Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Whew

Well, my first year at the Morgentaler Clinic is drawing to a close. Yesterday it was fantastically cold, and I only stayed for the morning shift because otherwise I probably would have dropped dead. There were only two protesters out in the morning (Peter Ryan and Mr. Mumbles); perhaps more came later, but I doubt it. Seriously, it was freezing.

It's been a pretty exciting year here, I must say. And for anyone who is the least bit passionate about choice, volunteering at your local clinic is such a rewarding and fulfilling thing to do, for such a minimal commitment of energy and time. I have met some wonderful people and hope to meet more in the coming year. In fact, being a volunteer here has led to not only new friendships, but also a job! This is good and worthwhile work and I am pleased to be a part of it.

Wow, the last blog of the year is getting all sappy! Hehehe. I should probably finish here, and wish you all a happy winter break. I will be back and blogging the first week of January, and later that month I'll be in Ottawa for the 20th anniversary celebration of the Morgentaler decision, so it'll be interesting blogging for the next little while!

Best wishes to all of you, and thanks for your support.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Chilly Toes

Inside again today - boy does our lovely receptionist travel a lot! Lucky her. :)

Actually I was quite glad to be inside because evidently it was VERY cold outside. We broke out the toe warmers for the first time this year! Such fun. Nothing much of interest to report. As SL has pointed out in her comments, the protesters are becoming gradually tamer as they try to present themselves as "not a public safety risk". That means, thankfully, no shouting, no bloody signs, and no Crazy Legs. They aren't letting her out at all anymore, which really works out well for everyone - even though it deprives the escorts of a valuable source of entertainment.

Peter Ryan wrote an opinion piece in the Telegraph Journal (the Saint John paper) on Saturday, and today my response was posted. Hooray! That's one out of at least three letters (that I know of) in opposition, but at least they're trying.

The other night I tortured myself by watching "Unborn in the USA: Inside the War on Abortion". It's a very well put together documentary about the pro-life movement in America. They explore a variety of players, from young people learning to be empathetic pro-lifers at the Focus on the Family college (yes, they have one) to various members of Army of God talking about how little sympathy they have for the widow and fatherless children of Dr. Slepian. It was extremely depressing, all told, but at least it exposed every aspect of the movement's ridiculous hysteria and total lack of logic. I recommend it, but be warned: it will make you weep for humanity.

On a brighter note, I stumbled across this poem on the internet today and it made me laugh. Enjoy.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Snow Angels

There was a huge snowstorm on Monday night so we cancelled yesterday's clinic. So normally I would say there isn't much to blog about, but I am sitting here in the clinic among the flurry of rebooking and whatnot, and outside my window there are five people standing, staring silently into the clinic. They are silent because they are wearing red tape over their mouths, each piece having "life" written across it. Sigh.

I'm sad that the weird, creepy anti-choice tactics made popular by American fundamentalist Christians have made their way here. If you saw "Jesus Camp", you know exactly what I'm talking about. What makes me especially sad is that it isn't the usual protesters who are out there; it's young people. They look about my age, maybe a couple years younger. I just want to throw open the window and yell "think for yourselves!". But that would be making a huge assumption, because maybe they do think for themselves, and the conclusion they came to is that a great way to spend a Wednesday morning would be to stand in the snow with electrical tape over their mouths, in protest of something that makes no difference whatsoever to their lives.

It takes all kinds, right?