Comments (9)

By Katie Kish, March 5, 2009 11:41 am

And by sometimes, I mean quite often.

A 9 year old girl had to have an abortion because she was raped by her stepfather. You think this would be an open and shut case. She’s 9. She was raped. She’s too tiny to carry a fetus. (actually 2, as she had twins). But nooo.

But Marcio Miranda, a lawyer for the Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife in north-eastern Brazil, said the girl should have carried the twins to term and had a caesarean section.

“It’s the law of God: do not kill. We consider this murder,” Ms Miranda said in comments reported by O Globo.

Yet another reason I’m against religion. And why I’m pro-empowerment for women so they can take back control over their own bodies.

Oh wait, I have another one. An ad that promotes whitening skin with a sexist twist.

We can never be happy with what we have. Too fat, not white enough, too skinny, too white, hair is too curly, too straight, big hips, small boobs……women want to be white (apparently) – but if you have pale legs you don’t want to be seen at the swimming pool. Not to mention that “I swallow” line is just horribly inappropriate and gross. After she’s done swallowing she should probably go get Asian Blepharoplasty and blue contacts… and color her hair to be blonde. Then she’ll be perfect.

Comments (2)

By J. Kirkintilloch, January 27, 2009 1:07 pm

(See more from J. Kirkintilloch at Sorepoints.com)
 
In Canada there has been a cold war on abortion ever since the 1988 Morgentaler verdict, where Canadian Supreme Court struck down law limiting a woman’s access to abortion. Prior to that, there was limited medically-approved access. Since then, there has been no limitations put on women seeking abortions. And in 1989, the ruling in the Chantal Daigle case further supported this, by denying that right of a father to have any say in whether a woman has an abortion. Successive governments with no political interest in reopening the debate has left Canada with no abortion regulation to this day.

Recently however, with the election of minority (socially) Conservative governments, the threat of this cold war warming up has increased.

Rod Bruinooge, a federal Conservative MP, recently entered the fray, claiming he was now chair of multi-party Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus stating:“Canada has far greater protections for human kidneys than we do for human fetuses.”

The logic here was that in Canada, while you can’t sell organs, you can terminate a growing fetus at any time before it is actually born. He complains about a low birth rate resulting from a devaluing of children due to abortion, and references his part aboriginal ancestry as a source for his moral stance on this issue.

In response to this, I would like to say first that this comparison is fraught with ethical complications. Its true we don’t allow people to remove their “kidney and sell it on eBay to the highest bidder” but this has more to do with protecting poor people from exploitation. (You can’t sell blood in Canada, ‘paid’ surrogacy was banned in 2004, and you can’t sell sex either.) This also means that wealthy people can’t jump the queue in organ transplants dooming poor people who need the transplant more urgently.

As to population issues, most things I have read point to affluence and access to birth control, as the leading cause of low birth rate, not abortion legislation. And really, unless you have a problem with immigrants filling the gap, low birth rate is not a real problem.

Abortion rights are also more complicated, as they arguably involve two biological entities, mother and fetus. I won’t argue the ethics of abortion here, suffice it to say, I don’t think government should force a woman to carry a baby she doesn’t want to term.

Bruinooge also states “Most Canadians would also agree that an unborn child in the ninth month of gestation, moments away from delivery, should not be eligible for an elective abortion. However…it is in fact legal.”

Legally, its true, there is no limit on abortion. This medical procedure could be done, even at the very last minute of pregnancy. Now, fact is, this simply doesn’t happen. There are cases of later term abortions due to non-viable fetuses (those that are confirmed will die shortly after birth) and direct threats to the mothers life, but the vast majority of abortions are done very early on.

So do we need a law? One could make the argument that however uncommon irresponsible late term abortions are, we should still, as a society, clearly define where we stand on this important issue. The problem is, there is a very good reason that government after government since 1988 has avoided dealing with this issue. It a political hot potato, that is both controversial and involves radical factions that have no interest in compromises. Some Pro-choice advocates will argue ANY law that recognizes the fetus as anything more than a cancerous tumor damages a woman’s right to choice. On the other side the Pro-life advocates are indeed looking for a wedge issue with which to push for as many legal restrictions as possible, effectively making abortion inaccessible and/or illegal, for as many Canadian women as possible.

In the end any politician who advocates reasonable and moderate bioethics is going to be attacked from both sides. Birth is the standard, birth is the physical event that we all agree results in two human beings. Even if, you believe as I do, that the ethics of late term abortions are something we should rationally debate, the reality is, very few people have any interest in being rational on this issue.

Comments (0)

By Katie Kish, January 23, 2007 11:45 am

This post by Marc at Punkass is wicked. I never thought I’d actually find a reason to tell people that I had seen Rosemary’s Baby for the first time 2 years ago – but yeah, I saw it, and I’m fuckin’ stoked that I’ve actually found someone else who saw so much in it in terms of patriarchy.

In Rosemary’s Baby, this cult of satanism is nothing more than
a cult of patriarchy. Rosemary’s discovery of its machinations is
really a discovery of the way she’s been used and controlled by the men
around her. Had she wised up sooner to the total disregard men of
authority have for women, she might’ve been able to save the world. But
she didn’t, and her misguided trust in those men and the institutions
they built for themselves allowed the anti-christ to be born.

Stellar.

Oh and PS I realize that I didn’t post for "blog for choice day" I feel pretty bad about it. But I couldn’t… get myself in the right frame of mind to do it I guess. I have a lot of really great stories I could tell about abortions in my life with friends, family and myself – some are completely heartbreaking. I really should have blogged about it, but every time I started a post I didn’t feel like I was doing my thoughts justice. Maybe I’m just self deprecating a little too much – but please know, I am pro-choice, and I did try to make a post, but… it just wouldn’t come out. I have posted about it before. I just can’t find the post.

Comments (2)

By Katie Kish, January 7, 2007 2:08 am

Seriously now – you’ve all got to have one hell of a laugh at this article. Hey ladies – don’t be fat because that’s unattractive, but also – don’t run because you’ll get all saggy and your tits wont be as hot! Shuuut up.

"The end result is likely to be hurt and saggy instead of the cute and little."

That’s just… … … Hilarious. My sister lost a ton of weight from running – as did my aunt Mel. (Well, then Aunt Mel had 2 babies… so she gained it all again). But neither of them ended up saggy… Or hurt. CUSS has more.

You can see that Abstract Nonsense was taken off my blog roll – its because Alon is co-blogging at Appletree now, everything but his math posts will be over there. I rarely read the math posts anyway – so now I just go to Appletree and save the trip. His latest post only makes me think one thing… "All that money spent on war and weapons, yet the fight against global warming is too expensive…"

More evidence pops up daily that humans are huge fuck-ups and that we’re the reason we’re all going to die from natural disasters in the near future. (Near on a geological scale… …well SUPER DUPER DUPER near on a geological time scale…(-: )

The magnitude-5.6 quake that struck Newcastle, in New South Wales, on
December 28, 1989, killed 13 people, injured 160, and caused 3.5
billion U.S. dollars worth of damage (Australia map).

That quake was triggered by changes in tectonic forces caused by 200
years of underground coal mining, according to a study by Christian D.
Klose of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in
Palisades, New York.

I hate my species. That should be a shirt!

Oh and PS – Rock on Nacy Pelosi!

Representative Nancy Pelosi made history yesterday when she
became the first ever woman Speaker of the House. After a roll call on
the floor of the House of Representatives, the new 110th Congress
elected Pelosi,
an Italian-American feminist as their Speaker.
As Pelosi took the Speaker’s gavel for the first time, she announced,
"I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship."

Woot! and I also read this today – Togo hearts abortions ergo I heart Togo. You really need to read the entire headline of that article or you get a little bit of a scare…

The African nation of Togo has become one just a handful of countries on the continent to legalize some forms
of abortion. The western African nation now allows abortions in cases
of rape or incest and the change is seen as a possible harbinger of
things to come as pro-abortion groups seek to topple pro-life laws in Africa.
         

According
to a Reuters report, the small country recently published a new abortion law.

The law says abortions can only be done by a doctor in rape or incest cases. Abortions are allowed "if there is a strong risk that the unborn child will by affected by a particularly serious medical
condition."

And just a couple peices of Canada news before I turn in for the night. (aka go watch Almost Famous because I’ve basically stopped sleeping…) There is a new show on Canadian television… Little Mosque on the Prairie. I’ve never wanted to watch a tv show so badly in my life.

In the advance scenes of a new Canadian
television comedy, a Muslim man stands in an airport queue talking to
his mother on a mobile telephone.

 
"Don’t put Dad on the phone," he implores. "I’ve been planning this
for months, it’s not like I dropped a bomb on him. If Dad thinks it’s
suicide, then so be it. This is Allah’s plan for me."

 
The passenger in front of him, a sensibly stout Canadian, cranes
her neck to listen in on the conversation, becoming increasingly and
comically alarmed. As she rushes off to tell the authorities, the man
finishes his sentence.

 
"I’m moving to the prairies to run a mosque."

BWA …it better be hilarious.

Other than that… In canada a Bishop is apparently "reaching out" to natives. You know… if he really wanted to help he could shut his preaching yap and raise some money for their education or something… Or start a shit storm to the government about the horrible housing conditions they’re putting up with. …Or start up some unemployment agencies that could help them out… Honestly – why is preaching going to help them at all? The natives have no jobs, no money, no education, their children huff gas and we won’t even help them… with any of that. …But we’ll preach. …Geez louise.

Global warming is still effecting Canada, ashley was pissy that she went for a run in 10 degree weather the other day over in Ontario. It just isn’t right… it should be snowing buckets over there by now. And up where it actually is snowy… 3 were killed and 2 were hurt in a shooting.

Comments (1)

By Katie Kish, November 21, 2006 9:51 am

There isn’t much worth loving, so lets do some "the world is fucked up"… shall we?

Via Feministing I learned that Nicaragua has eliminated all exceptions for abortions.

Some opponents to the law had hoped Mr. Bolaños, a conservative, would
not sign the bill because it did not include the stiffer sentences he
had wanted for women who had had illegal abortions, or for those who
had performed abortions. The six-year prison term remains unchanged
under the law. The president had asked for a 30-year prison term.

Ruin your own life with a child, or they’ll attempt to ruin your life for you. If I were a woman in Nicaragua I’d be raising a shit storm.

Canada’s PM, Mr. Harper, met the Chinese President, and was said to be a ‘laughing stock‘.

“[Mr. Harper's] dangerously driven by preconceptions, deceptions, self-delusions and arrogance,” Mr. Graham said Monday.

*Shrugs* … this doesn’t suprise me. My country is being run by a fucking moron. Not *as* bad as America’s fucking moron, but I wouldn’t trust Harper with a war either.

Universal is sueing MySpace because of illegal downloading.

Universal Music Group (UMG) on Friday filed a
lawsuit against MySpace.com, alleging that the Web site is building a
business based on publishing stolen songs and music videos.

The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, called MySpace a "vast virtual warehouse" of pirated copyrighted material that belongs
to blockbuster artists such as Mariah Carey and U2. UMG also claimed in
the filing that "no intellectual property is safe" from the alleged
copyright infringement.

Okay, I’m sorry, but why wouldn’t universal just bunk up with them? MySpace is huge, why not get in on that sexy action? And I think say the site is ‘based’ on stolen songs and music is a big over the top – not only is it a networking site, not a music site, it also happens to give a spot light to bands that aren’t ‘bitchen’ and ‘hoe’ filled enough to make it in the main stream.

Kristin Wilson of Edmonton, AB is sueing the Edmonton police force for $6 million dollars.

Edmonton’s police chief has ordered a misconduct hearing under the
provincial Police Act to probe an altercation involving an officer who
was photographed last June hitting a 20-year-old woman who was
handcuffed during a raucous street party.

Good. Sue ‘em up and fuckin’ win.

A study says that doctors may be contributing to Canadian addicts.

The research found that heroin, once the drug of choice for most
addicts, has been largely replaced by prescription narcotics, including
Dilaudid and OxyContin, in most cities in the study. Exceptions are
Montreal and Vancouver, which are major heroin import points.

Last year when I went to the doctor to talk about my inability to sleep and my depression he automatically put me on 3 different medications… Lithium, Seroquel and… shit, I forget what its called Effexor maybe, but I think thats what the second doctor decided to put me on… Anyway, logically you would deal with the depression or the sleep as a root cause of the other, but no. He was quick to get me out of his office by slapping down a few prescriptions and telling me to make an appointment for 3 weeks later. The second doctor I went to, did the same thing.

Despite with Andy Pandy says, NYC police claim NYC is a safe place. …At least murder wise.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was quoted as saying that the 7
percent rise in murder rate was caused in part by a large jump in
re-classified homicides, or people who were attacked years ago, but
died recently from those wounds.

Kelly said when those deaths were excluded, the murder rate is
only up 3 percent. So far this year there have been 499 homicides
compared to 467 through the same period last year. Despite the rise in
the murder rate, the city is on pace to have the second- lowest number
of murders per year since the early 1960′s.

…That’s a lot of homicides.

Some white supremacist gang members are being sentenced to prison for murder and racketeering.

Barry "The Baron" Mills, 58, and Tyler "The Hulk" Bingham, 59, were
eligible for the death penalty but a jury deadlocked, meaning they
likely will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
parole.

Edgar "The Snail" Hevle, 55, faces 20 years to life in prison for
racketeering, conspiracy and murder. The fourth defendant, Christopher
Overton Gibson, 47, faces 20 years to life in prison for racketeering
and conspiracy, but he is recuperating from back surgery and will not
be sentenced Tuesday.

…

Hevle and Gibson were convicted of conspiring to murder the black inmates.

Mills, Bingham and Hevle also were convicted of a count of murder
for the killing of Arva Lee Ray, a prisoner at the Lompoc, California,
penitentiary in 1989.

Where is the fun in white supremacy? seriously. Same with raping little girls.

An Anniston man has been arrested and
charged with second-degree rape and two counts of enticing a child for
allegedly having sex with a 13-year-old student he picked up at
Wellborn High School.

The
suspect, 22-year-old Antonio Gray, faces a court hearing January 11th.
Gray was arrested Friday when Calhoun County Sheriff’s deputies
followed up on a tip from a school employee who wrote down the tag
number of the suspect’s vehicle as he left the school with the girl.

In Vancouver riots broke out over discussions of funding for a women’s shelter.

Vancouver police have arrested three people after a violent clash broke out during a protest over funding for a women’s shelter.

About 50 demonstrators gathered Monday night at the city’s main public library, where a council budget meeting was being held.

Alright Vancouver people, seriously… fuck off. At least your abortions aren’t being banned. This is what I complain about the most. How is anyone supposed to make any sort of progress by fighting with everyone else?