellahNDP #cdnpoli We are appalled @pmsh gone back on promise not2 reopen #choice debate nds2 reel in @woodworthmp

— Carolyn Bennett(@Carolyn_Bennett) March 27, 2012

Do you know whether your MP is pro-choice or anti-choice? Take advantage of Campaign Lie's handy-dandy search tool. All you need is the MP's last name. When the 'Bio' comes up, click on the next tab 'Contact' and zip him or her a quick question on M312, or as I'm calling it, Woodworth's Wank. You might want to include this link to ARCC's counter arguments.


ADDED: Go read JJ. Is there a blogburst brewing? Do we have WOMBemtum?

Successful Lawless Abortion

Amdist all the yammering about Woodworth's Wank (aka M312, or #M312 on Twitter), the question that still hasn't been answered is 'WHY?'

Why do we need to reexamine this issue?

As JJ points out, things ain't broke.

I don't think #fetushists get how hard it would be to justify a new law after 24 years of outrageously successful #LawlessAbortion #m312

— JJ (@jjhippie) May 26, 2012

(Doncha just love #LawlessAbortion? Make it trend!)

The only non-glurgey hemi-demi-semi-quasi reason the Wankers can come up with is that the law is based on an old definition of 'human being', which in this context -- the Criminal Code, mind -- equals 'person'.

Old. That's all they got.

Let's help them here. Some old laws are bad. But they're bad not because they're old but because there have been scientific or social developments. Or they're bad because they are inefficient, slow, cumbersome, expensive, etc.

Have there been scientific developments in 400 years? Of course.

Do they affect human reproduction? Yep. It's much safer. A little understanding of germ theory goes a long way in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality.

But apart from some technological tinkering, reproduction is still pretty much egg meets sperm and we're off! Until it stops or is stopped.

Biology, aka sex and reproduction, pace Dean Del Mastrobato, hasn't changed in 400 years.

Have there been social developments? Yep. But none -- such as women's rights, LGBT rights -- that works to the Wankers' advantage here.

So, is this 'old' law bad because it's slow or expensive or wasteful or just plain stoopid?

I haven't seen any arguments along those lines.

Nope. That's it. That's all they got.

Old.

And maybe it hasn't been changed in 400 years because it's straightforward and practical. You know -- successful.

Open Letter to Pro- and Anti-M312 MPs

I've been having stupid conversations on Twitter about Woodworth's Wank, aka Motion 312.

I've been asking for days now 'which expert witnesses would pro M312 people like MPs to hear from?'

No takers, unsurprisingly.

Just now in a spat about 'bias' in science and 'irrelevant scientific facts', I asked who then would decide which facts were relevant. MPs?

Like Maurice Vellacott?

Got this answer.

@fernhilldammit @jjhippie @libertylover555The special committee that would be formed under #m312, who would hear all Cdns. #prolife

— Promac (@DVCMAC) July 6, 2012

I'm trying to correct the dunderhead about 'all Canadians' not being qualified experts in the 'modern' science Woodwank is supposedly trying to bring to bear.

We know how successful that will be. . .

And now we come to the Open Letters part.

Dear MPs who would like to debate when women's rights become abrogated for those of the fetus:

Do some homework over the summer. Come prepared with names of experts you would like to hear from.

Such lists wouldn't be binding of course, just examples.

We at DJ! will help. Do NOT choose experts from these BAD (biased, agenda-driven) Science outfits or your whole 'this has NOTHING to do with abortion' meme will be revealed for the BS it is.

You're welcome.


Dear MPs who see this ploy as a total waste of time intended solely to reopen the settled matter of abortion:

Please acquaint yourselves with the above practitioners of BAD Science to better howl down the fetus fetishists.

You're welcome too.

Would You Debate Nelson Muntz?

On Twittter, JJ, The Unrepentant Hippie and I are discussing @BerthaWilsonMtn.

@fernhilldammit I wonder if @BerthaWilsonMtn will brainlessly mimic hashtag #fetuswhipped #M312 Hahahahaha #BrainDamage

— JJ (@jjhippie) May 26, 2012

He (? let's assume it's a he) mimics what Sane People tweet about Woodworth's Wank (M312) and changes the link.

Hahahaha. Knee-slapping funny, if you are an eight-year-old boy.

We shouldn't be surprised. The whole 'Bertha Wilson Motion' thing is a typical repurposing of clever pro-choice messages by imagination-challenged fetus fetishists.

He's got a particular fascination with deBeauxOs and moi. Here he claims the entire anti-M312 argument is based on one scathingly tongue-in-cheek tweet by dBO, which he had already taken issue with.

There's a screenshot of her tweet which I grabbed.

This week’s LOL Award (Lack of Logic or Laugh out Loud…your choice) goes to this nice little anonymous lady(deBeauxOs) that speaks tough, well, because she is anonymous…and because, you know, when you are trying to influence government and you don’t have a shred of logic…you post “intelligent” comments that really advance your argument…and demonstrate your ability to debate issues and influence public opinion.

For those who are unaware, necrophilia is sexual attraction to corpses.

It takes an amazing sick mind, and probably a supporter of the NDP, to even suggest that there is any similarity between necrophilia and this.

In the meantime, this is what is actually lobbying government.

Oh, sorry…deBeauxOs doesn’t actually lobby government..you have to be a REAL person to do that.

The account is just an anonymous RoboDrone.

No wonder they are afraid to debate.  We would be too if this is the best we could muster.

LOL.

All that's missing is an armpit fart and a Ha! Ha!.

Go leave him some love. Since April 11 the blog has garnered only eleven comments total.

M312: Suckering the Rubes

Of course somebody has figured out a way to make money off Woodworth's Wank, aka M312.

A set of postcards to send to MPs.

These people have obviously done extensive market research into the prime target audience for this scam opportunity.

Here's a look at our newest postcard design which is now at the printer. We are very excited about the message on this card and believe it will have a big impact on those who read it. Besides, who could help but love that beautiful pink little baby!

Coz PINK babies are the most wonderfulest!

Order yours today!

Birth is not Magical - Full Kit
This kit includes 320 postcards, enough for all our MPs plus a few to give to friends so they can see what you're doing and write a few of their own!

Included are
• 320 (4x6 postcards)
• full checklist of MP names
• instructions

Pricing includes
• 320 cards @ $0.042ea = $13.44
• Canada Post anywhere in Canada = $15.50
Total = $30.00

Racist Christaliban entrepreneurs suckering the rubes. Ain't Canada a grand place?

(If you'd prefer to express your opposition to opening the door to decriminalizing abortion to your MP, here you can get pro-choice postcards. FREE.

Watch where you wank that motion.

Yesterday my co-blogger posted the results of her magisterial investigative efforts.

fern hill showed us the creepy face of the homophobic, racist and Dominionist fetus lobby that is currently attempting to erode women's procreative and sexual rights through Woodworth's M312.

Today we learn

Religious and ideological websites can carry three times more malware threats than pornography sites, according to research from security firm Symantec. [...]

Symantec found that the average number of security threats on religious sites was around 115, while adult sites only carried around 25 threats per site--a particularly notable discrepancy considering that there are vastly more pornographic sites than religious ones.

From here.

So, if you pay a visit to Mike Schouten's gynophobic website, make sure to protect your laptop or device with as much security as possible, essentially the electronic version of this:

More DAMMIT JANET! posts about M312.

(Not So) Baseless Smears!

Waaaah! Somebody smeared Stephen Woodworth, he of Woodworth's Wank/M312, on Twitter! While he was getting his sick mum a hamburger! His press release, sans mention of the burger. (By the way, the Guelph Mercury does a pretty nice smear of the guy who posted it.)

It was all over the place and while I didn't retweet it, knowing by now that Woody is far too slippery to come out and say something that explicit, lots of people did.

deBeauxOs pointed out (can't find the bloody tweet) that while the quote is a conflation of Santorum and Woodworth (and doesn't that creep a body right out?), it seems to reflect his view of the issue.

Now since Woody's got me blocked, it is huge pain in the ass to track down his actual tweets. Luckily, @lahtay44 copied his answer to a question on rape.

Typically, he deflects.

@WoodworthMP: **For some the answer might be different if question was"Do you support a raped woman's right to take her child's life?"**

I don't know if that was in answer to SomeCndnSkeptic, who has been asking for Woody's view on pregnancy resulting from rape for fucking months. I've asked him and will report.

So. You decide. The false quote is grosser, but is it fundamentally different from the loaded-language answer Woody did give?

Image source.

ADDED: SomeCndnSkeptic replies.

@fernhilldammit He said it is unanswerable because we have to "first agree on terms".Spin bullshit. #M312

— Steve Thoms (@SomeCndnSkeptic) June 27, 2012

ADDED: LifeShite links to this post! *Waves* at LifeShiters. Be sure to check this post from today too.

ADDED: LifeShite says I'm accusing fetus fetishists of condoning rape because they oppose abortion even in cases of rape. Have a read of this old post on how ff's discount the incidence of rape-caused pregnancy and thus, 'hey, hardly anybody gets knocked up, what's the big deal with no rape exemption?' I do call that condoning rape, wouldn't you?

The Ultrasound Circus Comes to Canada

The convo with MP and point-man for the Vatican Taliban, Stephen Woodworth, continues.

To recap, I asked what witnesses he would propose if Motion 312, aka Woodworth's Wank, passes. I also asked what 'modern' science persuaded him that the motion was necessary.

His reply:

As mentioned, it will be for the Committee to determine the witnesses.  You are getting ahead of matters.

Let`s stay with first things first.  As to important advances in the last 400 years, I will mention one for you, 21st century ultrasonagraphy [sic] permits imaging of the organs and limbs of a child before birth in a manner impossible 400 years ago.

Still weaselling on the experts and a misspelled example of an imaging technology. (His punctuation isn't too hot either.)

How unsurprising that he cites ultrasound as the convincer. We've done a fair bit of reporting here at DJ! on the fetus fetishists's fetish for ultrasound.

Here is my response (with link embedded).

You refuse to give examples of credible experts from your no-doubt extensive research. Fine. Canadians will draw their own conclusions on your silence.

But you cite (and unfortunately misspell) ultrasonography. Perhaps the committee will be treated to the circus presented to Ohio legislators when two fetuses 'testified' by means of ultrasound.

That, by the way, was in aid of passing an anti-abortion 'heartbeat' bill.

Well, why not? This government has already made Canada a laughing stock on the international scene for its treatment of real science. If M312 passes, we can add to that reputation by accepting only junk science.

Your strategy of deliberately conflating biology with law is well-known and -documented in the various 'personhood' initiatives in the US. Such initiatives consistently fail spectacularly even in the most conservative US states like Mississippi.

Canadians are at least as smart as Mississippians. You insult each one of us with this transparent ploy.

Thank you for replying. I'm done now.

Beyond one robo response, there has been nothing from the two online backers of M312, whenamihuman and weneedalaw to my simple question. And I don't expect any from them.

Woodworth's Wank: A Personal Reaction

I watched the vote on Woodworth's Wank yesterday online. People had been predicting/guessing how many yeas it would get. I said 58. Kady O'Malley, the CBC House reporter who had in effect told us not to worry our purty little heads about it, weighed in with her number: 30 to 50. (I think she refined it later to 50, but I'm not sure.) Of the ones I saw or that used the #M312bet tag, Aaron Wherry won the fruit basket with 90. (It was 203 to 91.)

As MPs bobbed up and down for yeas and nays, my head was spinning and my gut was clenched. I quickly lost track of the count, but it was crystal clear that this was no crushing defeat.

There were waaaay too many yeas.

I felt I was going to throw up.

My reaction surprised me. It was visceral and emotional and not too rational.

When the count was final, I was dazed. Then I saw this tweet from JJ*.

Relieved but still feel like puking. That was like waiting for a decision from a Therapeutic Abortion Committee*: remember those? #M312

— JJ (@jjhippie) September 26, 2012

She nailed it.

.@fernhilldammit Total strangers making my most personal decisions, all over again. I'm *very* relieved, but also very teary-eyed #M312

— JJ (@jjhippie) September 26, 2012

And people wonder why women worry our purty little heads about this 'trivial' stuff?

Later, @juicexlx offered a 'group hug'.

* Therapeutic Abortion Committee.