Sooey Says

I am pro-choice. That means I believe Canadians must fund abortion services in hospitals all across the country in the same way that we fund other medical procedures that require no out-of-pocket patient expenses or special consideration by hospital administrative boards or the running of a gauntlet of picketers.

In spite of what we may believe is so, the above is not. Access to abortion is an issue. A really big issue and it is not getting the attention it deserves.

In my world, women should be able to say to their employers - whether Butcher, or Baker, or Catholic Priest candlestick maker, or even New Conservative Government of Canada Prime Minister, "I can't come in to work today because I'm going to to the hospital to have an abortion" and not risk being fired or censured in any way by said man (because, let's face it, most butchers and bakers ARE men - just not in the home). Sure, the boss can go into his closet and secretly sentence her to burn in hell for all etenity, but he can't fire her - or shouldn't be able to fire her - if, in fact, he can. I don't know. Maybe one of my legal beagle readers can run a check on that one.

Because I've come to the point in my pro-choice stance where I believe only a class action lawsuit by women who believe they have suffered unduly from having had an abortion because of this well-funded and anti-democratic ongoing campaign by anti-choice crusaders (as opposed to anything to do with having had an abortion) - will silence this subtly and not so subtly approved form of fascism.

Standard Disclaimer: Sooey has never had an abortion and isn't likely to require one any time soon. Sooey was lucky in childbirth and although she feels empathy for women who haven't been so lucky, she does not believe that she owes them a baby, either. A kidney, maybe - she's got two good ones and only needs one. But not a baby.

Now, I know it's harsh to the ear, but tough nuts, I'm going to say it anyway because in all this standard disclaimer abortion rights talk: "last resort", "nobody wakes up one morning and says I think I'll get pregnant today so I can have an abortion later", "tough decision no one wants to have to make" - something essential to the debate about abortion rights is missing. Here it is: Abortion isn't the problem. It's the solution. Abortion is just a medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy. To my mind, you either support a woman's right to choose to have an abortion. Or you don't. (And the people who argue that abortion should be allowed only in cases of incest or rape rank right up there with abusive nuns and nose-picking car drivers in my books. Mostly because anybody who would argue that incest can't fairly be assumed to be rape in 99.9% of cases is probably harbouring some pretty sick delusions of what little girls want - sexually - from Grampa. I mean, think of it. They think that's a compromise: "Only in cases of incest or rape". Girls and women having to prove Grampa or a violent criminal did it before they have the shameful right to abort the fetus.)

Sick much? The Reform Party's health critic believed that nonsense. Dr. something or other. Do you believe it? It's a fact. A Canadian fact. Ask Vic Toews his views on abortion. Tony Clement once famously said on the provincial campaign trail right here in Ottawa that he's "51% in favour of abortion, 49% opposed". He's Canada's Minister of Health, by the way. Yeah. I know. Well, SOMEBODY voted for the New Conservative Government of Canada.

And this is an aside, but I wonder why all the white male Christian pundits who want feminists to GET MAD about the Islamic Fundamentalist Menace and who vehemently oppose women's rights to legal abortions (ESPECIALLY legal abortions that are publicly funded under our healthcare system) don't understand that, yes, if and when the Islamic Fundamentalist Menace paddles over to our shores and takes over our political system and denies women the right to abortion we will get mad but right now - YOU ARE THE ENEMY! A highly hypocritical enemy, I might add, since I notice these same fellows aren't devoting their lives to saving the unborn over in China. Where women are FORCED to have abortions. EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY!

But no - it's the Islamic Fundamentalist Menace I'm supposed to worry about. Why? Because it'll re-criminalize abortion? I know it will. So will you if you have your way. And once you take away my human rights - because reproductive control over my body is a human right - the rest is just more of the same. Geddit?

Another aside - how in the hell do these anti-choice campaigners suppose the government will enforce the re-criminalization of abortion? Will pregnant women be strapped to gurneys until the fetus is brought to term to prevent them from seeking illegal abortion services? How would this system work, exactly. Like the reverse system works in China, perhaps? Every pregnancy brought to term would certainly feed our pundits' fantasies of a white Christian fighting force to counter-act the ever present Islamic Fundamentalist Menace. I'm not sure what they'd do with the Muslim babies being born to Canadian women. Maybe they haven't got that far yet in their plan to prevent the Islamic Fundamentalist Menace from taking over our world. Or is it their world. Because their world certainly isn't my world.

And quite frankly, I don't know what they're so afraid of anyway. All of those guys would do very well in an Islamic Fundamentalist Menace society.

But the real reason I am posting about this in such a "going off half-cocked" way is because the Ottawa Citizen (it has a fundamentalist Christian editorial board - of all things journalistic) is reporting on a decision by the Carleton University Student Association to not fund an on-campus anti-choice group.

Oh really? And why was it funding an anti-choice group before? Because THAT makes ME mad. A group campaigning to take away human rights was being funded by a student association? For how long? Who approved THAT decision?

For shame. Thank gawd the new President has put a stop to such irresponsible nonsense. In fact, said anti-choice group just sent a lawyer around to the latest meeting of the association. The President, a feisty gal, reportedly said to Mr. Strongarm, "You want to bring on a lawsuit? Go right ahead."

Good for her. Because that brings me back to the beginning of this entry. I started thinking about the reality of abortion services in this country and the language used by Christian fundamentalists and others - lots of others - about abortion - a perfectly legal medical procedure - and as far as I am concerned, they are inciting hatred against a group of people. A specific group of people. They speak of women who have had abortions as murderers deserving to burn in hell. They - just like the people who don't seem to disagree with Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorists - don't condemn and often tacitly approve the murder of doctors. And I say doctors because that's what these victims of homicide are. People who provide abortion services are doctors. Anti-choice "crusaders" have created a climate of fear for doctors providing abortion services, women who are in need of abortions and people who campaign for better access to abortion services for all women in Canada.

Anti-choice crusaders seem to be completely free in our society to actively whip people up into a frenzy of hatred against a specific group of people at rallies and campaigns across the country. Why?

Should they be allowed to do this? I'm just asking. Because I support the right to free speech. But abortion is legal. Why are women having to put up with these hate-filled diatribes and attempts by people to take away their rights as people? Is it time to fight back in the courts against the demagogues who want the state to take control over women's reproductive rights? At what point does society stop saying, "Just ignore them. They'll soon get tired and go home." Because they don't get tired. They win elections. They even conceal their agendas to get elected. Once in power they take away funding for women's legal rights groups and stack the judiciary with anti-choice advocates. It's happening right now. Here in Canada. Look at the changes Stephen Harper has made in just a few months.

Like I said - I'm just asking. But when do we fight back? Or do we just keep taking this constant assault on our rights as people?

Abortion is a legal medical procedure provided by our universal publicly funded healthcare system.

It's time we started defending it.

Louder.