Anti-Choice is Anti-Awesome

Weekly Reader

2012-01-30T07:32:00.000-05:00

It's a little bit lighter this week:

Margaret Somerville is still the least effective ethicist ever

The Montreal Gazette weighs in on sex-selective abortion, and how Harper's government is ignoring reality

Joyce Arthur warns us to beware of Crisis Pregnancy Centres

And the National Post continues to harp on about this new poll data

What have you been reading about?

Why Poll Data Doesn't Matter

2012-01-27T11:08:00.001-05:00

So, I guess there's been an Angus Reid poll that found that 51% of Canadians favour some restrictions on abortion - and 60% favour restricting sex-selective abortion. I have some thoughts.

First of all, who are these people who don't think there should be any restrictions, but then do think that, oh yeah, if it's for sex selection then we should really clamp down. What? I have so many questions for them. Like: how do we determine someone's reason for aborting? How hard do you think it would be to get around such a restriction? What do you think it says about our society that sex selective abortion even exists? What other reasons are good enough to say no, you can't have this?

But mostly I just think, who cares? I wouldn't give a shit if 99% of the population thought abortion should be illegal, all the time, forever. Majority opinion =/= justice.

I don't know what polls like this are supposed to prove. People's right to have a say over their own bodies is not changeable with the whims of the populace, or at least it shouldn't be. I'm sure there was a time when a lot of shitty things were 51% approved by the population of this or another country. You know the shit I'm talking about, don't make me Godwin this.

I also wouldn't really care that much if the poll said 99% of people were for no limits on abortion law/access, unless it actually made a practical difference in people's lives. Look at PEI - even if everyone on the island agreed that abortion was a-ok, that doesn't build a clinic, or the political will to make it happen. Reproductive rights are looking more and more like something to add to our list of things we will need to take back (as opposed to waiting for them to be handed to us).

I guess it doesn't really matter what polls we do, I don't really feel that they are reflective of folks' lived experiences, which tend to get undervalued.

Weekly Reader

2012-01-22T12:32:00.003-05:00

There was A LOT of stuff going on this week! Super size reader! Watch out!

Abortion rights are queer rights

The Liberal Party has decided it will penalize provinces for restricting abortion access; which obviously has implications for PEI.

And speaking of abortion on PEI, the premier is co-chairing a working group on healthcare innovation, which seems a little hypocritical.

The CTV did a sting "hidden camera" operation on a CPC in Surrey - here's my take

Barbara Kay is an idiot

And.....sex selective abortion!! Here are a whole bunch of articles on possibly not telling women their medical information and how that will help solve the problem. Coverage on Jezebel!

The doctor who did the study defends it.

Here are some op-eds about it!

Here are some letters in the Star, and here's some discussion of the Orientalist tone of the debate. And here's why I think it's a waste of time.

Of course the idiots at the National Post had a field day with it.

What have you been reading about?

Why the Sex Selective Abortion Debate is Bullshit

2012-01-20T15:16:00.000-05:00

So the old sex selective abortion topic is coming up again in Canada; you might have seen it in the news (I have lots more links for Sunday's round up, don't worry). Can I just say, I can't believe this is being dragged out again as if there is a legislative solution. I mean really.

It seems fairly obvious from where I'm sitting that sex selective abortion, and infanticide, is a symptom of a much larger problem: the value we place on gender in our society. Obviously it varies in form and degree between cultures (and don't think I haven't noticed the racist undertones of some of these discussions), but what it comes down to is that women are not valued as highly as men, and are not as desirable to have as children. Obviously this is further complicated by ethnicity and class and all manner of other factors. But the point is, the problem of sex selection will not be solved by removing the means of sex selection. Haven't I written about this before?

Many people counter the "making it illegal won't make the problem go away" argument (one that applies to many other issues such as non-sex selective abortion, or sex work) with the "that same thing could be said about murder", rebuttal, as though decriminalizing something implies total moral acceptance. Or as if the always-correct reaction to things we think are morally wrong is to legislate against it. As if our legislative process, our whole judicial system, wasn't itself irreversibly corrupt. I think that even if we could all agree 100% on a law that should be in place, there is no guarantee that the legal system will serve the interests of our society as opposed to the interests of the - dare I say it - 1%. I am wary of ever advocating further legislation to solve any problem, because I have my own ideas of who the criminal class are.

I think sex selective abortion and infanticide are symptoms of a problem that is in itself part and parcel of a kyriarchy in which our judicial system also operates. I think that in the long run, the same people are benefiting from both. I think sex selective abortion will never go away until the kyriarchy does. And I am absolutely fed up with the fact that reasonable people are still arguing about it; as if taking away a woman's right to choose whether to continue a pregnancy can help her in a world that is going to slap her daughter down in the same way it just did to her.

/rant

Weekly Reader

2012-01-15T09:45:00.001-05:00

Here's what I've been reading about this week:

Lots of coverage of Stephen Woodworth's attempts to re-open the abortion debate, although no one seems to be too interested in taking the bait.

Canadian abortion law Q+A

Revisiting the "schoolchildren at abortion rallies for school credit" scandal

New Brunswick wants the Human Rights case against it tossed out.

What have you been reading about?

How to Get an Abortion in New Brunswick: Flow Chart Edition!

2012-01-13T10:22:00.001-05:00

So, after my post last week on how to get an abortion in New Brunswick, I was contacted by a reader who went ahead and made a flow chart version! So here it is in all its glory, with much thanks and total credit to Ash Furrow:

Weekly Reader

2012-01-08T13:51:00.001-05:00

Here's what I've been reading about this week:

Anti-choicers in PEI want to get out the "true facts" on abortion, while pro-choicers consider their legal options

Rabble wraps up the abortion debate in 2011

More "let's reopen the debate" nonsense, and a great take-down - while the rest of the country shrugs

How to help a friend through an abortion

What have you been reading?

How to Get an Abortion in New Brunswick

2012-01-06T11:58:00.001-05:00

So, as someone who has gained some notoriety for my involvement in New Brunswick abortion politics, I get contacted a lot about, well, that. Sometimes by the media, most often by Masters students, and every now and then by a friend, acquaintance or stranger looking for information on how to get an abortion. So I thought it was about time I put this information out there to the general public in case you don't feel comfortable contacting me in person to ask. Also, I no longer live in New Brunswick - things may change (and may have already). So please feel free to comment with updates, critiques and further advice.

Having an unwanted pregnancy and living in New Brunswick is not the easiest situation to be in. I wish that every person in this situation could feel supported and loved, but that is not the case. So first of all I just want to say: You are not alone. You are not the first or the last person to be facing this situation. There is help and support for you. You have done nothing wrong and deserve compassion and care. You have the right to be safe and to make whatever choice is right for you. Please contact me if you need a compassionate ear or further advice/information at pedgehog[at]gmail[dot]com.

NOTE: This information is for people who have decided they are going to have an abortion. If you are undecided, please see the bottom of the post for some decision-making resources. Do not feel you have to have an abortion if that is not what you want. You have the right to choose whether or not to continue your pregnancy.

How to Get an Abortion in New Brunswick:

1. Are you pregnant? Find out! I know it sounds silly, but a lot of people freak out and don't confirm the pregnancy, which can mean a lot of trouble for nothing. If it is possible for you, confirm your pregnancy by a urine test (available over the counter without prescription at any drug store, or grocery store with a pharmacy section), or by a blood or urine test at your doctor's office.

2. How far along are you? If you do not have access to an ultrasound appointment (and most people don't), try counting from the FIRST DAY of your LAST NORMAL PERIOD. If you know this day, use it - it is a much more reliable measure than the day you think you conceived. Trust me, the body works in mysterious ways.

This is where it gets flow chart-y:

3. If you suspect (or have confirmed) that you are past 16 weeks gestation, you need to act fast! Call the Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton (contact info at the bottom of the post) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and let them know the situation. Depending on how certain you are of your dates, they may either refer you out of province (probably to Quebec or Ontario) or bring you in for an ultrasound. It is really, really important that you don't lie or stretch the truth to try and get a clinic appointment. They will not perform an abortion if you ultrasound at 16 weeks or over, and you will just waste time in a very time-sensitive situation (not to mention taking up an appointment that could have potentially gone to someone else). The more you are upfront and clear with the clinic, the easier it will be for them to help you.

4. The above is also true if you are close to 16 weeks - I would say anything above 12 weeks is reason to call the clinic right away. You will be too far along for a hospital abortion, so it's important to try to get into the clinic as soon as you can.

5. If you think you are below 12 weeks, you may have a choice in where to go. Let's talk about the clinic vs. the hospital!

CLINIC: The Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton is the only private abortion clinic in the Maritimes. It is licensed, safe, discrete and confidential, and clean, and the staff there is compassionate and professional. Obviously I worked there and am totally biased, but I don't mind saying that it is the gold standard in abortion care, and I stand by that.
PROS: Specialized - it will only be abortion patients; amazing staff and supportive atmosphere; totally confidential; up to 16 weeks gestation.
CONS: Protesters; located in Fredericton (a con if you live elsewhere in the province); the procedure costs $600-$800 and is not covered by Medicare.

HOSPITAL: As far as I know there is only one hospital in NB still performing abortions - possibly two. In order to have a hospital abortion you need to have a referral from two doctors; a GP and an OB/GYN.
PROS: Totally covered by Medicare; easier to be discrete if that is your thing (there are lots of reasons to go to a hospital).
CONS: Only goes up to 12 weeks; much harder to get in (waiting list); NEED TWO REFERRALS; not specialized (ie you might be hanging out in the waiting room with expectant mothers of wanted pregnancies).

6. Let's go to the hospital! First, go to your family doctor and explain the situation. Tell them you are pregnant, you are firm in your decision to terminate the pregnancy, and you require a referral for a hospital abortion (if they are supportive they will usually be able to help you get the second referral as well).
i. Don't have a family doctor/have a horrible anti-choice family doctor? If you are a student, go to the Student Health Centre on campus for a referral.
ii. Not a student? Try calling the Sexual Health Clinic and/or the Morgentaler Clinic for a doctor in your area.
PLEASE NOTE: While if you have a family doctor this IS worth a try, your chances are slim for getting in to the hospital. There are a lot of people trying to do so, and the doctors are turning people away. My advice is to set up a clinic appointment first; then you can call and cancel it if you get into the hospital.

7. Let's go to the clinic! Call the clinic. Have your information ready - demographic info, first day of your last normal period or ultrasound date if possible, height, Medicare number. They only do clinic days one day a week so be prepared to lose a work/school day for this appointment.
i. Don't have any money? Call anyway! It's always possible that you will be able to work something out or get a great resource for financial support; sometimes the clinic can even help you find those resources. It's important to lock an appointment down, though - you can always call and cancel if you change your mind.

ETA: Here it is in flow chart form

Here are some resources for further help:

SEXUAL HEALTH

sexualityandu.ca: online resource for birth control questions and information on STIs, sexual and reproductive health, health education, etc.

UNBF Student Health Centre
Phone: (506) 453-4837
Email: shc@unb.ca

UNBSJ Student Health Centre
Phone: (506) 648-5656

U de Moncton Student Health Centre
Phone: (506) 858-4007
Email: sante@umoncton.ca

Mount Allison Student Health Centre
Phone: (506) 364-2163
Email: health@mta.ca

Fredericton Sexual Health Clinic
Phone: (506) 453-5200

Saint John Sexual Health Centre
Phone: (506) 658-3998

Moncton Sexual Health Centre
Phone: (506) 856-3310

FINANCIAL AID

National Abortion Federation hotline: 1-800-772-9100

DECISION MAKING AND REFERRALS

Fredericton Morgentaler Clinic
Phone: (506) 451-9060
Email: nbclinic@nb.aibn.com

Canadian Federation for Sexual Health
Pregnancy options guide

National Abortion Federation hotline: 1-877-257-0012
Decision making guide

Canadians for Choice
Phone: 1-888-642-2725
Email: info@canadiansforchoice.ca

ACTIVISM

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

Canadians for Choice

ABORTION CARE

Fredericton Morgentaler Clinic

Phone: (506) 451-9060
Email: nbclinic@nb.aibn.com

Weekly Reader

2011-12-27T10:08:00.002-05:00

Here's what I've been reading this week (sorry it's a couple days late!):

Linda Gibbons was arrested at the Toronto Morgentaler Clinic

These idiotic anti-choice billboards about sad toys are back

Some idiot MP wants to re-open the abortion debate (surprise!) by arguing about the definition of personhood. Nothing new here.

PEI is pretty happy with the way they're ignoring women's rights.

What have you been reading over the holidays?

Weekly Reader

2011-12-18T13:42:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, here's what I've been reading about this week:

Chretien warns that abortion and gay marriage could be on the chopping block

Linda Gibbons gets her day in court

Dunville responds to anti-abortion display

PEI pro-choice groups meet with the Health Minister, but things don't look promising

What have you been reading?

The Pedgehog's Holiday Gift Guide 2011

2011-12-16T11:27:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again! When I encourage those of you who celebrate gift-giving holidays to curb your mindless consumerism and re-evaluate meaningful gifts by supporting worthwhile organizations (yes I am aware I am kind of a buzzkill).

Last year I talked about four organizations (ARCC, ACORN Canada, ACR and the Stephen Lewis Foundation) that you could donate to - on someone else's behalf or just out of the goodness of your heart - and I still encourage you to check those orgs out and give them some love. This year I have a few more suggestions, including actual things you can buy!

Most of the following are organizations/projects that I have been involved in OR that my friends and/or loved ones work or volunteer for. If you have other suggestions, please leave them in comments!

Donations

Journalists for Human Rights

Occupy Toronto (or your local Occupy)

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Right to Play

Canadian CED Network

Canadians for Choice

Access Community Capital Fund

Medical Students for Choice

Canadian Civil Liberties Association

Things to Buy

Global Grassroots: Perspectives on International Organizing (Edited by Wade Rathke)

Feminism for Real: Deconstructing the academic industrial complex of feminism (Edited by Jessica Yee)

Fat necklaces by definatalie

ACORN Canada 2012 calendars: contact your local office for information

A subscription to Bitch Magazine

Happy holidays!

Weekly Reader

2011-12-11T11:34:00.003-05:00

Here's what I've been reading this week:

News and coverage of the situation in PEI continues to pour in

Don't forget to enter ARCC's video contest

A good editorial on Canada's maternal health policy

On debating with anti-choicers

Feel free to share more links in comments!

Some Reminders

2011-12-09T09:49:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone! I just wanted to remind y'all that the ARCC video contest is still open and accepting entries!

I also hope that you will check out the first round of voting at the Canadian Blog Awards, which continues until December 24th (after which the top five from each category will go on to a second round). There are some terrific blogs that I had never heard of, so go check it out and I promise you will discover something awesome!

I will have a gift guide post next week, but I do want to remind you that if you're the type that donates, especially around this time of year, please don't forget ARCC - this is a fantastic organization that runs on donations and lobbies tirelessly for abortion rights and access in Canada. Also please consider contacting your local clinic to see what they need; volunteers are hard to come by at this busy time of year. Even just dropping off some hot chocolate is a real morale booster!

And because I love to shamelessly self promote...if you're looking to kick back and relax with a good book, why not one set in Toronto?

Be well, friends.

The Island Fight

2011-12-02T13:05:00.003-05:00

Ok, so is anyone else totally excited to see what's happening around abortion access in PEI? My last two weekly readers have been chock full of news around this, and I keep reading more and more about it.

For those who don't know, there is no abortion access on PEI at all. Those women who do need/want an abortion generally do one of two things: travel to Fredericton to have an abortion done at the Morgentaler Clinic for $600 - $800; or travel to Halifax to have an abortion at the hospital, which is covered under the reciprocal billing agreement between Nova Scotia and PEI.

Obviously there are a lot of problems with these two options, the main one being that out-of-province travel is not something that everyone has access to all the time. Especially travelling to Fredericton, where the abortion is done as an outpatient procedure in one early morning, weekday appointment. That is all kinds of inconvenient for the majority of PEI women.

Some other hurdles in this system include:

- Availability of appointments (at both locations; many times it is difficult for providers to keep up with the demand)

- Finding someone to drive/accompany you

- Paying for gas and/or overnight stay

- Lost day of work; childcare/petcare arrangements

- Explaining to the people in your life who might notice, why you went to Fredericton or Halifax for the day (assuming you don't want to tell them about your abortion)

- Navigating a potentially unfamiliar city, in the presence of protesters

- Suffering the potential discomfort or painful after effects of surgery during a prolonged car ride

- Making travel and accommodation arrangements around an early morning appointment

- Money, money, money!

...and on and on. This is assuming a woman even has the resources and support to know about those two options, and is able to get an appointment in time (the Fredericton clinic's gestational limit is sixteen weeks).

So you can see how this is a very difficult situation for any woman on PEI seeking an abortion, on top of which there is a shortage of doctors and a stigma around abortion.

All that said, it is amazing and inspiring to see Island activists rising up and demanding something better. I was active in reproductive rights activism for three years in Fredericton so I know a little bit about the difficulties of going against the grain in a small city with a certain outlook. People in the Maritimes are great, but sometimes the social climate is stifling - WASP-y, puritanical, ridiculously conservative/traditional and most of all, silent (and silencing). I would even say Victorian, at times. It's a difficult place to be a young person, a progressive, and especially someone from a marginalized group.

The result is a difficult uphill battle for activists. And maybe the silver lining is that the Maritimes builds fierce, resilient activists. My heart goes out to the brave people fighting the powers that be on PEI; please think of them and do what you can to help.

Weekly Reader

2011-11-27T16:00:00.002-05:00

This week it's all about PEI!

Pro-lifers want to tighten up the guidelines on PEI.

More coverage of the rally

The CCLA points out the hidden costs of off-island abortions

ARCC's press release on the situation in PEI - picked up by the Guardian

The PEI government thinks "no restrictions" means "totally accessible".

What have you been reading?

Book Corner: Intimate Wars by Merle Hoffman

2011-11-25T11:14:00.003-05:00

How does on go about reviewing a memoir? I feel as if I have to, in some sense, review Ms. Hoffman's life.

Merle Hoffman was one of the trailblazers of the pro-choice movement in the USA, a controversial feminist who opened one of the first ambulatory abortion centres in America, and who has lived a life of boldness, ambition and, dare I say it, ego. Many times throughout the book I wrinkled my nose in distaste at her decisions, and her attitudes, and then had to ask myself how much more “natural” I would have found them if she were a man. In that respect the book was very challenging for me, in a good way.

I knew pretty much nothing about Hoffman before I read the book, so it was all new to me. She writes well, and seems sincere and unapologetic about her life and her role in the struggle for abortion on demand. Where her writing is the most detailed and informative is near the middle of her life, when she describes the challenges of opening and running the clinic, being a public figure, and protecting herself and her staff from the violence of anti-choice activists. For those looking for insight on the “abortion wars” of the late 1970s and early 1980s, specifically in New York, this book comes highly recommended.

I found Hoffman’s focus to be a little off in terms of the flow of her book. She spent as much time detailing her decision to purchase and learn to use a gun as she does on her mother’s death. There is very little about her early life. Sometimes, her decisions seem to come out of nowhere, although I’m sure in reality they took a great deal of time and consideration. I would have liked to have known more about her ideology, how it changed and grew, what factors went into her decisions, than about the details of the decisions themselves. For example, Hoffman decided, as a 58-year-old widow, to adopt a three-year-old daughter from an orphanage in Russia. Her decision to do so, and all the subsequent stuff that happens – going to get her, introducing her to Hoffman’s mother, the reaction of Hoffman’s friends – occupy the last twelve pages of the book. It seems…disproportionate.

I liked reading about the abortion rights struggle and I think Hoffman’s story is informative and inspiring to some extent. However, I don’t know if it would create any kind of profound change or understand like, for example, Susan Wicklund’s This Common Secret. Hoffman comes across as absolute in her ideals and doesn’t make a lot of room in her book (or, perhaps, in her life) for explorations of her emotions, or the changing perceptions and lives of the people close to her. I had a hard time relating to Hoffman because I believe we have vastly different personalities; her affair with a married man bothered me not so much for the questionable morality of it than because of her complete lack of empathy for – in fact, outright dismissal of – the feelings of the man’s wife.

Perhaps the most maddening theme in the book is Hoffman’s constant mention of choices she makes that other feminists didn’t agree with or were shocked by, without exploring that conflict at all. I don’t feel she should have to justify each choice that is perceived “unfeminist”, but I would be interested to know how she fits her own outlook and life path into her identity as a feminist. I feel that in today’s young feminist movement she will be judged more harshly than she was during the second wave, for her unapologetic capitalism, her gun ownership, and especially her totally unexamined relationship to a man 28 years her senior, who acted not just as lover and husband but also mentor, financial backer, advisor and boss. There are many areas where Hoffman is vulnerable, and the book could have been richer and more challenging by examining these perceived deficiencies in her feminist persona.

Overall, however, I have to say I really enjoyed reading the book. I learned a lot of things I didn’t know about a period in history that had such a huge part in shaping the women’s movement today. I also enjoyed the challenge of reading about a person whose life and choices seem so alien to me. It was difficult but enriching. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for insight into the beginning of the abortion-on-demand movement in the USA, and/or hoping to read the story of an undeniably strong and fascinating woman.

For my interview with Merle Hoffman, keep an eye on Abortion Gang.

Weekly Reader

2011-11-20T11:32:00.000-05:00

Here's what I've been reading this week:

A report has been launched on abortion services in Ontario

Women turn to desperate measures due to the lack of abortion services on PEI

More on the growing pro-choice movement on PEI

The abortion rate is on the decline

Exciting stuff happening in PEI! Feel free to share what you've been reading in comments.

Book Corner: Life Choices by Linda Weber

2011-11-17T06:24:00.001-05:00

Sentient sent me a copy of Life Choices to read and review, and I'm really glad I decided to because it came at a time when I've been feeling a little homesick, and Linda Weber's tone and worldview are so much like my mother's, it was like reading a letter she would write to me.

The book is an exploration of abortion through the eyes of a counsellor, which I think makes a big difference to how we look at, well, anything, really. I always love stories told by providers - like Susan Wicklund's book, This Common Secret - but counsellors, especially those who have been practicing for a while, have an outlook that resonates with me.

It's hard to describe what the Weber actually talks about; it is mostly a jumble of ideas about abortion and what it means in a wider context. Life Choices is about how we view our bodies, what we think and feel about sex and sexuality, what it is like to live in a patriarchy. While the ideas presented are not overtly political, they have great political implications. Weber even takes a chapter to imagine an ideal world, sans patriarchy, where women could will themselves not to conceive through a greater spiritual connection to the world and our bodies.

If it sounds a little flaky, it is, but it takes a while to get there and it is built on a solid foundation. Weber has clearly spoken with many women going through the abortion decision and she shares some of their stories, and it is fascinating. There were also a lot of different ways of viewing abortion that I had never thought of, dropped like quick little asides in a book stuffed with ideas. Blink and you'll miss them!

What really made me think of my mother was Weber's tone; she has many things to say, a lot of advice to give, but it never comes across as even suggestions. It just sort of...flows. It is hard to describe, but I guess I feel like it comes across that Weber is a person who has spent a long time doing non-judgmental listening. The type of person who asks "And what does that mean to you?" or "How does that make you feel?". In a good way, of course. I have never had an abortion, but when I read this book I felt safe and loved. That's not nothing.

There were downsides, of course. I feel like someone who has not grown up being talked to this way might find Weber's tone to be flaky and even a bit cuckoo, especially the parts about spirit and "All That Is". So I don't know how accessible it is to your average person. On the other hand, for those who are open and receptive to it, it is a great read. It will change your ideas about abortion (if you read it with an open mind).

I feel like I can't make it any more obvious that I loved this book. I highly recommend it!

***

This review is part of a promotional blog tour - it was preceded by a review on Eve Laments on Nov. 16th and the next review is at The Abortion Monologues on Nov. 18. The author is planning an actual tour in February - keep an eye on the website for details.

Although I was asked to review this book I received no compensation for doing so and was encouraged to express my honest opinion. Nothing I've said in this blog post was influenced by the publisher in any way.

Weekly Reader

2011-11-14T09:21:00.002-05:00

Here's what I've been reading lately:

Joyce Arthur on the abortion debate

Abortion protest in Winnipeg

Things are really starting to happen around the lack of abortion services in PEI!

A Canadian abortion provider has written a new memoir

And don't forget to check out ARCC's autumn newsletter

Feel free to share other things you've been reading in comments.

Event: PEI Reproductive Rights Rally

2011-11-11T07:36:00.000-05:00

Saturday, November 19 · 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Peace Fountain by Province House on Grafton Street

PRRO - Prince Edward Island Reproductive Rights Organization - is organizing a reproductive rights rally to inform residents of Prince Edward Island what reproductive rights women are entitled to as decreed by the Canadian Government in 1988, but are being denied in Prince Edward Island.

Come out and have some coffee or tea, enjoy some busking, listen to informative speakers, learn something new and support a great cause.

Speaker List to follow.

There will also be a drop-off box for a Women's 'Zine. Please feel free to drop off any creative/ informative pieces you would like to contribute.

For more information about PRRO please visit PRRO's facebook group at :

http://www.facebook.com/groups/155653531197617/

Or the website at: http://www.prro.tk/

Weekly Reader

2011-10-30T13:33:00.002-04:00

Here's what I've been reading this week:

Local organization wants national debate on abortion.

Some coverage and photos of last week's rally.

My latest piece at Abortion Gang.

The criminalization of abortion is an abuse of state power.

Feel free to share in comments.

An Open Letter to Young Feminists

2011-10-28T14:50:00.004-04:00

As a response to shit like this, I wanted to say:

Dear young feminists,

Thank you for existing. Thank you for being strong, driven, compassionate and empathetic. You are the heralds of a better world and the only reason I can continue to believe in it.

I could never have learned anything about privilege, intersectionality, or being an ally without the guidance, writing and action of the feminists of my generation. There is so much I would never have been able to discover without the help of feminist blogs. Thank you, young feminists, for being bold and bravely talking openly about oppression.

Thank you for organizing, promoting, and participating in actions - as big as Occupy and as small as a local clinic defense. Thanks for picking up the torch of the second wave and burning it much brighter, in more directions. Thank you for marching when there has been marching to be done.

Thank you for expanding feminism, for making it bigger, more inclusive, and more radical. Thank you for teaching me how my whiteness makes my feminist lens different, and how all the power imbalances I experience and participate in are interconnected. Thank you for dreaming big.

Thank you for believing that a woman is more than her body, and that there is more to life than woman/man. Thank you for believing people when they say what they are - man, woman, genderqueer, bisexual, asexual, trans, polyamorous, survivor, victim, queer, fat, ok, not ok. Thanks for creating a movement full of people, not labels.

Thank you for carrying on and fighting in the face of people who think the fight is over. Thanks for being active feminists while people say you don't exist. Thanks for reaching out across generations while casting aside the harmful beliefs of the second wave. Thanks for pushing beyond white liberal feminism.

Thank you also for your mistakes, your infighting, your sellouts and fuck ups. Thanks for not being perfect. Thanks for trying to fix it.

Young feminists do not just exist. We are shaping the world whether the old guard likes it or not. We are building new understandings of old issues. We are broadening our scope and for better or for worse, creating the revolution. If you haven't noticed us, perhaps you can't see the forest for the trees.

Thank you, young feminists, for teaching me something new every day, and giving me hope.

Love your friend,

Peggy

"Je ne les crains pas. C'est pour cela que je suis nee." - Joan of Arc

Photo credit: John Bonnar (rabble.ca)

Weekly Reader

2011-10-23T10:45:00.002-04:00

Not much to read this week, I'm afraid.

A reminder to enter the ARCC Video Contest

A lovely obituary for the abortion pioneer Dr. Robert Kinch

And from the horrifying typos department: does Canada think abortion providers are terrorists?

Mom mad about school's anti-abortion event

Joyce Arthur on why abortion must be fully funded

What have you all been reading?

Tomorrow's Rally and Reproductive Justice

2011-10-21T11:27:00.000-04:00

Those of you in Toronto may have heard about the "Defund Abortion" rally being planned for tomorrow at Queen's Park at 1pm. You may have also heard that there is a pro-choice presence/counter-rally being planned; I hope you are planning on attending!

I will be there, as part of the Reproductive Justice Coalition of Toronto. We felt it was important to have a presence there, even though we do talk a lot about the reactive nature of the movement, and how frustrating it sometimes feels to be doing actions like this. Another thing we often discuss is the domination of the movement by the talking points of an older generation, and an older focus. We are pretty tired of talking about "choice", especially since it is most often coming out of whiteness and a more privileged class. That is why I think it is important to note that while the RJT is in solidarity with OCAC and other groups regarding opposition to defunding abortion, we will maintain a distinctive presence at the rally tomorrow (and any like-minded or curious folks are welcome to join us!).

For me, "choice" and the other established goals of the pro-choice movement like access to abortion have become much less important than this more reproductive justice-focused worldview I am slowly learning about and adopting. I love the idea of being radical in the sense of tracing back to the root, and an RJ approach encourages that kind of analysis. What is important to a younger generation of RJ activists is not so much the defunding of abortion as the decolonizing of our bodies, particularly the bodies of racialized women and trans people and other marginalized folks. That is where these contentious issues come from. We also care less about lobbying and legislating than we do about teaching and learning to know and care for our bodies. Sure it worries me that abortion might be made illegal, but quite honestly I'm more worried about how few young women know how to masturbate.

Anyway, I'm just sort of skimming the surface of reproductive justice right now, but it's something I will continue to talk about, for sure. And if you come out to the rally tomorrow you will see from the diversity of our signs that there is a lot more to this than abortion.

If you are interested in being part of the RJT presence, please contact me at pedgehog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Weekly Reader

2011-10-16T11:18:00.000-04:00

Here's what I've been reading about this week:

More Conservative nonsense around IPPF funding.

When abortion restrictions backfire.

Healthy women are women with choices.

Anti-choice "memorial" taken down

Why Alberta should start funding Essure birth control

Catholic school gives credits for attending anti-abortion protests; then revokes them.

Dr. Garson Romalis's challenge to Canada's assisted suicide law is rejected

What have you been reading?

Book Corner: The Cider House Rules by John Irving

2011-10-14T10:43:00.003-04:00

I know, this is another one that I'm years behind on. However, like The Handmaid's Tale, it's a better late than never kind of situation; if you've never read The Cider House Rules, you really ought to pick it up because it is quite frankly amazing.

I have always been a John Irving fan; my father's favourite book in the whole world is A Prayer for Owen Meany, and as a little book nerd of course I encountered it (earlier than I probably should have). I think Irving has a lovely style and a real knack for characters - he takes his time with them, letting the stories sort of unfold naturally. I have read a couple of his other books, including the horrifically under-rated, laugh-out-loud hilarious The Water-Method Man, which I recommend more highly than anything. It's a relatively short read and seriously, you will be crying with laughter from about page three.

Anyway, Cider House. A friend of mine has been telling me to read this for years, insisting I will like it because "it's about abortion". I knew one of the characters was an abortion doctor, but didn't think it could possibly be more than a subplot. But she was right - it is about abortion. Partially, of course. Really what it's about is rules: the rules we make for each other, the rules we find it acceptable to break, and the way the rules change in different situations, for different people. The story challenges a lot of rules - from social norms to laws - in a powerful but simultaneously gentle sort of way. Irving forces his characters (and readers) to examine the reasons for rules and for breaking them.

The book is, in short, about an orphanage run by the aging Dr. Larch, who takes in pregnant women overnight to deliver "an orphan or an abortion" - their choice - before sending them on their way. One of the orphans, Homer Wells, has a hard time getting adopted and soon accepts that he belongs at the orphanage, learning medicine from Dr. Larch. But the two men differ on their opinion of abortion (or "the Lord's work" as Larch calls it) and Homer eventually rejects the destiny Larch has set out for him, and leaves the orphanage with a beautiful young couple to work in their apple orchard and learn the rules in the outside world.

I can't really tell you any more about the plot - anyway, the plot is kind of beside the point. It's meandering and strange and really just background for Irving's true strengths as a writer: characters, themes and setting. This book could not have taken place anywhere other than coastal Maine, and the descriptions are totally evocative of that strange place. I'm telling you guys, this book is amazing. If it wasn't about abortion, they would teach it in high school writing classes. It is both technically perfect and emotionally strong.

Most of all I loved how Irving dealt with the abortion issue. His characters are sometimes preachy, but the story never is. It ends about twenty years before Roe v. Wade but the legality takes a back seat to the morality of it; the arguments and situations could easily apply today. I loved how the story even had sympathy for the back-alley butcher, whom Larch goes to see (and condemn) for her shoddy, life-threatening abortions. "At least I'm doing something!" she says. Indeed.

Larch's simple philosophy - that it is best to be of use - is probably a bit utilitarian for some people to accept as an argument backing up the availability of abortion. But I think the stronger driving force of Larch's character is his shameful early life, and his idea that he himself once made a bad sexual decision, and therefore it is not his right to judge the sexual decisions of others. The doctor is a humanizing element in the orphanage. He is simply a flawed person trying to do what is best - as is Homer Wells, whose experience with a young apple picker who has been the victim of incest neatly mirrors Larch's own awakening, in the back alley doctor's waiting room, with a young woman who has been impregnated by her father. A lifetime has made no difference in the demand for abortion, the reasons, the desperation. Irving gently, implicitly reminds us that the need will always exist - it is up to us whether we "play God" by making that decision for a woman.

I loved this book - in case that isn't clear. I think it is not only totally compelling, I also believe it provides some of the best arguments for abortion provision I have ever encountered. Not just legal abortion, mind, but actively providing abortions or ensuring women have access to them. This one gets ten fetus cookies out of ten.

Your Good Deed for the Day

2011-10-11T22:14:00.002-04:00

Oh hello! Let me tell you what I put up with - a lot of the things detailed in this post.

You know what would make me feel better? If you nominated me for this.

Mwah!

Event: Rock for Reproductive Justice

2011-10-07T21:02:00.000-04:00

Time
Saturday, October 22 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location
Victoria's Spirit Square (in Centennial Square)
Created By
Reproductive Justice Victoria

On Saturday October 22nd come out and Rock for Reproductive Justice!

Rock for Reproductive Justice will include creative activism, music, and speakers. Come learn more about reproductive justice and showcase strong community support for access to reproductive health services. ASL interpretation and bus tickets will be available (emailsjcollective.vic@gmail.com for bus tickets)

Music will include Witch Baby, Medusa and Claire Mortifee.

Joyce Arthur from the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, UVic Political Science Professor Janni Aragon and others will be speaking on a wide-range of topics related to reproductive justice.

This event is in response to the presence of "40 Days for Life" in Victoria. Come out and support the ability of individuals to make choices about their bodies, sexuality, and families!

Time	Saturday, October 22 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm

Location	Victoria's Spirit Square (in Centennial Square)

Created By	Reproductive Justice Victoria

	On Saturday October 22nd come out and Rock for Reproductive Justice! Rock for Reproductive Justice will include creative activism, music, and speakers. Come learn more about reproductive justice and showcase strong community support for access to reproductive health services. ASL interpretation and bus tickets will be available (emailsjcollective.vic@gmail.com for bus tickets) Music will include Witch Baby, Medusa and Claire Mortifee. Joyce Arthur from the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, UVic Political Science Professor Janni Aragon and others will be speaking on a wide-range of topics related to reproductive justice. This event is in response to the presence of "40 Days for Life" in Victoria. Come out and support the ability of individuals to make choices about their bodies, sexuality, and families!

Book Corner: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

2011-10-05T11:52:00.000-04:00

So. I realize I am about twenty-five years too late on this review. However, I actually think this book might be more relevant now than it was when it was written, which is a mark of success, however bittersweet, for the author of a dystopian novel. And for my money, Atwood is the master of dystopia - I honestly think she is some kind of strange prophet or soothsayer. This shit is terrifying, and it’s terrifying because it is so real.

First let me say it does damage my Canadian feminist cred a bit to have not read this book until now, but hey, we all have flaws. I feel like coming to it later in my feminism is maybe a bad choice; I still loved it, but there were a lot of revelations and ideas that would have been revolutionary to me about five years ago. Stuff I had to find out on my own, without Atwood. That is sad, because I think I would always rather learn through Atwood.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, it is set in the not-so-distant future in the Republic of Gilead (formerly the USA). It is a theocracy of sorts, where women have narrowly defined roles and are marked by different coloured clothing. The story is told from the point of view of Offred, a handmaid, whose purpose is to produce children for a rich man and his wife. This new society is in its infancy and Offred (and the people in her life) can remember what it was like before.

Atwood apparently based the society (in part) on Iran, but there is nothing in the book that hasn’t happened somewhere, at some point. Her descriptions of the transition are particularly chilling because they are so believable. Looking at the politics in the USA right now (and to a lesser extent, Canada), yeah, the ideas are there. Thank goodness for the progressive voices speaking up. But when the narrator describes executed political prisoners hanging in public with signs denoting them as abortion providers, or “gender traitors”, it does not seem so far from our own world - the only difference is in our real life, it’s the citizens who do the killing; the government only offers politically expedient disapproval (depending on the government!).

I could take every single thing from the book and show a parallel with our current society, but that sounds painful. Instead I will just highly recommend that you read it - or if it’s been a long time since you’ve read it, give it another look. I think you’ll be surprised/horrified at how much more real it has become.

Also, I really want a “nolite te bastardes carborundorum” tattoo.

Time to Overshare!

2011-10-04T19:02:00.002-04:00

Things that are crappy when you have your period*

Reading about (and remembering) pinch-y cervical implements (damn you Irving!)

Being on transit

Being in hot and sweaty situations

Having to go in to the mess fingers first (whether for pleasure or on an emergency rescue mission for an adventurous tampon)

Synching up with someone you spend time with and suffering twice the crankiness

Things that are nice when you have your period*

Showers. Dear lord, showers.

Chocolate

Finding -and having access to - a method that works for you, whether it's tampons or catchers (for me it's reusable cloth pads).

A sympathetic housemate - especially when they are of the non-menstruating persuasion and enjoy watching DVDs of Frasier with you

Fresh clean sheets and a good night's sleep

How about you?

* Obviously my experience and preferences are not universal.

Weekly Reader

2011-10-02T09:51:00.004-04:00

I haven't been able to accumulate enough material for a reader for a couple weeks now...so sorry some of this is a little old! Regardless, here's what I've been reading:

The National Posts asks: is the abortion debate really about religion?

The odious Show the Truth was in Ottawa.

Barbara Kay et al. continue to be awful.

Kelowna, BC issues an anti-abortion proclamation.

Canadian pro-lifers are taking a page from the Tea Party book.

Regina, SK docs fear abortion restrictions.

Planned Parenthood Canada's funding has been renewed, to Brad Trost's disapproval (among others). In fact, Trost says this essentially reopens the debate. IPPF counters that Canada is helping to prevent abortions.

What have you been reading?

Toronto Activists: Rally for Abortion Rights

2011-09-30T11:14:00.002-04:00

A notice from OCAC and ARCC:

Rally for Abortion Rights - Don't lose the right to choose!

Saturday October 22, 1pm
North-east corner of College and University, Toronto

Anti-choice organizations in Ontario are mobilizing to attempt to pressure the provincial government to defund abortion in this province. Join this counter-rally to defend reproductive rights! Don't lose the right to choose!

Ontario Tory leader Tim Hudak signed a petition supporting defunding abortion, but when pressed recently to answer whether he would move to attack abortion rights if elected premier, he said "he would follow Prime Minister Stephen Harper's lead and leave the abortion issue alone."

With the Harper government excluding abortion funding from the maternal health initiative, constraining International Planned Parenthood and defunding groups that support reproductive rights, women know what 'following Harper's lead' means: eroding abortion rights one step at a time.

The same Conservatives who are the architects of the current federal attacks on abortion are advising the provincial conservatives today. We need to mobilize and show that the pro-choice majority will fight back against attempts to take away our hard-won reproductive rights!

Organized by the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics and the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

On Community

2011-09-28T03:57:00.000-04:00

I recently took a brief, financially ill-advised but positively wonderful, two-night trip to New York City. My main intent in doing so was to see a friend I hadn't seen for fourteen years. As you can imagine, the experience was thoroughly surreal. It's weird when you're inside your own head and you can't really see yourself growing and changing, and then you're forced to reflect on what a strange little person you were at 13. I was overjoyed to find that my friend and I have one of those relationships that you can just pick up again, no matter how much time has passed, not least of all due to the fact that he has grown into an amazing, sweet, funny, clever and brave person - don't I know how to pick 'em!

But that's actually not the point of my post. You see, while I was in NY I was staying with the inimitable Steph Herold, activist extraordinaire and founder of I am Dr. Tiller and Abortion Gang (from whence I know her). I had never met Steph in person before, and in fact only knew her through the surprisingly warm, incredibly close community of AG bloggers.

It is not generally my wheelhouse, flying off on my own to a strange (and how!) city in America to stay with people I've never met. But such is the power of the online community. Steph and her partner (and their gorgeous dog) turned out to be simply lovely hosts, as did Nicole Levitz, another AG blogger I was meeting in person for the first time. We had great conversations about all manner of things - reproductive justice of course, but also sex, maple, wine, real estate, politics, the differences between Canada and America, work, life, cats, dogs and mice.

One of the things we discussed was moving around as a child, and what kind of impact that can have on your adult life. I knew my friend I was there to see because I lived in Australia for six years as a tween; until I moved out of my parents' house I lived in four different cities. I know that's not a lot compared to some kids, especially army brats, but it certainly had a big effect on me. Certainly it wasn't all good: I have a hard time taking those first steps towards making deep and lasting friendships; I tend to be a bit snobby about my "worldliness"; I probably idealize the time I spent in Australia too much. But it has all been worth it for the opportunity to have people like my visiting friend in my life. It made my heart ache to wish him goodbye, again, at the end of my trip; but at least now it is easier than ever to be in touch with people who are far away.

All this to explain that I am so grateful for the online communities of activists I have encountered and been privileged to be a part of. I'm thinking specifically of Abortion Gang but there are lots of others - starting in mIRC chatrooms and into my teenage Wiccan days (ask my friend Amy about this, she will be glad to make fun of me with you) and moving through every stage of frivolous fandom and earnest activism (and sometimes both combined). I am so grateful to live in an age where we have such technology at our disposal, and where I can connect with such well-spoken, thoughtful and courageous people. And of course, again, there are downsides; I have a whole folder labelled "hate mail" in my gmail that can testify to that. But it has been worth it to know these people, and to be welcomed into their lives and (sometimes) into their homes.

I know all this stuff is supposed to be making us less social and neighbourly, and in some ways I agree; I read Bowling Alone for a university class and I thought Putnam had some pretty valid points to make. But maybe it's just because I'm an introvert and online communication is so much easier for me, but in my experience it has opened the world up for me. I talk to so many more people, read so much more, and see so many more issues through so many different perspectives than I ever could have otherwise. And I can be in contact with amazing, brilliant people I left on the other side of the world fourteen years ago without a hope of seeing again.

Most of all, I think these online communities are so important to our movement. I believe that while it is far from the only way to do effective organizing, online activism is such an efficient and valuable way to reach and connect people. Not only like-minded people, either. Friends of mine have told me that the stuff I write, and other stuff I share on Facebook and Twitter has made them curious about those issues in their own communities. Imagine that on a grander scale, and you can really see the importance of big feminist group blogs like Feministing, Racialicious, Tiger Beatdown, Shakesville, Womanist Musings, etc. etc.

I read shit every day that I would never see or think about if I didn't have the internet. And more importantly, I have amazing friends in far-flung places with whom to share insight and maple cookies any time I can get there. Thanks internet! And thanks especially to the generation before mine (Gen X?) who pioneered this style of activism that has redefined the meaning of the word "community".

2011 Queen's Health and Human Rights Conference

2011-09-26T07:18:00.001-04:00

http://www.queenshhrc.ca/index.html

"The theme of the 2011 conference is "Maternal and Child Health," reflecting the rising international focus on the unique issues affecting the wellbeing of these vulnerable populations. Join us as our array of passionate and compelling speakers examine these issues, engage in discussion, and propose solutions for the future."

Libby Davies, NDP MP for Vancouver East, is a keynote speaker, along with Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, a lawyer involved in international development and women's equality.
Also as part of the conference, on Saturday, October 1, 2011, starting at 2:45 pm,Joyce Arthur of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada will be debating Andrea Mrozek of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada on the question: “Can Canada have an effective global maternal health policy by excluding funding for abortions?”

The debate is open to the public and free of charge, so please attend if you can get to Kingston.
To register for the entire conference: http://www.queenshhrc.ca/register.html

Thanks!

Hitting a Slump

2011-09-16T12:10:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it can be very easy, as someone with even the slightest interest in things like human rights, to throw up one's hands and give up. The problem with knowing about the horrible state of the world is that you can't un-know it. And even if you happen to be one of the incredibly fortunate people who are not directly suffering (or at least not in a life-threatening way), it is hard not to feel a terrible guilt about that (a guilt that hopefully doesn't fester, but instead mobilizes you to act). So once you start to care about stuff like social justice, you can't look away again.

I think every person who is an activist or works toward a "better world" (whatever that looks like to you) every now and then gets a feeling of despair about the whole endeavour. Especially if, like me, you have the option to walk away. I have this feeling sometimes. I find myself withdrawing from my usual activist stuff, not writing as much, tweeting more about the mundane shit going on in my own life than about what is happening in the world. Even when the two combine and the personal is political, sometimes I just can't bring myself to see the *point* of picking up that picket sign.

I am not completely idealistic. I know the revolution won't happen in my lifetime. And I feel sometimes like the small acts I do are not changing anything. Not even the act of mindfulness, of not being completely oblivious, seems helpful. Some days I honestly don't know if it would make a difference anywhere (outside of my own heart) if I fought for capitalism to win, or fought against it.

I know you've probably been there.

For me, I could very easily stop caring. Sure I'm not doing so well financially right now, but I am a white university-educated cis woman with straight passing privilege, a middle class upbringing, a supportive and functional family of university-educated professionals, who is going to marry a lawyer. I would be alright; the boot of the kyriarchy is not pressing down on my neck particularly painfully. But like I said at the start, once you know, you can't un-know. I couldn't live with myself if I was that kind of an asshole. If I'm going to be an asshole (and I assure you, I am) it has to be by accident when I was trying not to be.

Sometimes I think I don't have strong ethics, especially compared to the people around me - particularly my partner, who is ethical to a fault, and with whom I recently had a long, frustrating debate about whether it is ever ethical to lie (it is!). But I guess I do ok, ethics-wise, because I couldn't be a person who doesn't care. So that's something. Is it? Or is it the bare minimum of ethical behaviour? And maybe it's just the genetic luck of the draw; I have a great deal of empathy that I don't feel I came by honestly. So maybe unethical people just missed out on that through no fault of their own.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is: I'm going through a little bit of a slump in the caring department right now. But that's normal - probably very much so for people who work in the social justice field as well. So you'll have to forgive my social networking updates about dinosaurs, my aimless blogging, my in-person chatter about Jeff Goldblum and haircuts and feta cheese. I guess if you leave the activist switch on too long, it burns out a little and you need to let it recharge.

How do you get it going again? I'd love to hear about your experiences with this.

Book Corner: Broken Words by Jonathan Dudley

2011-09-09T10:18:00.003-04:00

For this edition of the book corner, I read Broken Words: The Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics, by Jonathan Dudley. For me this was a little bit of a break from my usual focus, because I do try to keep the focus on Canadian content here. There are a lot of blogs on the internet talking about abortion and reproductive rights/justice from an American POV and I'm trying to provide something a little different.

However, on the other side of that is the unsettling fact that the political landscape in Canada is growing ever more reminiscent of that of the USA. We are always a few years behind and a few notches less extreme, but our destinies as nations are so intertwined that it is probably pretty foolish to not pay attention to what is going on down there; like it or not, it's coming our way. So I think this book is, in a roundabout way, relevant to my focus.

I have read a few books about this kind of thing - the dangers of religious fundamentalism, the terrifying influence of Evangelical Christians on US politics - especially during my hardcore atheist days. One reason I began to get frustrated with the genre was that it's very much about preaching to the choir. So an element of Broken Words that I really liked was that the author was very upfront about his upbringing as an evangelical Christian, and is not afraid to incorporate that into the book. It is clear that he still believes in God and considers himself a Christian; instead of modelling a contemptuous atheism to readers, he shows a moderate understanding of his religion that coexists peacefully with his medical studies and his scientific knowledge and political views.

The book tackles the four big points of contention for Evangelical Christianity: gay marriage, evolution, abortion and the environment. Constant throughout is the theme of interpretation: for every Bible verse commonly used to support the Evangelical position, Dudley comes up with three or four that could just as easily be interpreted to oppose it. But the book is not an argument, nor is it about showing how "they" are wrong. What it is, is an exposure of the current Evangelical position as one invented for almost entirely political reasons, a fascinating (recent!) history of the ways in which religion has been used to control the American political landscape.

I suppose it will not shock you that I liked this book, but there you go. I will say that it is a refreshing take on a somewhat tired theme, and I would much rather read this than someone more established and maddeningly cynical, like Hitchens or Dawkins (although I would really rather read anything than Hitchens, because "not hating women" is a criterion I like to set for the authors I read). It is not, as I expected, yet another rallying cry for the atheist movement; it is a measured, thoughtful exploration of the difference between personal spirituality, and the religious manipulation of the public. I think some Christians might like it.

This appears to be Dudley's first book and there are certain touches that give it away - he is at times a bit too earnest, at other times a little too abstract. But he has a good "voice" and seems to have found himself a decent editor, and I for one hope to be hearing more from him in the future.

Eight fetus cookies out of ten.

ARCC Video Contest!

2011-09-06T06:59:00.003-04:00

Version française

Help us bring attention to the importance of choice—from your perspective. We’re looking for short creative original videos to highlight what choice means to you, your peers or Canadians in general. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 3 submissions.

Reproductive choice and access to abortion services is a right in Canada, but it’s not always easy or possible to access appropriate services to support that right.Opponents of choice are always looking for ways to turn back time and prevent women from having full control over their own bodies and their reproductive choices. And, depending on where you live in Canada, it can be difficult and expensive to access the support and medical services required to truly have “freedom of choice”.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC-CDAC) is dedicated to ensuring that women can exercise their right to health services equitably and without barriers. Your video can help us share diverse pro-choice perspectives, engaging others in our work and encouraging discussion and action.

Videos can be documentary-style, creative, artistic, action-packed, musical, journalistic or dramatic. Enlist your friends, family or classmates to help you, or make a solitary production. Tell us stories, entertain and inform us.

Videos must be between 30 seconds and 2 minutes long (:30 – 2:00 min). Videos entered must be original material and participants must acquire appropriate releases from all performers or interviewees. First prize is $500 and 2nd and 3rd prizes are $250 each.

Please follow the instructions on our website and read the Contest Rules carefully before creating and entering your video in the contest. If you have questions, please contact videocontest@arcc-cdac.ca

Let your voice for choice be heard around the world!

Instructions:

1. Read contest rules.
2. Complete and submit entry form.
3. Complete a Release Form for each person in your video, including yourself.
4. Can you help spread the word? Please send the attached poster (or this link to it ) about the contest to your friends, thank you!

Choice 101

2011-09-02T09:32:00.000-04:00

Calling All Young Pro-Choice Canadians Apply for Choice 101!

“Choice 101” will bring together 15 pro-choice Canadians from coast to coast to participate in an interactive 8-week course about pro-choice issues. The course will link you with other individuals who want to learn, share and contribute to the movement for sexual and reproductive rights in Canada.

You don’t have to be an expert to participate; just interested in learning more about pro-choice issues and sharing your ideas, experiences and questions with other people who are under 35.

We will be using teleconference calls to meet each week and we will create a networking site for people to post their thoughts, videos, drawings, web links, etc. to deepen our collective pro-choice knowledge. It’s a great way to broaden your pro-choice horizons and to strengthen the young pro-choice network across Canada.

Topics:

Pro-Choice, Sex-positivity, Attitudes, & Values
Current Access Issues in Canada
History of Abortion Politics in Canada
Anti-Oppression, Intersectionality, & Privilege
First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Women & Reproductive Justice
Demystifying Sex Work
Pro-choice Activism: Goals, Strategies & Tactics

Presenters:

Joyce Arthur, Executive Director, Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, which protects the legal right to abortion on request and works to improve access to quality abortion services. Before founding ARCC in 2005, she ran the Pro-Choice Action Network in British Columbia for 10 years and edited the national newsletter Pro-Choice Press, which she began in 1995. Arthur has written hundreds of articles on abortion and other political and social justice issues, spoken at dozens of venues in Canada and internationally, given hundreds of media interviews, and appeared in several documentaries. For more information visit: www.arcc-cdac.ca
Patrizia Gentile, Assistant Professor in the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies at Carleton University holds a Ph.D. from Queen’s University in the Department of History. Her dissertation was an historical study of beauty contests in Canada from the 1920s to the early 1990s. Professor Gentile is also co-author of The Canadian War on Queer: National Security as Sexual Regulation (UBC: 2010) with Dr. Gary Kinsman.

Prostitutes of Ottawa/Gatineau Work, Educate, Resist (POWER) is a non-profit, voluntary organization open to individuals of all genders who self-identify as former or current sex workers, regardless of the industry sector in which they work(ed) (i.e. dancers, street level workers, in and out call workers, phone sex, etc.) and to allies who share our vision.

POWER envisions a society in which sex workers are able to practice their professions free of legal and social discrimination, victimization, harassment and violence and in which sex work is valued as legitimate and fulfilling work making an important contribution to society. For more information visithttp://www.powerottawa.ca/:

Julie Lalonde, co-founder of the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre and board member of Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. Julie is a feminist activist and part-time academic. She has been doing work in the reproductive justice movement and anti-violence movement officially and unofficially for about 8 years. Her work ranges from protest attending and organizing to public education campaigns. She currently sits on the board of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. She has a megaphone and is not afraid to use it. Follow her on twitter: http://twitter.com/AskingForIt

Courtney Scalan, Community Education Coordinator of Planned ParenthoodOttawa (PPO), offers education, counselling and referral services to assist and support people in making informed sexual and reproductive health choices. PPO is a non-judgmental, pro-choice, confidential, supportive, GLBTTQ positive, youth positive organization. For more information visit: http://www.ppottawa.ca/

And more! Stay tuned as more presenters are confirmed…

Details:

The course will be held from September 27 - November 15, 2011 once a week onTuesdays for two hours at: 14:00 (British Columbia); 15:00 (Alberta / Saskatchewan / Northwest); 16:00 (Manitoba); 17:00 (Quebec / Ontario / Nunavut); 18:00 (Atlantic); and 18:30 (Newfoundland).

All participants must complete our online application and consent form. The consent form needs to be signed and either scanned and emailed/faxed; or sent by postal mail.

Apply online now at: www.canadiansforchoice.ca The deadline to apply is September 19, 2011.

Participant selection will take into consideration provincial and regional representation as well as representation of diverse identities.

Obligatory Post Regarding the Late Jack Layton

2011-08-26T06:15:00.000-04:00

So, we lost Jack.

I miss him very much already. The first time I met him was at a provincial NDP convention in Moncton, New Brunswick. During his address to the crowd he made sure to mention his east coast roots, but there was much affectionate eye-rolling in the crowd. He couldn't fool us; Jack was much too city.

Having lived in downtown Toronto for a year now, I'm starting to get to know it, and I see now more than ever how Jack was truly of this place. An avid cyclist, incorrigible extrovert, and quintessential politician; he was slick like Toronto, which I mean in the nicest possible way. Sometimes he could be so quick and sharp-tongued, but always he was a good-hearted idealist with grand, sincere dreams for this country.

I can't say I knew him; I only ever met him in an NDP capacity. I feel like I knew him though, or at least enough about him to get a sense of who he was...I guess a lot of people feel that way about public figures. But I think the better I get to know Toronto, the more I understand who Jack was. He was our neighbour; he and Olivia lived just a few blocks over from us, in Chinatown. His son is our city councillor and his wife is our MP. He is a local, through and through, and I don't just mean that in the Toronto sense. Jack could've been anyone's neighbour; if you talked to him in the street or at a campaign event he would be just as happy to discuss the weather or mustache fashion (I wish!) as goals and strategies for the party. He was certainly a born politician, and he was always "on" - but he was genuine as well. A class act.

Of course we will miss Jack a great deal on the political front, but I can't even begin to think about all the ways his loss will be felt, in the NDP and in the progressive movement as a whole. Not yet. Right now I am still grieving Jack the guy, Jack the citizen. Jack my neighbour who was everything that was great about Toronto.

Thanks for everything Mr. Layton. We lost a great leader, and heaven gained a great mustache.

Weekly Reader

2011-08-21T11:20:00.000-04:00

Here's what I've been reading lately:

Heather Mallick on Hudak and abortion.

Book Corner: Nobody's Child by Austin Boyd

2011-08-19T10:03:00.003-04:00

Welcome to the inaugural edition of my book review feature! The following is my review of Nobody's Child by Austin Boyd.

The reason this book piqued my interest was that it dealt with an issue of reproductive health that I don't often deal with, from a viewpoint that differs from my own. It is written with the blessing and support of the Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, an organization whose mission is as follows:

The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity (CBHD) is a Christian bioethics research center ofTrinity International University that explores the nexus of biomedicine, biotechnology, and our common humanity. CBHD fosters a distinctly Christian conception of bioethics that is both academically rigorous and broadly accessible.

So. Clearly this book is going to be a challenge for me on an ideological level. However, I do have to say right off the bat that it was beautifully written and quite thoughtful. I expected to be hit over the head with the preachy Christian stuff, but the characters were rather understated in their faith and seemed to view it as a personal matter. There was even one self-identified non-Christian who was a good character, essential to the eventual triumph of (spoiler alert!) good over evil. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of judgement flying around, but none of it seemed directed at the reader. I can get behind that.

The story is about a young woman named Laura Ann whose father dies in the opening chapters, and who feels she must keep the family farm intact on her own, protecting it against the (ridiculously, stereotypically) evil Uncle Jack (who beats his wife, in case you were wondering if he was the bad guy) and the uncaring money-lenders down at the bank. She donates a bunch of eggs to pay her father's medical bills, and then one of the women who used her eggs to get pregnant, Sophia, shows up on her doorstep to thank her, gets stuck there because of a flash flood, becomes Laura Ann's BFF, then (spoiler alert! But not really) dies. Oh no, what about the bebeh!

This is a novel that tries very hard to be less about what happens, and more about the ideas. A lot of it involves the set up of Laura Ann trying to keep her egg donation a secret, and musings about the morality of several different aspects of her life. Sophia doesn't show up until about halfway through the book, and the big-city news reporter cousin who has a big part in finally defeating Uncle Jack only gets about two chapters of play. Maybe because she's not into God. Although of course, as a single lady, Godless and independent, there's the obligatory scene (on Laura Ann's wedding day, no less) where she confesses how jealous she is of her happily-hetero-matched cousin and her simple country life. Sure.

Side note: Did you know there is such a thing as a book trailer? I didn't! Watch the one for this book and cringe heavily. How could this make you want to read it?

Ok so it sounds like I kinda liked the book, right? Well, I kinda did. I didn't agree with the author's analysis, and there were a lot of cultural quirks I had a hard time getting around (I guess people in Appalachia call their dads "Daddy" well into adulthood), but overall I thought it was a nice enough story and I was glad to see so many strong female characters (I can think of at least four in the book that might possibly be considered feminist). But there are three things that are stopping me from actually recommending this novel.

1. The attitude towards egg donation: I blogged a little bit about this here. Basically, I just could not get around the huge and incomprehensible (to me) plot point of how ashamed Laura Ann - and everyone else - was of her egg donation. Even the supportive people in her life, when they found out, were unhappy with her decision, or felt it was "the wrong decision for the right reasons". I just wanted to reach into the book, grab these characters and ask them what they thought would happen to the eggs if Laura Ann didn't donate them (spoiler alert: the toilet!). I mean really, people. I understand a little bit more where they're coming from (though I still don't agree) with regards to creating a baby from these donations, but in the end I feel like if a woman wants to sell her eggs - that she isn't using anyway!! - and someone is willing to buy them; well, what's the problem? No one shames Laura Ann for selling the wooden stools she makes in her workshop.

It doesn't surprise me that, given this attitude, donating eggs is often compared, explicitly and implicitly by various characters, to sex work. I believe the author and I are on different sides of these two issues for the same reasons. I also loved (*eyeroll*) the fact that Sophia had (of course!) been a sex worker (in a whole speech about her past that totally glosses over the reasons Latina women enter the sex trade - willingly or not - with nonsense about all the fancy clothes she was able to buy herself), and that the chlamydia she contracted eventually led, in part, to her death. Thanks for the really subtle lesson about women selling themselves, author.

In fact, the whole somewhat subtle messaging of the whole book sort of unraveled near the end, when Sophia dies (and we learn about the dangers of unprotected sex/sex work), a nurse testifies at the trial about how she used to work at the IVF clinic then left because she started to feel that the whole thing was morally distasteful (where have I heard that narrative before oh hello Abby Johnson...), and the introduction of the absolutely odious character of the judge, who is not only employed to explicitly state the moral of the story at the end of the book (seriously?), but who stops a trial in progress to give the following totally irrelevant personal view of other people's choices:

"Every day I see this ad for a genetics company out in Utah. It sickens me, to tell you the truth. They offer paternity testing, as if a woman needs a test to tell her who the father of her baby is. But I guess that's where our country is headed. Men and women sleeping around so much they don't know who the baby's daddy is."

Seriously.

2. The courtroom scenes: Okay, so clearly the author did a lot of research about egg donation and IVF, and that comes through in the book. However the courtroom scenes are so ridiculous as to be distracting, and I know nothing about American law. But I can tell you that a judge who engages in this many ethics violations is going to be removed from the case at the very least. I find it incredibly ironic that he is apparently supposed to be the unbiased voice of reason at the end of the novel - and that when he is summing up the whole adventure, it is while he is sitting in his chambers, with the defendant, talking about the case that just ended. Not OK! Really there were way too many problems with the legal stuff for me to go into here, but it made it very difficult to get through those chapters.

3. The Ian character: Ian is the love interest for Laura Ann, in a really boring romantic subplot that involves no surprises whatsoever. What bothers me about Ian - besides the fact that he is needed at all; Laura Ann is always doing the damsel-in-distress bit for him but I'm pretty sure she'd be okay without him - is that he is quite clearly emotionally abusive, and that doesn't seem to matter to anyone, least of all the author. It's as if there can only be one kind of emotional abuse - the kind where Uncle Jack doesn't let his wife go out, and he says mean things to her. Which is legitimately bad stuff, but its existence doesn't discount the fact that emotional abuse can also mean, oh I don't know, emotional blackmail like implying you will dump someone if they don't tell you their personal medical history. Or, you know, implicitly (but obviously) blaming your partner when people in town talk about her being a whore. Or being a violent asshole who punches people for spreading that rumour. All of which Ian does. Because he is an abusive asshole. Who Laura Ann likes to dress up in her dad's (sorry, Daddy's) overalls and snuggle chastely.

Yeah that whole thing for me was pretty bad.

I guess, in conclusion, I could almost recommend this book as a thoughtful take on the intersection of modern reproductive technology with "traditional" religious values, regardless of where you fall on the religion side of things. But I can't in good faith recommend it to everyone because it is potentially triggering in its endorsement of Ian's abusive behaviour. If you feel that you can get around this, please do give the book a read because if nothing else, it's always a pleasant surprise to find well-written "Christian fiction". But if it all seems a bit ridiculous to you, I would recommend just having another hearty chuckle over the trailer and then going on your merry way.

Six fetus cookies out of ten.

Potential New Feature: Book Corner!

2011-08-05T11:38:00.003-04:00

My commute to work is about forty-five minutes (one way) - which is below average in Toronto - and so I like to have a little bit of leisure reading to keep my mind occupied. I was relieved recently to have finally finished with a not particularly enjoyable book club mandated read, but unfortunately I can't get back into the good stuff yet: I'm doing a book review.

Yes, I'm reviewing a book for the blog. I get these emails from time to time offering a free copy for review of books with varying tenuous links to the subject matter of the blog. Recently I finally decided to take someone up on the offer. In fact, two someones, although only one of the books has arrived.

I won't say much yet about this particular book, as I'm in the middle of it now and I want to save the good stuff for the review, but let's just say I never realized that reproductive rights could be such a fertile (hur hur) topic for fiction. I am beginning to think maybe there is more out there. This one that I'm reading deals with egg donation, but there must be others, maybe about unwanted pregnancy/abortion, birth control, etc. Could be interesting.

So I think if this goes well, I might make book reviews a semi-regular feature on the blog. Obviously I am not super famous/visible and thus am not getting a lot of these books sent to me, so if people have suggestions for books that I should read, I will gladly hear you out. And probably buy them (or borrow them from the library!). It would be great to know what's out there. All perspectives are welcome, too - this one I'm reading now is definitely Christian and kind of a shit show, but I'm gonna review it anyway!

Let me know in comments of any books you can think of, or email me: pedgehog@gmail.com. Also if you wrote a book, holy crap let me know!

Weekly Reader

2011-07-31T10:11:00.000-04:00

This week's round-up of links is focused solely on Fern Hill, blogger at Dammit Janet! and soldier in the fight to keep Ontario from (as a co-worker of mine puts it) "getting Hudak'd".

You see, Fern brought up the fact that were Hudak elected in Ontario, he would most likely try to defund abortion. Well the press ran with this, as did other bloggers (it even brought JJ back!).

Here is some more of Dammit Janet!'s coverage.

Then came the critics, and the now-inevitable cry of "gotcha! journalism", whatever the hell that is.

But don't worry, Fern Hill fought back - and so did others.

Keep your eyes peeled, friends - let's not let this issue go away.

A Letter to Progressives

2011-07-29T10:39:00.003-04:00

Dear everyone ever,

I am getting mighty sick lately of people who identify as progressives being complete assholes and thinking it is justifiable because their assholery is directed at someone (generally a public figure) whose politics aren't progressive.

This first crossed my radar (as I'm sure it did for many others) during recent political candidacies in the USA; first the relentless attacks on Hillary Clinton's gender, fashion and physical features - to be fair this came mostly from the right but when she was running against Obama for the Democratic nomination it got pretty gross on the left, too - and later with Sarah Palin. Any time a female candidate/politician rises to prominence in the States, the misogyny just goes everywhere, and progressives can't pretend to be innocent. Nor can Canadians. As someone who witnessed a male friend refer to Ann Coulter as someone he would like to "hate fuck", I can testify to that.

I think misogyny is the most obvious and frequent example because it is acceptable in this society to police women's bodies, and especially women in the public sphere, because there is also (I believe) a latent resentment even among progressive men to see women succeeding in arenas designed by and for men. I think you get a lot less flack in certain circles for saying you want to hate fuck Ann Coulter than for, say, making a rude comment about a politician in a wheelchair. Which makes it sound like I'm playing Oppression Olympics, but really what I mean is there is an assumption that women's bodies are always up for debate/discussion, regardless of their performance at their jobs or their political views.

What got me thinking about this was this amazing piece over at Shameless about the progressive people in Toronto who are constantly making fun of our mayor because of his weight. But I think that just triggered a lot of other stuff that's been bothering me lately. I guess it's not so much that people do this - call Rob Ford a "fat fuck", call Ann Coulter a "tranny", call Sarah Palin a "slut" - it's that when called out on it, instead of apologizing and trying to do better (as I think they would or might if their target was also progressive), they get defensive and/or try to justify it because the target is right wing or because the right wing does that to us, etc. etc.

No. Not ok.

When you call Rob Ford a fat fuck you are calling me a moral failure because I am also fat. When you call Ann Coulter a tranny you are appointing yourself the gender police and contributing to a culture where the rape and murder of trans folk is an epidemic. When you call Sarah Palin a slut you are making the world an unsafe place for women - because our sexual expression, behaviour and choices (or at least your perception of them) are what define us instead of our ideas and values and actions.

When you do these things, and do them unapologetically, it makes you a bigot. Yes, it does. You begin to remind me of those other great policers of women's bodies, the anti-choicers screaming at patients outside of clinics. Don't go down that road.

Please stop. You're hurting us and you're hurting the progressive movement. And when we find it totally ok to police the bodies of public figures, is it any wonder that no woman's body is her own? You calling a female politician out on her fashion choices doesn't directly criminalize abortion - but they are all strings of the same web.

It's a shame that as a fat progressive woman, there are very few spaces where I can discuss/debate Rob Ford's policies without the fear that I will feel uncomfortable and hurt because I know someone will call him out for being fat. And the fact is, I'm just fat. I can't imagine what it is like to be disabled, trans, non-white, old etc. and try to participate safely in progressive discourse.

That sucks. Clean up your act, jerks.

Love,

Peggy

Weekly Reader

2011-07-24T10:52:00.000-04:00

Here's what I've been reading lately:

Progress on the New Brunswick human rights complaint.

People are getting riled by anti-abortion graphics and rhetoric.

Hudak is getting a lot of heat for being anti-abortion.

Sorry it's not much. What have you been reading?

On Being Childfree

2011-07-22T10:57:00.000-04:00

A(nother) friend of mine just had a baby. My partner and I have been talking a lot lately about children. Throughout the course of our relationship there have been times when one of us has wanted them and the other hasn't, or we both have or we both haven't. Right now we both don't want them, and it's a phase that has been going on for a while. I think it will probably stick.

Oh what a surprise, right, the abortion lady doesn't want kids? Surprisingly my involvement in the reproductive rights movement hasn't had much of a conscious effect on my desire to be childfree. For one thing, I have always known I didn't want to have my OWN kids, ie I don't want to push them out of my body. I know myself well enough to know that my pain threshold is far, far too low for that. So we would have adopted or fostered. But the more I think about having children, the less appealing it seems. I want to travel. I want to have disposable income. I already feel kind of tied down by our cats. When I do the cost/benefit analysis in my mind, I can't see it working out.

Both of us love kids, and he is especially good with them. We will be awesome as an aunt and uncle or whatever. I certainly get the appeal of them. I just don't want any of my own. I totally respect and admire people who are parents, and I think they have a valuable place in the movement that we are just not giving them (especially mamas) - but I don't see it as my role. And I'm ok with that.

What I'm beginning to get less and less ok with is the arrogance and antagonism of some of these "childfree" crusaders. I am 100% behind the idea of being proud of being childfree, and of changing society to accommodate people (especially women) who do not want to reproduce. But I don't feel the way to change the dominant mindset is by aggressively complaining about spaces that welcome children, or about other people's children specifically. The childfree movement is beginning to parallel, in my mind, the atheist movement - it is becoming distant, arrogant, overly intellectual and worst of all, elitist. The attitudes of some of the childfree people I have encountered are the reason I am hesitant to identify as such (and I feel the same way about atheism).

If you are childfree by choice, that's awesome. You are making a brave choice and in some ways being a trailblazer. I support questioning our culture's obsession with the "mommy cult", the bizarre hyper-consumerism expected of parents, the deification of married mothers and the demonization of single ones, and in fact the whole horrific kyriarchal lens through which we look as a society to decide which mothers are worthy of our love and attention. I support standing up against the assumption that all women are breeders, that all women want to and should have children. I support asserting your right to decide what does and doesn't happen in your uterus. I totally support the choice to be childfree (and to be vocal about it) as much as I support any reproductive decision a person makes. Because it's your body, not mine.

What I don't support is acting like your choice to be childfree makes you better than others. Or your decision to complain about spaces that welcome children. And what I especially don't support is when people start to talk about children as if they are not also people - "I hate kids" "Kids are so annoying" etc. Some kids are annoying, as are some adults. Children on average are more likely to be loud, impulsive, and easily upset. But THEY ARE PEOPLE. They are in our lives. They are always around. So just suck it up. And don't assume the choice you made is somehow better or more valid or more altruistic or whatever than the choice to parent. And if I know you, and you ever say something about someone needing to "control their kids in public", so help me it will take a lot for me not to slap you. Verbally. Of course.

Let's all just try to respect each other's choices and get along, is what I'm saying. There's a lot of people out there trying to take those choices away from us, so being an asshole to someone who has kids isn't going to protect your right to choose not to have them.

Edited to add: Go read this. Do it.

Toronto the Good (at Taking Stuff from People)

2011-07-15T14:37:00.000-04:00

So, as you know if you've been paying attention, I live in Toronto now. And these days that seems to be an exercise in reading the newspaper with a look of horror.

Suddenly, all the horrible things we feared would happen when Rob Ford was elected mayor are coming to pass. As alarmed/angry/frustrated as I am about the bike lane debacle, the threats to public parks and Riverdale Farm, and the willful ignorance of any way besides money to measure the wealth of a city, what I am most flabbergasted about and would like to talk about now is the public health nurse scandal. And yes it is a scandal, and an absolute disgrace.

Basically what happened is this: the province offered the city the funding to hire two public health nurses, who would be working (in part) with marginalized communities that don't generally have access to health care. Can I just repeat: FULLY FUNDED by the province. How can this be anything but good? But Rob Ford and his allies on City Council rejected the funding, and then rejected an opportunity to re-open the vote.

Their argument against FULLY FUNDED PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES remains unclear, except for the fear that we would have to pick up the tab after the provincial money ran out.

Two arguments: one, fine - but isn't having them for a year (or two) before letting time go when the money runs out better than not having them?, and two, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing even if we have to pay for them! Because they are nurses! Providing a valuable service to our community - particularly chronically underserved sectors of it!

I dunno, sounds like a gravy train to me.

I mean really, how much can two nurses cost - and more importantly, isn't the work they do more than worth the cost (because I have no illusions that we pay nurses what they're worth)?

I kind of get the arguments for smaller government, against "nanny state" whatever, although I don't agree with them. But I will just never understand the nightmare of refusing what basically amounts to free healthcare for the citizens you are supposed to be serving. And when I do understand it, y'all can take me out back and shoot me, because I have no interest in living in a world where that kind of bullshit makes sense.

Daydreaming

2011-06-28T18:46:00.000-04:00

So on my way home today, I was daydreaming on the streetcar as I often do, and I started to imagine...

What if protesters stood outside of every Catholic church, on a regular basis, holding signs and pictures of, oh I don't know, victims of the genocides perpetrated, condoned and/or not opposed by the church? Maybe children who had been raped and molested by priests, or maybe impoverished people suffering from AIDS? You know, that kind of thing. And whenever people tried to go into the church, the protesters would run up to them, get right in their faces and scream at them, calling them murderers and telling them they were going to hell. Or maybe the protesters would beg and cajole them not to go into the church, crying out "You have other options!". What if the protesters stood by the door of the church waiting for the priest to arrive, and when he did they threatened and harassed him, calling him a baby killer and saying they hoped he would choke on the communion wine?

I wonder what the law of the land would have to say about that.

It wouldn't make anything better, of course. Just a little dream I had...

Weekly Reader

2011-06-26T13:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry I skipped a week - I was in Ottawa working my butt off! Here are the things I've been reading the last two weeks:

Alberta's battle against STDs.

Some reflections on Dr. Tiller's death, on the second anniversary.

An amazing clinic escort in Fredericton on anti-abortion lobbying and the long-term effects in New Brunswick.

Abortions are not done "willy-nilly" in Canada.

Serial abortion clinic protester released from jail.

Fredericton doctors quit over RIDICULOUS service cuts.

Anti-abortion groups target Canadian high schools.

Some headway in the fight against the New Brunswick abortion policies.

A legal history of the Morgentaler decision.

On Grassroots, Privilege and Taking the Next Step

2011-06-24T17:12:00.000-04:00

Something I have been thinking and reading a lot about lately is how to take the next step after learning about privilege and acknowledging your own. I have been harping on about privilege for about two years now, but I still haven't figured out how to turn it into something that is useful for people who don't have it. I read this article by Courtney Martin about how we move past the guilt and into the real work (go read it; it's excellent) and I started to put it into the context of my own life and work.

My place in the (progressive/leftist/radical/whatever) struggle is fraught with potential pitfalls. I have not gumbooted, for example, since a friend called me out on Facebook for the culturally appropriative nature of a group of white women using a traditional South African dance - born of slavery - to express our message (even if it was a message of resistance and solidarity). I am still thinking about that. I want to gumboot. But that's not a good enough reason. And I think a lot of progressives who are privileged can relate to the experience of being afraid to help, afraid to reach out and be an ally because there are so many ways you can fail.

I am lucky then, in my oppression as a woman. At least I have some frame of reference for what an ally needs to be. I want men to keep trying to be feminists - even when they fail. The men in my life trip up every day, but still it means more to me that they are trying, that they're on my side. So I have to hope that when I fuck up as an ally, I am still allowed to keep trying.

What I really want to talk about is the nature of activism and work and how people like me go about it. I think I have been working under the assumption that the best, safest thing to do is to fight the oppression(s) I directly experience, and then once we have those beaten I'll turn around and work on the ones that I don't experience - racism, transphobia, poverty, etc. It has just now started to dawn on me that this "trickle down" style of organizing is ridiculous. I recognized that all oppressions are linked, but I figured that meant once I was free of mine, I could help those worse off than me. It never occurred to me to approach from the opposite end - that perhaps once the people worse off than me are free, my own oppressions will no longer be there.

In Canada, the movement for suffrage began around the start of the 20th century. But it wasn't until 2002 - NINE YEARS AGO - that universal suffrage became a reality. Nine years ago. And when you think about why that is, you can look back and see the history of it - first we had to fight for white women to get the vote, then people of different races, then First Nations people, then prisoners. Bit by bit, oppressed group by oppressed group - white folks first of course. And of course this struggle is valuable, but we can see in our history that even a progressive struggle for suffrage has upheld the hierarchies of kyriarchal system. White ladies fighting for the vote, getting it, and then maybe turning around and helping black folks isn't nearly as awesome or as progressive as if they had just said from the beginning: "We're all human beings, we all get a say in this democracy, everybody gets the vote. Full stop."

I know that such an approach might not have been as effective or as fast as what actually happened. But it's the only way it's fair. I'm just using voting as an example because there's a clear history, but look at any other progressive struggle happening right now. There is such a disparity in the distribution of rights around bodily autonomy and reproductive justice, for example. For many people in this country, the Morgentaler decision may as well have not happened, because without the elimination of systemic barriers like racism, regionalism, colonialism and class, it hasn't made a difference. And there's always challenges to it, always another fight for urban middle-class white women to protect the rights that their less-privileged sisters don't even have yet, that we have to ask: when exactly is it that we will be free enough to turn around and help everybody else?

So, maybe the way to use my privilege is not necessarily to work on my own struggles while giving little more than lip service to being an ally to others. Maybe the way to do it is not trickle down; to stop forming groups and then waiting for women of colour to sign on. Instead I think the key is to be the one doing the signing on; to listen and find out what the concerns are a couple rungs below me on the privilege ladder and start working on those. In other words: grassroots.

I think the first step after acknowledging your privilege is asking those who don't have it: how can I use this to help in your struggle? To exercise the ACORN model: go to every disadvantaged, oppressed or otherwise marginalized person, door by door, and ask what issues are you fighting in your day to day life - and how can I fight them with you? And then, step back and let the people living that reality lead the fight. Just because we are the privileged ones doesn't mean we should naturally be the leaders. (Another organization that is great at this is the Stephen Lewis Foundation. They find groups and collectives that are already organizing to fight HIV/AIDS, and use the privilege of "first world" respectability and fundraising experience to get the money and the attention straight to the grassroots).

So this is why I'm going to be spending less time and energy on things like pay equity and electoral reform, and more time and energy on - well, whatever is needed right now the most. It's not that I don't think those concerns are important; it's just that once we address the more urgent, more radical concerns, I have a feeling the other stuff might just take care of itself.

Reflections on Age, Mortality, and Death

2011-06-07T07:29:00.000-04:00

So, this year I turned 27. Normally I am not the kind of person who thinks a lot about my age, or feels the biological clock ticking or stuff like that. I am much too young to do the ridiculous pretending-I'm-younger routine, but I can't imagine myself being that way even when I'm older. But for some reason, being 27 is making me think a lot about age.

Yesterday, the day my brother turned 30(!), my last grandparent passed away. Just last week we lost Dr. Kevorkian, so I've been thinking a lot about assisted suicide (not for myself, just in general). Especially when I remember my other grandmother - the penultimate grandparent - being in one of those special care homes for old people who really can't look after themselves or be left alone. I used to go there and see rows of old people in wheelchairs lined up in front of the TV, staring, drooling, not really there. My grandmother herself had checked out a few months before - in the last year before her death it wasn't really her we were visiting - she was already gone. It was her still-living body, with the strange consciousness of an infant. My mother hated the idea of that place, the way that as a society we have no problem "warehousing old people". And yet Dr. Kevorkian is still a widely reviled figure. People get old though. We need to accept it.

I guess the reflections on age started earlier this year, when my mother had an accident that forced my siblings and me to face the mortality of our own parents. Our beloved family cat had just died, marking the end of an era in the life of our little unit. Suddenly the three of us were grown people, on our own, out in the world. My parents are still living of course, but it's very different to live away, to chat over Skype and have no familiar Sunday dinners. We are adults now.

And so I am starting to find myself, if not unhappy with where I am at this point, at 27, then at least a little restless. I just found out that Johann Hari - whom I had always pictured as a wise, older fellow not unlike my own father - is only five years older than me. I feel unaccomplished. I have been thinking particularly about my activism in the context of my work, and wondering about whether a commitment to working in a field that I care about is enough, or whether perhaps it would be more personally satisfactory to be doing actual tasks that I was good at and cared about. And if that's possible.

I know it maybe sounds like I'm leaving my job at the clinic, but that's not really on the table - at least not right now. But hopefully in August I will know where we will be living next, and at that point I have some decisions to make. Not knowing what I want to be when I grew up was kind of charming at 22, but now it's making me a little nervous.

Just some thoughts.

On the 2nd Anniversary

2011-05-31T07:21:00.000-04:00

I am thinking about Dr. Tiller today.

A couple days ago I pointed out to my partner the story of the man in Madison who was arrested while on his way to shoot an abortion provider. We talked about my safety as a person who works in abortion care - and perhaps more so as an outspoken advocate/activist for abortion rights. I may have scoffed a little; our clinic has amazing security. "But I worry more about your safety outside the clinic," he said. Dr. Tiller was shot in his church.

I don't think about my safety on a daily basis. Part of that is living in Canada (although Canadian doctors have been shot, and I work in a clinic that was once firebombed). Part of it is not being an actual doctor. But I think most of all it's the fact that life goes on. If we all thought about the threat to our safety all the time, no one would do this - just like no one would be a police officer, or any other job where there is danger involved. I am certain Dr. Tiller didn't spend a lot of time preoccupied by whether he might get shot. Most of the time I think he thought about doing his job.

My partner and I don't talk about it much. Sometimes it just hits us though. Just like it hit me that time, that the things I do can affect his career in the law. It's trickier than I thought, navigating a life together. Sometimes I think about the things that Dr. Tiller's wife must have sacrificed to be with him; what kind of ideas you would have to give up, seeing your husband leave for work each day in a bulletproof vest. I wonder if when he died, it felt, to some extent, inevitable - the only thing that could replace the tension was grief.

I remember vividly the day he died. But I also remember when he was alive - reading interviews with him, seeing his "abortion is a matter of the heart" quote on the kitchen wall in the Fredericton clinic every day, how his clinic always had the best swag at NAF conferences - mugs and pens and paperweights. I remember when I saw him at a conference, with his bodyguards, and he was such a kind and gentle person. It is hard to accept him as a martyr because there was still so much work to be done. I hope we can get it done without him.

Many thinks to the abortion providers, the doctors, nurses, counsellors, clinic managers and staff, and activists for the work that you do in spite of the risk. Thank you for trusting women.

RIP Dr. George Tiller.

Make a donation to NNAF in Dr. Tiller's memory.

Thoughts on Rebelles

2011-05-26T06:31:00.000-04:00

So as I mentioned, I was at the Rebelles gathering in Winnipeg this past weekend. For those who don't know, Rebelles is a "pan-Canadian" young feminist movement - the first gathering took place in Montreal in 2008, which I also attended. It produced a manifesto which I encourage you to read.

I just want to say that while there were a lot of great things about this gathering - notably a much stronger effort to include the voices of Aboriginal folks and sex workers, and a willingness on the part of the organizers to quickly readjust the schedule to allow for the concerns of the participants - I was left with the same frustrated feeling as I had after the last gathering; a feeling that it wasn't radical enough.

I felt frustrated because I think most of the folks there were pretty radical - which I mean in a positive, progressive way, not in the trans-hating way that characterizes a lot of radical feminists - but so much time and energy was being spent in a) catching up those who did not understand the issues, and b) trying to be "inclusive" of everyone's ideas by bridging the gaps between truly radical strategies and Liberal Feminist "lobbying the government" bullshit. There was a lot of lip service paid to diversity of tactics, but when it came down to actually creating our "resistance actions, alternatives and demands", I heard a lot of demanding from the state, and the voices calling for truly radical action were being silenced in the name of time constraints.

I'm not ragging on lobbying the government, but if I wanted to be in Second Wave Jr. I would have joined a different movement. Yes of course let's demand the things we want - changes in law, better public services - but can we all agree that a government is not going to assist in, or fund, a revolution against itself? Sure, let's ask for better sensitivity training for cops, but can we please spend more time and energy at least having conversations about how the police are a violent tool of the state, used almost exclusively to keep poor folks in competition - beholden to capitalism - and to criminalize their poverty? Sure, let's demand an end to tough-on-crime bullshit and ridiculous sentencing, but can we also spend some time and energy fucking burning down prisons? Where is the radical feminist movement I signed up for?

What does this have to do with abortion? Well let's talk about reproductive justice. Y'all know I love the organizations we have that are looking out for our rights - ARCC, NAF, etc. I think what they do is valuable and important work. But I also think that we desperately need a diversity of tactics in this movement. We can't concentrate all our energy as a movement working in clinics, sitting on the boards of orgs, ASKING THE GOVERNMENT for changes in law, improvements in/access to services, etc. etc. That's shit that has to be done. But the government will never give up power, and isn't the goal to have power over our bodies? Do you really think that a government that has been complicit in - and often orchestrated - genocide against the Indigenous people of this land is going to suddenly give them the power back? And isn't it really fucking insulting for white middle-class ladies to be asking on their behalf? Do you think that a government that uses violent tools of repression to keep folks of colour down is really going to turn around and offer them free childcare? Or if they did, could that ever be enough?

I'm just so sick of how the pro-choice movement is almost totally focused on politely asking the government if it could please take its boot off our necks. Fuck that. Even if we got the reforms we wanted, it doesn't change the fact that global capitalism exists, it doesn't change our sisters' colonized bodies. Y'all know I love the Morgentaler decision, and it was a big fucking deal, but isn't 23 years long enough for a great big party to celebrate the fact that rich ladies can have abortions? Now that we've helped ourselves, aren't we ready to stand as allies to a movement that is much bigger? Because as long as we hold our marches at a designated time and place, escorted by the cops, we are useless fucking puppets and it's no wonder our bodies are still the property of the state.

Now I'm not saying I want us all to leave our "lobbying the government" work and start burning down prisons. But what this movement needs desperately is a real diversity of tactics, or at the very least a real conversation about how hundreds of years of asking the state for control over our bodies does not seem to be working and maybe we could try something different? For more information on why it's not working, try asking an Indigenous woman or a queer woman or a woman of colour or a trans woman (not implying that this is an exhaustive list or that any of these identities don't overlap). A government set up by, and run by, people who look like my dad can naturally only "serve" people who look like my dad (and honestly I don't think my dad is particularly happy with them, because he is a cool guy). We can spend all our energy, our whole lives, asking for little tidbits from them, but sooner or later even the most privileged among us will have to face the fact that the state will never voluntarily cede power. And then we have to decide where to go from there.

Feministe - viva!

Weekly Reader

2011-05-23T09:49:00.000-04:00

Hey friends - greetings from Winnipeg/Metis land! I am here for the Rebelles gathering (which I will be blogging about some time this week) so my reader is a day later than usual - I got caught up in all the feminism!

Here's what I've been reading about:

Unwanted pregnancies are key to the issue of abortion

ARCC has compiled updated lists of pro-choice and anti-choice MPs

Harper doesn't have to re-open the abortion debate; and some thoughts on reproductive rights under Harper

Harper backs the UN report on maternal health

Further coverage of the March for Life

Sun News runs suspect survey on Canadians' opinions on abortion

In defense of abortion

And my latest piece over at Abortion Gang about sterilization by choice

What have you all been reading?

Weekly Reader

2011-05-15T10:28:00.000-04:00

There is a lot going on this week, since the national March for Life (in Ottawa) happened, and there's a lot of election fall-out around abortion and reproductive rights as well. So let's dive right in, shall we?

Options for Sexual Health (in BC) is lobbying for free and accessible birth control

The Star talks about choosing sterility and the Gazette talks about abortion

Some people want Harper to reopen the abortion debate: what would abortion's future be under a Conservative majority?

Ottawa mayor Jim Watson proclaimed a "Respect for Life" day at the behest of pro-life groups

The anti-choicers were out in full force in Regina this week

And of course, the March for Life happened.

What have you been reading this week?

Jane's Walk Wrap-Up

2011-05-10T09:45:00.000-04:00

So, I had an amazing time on our Jane's Walk. We tried to keep it as non-political as possible, but you and I know the personal is political, and it's hard to say it was a purely informational/historical walking tour when it involved radical acts like women talking about their abortion experiences through a megaphone. It was a big deal.

We had a great crowd and lovely weather, and we took a little longer than the two hours we had planned. We covered about 5km of history throughout downtown Toronto; for those interested, the stops we covered were: 85 Harbord St. (the site of the Morgentaler Clinic that was firebombed), Robarts Library (on the U of T campus), Planned Parenthood, U of T Faculty of Law, Queen's Park, Women's College Hospital, Bay Centre for Birth Control, Native Child and Family Services, Women's Health in Women's Hands, Hassle Free Clinic, Allan Gardens (for both the Scott Clinic and Sherbourne Health Centre), and ending at the Cabbagetown Women's Clinic.

I learned a lot while researching for the walk: for example, I had no idea that anonymous HIV testing used to be illegal in Canada! There was so much info for each site, I think we could have easily made the walk twice as long.

I got thoroughly sunburnt.

I just want to thank everyone who came out, and especially my co-organizers Jordan Hale and Emma Woolley. I hope that it becomes an ongoing Jane's Walk with or without our involvement.

Photo credit: Matt Thompson

The History of Choice in Toronto

2011-05-04T10:37:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard of Jane's Walk? If not, I urge you to check it out right now. It's a really cool concept - free informational walking tours of neighbourhoods, led by volunteers. There are endless possibilities for themes, depending on the city, the neighbourhood, and the history. I am very, very excited that this is a thing in my life.

I had not heard of JW until a couple weeks ago, when I received an email from an amazing young woman who followed me on Twitter and thought I might be good at leading a JW. About what, you ask? Well. Friends. Let's think about this.

So my amazing co-guides Jordan Hale, Emma Woolley and myself will be leading a Jane's Walk About Choice this Sunday, May 8th at 11am. If you are in Toronto, please join us! We will be exploring the history of abortion activism, reproductive rights, sexual history and choice in Toronto, as well as pointing out and informing our walkers about current resources for sexual/reproductive healthcare.

We are meeting at 85 Harbord St. at 11am on Sunday, May 8th. This walk is free and everyone is welcome! For more details check out our event listing here or on Facebook. I just want to make it clear that this is an informational walking tour, not a protest rally or demo, so while your pro-choice enthusiasm is welcome, your signs and chants are not so much.

Also please get out and enjoy some of the other Jane's Walks that are happening in Toronto or in your city if you can!

Dear Pro-Choice Canadians,

2011-05-03T09:30:00.000-04:00

Like most of you I'm still reeling from the results of the election last night. It was, in a word, bittersweet. I think we are in for a rough ride with a Conservative majority: do not take it lightly when I say buckle up. I think a lot of our sisters and allies - people who work in social services, as teachers and counsellors, people who make a living helping others - are going to be out of a job. If things get really bad, I could be too: abortion provision is a dangerous business to be in when the socons take over a country.

Along with the changing landscape of work for those of us with bleeding hearts, there is a much bigger threat on the horizon, one that I hope is an exaggeration but may just come true: a truly dark time for women, the poor, people of colour, non-hetero, non-gender-conforming folks, and all other marginalized groups. With a Conservative minority, our needs were ignored; now that there's a majority, our rights are directly threatened. Look out for more anti-abortion, "fetal rights" legislation, access being rolled back, civil rights being denied and stepped on, and social support programs going by the wayside. This is a government that will claim to be about family values but will not give a damn about actual families.

The silver lining is of course the NDP opposition. It has been a long time coming, but finally this country has embraced the left-right divide, for better or for worse, and cast off our former love affair with the centre. I am very excited to be rid of the milquetoast pandering of the Liberals, at least for a little while. And happy to see that Elizabeth May won her seat - that is a big deal my friends, mark my words. Now we need to see the NDP be an effective opposition, to continue convincing Canada that they are a viable, electable option and that they will hold the Conservatives' feet to the fire every damn day. And if it goes well enough - dare I dream it? - electoral reform in my lifetime. Hey, you gotta give me one hopeful thought.

What does this have to do with abortion? A hell of a lot. Formerly "I will not re-introduce the abortion debate" Steve has a mandate now. We need to brace ourselves, friends. And if it's not abortion, it's going to be other rights, chip chip chipping away.

In the grand scheme of things, of course, electoral politics is not as relevant as we would like to believe. Marginalized people have been oppressed by every government this country has had, and will probably continue to be so - just ask the indigenous people of this land. But we should fight from within the system when we can, just as we still attempt to tear it down from the outside. Diversity of tactics - it's going to mean a lot in the next four years. When we can't get what we need from the government, we have to take to the streets.

I hope to see you all out there.

In solidarity,

Peggy

Mid-Week Reader

2011-04-27T09:58:00.000-04:00

Ok gang, this election is getting outta control!! The abortion news is just flying around so I thought I'd do another reader so y'all can stay informed for the vote on Monday.

Here's what's happening:

Tories play politics with women's health

Saskatchewan will not change abortion policies

The Globe goes behind Harper's reluctance to revisit the abortion issue

Harper declares that all abortion legislation will be defeated under his watch

Anti-abortion movement "too cozy" with the Conservative government, says ARCC

Harper won't reopen the abortion debate, a decision that may cost him votes

The abortion controversy is heating up in Saskatoon-Humboldt

Pro-choice groups warn against a Harper majority

If you feel like being frustrated by your fellow Canadians, vote in this poll!

Jack Layton wades into the abortion debate

Weekly Reader

2011-04-22T16:44:00.001-04:00

So, a lot has happened since my last "weekly" reader. Get ready for an avalanche of links!

First, I have written three pieces for Abortion Gang:

Anti-Social Justice

Review of MTV Canada Show "Impact: Abortion Stories"

A Pro-Choice Canadian Voter's Guide

Here are some stories that have been happening:

Barbara Kay continues to be ridiculous

A study disproving the link between abortion and mental health issues

Showdown between pro-choice and anti-choice groups in Montreal

Elizabeth May claims her anti-abortion stance has been "misinterpreted"

Pro-lifers need to drop the genocide comparison

James Moore's student column on abortion

International Planned Parenthood Federation is struggling to work around the Conservative government's policies

So the big news in abortion around the upcoming Canadian election is the "defunding" of the IPPF because of its provision of abortion services. Some Conservative backbencher (who is probably going to lose his idiot job) has let it slip that the government that supposedly doesn't want to touch the abortion issue is just doing it through the back door. Some articles on this:

Tories defunding Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood funding pulled

Brad Trost claims he killed funding for Planned Parenthood

Anti-abortion group shaped Tory funding policy on Planned Parenthood

Tories in damage control over abortion funding

Harper says he won't reopen abortion debate

Tories scramble to head off brewing controversy around abortion

Harper nixes abortion debate

Abortion and hidden agendas

Tories scramble to douse abortion fire

Tories leave Planned Parenthood in limbo over funding

Tories won't push to reignite abortion debate

Giving birth to an abortion controversy

Stay tuned for more on this - hopefully it's an issue that will continue to dog the pragmatic Stephen Harper until he is forced to address it.

Fighting Back for Ol' New Brunswick

2011-03-29T10:14:00.001-04:00

So y'all probably know that I live in Toronto these days, and you might also know that I'm originally from Halifax, NS. So really, I technically have no reason to care about what is happening in New Brunswick - except that my family lives there, a lot of my friends live there, and I spent twelve years of my life there. And while those twelve years might not have been the best ever, and while I may have been in a great hurry to escape NB, I still care about what happens there. And right now I care a lot about the defunding of the NB Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

Oh what does this have to do with abortion, you might ask. Well, a lot. The ACSW was one of the few avenues through which women's concerns could reach the provincial government, and in a province like New Brunswick, women have a lot of concerns. Abortion access is abysmal in NB. So is access to sexual health and education, and health care in general. This is a feminist issue. Getting rid of the ACSW serves only to silence the women of New Brunswick. It is a HUGE step backwards for the feminist and progressive movements in NB. The ACSW not only provided research, resources, events and networking opportunities, it was a tireless advocate for women and a link between disenfranchised people and their government.

If you are pissed off about this, good. You should be. Here are some things you can do:

- Write about it. Facebook notes, emails, blog posts, tweets, letters to the editor, etc. etc. If you're not sure what to write, ask. Email advisoryactionconseil@gmail.com to offer your help or find out who to contact.

- Join the photo project! Self identified women, take a picture of yourself with tape over your mouth with "Alward" written on it, to symbolize the people the Alward government is silencing. Post it to Twitter, Facebook, etc. but don't forget to send it to advisoryactionconseil@gmail.com and post it to the Facebook group.

- Email or write to David Alward (david.alward@gnb.ca) and/or your MP. Send your photo!

- Sign the petition.

- If you are in Moncton or can get there, join the rally.

- If you're not in Moncton or can't make tomorrow's rally, organize one in your own city.

So far the mobilization around this has been amazing. I've always been impressed with New Brunswick's activist community, who manage to make a big noise with small numbers. If you live in New Brunswick or have ties to the province, please step up and help out with this. It is a big deal and we need to fight back.

Edited to add: ARCC's statement on the issue.

Weekly Reader

2011-03-13T19:57:00.002-04:00

Hey gang, sorry for my absence, I have been working like crazy lately. Have you picked up your copy of Feminism For Real yet?

Here are some things I've been reading:

Linda Gibbons goes to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Michael Moriarty is ridiculous (I'm aware that this is not exactly news).

Anti-abortion group sues Carleton University.

The Genocide Awareness Project is at the University of British Columbia.

40 Days for Life in Halton, Ontario.

What have y'all been reading?

Feminism for Real

2011-02-22T10:57:00.000-05:00

Not abortion related per se, but if you are at all interested in feminism you need to get your hands on this new book edited by my hero Jessica Yee. And if you're in the Toronto area, please come join us for the launch this Friday! Details:

Pre-orders have started for a new CCPA book edited by Jessica Yee-- Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the academic industrial complex of feminism.

Against a backdrop exposing a 500+ year legacy of colonization and oppression, Feminism FOR REAL explores what has led us to the existence of 'feminism', who gets to decide what it is, and why. It provides thoughtful, honest and unapologetic insight into how different communities; including Indigenous and women of colour, sex workers, disABLEd, queer, Two-Spirited and trans youth define and relate to feminism; what it means to them -- and more importantly, what it doesn't mean.

In the words of editor Jessica Yee, this is not a hate-on of feminism or of academia. It is about truth-telling. And, as explained in the introduction, in the process of uncovering truths, facing them head-on and seeing where they lead us, we can redefine feminism beyond a first, second, or third wave policed by academic institutions so that it becomes about truly cross-cultural human movements that are about real justice - and doesn't end up reinforcing the very forms of oppression it claims to confront.

Jessica Yee is a self-described "Two-Spirit multi-racial Indigenous hip hop feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter". She is the founder and Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network (the only organization of its kind in North America) that works within the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health by and for Indigenous youth across the continent.

Click here to pre-order your copy of Feminism FOR REAL.

Join the discussion and follow along as the book launches across Canada on the Feminism FOR REAL Facebook page.

In Toronto on Feb. 25? Then don't miss the Feminism FOR REAL national book launch.

Weekly Reader

2011-02-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, are you sick of reading about my cervix? Here's some other stuff you might find interesting!

If you have a story to share about how Planned Parenthood has helped you, share it here (Canadians can participate too! What hurts our neighbours hurts us).

Fellow Canadian the Biebmeister weighed in on the abortion issue, and his opinion was actually not that surprising for a 16-year-old boy. What was this interviewer thinking??

A wonderfully written personal account of abortion.

A CPC in Ottawa defends its role.

A Canadian priest is suing the anti-choice site LifeSite for damaging his career and reputation.

More women are choosing the IUD (this article quotes doctors from BCBC, where I got my IUD put in!).

Feel free to share what you've been reading in comments.

Ohh...the Personal IS Political!

2011-02-19T01:02:00.000-05:00

Hi again friends. You'll be happy to know I am feeling much better today, and I actually kind of regret the decision to book the day off work, since I really could have been fine; not to mention I need the money. And I already took yesterday off - and called in sick on Tuesday because of a cold. Yeah, it hasn't really been my week.

Anyway, minimal cramping and bleeding, so that's good. I have received a lot of support and good wishes from the wonderful people in my life, which is very much appreciated. I also seem to have caught the confusingly ambivalent attention of Suzie Allcaps over at Big Blue Wave, so take that how you will. Thanks for the link love, Suzanne, and for pointing out that no, they in fact do not cover IUDs in sex ed. I wish they had. Just another reason we need comprehensive sex education, amirite?

I'm so glad I wrote about the experience right away, because even now it doesn't seem real. It couldn't have been THAT painful, right? It reminds me of my experience with tattoos: as soon as they start on it, I think, how could I have done this again?? It's HORRIBLE! (I told you I was a wimp). And I leave, and I think - I'm never doing this again. But now I think, there's a tattoo I really want...and it didn't hurt THAT much...I should get another one.

Yesterday I was ready to get up and walk out without the IUD if they would just stop, just take out the speculum and stop torturing me. But today I think, well, if it falls out, I'll be cool to get another one put in.

I'm an idiot.

Anyway, it hasn't fallen out (knock on wood).

The main thing I took away from this experience is that the personal truly is political. As soon as my partner came into the room, I said: "I'm not having babies." And I mean it. Ever. I knew that I didn't want to ever give birth, but this experience made it physically, viscerally real for me. I can. Not. Handle. The. Pain. I just can't. I am a soft soft lady, inside and out, and I'm ok with that. I have absolutely no interest in pushing a human being out of myself.

And the fact that there are people who don't want women to have that choice is so much more frightening to me today than it was on Wednesday. I don't know what childbirth is like, but if it's anything close to the pain I experienced yesterday (and I think it's probably worse), the thought of women having to do that without being 100%, totally, enthusiastically on board is sickening. I mean really. What. The. Fuck.

I have a lot of other thoughts, and they're coming soon, but that was the one that really stuck with me once the whole thing was over. And the commenters over at BBW can make all the smug judgments about my choices that they want, but I promise I am 100% more put off by their desire to control what goes on in the bodies of strangers than they are by my "potty mouth". Fuck you, fuck your oppressive, anti-woman bullshit you piece of shit fascist dickwads. How's that for potty mouth?

Seriously though, thanks for the support you guys.

IUD Insertion: My Garbage Nightmare Afternoon

2011-02-17T18:56:00.000-05:00

Buckle up kids, this is going to be a long and bumpy ride.

So, without getting into the long and sordid history of my rocky relationship with hormonal birth control, let me just say that I was ready to go in a different direction with my efforts to escape pregnancy. After a lot of research and thought (hard to avoid in my line of work, honestly) I decided to get an IUD.

I wanted to blog this experience so that other women would have an idea of what to expect - even though people are likely to have a variety of different experiences, it can be reassuring to have some warning about what will happen. However, unfortunately because of my fucked up lady parts my experience was not super normal. So...I'm just blogging because I want to. And maybe also so you know how bad it can be.

[Trigger warning for medical procedure description, vaginal discomfort]

I went in a couple weeks ago for a preliminary consultation and a pap test. I tested negative for all the bad stuff, but I did have a case of bacterial vaginosis that went away with a course of antibiotics. No biggie. The pap test was notable because before it started, the doctor asked me if I was uncomfortable having a pap or had ever had any traumatic experiences that would make the pap difficult for me. I thought that was awesome.

In fact, throughout both appointments, the medical staff were all wonderful - totally professional, and really caring and attentive. If you live in Toronto, I highly recommend the Bay Centre for Birth Control.

Anyway. Today I went back to get the IUD inserted. There were two options in copper IUDs, and I chose the one that lasts five years (as opposed to two) even though it is the more difficult of the two to insert. I'm really glad I did, too, because the thought of doing this again in two years makes me want to die.

I had a doctor and a midwifery student, both women. They were both lovely and friendly people. The doc did a quick exam first - lubed finger, speculum, you know how it goes. She was a bit confused because the doctor from the first appointment had determined that my uterus was retroverted, and she felt like it maybe wasn't. After some poking around, the doc and the student came to the conclusion that it was in fact retroverted, but also tilted to a weird angle. So she told me it might be a little difficult to get the IUD in. Ok!

Difficult. Well.

First came the speculum, of course. I generally find it a little uncomfortable but honestly, not too bad. After that came some sort of measuring device that turned everything around it into cramping, like some horrible magic wand of...horror. I could FEEL the cramping moving up my body. It was horrific. I can't really describe the pain of it - it's not sharp or dull or anything I really have words for. It doesn't seem like it should be so bad - after all, in the end it is just cramps - but I found the inability to DO anything was the worst. I couldn't curl into a fetal position or barf or whatever I would do if I had cramps like that and wasn't laying on my back in an examining room.

I wish I could explain how bad it felt, and how low my pain threshold is. It was seriously the worst I have ever physically felt in my admittedly sheltered life.

So they were having some difficulty getting the IUD in, at which point the doctor decided to use some kind of instrument that would keep my cervix out of the way (?). It felt like something was pinching my cervix. I thought that would be horrible, but I was concentrating so much on the never-ending cramps that I could barely even feel it.

It was at this point that I first considered telling them to stop. I thought about just continuing to use condoms, that this could not possibly be worth it. But then the doctor told me that they could try a different (bigger?) speculum. So she took everything out and left to get it.

I could close my legs for a few minutes, and that felt amazing. I was still cramping a lot but the option to move, to sit up, and the absence of the jumble of metal up my vag felt so awesome, I didn't care. I foolishly, optimistically thought that once the bigger speculum went in, it would all be a piece of cake. When the doctor came back, I opened my legs, if cautiously, at least still willingly.

The bigger speculum was certainly less comfortable! And then the horrible magic wand went in again. Thus followed I don't even know how many minutes of poking, prodding, and the worst cramping that could possibly exist. I mean, I know I'm a big wimp, but how was my uterus not exploding? Both the doc and the student were very attentive, but every time they asked how I was doing all I could come up with was a vaguely optimistic groan. Not awesome. I seriously thought, once again, about calling the whole thing off. My legs were shaking so much I was surprised they could even get anything done. I was in shock, but not enough that it didn't hurt like hell.

The problem was not just the tilt of my uterus, but also the fact that I apparently have a long vaginal canal, so my cervix is hard to get to. The one time the doc managed to get the IUD even remotely close to where it was supposed to go, it started sliding out again. Finally, she said "if I don't get it in in the next minute, I will get another doctor."

Oh great!

Once they had determined that it wasn't going in, both of them went to get another doctor. They left the speculum in, on the understanding that if they were going to be gone more than a couple minutes, they would come back and take it out. Honestly it probably wasn't even that long, but lying there alone with the speculum still in, I started to panic. What if they forgot about me? And of course, this entire time I was cramping like crazy. I wished I had asked for my partner to be there with me. I thought it would be unnecessarily difficult to have him there seeing me in pain, but at that moment I wish he had been (in the end, I'm glad he wasn't. It was easier to disassociate myself from the pain without him present).

They didn't forget me. They came back with another doctor, who was chipper and hilarious and a little bit cynical. I liked her a lot. She assessed the situation quickly and determined that I did, in fact, have an anteverted uterus. Aha! I thought. Problem solved! Let's get that thing in there!

So we went to it again. I was struggling to stick with my deep breathing, and at this point my lady parts had taken such a beating it didn't seem to matter that the new doctor was quick but gentle. They just hurt. It hurt more because it was so...inescapable. I had come too far to stop. It would waste everyone's time if I decided, at this point, to bail.

The uterus issue might have been cleared up, but unfortunately the inaccessibility of my cervix was still causing a problem. Once again, the cervix-pinching instrument, then the magic wand of doom. My legs and butt were positively vibrating with shock. I thought I would probably pass out, and I was actually wondering if they would continue if I did. Maybe the student could hold my legs open. Maybe it would be better that way. Every second I didn't think I could endure more pain, but then I did, and then the second after that I did again. It was awful. Seriously, the worst thing I've ever been through. I don't want to scare people, so just bear in mind - my experience was not typical.

At one point the doctor told me to put my bum down, and there would be less pressure. And I did, and she was right - as soon as I relaxed my butt and it touched the paper (I wasn't even aware it was raised), I felt a tiny bit better. But then I would forget and all my muscles would clench and it would start all over again.

Finally, after a million years, it was in. They cut the strings, and removed all their devices, including the big speculum which felt AWFUL coming out. I breathed. I even sat up a little, although I was totally dizzy. The three women were cautiously optimistic, and they told me they needed to do an ultrasound to check and make sure the IUD was sitting properly and wouldn't slide out.

The first doctor went to look into the ultrasound situation, the student went to get me some pain meds and water (I would have pulled out the IUD and stabbed a kitten with it for a glass of water at that point), and the second doctor let me touch the cut-off IUD string (it felt like fishing wire) and explained to me how to check for it in my vagina. I asked her if she could get my partner. She went to get him. I sat up, and I cried and cried.

***

When my partner came in, and the student brought back the water (OMG it was amazing) and the ibuprofen, I felt better. My legs were shaking and I was pale, and the cramping was still worse than I have ever had during a period, but the ability to close my legs was just about the greatest.

Once I was steady, I went with my partner and the student to the ultrasound room. The ultrasound tech explained the probe to me (it was a transvaginal ultrasound) and asked if I had questions or concerns. I didn't. The ultrasound was not too bad for me - they just put the tip of the probe in, and after everything that already happened, it was the least uncomfortable thing that had happened. Sometimes the tech moved the probe down or to the side and it triggered the cramps, but at least I had a hand to squeeze. My partner and I both commented later on the oddness of the tableau: him holding my hand while I was ultrasounded, as if we were expecting a baby instead of having the anti-baby stuffed INTO my womb. Kind of awesome.

After what seemed like the longest ultrasound ever performed, it was determined that the IUD was in place. Thank goodness, because I don't think I would have wanted them to try again if it wasn't.

After putting my pants back on, and a brief consultation regarding aftercare with the student, we were free to go. We went to get sushi at Aji Sai, and we walked there - the fresh air was really good. All you can eat sushi (and cheese wontons!) was also very good. And I might marry that Diet Coke I drank.

Right now I'm feeling ok - still cramping but ok. I will update again, probably tomorrow, with my thoughts and impressions. All told, my partner estimates that I spent an hour and a half in the exam room before he came in. AN HOUR AND A HALF with a speculum in me - not great, friends. I was kind of expecting about ten minutes. Sad face.

For now, I am doing well and I want to thank my friends for their good wishes and encouragement, and the staff at BCBC for how fucking awesome they are. And especially my loving, supportive partner who took a half day off work, split the cost of the IUD, and most importantly, was totally 100% there for me when I needed him.

More to come.

Weekly Reader

2011-02-08T10:16:00.000-05:00

I know I usually do these on Sundays, but you know how it is.

Lots of stuff to read this week:

The maternal health initiative is in the news again, and Harper was in Geneva to drum up support. Questions are still being raised about the efficacy of a maternal health plan that doesn't include access to safe abortion.

Summaries of abortion law and abortion access in Canada.

Antis are still moaning about not being allowed to harass women have anti-abortion clubs on campus.

Surprise! We have abortion "controversy" up here in Canada too.

And here is my latest post at Abortion Gang.

What have you all been reading this week?

Thanks Again AGAIN, Henry!

2011-01-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

Happy 23rd anniversary of the Morgentaler decision, everyone! This is a good day. We need to remember what a big deal it was to decriminalize abortion in Canada; we only need to look to the south to see that our approach is STILL innovative and progressive.

Of course we have a long way to go within our own country; there is so much stigma around abortion, reproductive health care and women's sexuality in general. And the opposition to abortion rights is nothing to be scoffed at: they have a lot of power and influence, and they are keeping us on our toes every day. Also, access to abortion in this country is shameful, particularly for rural, poor, racialized and otherwise marginalized women. There is still a lot of work for the pro-choice movement in Canada.

Still, I would like to raise a glass to Dr. Morgentaler - a Canadian hero - and all the women who stood with him through his struggles to eventually win this great victory. And of course to all the clinic staff and volunteers, activists and allies, friends and lovers who work every day to not only maintain the right to choose, but also to make abortion services better, easier to access, and more respectful. Thank you for trusting women.

I want to share this wonderful piece that one of my colleagues, a counsellor at the clinic where I work, wrote for the Globe and Mail: The human drama of abortion counselling.

Keep fighting the good fight, friends.

A Couple Things to Read

2011-01-23T19:03:00.000-05:00

Hey friends! Here are some abortion-related things to check out...

First, my piece on Henry Morgentaler over at Feminists for Choice (just keeping our American friends informed).

Second, a quick article on Dr. Morgentaler's lawsuit against the province of New Brunswick, and how nothing is happening (still!).

And third, the most patronizing thing you will read today.

Cheers!

2011

2011-01-09T14:02:00.000-05:00

Happy new year, my snuggly readers! I hope you all had a lovely, restful break. I made a whirlwind visit to Fredericton to see my parents and friends and of course to make a brief visit to my old stomping grounds, the Fredericton clinic. I went on a lazy afternoon though, because I really couldn't drag myself out of bed at some ungodly hour on a Tuesday morning to help with escorting. I know, I'm a bad pro-choicer.

Anyway, I'm back in Toronto, back to work, and hopefully back to blogging. I say "hopefully" because really, I'm a horrible unreliable blogger. I do have some ideas in the works though, so do stay tuned. For now, here is a long overdue edition of the weekly reader:

The always sharp Heather Mallick on abortion rights in Canada.

A brave piece for the Globe on forgiveness after abortion.

Some follow-up on the defeated Bill C-510.

A woman stabbed her boyfriend to death when he tried to force her to have an abortion.

More to come!

The Pedgehog's Holiday Gift Guide

2010-12-17T14:28:00.000-05:00

Hi friends. It might not surprise you to know that I don't celebrate any winter gift-giving holidays, but for those of you who do, I have a couple recommendations. This post is not entirely related to abortion, sorry.

I just want to draw some attention to the great organizations I am currently involved in, so I recommend that if you can't think of what to get someone, or you are tired of giving superfluous *stuff*, you make a donation in their name to an organization doing good work. The following are ones I recommend (all national Canadian orgs, except for one based specifically in Toronto - for which I have given regional options):

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

What they do: ARCC is the ONLY national political pro-choice group in Canada. It is a coalition of pro-choice groups and individuals who work to break down barriers to reproductive rights and access to abortion in Canada, and take part in political and educational work on pro-choice issues. They tirelessly support providers and fight to ensure quality, accessible care. Because ARCC is a political group they are not eligible for charitable funding. They rely solely on membership fees and donations.

How to donate: ARCC has a "Donate" button right on their home page to facilitate PayPal donations. You can contact them at info@arcc-cdac.ca for information on other ways to donate. There is also the option of monthly donations through your debit account.

Other ways to help: Consider becoming a member of ARCC. The cost is $25 a year for a basic membership, and it is a great way to support an organization that is fighting to maintain and improve your ability to access reproductive health care. There are lots of other ways to help as well, including lobbying your MP on pro-choice issues, or volunteering with a local abortion clinic or pro-choice organization.

ACORN Canada

What they do: ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Canada is an independent national organization of low and moderate income families that uses grassroots organizing to bring people together to lobby for positive change in their neighbourhoods. ACORN community organizers go door to door in their neighbourhoods to understand and address the issues that low and moderate income families are concerned about, and help empower people from within those neighbourhoods to become community leaders and fight for change. ACORN is all about solidarity and power in numbers, and their methods have been proven to be effective time and time again. ACORN Canada has won a number of victories in areas such as tenant rights and landlord licensing, stricter regulations on predatory payday lenders, and raising the minimum wage.

How to donate: ACORN receives no funding and relies on membership dues and donations. You can donate with a credit card through ACORN Canada's website, or contact them directly to make a cash or cheque donation: acorncanada@acorncanada.org. You can also become a monthly supporter.

Other ways to help: Consider becoming a member! You can join online or contact your local office. Members are currently fundraising for convention in June, so ask about buying a calendar to support their efforts. ACORN also could always use more volunteers - contact your local office to see what they need!

Annex Cat Rescue

What they do: ACR looks out for cats who are homeless or abandoned. They help to foster and adopt out those who can live in houses, and take care of the feral population through feeding programs and trap-neuter-release. They also educate the public on the proper care of cats, and promote healthy pet ownership. This is a Toronto-based organization but if you are interested in this kind of organization in your own community, I would recommend contacting your local SPCA.

How to donate: ACR is another organization that receives no funding and relies solely on donations. You can donate through the mail or at donation boxes at local pet food stores or vet offices. You can also donate by credit card online.

Other ways to help: ACR needs lots of donations that don't have to be cash! If you have cat supplies, food, litter or even Air Miles to donate, contact them. You can also become a volunteer, as they have many different programs for cat lovers to donate their time.

The Stephen Lewis Foundation

What they do: SLF focuses on the AIDS pandemic in Africa. What makes them stand out as an organization is their commitment to funding grassroots groups doing incredible work in Africa, and getting money to the people on the ground who not only best understand the situation, but who can make the most out of a small amount. The SLF has so many worthwhile projects on the go, and I especially love their focus on gender and their unabashed acknowledgement that women are hurt the most by HIV/AIDS and probably have the most to give when properly supported. Their widely acclaimed Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign allows Canadian grandmothers to reach out to African grandmothers who are often raising their orphaned grandchildren on their own - providing financial and emotional support and building connections across oceans, and also encouraging and empowering elderly women (probably the most overlooked and underrated demographic) to make real change in the world. The Stephen Lewis Foundation is what hope looks like, friends.

How to donate: There are lots of ways you can donate - check out their website for more info.

Other ways to help: Get involved in a campaign! I have a few friends who took part in the Dare Campaign this year and came up with really creative dares - it was awesome! You can also host events, get your grandma involved, or if you're based in Toronto you can volunteer at the office.

If you know of some other worthy organizations for people to donate to, please feel free to suggest some in comments.

Happy holidays!

Have You Heard the Good News?

2010-12-16T15:25:00.000-05:00

...Bill C-510 has been defeated! It's a Christmas miracle! Mwahahaha. No really, while I am delighted by this development, I'm hardly surprised. Even Harper didn't vote for this stinking garbage fart of a bill.

I'm hoping that these constant failed attempts to create ridiculous legislation aimed at chipping away at abortion rights are discouraging Bruinooge and his ilk, but I somehow doubt it. I'm sure a few months from now we will be reading about some other bill introduced to combat a problem that doesn't exist or to create a law we already have. I wish they would expend their efforts on supporting the women they are pretending to care about - the ones in violent relationships, in dangerous situations, in poverty.

I've been arguing in circles about this proposed law for months now with antis who just don't get it. Coercion is already illegal. And the reason you don't see anyone getting arrested for coercing women into ending their pregnancies is because generally that is the symptom of a bigger problem - abusive relationships, most often (but not always) between men and women. If you have such a problem with men using their power to force women into making coerced "choices" about their pregnancies, you wouldn't be supporting Bruinooge, because he is doing just that.

I also think that there is a coercion problem around unwanted pregnancies, and it is widespread and extremely pervasive through our society. But it's on the other side of where Bruinooge thinks the problem is. It's people who take advantage of women who are in emotionally vulnerable positions, who tell them lies about their pregnancy, who use their religious beliefs to bully women into giving birth to children they don't want and can't afford, who tell women what to do with their own bodies while coaching it in emotionally triggering language. If Bruinooge is worried about women being coerced into making decisions about their pregnancies, he needs to visit a Crisis Pregnancy Centre.

Think of it this way. Abortion clinics exist to provide a service that is in demand. Thousands of women call every day to make appointments - they seek out the clinics, through the internet, their friends, their family doctors. Abortion clinics, for the most part, do not have an advertising budget - they don't need one. They could be located on the dark side of the moon and women would still find them when they needed to. CPCs, on the other hand, have people out on the sidewalk LURING WOMEN IN. They have giant billboards, giant Yellow Pages ads, grotesque window displays. They lie over the phone, and they lie to women's faces, to get them to come into their buildings, and they do everything they can to keep women in there - sometimes to the point of locking them in.

Abortion clinics don't need to coerce anyone. If a woman wants an abortion, she'll get one. If she wants to keep the pregnancy, she will. So maybe it's the CPCs we need to be looking at when we talk about coercion.

Meeting the Good Doctor

2010-12-11T10:10:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I attended a staff holiday party for one of my two workplaces. Generally this would not be blog-worthy, except perhaps as an excuse for not blogging because of the aftermath of the Pedgehog let loose at an open bar and then left to teeter home on shoes much higher than her usual pair. Said disaster was narrowly averted by the saintly actions of one of my lovely coworkers, CL, who drove me home - soberly - and waited until I was in the door; and who, despite her constant need to create muppet-themed nicknames for me based on what colour shirt I am wearing, is really a pretty awesome person whom I quite like.

But I digress (as always). The staff party was for the clinic, and it was the first time that I finally got to meet Dr. Henry Morgentaler, who is, after all, my boss. Well, retired. But anyway, it was the culmination of almost four years of dedication to the pro-choice cause on my part, and of alternately praising the man and defending him to anti-choicers who think he is the worst thing to happen to Canada since...well, ever. I don't know exactly what Dr. Morgentaler means to me: certainly I know he is only human (I read "A Difficult Hero", I know what's up), but also I completely admire him not only for what he accomplished but also for his careful balance of humility and self-assurance. And then on top of that, he is my boss (sort of) and the brother-in-law of a good friend. It's a very complicated relationship to have with someone you have not met.

So, I met him. Which, in itself, was not a big deal. A handshake, exchange of names, a brief conversation about how long I had worked at the clinic and about New Brunswick. One minute of face time, maybe.

What was special for me about the evening (besides the fact that by the time we sat down to eat I was on my fourth drink and pretty much everything was special at that point), was Dr. Morgentaler's graciousness and the light he shone on his successors. He gave a brief speech only at the prompting of our CEO, and in it he expressed admiration and gratitude for the work that we were all doing. It made me think about accomplishment, and about being a hero like that. It's one thing to forge ahead and break barriers and be feted and thanked and congratulated all the time; perhaps a greater achievement is to see so many people find your work valuable enough to continue. How gratifying for him, to look out at a restaurant full of people totally dedicated to his goal: making abortion an accessible and comfortable experience for women in Canada.

So while it was lovely to finally meet Morgentaler the man, what I had really idealized and admired was more the Morgentaler spirit, which I had certainly already met in my pro-choice colleagues and friends, and continue to meet every day. The man has created a great legacy in this country. And even after a rough day at work, or dealing with the most unreasonable of patients, I will happily raise a glass to that.

Things You Think Are Choice, But They Aren't

2010-12-10T09:49:00.000-05:00

Always good to see major media sources focusing on problems with access to reproductive health care, as in this CBC piece on the lack of abortion services on PEI. I'm even more pleasantly surprised than usual, because this isn't just another filler issue on "abortion is legal but there's still lots of hurdles, etc. etc." but actually spotlights a problem that even some pro-choice people don't know about: there are NO ABORTION SERVICES AT ALL on PEI. Not a one.

It also touches on the complexity of the issue: the "choice" between travelling to Halifax to have a government-funded abortion, or travelling to Fredericton to have the guaranteed confidentiality of a Morgentaler Clinic abortion, costing the woman $600 - $800. Of course, neither is an option to women who, for whatever reason, are unable to make either trip. But assuming travel was not a problem, it still isn't a choice and there are a lot of class issues here: either you get privacy, or a free abortion. Only women with $600 to spare are allowed to have privacy. That's fucked. The right to privacy is one of the foundations of the decision to decriminalize abortion in this country. All three provinces in this case (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) are essentially spitting on R. v. Morgentaler by making their own judgements on who can and can't access abortion, and how and where and when and by whom. This is not choice.

I know that of these two non-options, many women choose privacy despite the cost. When I worked at the clinic in Fredericton there were not many clinic days when we didn't see one or two women from PEI. Our appointments were all in the morning, before 10am, so most of these women and their partners had woken up at some ungodly hour to drive for four or five hours, or stayed overnight at their own expense the night before, only to make the drive back afterwards. Depending on your own life experience and privilege (or lack thereof), this might not seem like such a hardship, but it really should not be a reality in a country fully capable of funding abortion providers in every province. Even one doctor providing abortions one day a week on PEI would make a world of difference.

So there are a lot of issues here: class (definitely), regional disparity, lack of abortion training in medical schools, lack of incentive to be any kind of doctor in the maritime provinces (the ol' "brain drain"), degree equivalency for new Canadians, race, and of course gender. Of course of course. Stephen Harper does not care about women; nor, I guarantee you, do the premiers of the three provinces in question - at least, not as much as they care about votes, the retention of power, and their own ridiculous careers.

In some ways, abortion's decriminalization in this country is a curse, in that it makes us think the work is done. Well, it isn't done. Not by a long shot. Just ask the women of PEI.

"An Insulting and Useless Gesture"

2010-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Go right now and read this great piece on clinic protesters in Canada. It sums up the situation in Fredericton to a T (although it is based on a different clinic).

The clinic I work in now has an injunction, so we don't get protesters, but I think the author is right to suggest that municipal legislation (like they have in BC) would better serve the clinic staff and patients. People who work in abortion care exist in a small bubble - we know each other and fear for each other, and knowing that people at other clinics in the city and across the country are safe from anti-choice violence would make me feel a lot more at ease. We need to work as a team to provide safe and accessible abortion services to women in this country, and universal protection is necessary.

Honestly at this point I can't figure out why people still do sidewalk counselling; I have never ever seen it work, not even once in the three years I worked at the Fredericton clinic. People coming in have either already made up their minds to have the abortion, or they stop and talk to the protesters because they've made up their mind not to have it and they're looking for a way out. The ones that decide not to have an abortion - either while they're in the clinic or out on the sidewalk - were never going to have one anyway, whether the protesters were there or not. You start to get a feeling for who is going to go through with it; I can usually tell now just talking to them on the phone. I wish they would stay for long enough to talk to the clinic's counsellor, just to work through whatever issues they might be dealing with, or to get set up with some information and resources on adoption and/or parenting, but it's ok: you can't make people's choices for them. That's part of the whole "trust women" thing that the pro-life movement just does not seem to be able to grasp.

Because it is the Season for Giving

2010-12-07T09:57:00.000-05:00

I haven't been fair. I was absent for too long, and then had a burst of creativity, probably making you all think I would be posting regularly from now on - and then I went silent again. Sorry readers! To make up for it, I am working on what will probably turn out to be a pretty long, reflective post, which will be your reward (or punishment, depending on your politics) for your patience.

For now, two things:

Have you written to your MP yet about Bill C-510, the "coerced abortion" bill? If not, there's still time! And if you have - don't worry, you can write again. ARCC has an updated sample letter opposing the bill; please take a few minutes out of your day to write.

Here's something to brighten your day (assuming your day is brightened by feminists yelling at stupid people!): a volunteer escort at my old clinic in Fredericton (and one of my illustrious co-bloggers on Abortion Gang), Not Guilty, ended her tenure as a volunteer today. She decided to go out with a bang and after removing her vest denoting her as a representative of the clinic, she gave a piece of her mind to two of our worst protesters, Holy Ghost and Pink Hat. Let's watch!

Yes.

Weekly Reader

2010-11-21T17:28:00.000-05:00

Here is what I've been reading this week:

More news on the Carleton University saga: now that the anti-choice club has been shut down, the university may change its policies to allow them to start up again.

The anti-choice battle raging in Ottawa.

Not much else going on, I'm afraid. I'll try to be more active in posting this week.

An Update on My Working Life

2010-11-17T14:00:00.000-05:00

I can't really talk to much about my job, but I spend my Tuesday mornings wondering how things are going at the Fredericton clinic and I feel bad for not really participating in the quid pro quo when the volunteers there do give me updates. So I will give you a little update on my (working) life here, and try to be general.

Working at the Toronto clinic is pretty much 100% different than working at the Fredericton clinic. It's the difference between operating six and a half days a week as opposed to one, and being in a fully staffed clinic every shift as opposed to just me and SL four days out of five. I like it, just like I liked Fredericton, but they can't really be compared. But for the abortion angle, it would be a totally different job.

I like answering the phones. I didn't think I would like a job that was essentially just that, because I'm not a phone person, but having a script helps. I really enjoy talking to different women and hearing their stories, including the stories they tell through not telling. I love my co-workers, they are fabulous women (with the exception of a few doctors and one accountant, everyone who works there is a woman) and I admire them greatly. I have one co-worker in particular who is always saying hilarious things and then commenting "I know you're going to blog about me saying this!" but I never do. Mostly because it would be strange, out of context. But I do think she is awesome.

For those who are interested, basically what I do is I sit at a computer with our appointment software in it and I take calls and make appointments. During the downtime I help out with the stuff that needs to be done to get the clinic ready for the next day - pulling files, printing day sheets, verifying health cards and that kind of thing. The shifts go by quickly because there are always calls.

Recently I started training on admitting, which involves actually dealing with patients face to face (to do their billing paperwork). This is a lot less heartbreaking than in New Brunswick where everyone is paying out of pocket, but it is a lot more complex and involves a lot of bureaucratic nonsense. There's also a little more time pressure because there are two counsellors, so they are sometimes waiting around if you take too long admitting. And then they get antsy.

My favourite thing about working at the clinic is that everyone treats everyone else like an equal, and it seems effortless. I think they would all be surprised to know that it's not like that in some places. People have weird issues around medical staff and authority, and it's easy in a facility like this to treat doctors like they are better than the rest of us. But the admin staff and the doctors and management and counsellors and nurses and accountants and security staff are pretty much indistinguishable in their interactions with each other. It feels very empowering to think the work I'm doing is just as vital a part of the organization as the doctor's work.

I do miss the Fredericton clinic - I miss working with SL, and seeing my volunteers every week. It is still my favourite job of every job I've ever had. But I'm really glad that this job is working out, and that I can go to work in such a positive environment. I am a very lucky person.

Abortion Protesters in Canada

2010-11-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all, just wanted to draw your attention to the latest press release from ARCC:

Survey: 64% of Abortion Clinics in Canada Experience Protesters

But most clinics have no bubble zone protection

NATIONAL – A new survey by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC) reveals that 64% of abortion clinics in Canada clinics currently experience protest activity, while a further 15% have had protesters in the past. But 73% of clinics have no legal protection from picketing.

The survey, conducted by a UBC law student on behalf of ARCC, interviewed staff at all 33 abortion clinics in Canada by phone. In addition to asking about protest activity and history, the survey asked clinics about the effect of protesters on patients and staff, measures taken to protect patients and staff, and the effectiveness of those measures.

· Twenty-six (79%) abortion clinics in Canada have been picketed by protesters, with twenty-one (64%) currently experiencing some degree of protest activity, and five (15%) having had protest activity in the past. Seven clinics (21%) have never had protesters.

· Sixteen clinics (53%) reported that patients and/or staff are negatively affected by the presence of protesters, such as feeling upset, frightened, or bullied.

· Twenty-one clinics (64%) have tried to reduce the impact of protester activity by obtaining private injunctions, recruiting volunteer escorts for the patients and staff, using security guards, calling in local law enforcement, training staff on how to respond to protestors, and other measures.

· Seven clinics (21%) have obtained private court injunctions to protect staff and patients from protesters. Two clinics (6%) are protected by BC’s provincial law, the Access to Abortion Services Act (which creates protest-free “bubble zones” around clinics, hospitals, and the offices and homes of providers). Twenty-four clinics (73%) in Canada have no legal protection.

· All clinics with injunctions or bubble zones reported heavy and/or aggressive protest activity prior to obtaining their injunction or bubble zone.

“The court injunctions and BC’s law have been quite successful – they have significantly reduced protest activity at every clinic that uses them, sometimes completely eliminating it,” said Joyce Arthur, Coordinator for ARCC, and co-author of the study. “Women have a right to access necessary health services privately without being bullied, and providers need protection from anti-choice harassment and violence. We hope that the survey data will be helpful for other provinces that may want to pass bubble zone legislation, or for clinics thinking about getting a court injunction.”

Other highlights:

Every clinic in Canada participated – a total of 33. There are 11 standalone clinics, 12 clinics located in a multi-tenant office or medical building, and 9 clinics associated with a hospital.
Seventeen clinics (52%) reported that the measures they took to protect providers and staff from protesters were effective or mostly effective. Four clinics (12%) said measures were not effective or only sometimes effective.
Although protest activity has been relatively low and sporadic at most clinics since the mid-1990’s, it is on the rise again with the anti-choice “40 Days for Life” campaign that stages ongoing “vigils” outside abortion clinics once or twice a year.
Nineteen clinics (58%) said that bubble zone legislation similar to BC’s would be desirable for their clinic.
The full report is available here (English only).

So, any thoughts?

Ideas Please!

2010-11-15T14:00:00.000-05:00

Hi friends. I don't have any ideas right now so I'm just checking in to tell you that I do intend to keep up the pace of blogging that I've been going with the last week or so, but going away this weekend has put a bit of a dent in my idea reservoir so until I think of something to write about (or you suggest something to me), the blog might be a bit dry for a couple days. Look out for my work on Abortion Gang if you're missing my (internet) voice.

Weekly Reader

2010-11-14T19:59:00.000-05:00

Hey friends! Sorry this is coming so late in the day - my partner and I were on a weekend getaway to Stratford for our anniversary, which was lovely, but now I have a mountain of stuff to catch up on. Here are some things I've been reading:

UN to women: "You don't matter".

The abortion wars from the United Church perspective.

Women's rights are human rights.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Edited to add: this little gem - every anti-choice Private Members Bill and Motion introduce in Canada since 1987. Yikes!

Twitter Battles

2010-11-13T18:06:00.000-05:00

So, I wonder if any of you guys caught Antonia Zerbisias's piece the other day on the Twitter abortion wars? If not, it's just short, go check it out. It features Abortion Gang founder Steph Herold, who is a super awesome lady, and one of my Twitter/Facebook favourites, Angie Jackson.

The centre of the controversy is the #ihadanabortion hashtag, which has had a remarkable response. It is difficult to share stories of abortion even within our own small circles, let alone the big wide internet, so it certainly is heartening to see women taking that courageous leap.

If you are on Twitter, definitely check out the hashtag and, if you are comfortable doing so, add your own story. There is power in our voices, and our numbers. At the very least, if enough people step forward and say "I had an abortion", there will be too many people for the anti-choicers to threaten.

Bill C-510 Hits the Blogs

2010-11-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

One of my favourite feminist blogs, Feminists For Choice, has printed a great guest post on Bill C-510 by Roxanna Bennett which I encourage you to check out.

What I like about it is that Bennett has focused on the same issue that bothers me the most about the bill - the fact that the true problem with situations like those of Roxanne Fernando (for whom the bill is named) is not abortion, but violence; and that if Rod Bruinooge truly wanted to help, he could at the very least work on anti-domestic violence law (or enforcement of laws already on the books), but better still support social programs that provide preventative steps and resources for women who are at risk.

The fact that this woman wanted to have an abortion is entirely irrelevant; her partner killed her. This happens ALL THE TIME. The most dangerous time in the life of a woman trapped in an abusive relationship is when she is pregnant. Every single moment of every single day, a woman or child is being beaten by a male in their life.

That is the straight dope, friends. Roxanne was in trouble and having a law against coerced abortion was not going to help her. But there is a lot of stuff that could have.

Where I take issue with the piece is actually the line that ARCC seems to be taking on it, which is regarding coercion into childbirth being much more common than coercion into abortion. While I think that's probably true, I don't feel like there's much to be gained by calling for an opposing law (although perhaps this was slightly tongue-in-cheek?). Everybody: coercion is ALREADY against the law! None of these laws or proposed laws are of any use, because the law is already in place.

“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!”

Really I think it's ridiculous to try to introduce new law to confront a problem (or perceived problem) in our society. Perhaps it's a little anarchist-y of me, but I really feel these things are better solved (or at least examined) on a community level. We need to support women who are pregnant, to give them the resources they need to leave (or never enter) abusive relationships. And we need to teach young people how to have healthy relationships and to treat each other with respect. And I wasn't kidding about handing out condoms!

What to Do With Your Vag Hair

2010-11-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

The other day I had a woman call to book an appointment, and she asked me if she needed to do any specific hygenic maintenance "down there". WTF?

Oh, friends. Unless you are told otherwise, no, you don't have to do anything special with your pubic hair before an abortion. Not at all. You don't need to braid it or shave it into a nice big heart. You don't need to wax it all off. You don't even need to trim it, really. I can't speak for the doctors, but I would imagine they see many, many cunts in the course of a week and I doubt they are picky about the aesthetics.

Just keep it as clean as you normally would. Take a deep breath. Leave it up to the universe.

Thanks Again, Henry

2010-11-10T14:00:00.001-05:00

Henry Morgentaler has been selected as one of 25 "Transformational Canadians" by the Globe and Mail. I think it's very hard to argue that Dr. Morgentaler is a transformational figure in Canadian history, regardless of which side of the debate you fall on.

He certainly had a transformational effect on me, and I've never met the man, or had an abortion. I know I've told this story before, but it bears repeating. My father, while certainly progressive (at least, much more now that when I was younger), is also not what you would categorize as outwardly passionate. He argues, sure, but I don't remember seeing him get involved in a lot of heated discussions about his core values and beliefs. When Dr. Morgentaler was being given an honorary degree at UWO - before I identified as a feminist or had ever given abortion much thought - my dad said, very emphatically, that it was about damn time. He said Dr. Morgentaler had done more for women's rights in this country than any single other person, and that the man deserved an Order of Canada (which he later received!). Dad was so adamant, so passionate, that I immediately committed myself to finding out more about this Morgentaler fellow and what he was all about.

Thus began my path to activism. Not that I wouldn't have got here anyway, but it was certainly a helpful nudge. Dr. Morgentaler is a very human hero, but I think it makes him all the more endearing because he fought hard despite his flaws, and showed unwavering faith in the cause. He also overcame some enormous obstacles; most people would argue that being a Holocaust survivor makes someone hero enough.

Dr. Henry Morgentaler really did transform this country and I hope that we can stay true to his legacy.

A Reintroduction to the Pedgehog

2010-11-09T14:00:00.001-05:00

Perhaps it is time to (re)introduce myself. In case you haven't noticed, there's actual activity on this blog again, and in my delusional state I predict this will attract readers. So, it's good to know whose words you're reading, I think. And for those who know me already, well, things have changed.

Really I just like talking about myself.

When I started this blog it was as a volunteer patient escort at the Fredericton Morgentaler Clinic. Later I became the office assistant and volunteer co-ordinator, but kept the same tone and purpose here: the blog was meant as a status report, a chronicle of life at an abortion clinic that suffers regular anti-choice protesters. I wanted a Canadian voice in the pro-choice blogosphere, and I wanted to show what it is really like to walk into a clinic besieged by sign-wielding zealots.

After three years at the clinic, and more years than I would care to say in Fredericton, I packed my bags and moved to Toronto, where I live now. I am working at a Morgentaler Clinic here, but one that has decidedly different needs. There is an injunction preventing anti-choice protesters from coming too close, and the clinic itself is in a very discrete building, so there is no need for volunteer escorts. I am working in intake, which is definitely very interesting, but compared to Fredericton I feel like a very small fish in a very big pond. Which can sometimes be refreshing. However, for various reasons I cannot continue to blog solely about my work in abortion provision.

I feel like I have a good thing going here, however, and I really do feel like there are not enough specifically Canadian, reproductive rights-focused voices on the internet (although there are some very good ones - check my blogroll for recommendations). So I've decided to keep it up, in a general sense, without so much of the personal perspective that I have had in the past. But I will definitely still be referencing my work, and there will definitely still be stories from time to time. And to make up for the havoc this change will most certainly cause in your lives, I promise the blogging is going to be a lot more frequent than it ever has been. I also write somewhat regularly over at Abortion Gang.

So, to brief you on who I am: I am a 26-year-old fat white bisexual cis woman. I consider myself an activist, and certainly a feminist. I have many privileges, which I try very hard to examine and check, but sometimes I fail and I'm sorry. I work two part-time jobs: one for the Morgentaler Clinic, and one for a non-profit organization unrelated to reproductive rights (I won't name them here, just to spare them the potentially negative publicity of being associated with me). Professionally I guess I would consider myself an administrative assistant. Personally I would consider myself a lovable grump.

Welcome (back) to my space.

Mrozek's Response

2010-11-08T14:00:00.002-05:00

So, a sharp-eyed reader directed my attention to Andrea Mrozek's response to my blog about her article on the proposed "Roxanne's Law" (Bill C-510). A couple of her critiques were also left in a comment, which I responded to, but I would like to reiterate that I never said she misquoted me. She did not. She took a post from my blog out of context, and misrepresented or completely ignored the rest of the entry.

The rest of her response is more of the usual anti-choice tropes about women regretting their abortions. Dear abortion opponents: yes, some women regret their abortions. The pro-choice movement is not afraid to admit that. Of course they do. Just like some women regret carrying their pregnancy to term, some women have a hard time with mothering, some women regret giving up their child for adoption. My question is: what does this have to do with coercion? Many women who regret their abortions were not coerced. Mrozek says herself that women may feel relief on the day of their procedure, only to regret it later. Even if outlawing coerced abortion would actually stop the coercion, there would still be women who regret their choice. So what is the purpose of this law?

Rod Bruinooge is not fooling anyone - we all know this proposed law is not about helping women who are in abusive situations. It's about the fetus. Just like C-484, it's about getting a foot in the door on fetal rights to try to change abortion law in this country. While I applaud the anti-choice side for at least using the democratic system to do this, instead of pipe bombs, I still think it is a slimy way to go about it. Coercion is already illegal and no one has given any reason why this redundant law is necessary. If you want to pretend you care about women in difficult situations, let's focus on preventative measures. Same with abortion, in fact: if you think women regretting their abortions is a problem, let's focus on preventative measures to bring down the numbers of women who find themselves in that difficult situation. You all know what that means, right? Comprehensive sex education, and free and accessible birth control. I feel like I should get that tattooed on my forehead.

Here's the really annoying part of Mrozek's response, however:

Anti-Choice is Anti-Awesome is 26 years old. She sounds like the type of person I’d like. After all, she’s someone who started up a blog about a topic she believes in. But she could afford to open up the dialogue and listen to the heart of what I wrote. It was something I was hoping people working in clinics would hear, and be aware of, since I fully understand that they are not wanting to do abortions on women who are unsure, or don’t want them. They should be the front lines in diverting women out the door. They should be the front lines of asking the tough questions on whether or not a woman wants to be there. They should be at the front lines of diminishing abortion numbers. I know some who actually want to do this.

I'm not sure what my age has to do with anything, but whatever. What bothers me about this is that people working in clinics DO know about this. They ARE aware of it. Everyone working in abortion care in this country knows that some women regret their abortions, and that some women are coerced into abortion. They ARE on the front lines, asking the tough questions. That's our fucking job. People who work in abortion care do a lot more than give or deny abortions. We are here with the options, to listen to women and set them up with the resources they need. When that is abortion, we provide safe and comfortable abortion care. When it's a referral for counselling, or resources on sexual assault or transition houses, or adoption agencies or prenatal care - anything women need that we can possibly provide, we will give it to them. People do not work in abortion clinics because they want to strap women down and steal their pregnancies. They do it because they care about providing quality healthcare, and because they know that only an individual woman knows what is best for her. We trust women. Sometimes that means standing back and letting them make decisions they later regret - only because the alternative is outlawing that choice for everyone, including the people who really need it.

So thanks for letting us know what is up with our own patients, Andrea. But next time you want to help those of us in abortion clinics do our jobs, let me know because I have some condoms you can hand out, for a start.

Weekly Reader

2010-11-07T12:07:00.000-05:00

Did y'all remember to turn your clocks back? And while you're at it, check the expiry dates on your condoms!

Here's what I've been reading about:

Is the anti-abortion movement hitting a wall?

What we need to preserve.

More thoughts (and debate) on Bill C-510.

Some more coverage of the New Brunswick HRC enquiry.

Feel free to share more in comments.

Radical Mime. It's a Thing.

2010-11-06T14:00:00.000-04:00

In Ottawa, the Morgentaler Clinic is still beset by protesters, just like the Fredericton one. The protesters have a permit and are legally allowed to be there. I must say, it is very frustrating to have to struggle for each and every injunction, to fight for each clinic's room to breathe. I wish we had something in Canada similar to the FACE Act in the States, something that would cover all the clinics. It is difficult when you live in a socially conservative province (like New Brunswick for example) to convince the government that anti-choice protesters are a public safety hazard. Even though they very clearly are.

Anyway, the Pro-Choice Coalition of Ottawa is pushing to have the protesters' permit revoked. This would make a huge difference for women going to the clinic, as well as for the staff. Imagine going to work every day through a throng of people who believe with all their hearts that you murder little children. How safe would you feel? That is the reality of working in abortion care in most clinics. I feel very lucky to work at the Morgentaler Clinic in Toronto, especially coming from Fredericton where I don't think our government can even spell "injunction".

The Coaltion in Ottawa is to be applauded - it is not always easy to take on a sometimes very unpopular position. You know what else isn't easy? Mime. That's why my friend, amazing repro rights activist Jenn Farr, is fucking awesome.

So that's what's up in Ottawa.

STFU Remix

2010-11-05T14:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a little tidbit that I wish had been given more play in the media: Nancy Ruth talked about how she told everyone to STFU on abortion rights, and gives a very measured and well-thought-out semi-retraction. I also really want to read this book she contributed to.

I think it is easy to vilify politicians, obviously, even for one careless remark. And I think the tone of Ruth's warning was ill-advised, to say the least. But at the time I sort of defended what she said, and I stand by that. I think Ruth has been playing the game for a long time and momentarily forgot that the rest of us haven't been. I think she honestly didn't mean to silence us, although that was how it came across and that's not okay. I just feel like this apology of sorts, while a little late and clearly part of the publicity for the book, is heartfelt and encouraging. I wish it had received as much exposure as the original remark did.

Catching up on the Fetus Minefield

2010-11-04T14:00:00.000-04:00

I know this story is a bit old, but I missed blogging about it so I just wanted to touch on it briefly here. You probably heard about it, and certainly it was all over the news and the internet: a couple found out that the fetus their surrogate was carrying was likely to be born with Down Syndrome, and they wanted her to terminate the pregnancy. But she didn't want to have an abortion.

Like most tricky legal situations involving abortion, this is not actually about abortion at all, and certainly the occurrence of circumstances such as this cannot reasonably be used to argue either for or against the availability of the procedure. The issue here is the quandary posed by commodifying the use of our bodies. As a feminist I can see arguments for or against surrogacy, but it must be appreciated that the concept itself is born of a complex society full of uneasy cultural relationships and various socioeconomic situations.

Whether we allow surrogacy or not, or abortion or not, the situation exists now (or at least it did) and there's no going back. Most of the opinions I've heard or read on this particular story acknowledge that it is a difficult moral/legal/ethical fetus minefield, if you will, and there is no clear solution. I'm inclined to agree. Certainly as a feminist and abortion rights activist, my instinct says the woman's bodily autonomy comes first, and as a bit of a socialist I also feel that it certainly comes before any kind of financial agreement. However, it is always good to think of what is best for the child. And one does have to admit that there is a legal problem of custody and ownership. It's tricky, friends.

In the end I think it should be up to the surrogate, and I think it would be hypocritical of me to say otherwise. If we cannot decide what happens in our own body, after all, what power do we have? It will be interesting to see, however, what kind of an impact this has on surrogacy, or at the very least what kind of lengthy changes have to be made to a whole bunch of contracts.

Human relationships are more complex than we could have imagined.

One Step at a Time, Sweet Jesus

2010-11-03T14:00:00.000-04:00

So, the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission has decided to launch an investigation into NB's abortion policy - you know, the illegal policy that contravenes the Canada Health Act, forcing women to either pay out of pocket for an abortion or obtain a referral from to doctors and go to one of two hospitals in the province performing the procedure.

While it's great to focus attention on this policy, I'm not sure what the HRC can do when the actual lawsuit against the province on this matter seems hopelessly stalled. How much power does the HRC have in terms of legislation - any legal- or policy-minded readers feel like enlightening me?

Oh well, either way, props to whoever launched the complaint. It seems the best we can do right now is to keep the pressure on.

More on this at FMF.

An Abortion Law We Can All Roll Our Eyes At

2010-11-02T10:53:00.000-04:00

Hi, friends. Let's do something fun! Maybe you've heard of Bill C-510, the "coerced abortion" bill. This is another SUPER SUBTLE attempt by the relentless Rod Bruinooge to get a foot in the door for fetal rights. You might remember a very similar debacle around the unfortunate Bill C-484, introduced by Ken Epp in an attempt to help prevent intimate partner violence - oh wait, no, it was an attempt to create redundant legislation in order to wear away at abortion access in this country. If either of this men had even the slightest interest in actually doing something about intimate partner violence and preventing the kind of situations they are so fond of dedicating their proposed bills to, they would step the fuck up and write some real legislation, or perhaps even better, encourage their own government to stop cutting funding to social programs and women's groups.

So, something fun, right? This blog got name-checked in an article by Andrea Mrozek about the new bill, so I thought I would return the favour and have a look at this article, maybe go a step further and correct all the stuff the author got wrong. Let's go!

We've hit a new point in the abortion debate. This is good news for a conversation frequently called a dialogue of the deaf (and not without reason).

I've never heard this expression. It seems a bit outdated. But whatever, let's move on.

Pro-choice advocates are concerned that choice is threatened. And so it may be, just not in the way they think. Today, many women facing unplanned pregnancy feel pressure to choose abortion. We need to empower them with the ability to choose not to. Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge's new private member's bill, Bill C-510 (Roxanne's Law) would help.

First of all, it does not seem that Mrozek has spent any time at all considering why a woman would be coerced into having (or not having) an abortion. Where might that pressure be coming from? Our society places a great deal of stigma on women who choose abortion (as any woman who has had one will tell you - if she even feels comfortable admitting that she has), so most likely it is not a societal pressure. My guess is that any woman who is being coerced one way or the other is in some kind of relationship - whether romantic, platonic or familial - that is not entirely healthy. Which, I would argue, is the core issue here; NOT the pregnancy or what the woman chooses to do with it. But let's hear Mrozek out.

Since many will be incredulous at the notion that women couldn't say no to abortion, let's examine the lay of the land in Canada.

All but the most fanatical of abortion supporters acknowledge we have broad access, and that women are not impeded from getting abortions anywhere.

Well, I guess you can count me among the most fanatical of abortion supporters then (which, let's face it, is not a big surprise). But so, then, are most people who work in abortion care, as well as any woman from a rural area - or PEI, or up north - who has tried to access an abortion, any woman from New Brunswick without a family doctor (or with an anti-choice or unsupportive family doctor), any woman who has needed an abortion past 22 weeks for any reason, and on and on. In fact, the only women who are not impeded from getting abortions are those women who live in a major city (outside of New Brunswick and PEI), are in the first trimester of pregnancy, have up-to-date provincial healthcare, access to transportation to and from their appointment, and a myriad of other privileges like language, citizenship, physical ability, and on and on.

The abortion providers in this country do work hard to make abortion accessible for as many women as they can, but abortion access in Canada is far from "broad".

Women can get abortions at any point throughout the nine months of pregnancy, a fact that an Angus Reid poll in July 2010 showed only 21 per cent of Canadians know. (Statistics Canada indicates 12.1 per cent of abortions are done after 13 weeks.)

Legally, this is true. The practical reality is far different.

When studies arise indicating that abortion has negative repercussions, the media doesn't publicize them. For example, a pro-choice psychologist in New Zealand, Dr. David Fergusson, reported in 2006 that women who abort are at three times greater risk of mental health problems than women who give birth. After controlling for more variables he got a similar result in 2008. European studies show higher suicide rates for women who abort compared to women who deliver and American studies show increased drug and alcohol use post-abortion.

Finally, university administrations censor students who disagree. Most recently, Carleton University students who attempted to display anti-abortion materials on their own campus were arrested for trespassing. University of Calgary pro-life students too, have been charged with trespassing and hauled before an academic misconduct board.

This is just a bit of the usual anti-choice bellyaching that general accompanies this kind of opinion piece. Abortion opponents have to set themselves up as the victims in order to justify creating legislation to protect themselves. Yes, isn't it terrible that sometimes women make the best choice for them and their future children, despite potential negative consequences? And isn't it awful that university administrators sometimes try to protect their female staff and students from offensive and dishonest groups whose sole mandate is to take away their rights?

Most women will not be savagely beaten, stuffed in the trunk of a car and then dumped in a snow bank and left to die for refusing to have an abortion, as 24-year-old Roxanne Fernando was in February 2007. But the presence of a soft coercion toward abortion is the norm, not the exception.

Again, if by "soft coercion" Mrozek means a societal pressure towards abortion, I have to say, she is patently false. Our society still stigmatizes abortion, and even generally progressive people can sometimes be appalled by the idea that someone close to them is considering it as an option.

Take "Nadia" (not her real name), who at 22 was brought to the hospital emergency department by her brother. She had overdosed on 20 tranquillizer pills. The day before she'd had an abortion in a private clinic. She was deeply ambivalent about the abortion; her boyfriend was adamant it was the right thing to do.

Obviously if abortion was illegal, everything in this young woman's life would have been hunky-dory, right? Obviously there are no underlying issues here or anything. And if "coerced abortion" was illegal, I'm sure her boyfriend would be just lovely to her and never try to make her do anything she didn't want to. Obviously abortion is the problem here. /sarcasm

There are even those who report similar stories from the pro-choice side. Antichoice is anti-awesome is the blog of a volunteer co-ordinator at an abortion clinic in New Brunswick. In February 2010, she wrote about a woman who was being forced to abort by her parents. "The patient clearly did not want to have an abortion; while in to have her ultrasound she freaked out about the finger prick test, and then told the nurse, her mother and anyone who would listen that it was a blessing to be pregnant, a beautiful gift from God," she writes.

I really enjoy how she both name-checks and quotes me, but doesn't link to the blog or to the post in question. So there is no encouragement to read the whole thing and find out, for example, the context of the story, or my opinion on the situation or anything. No need to consider the fact that many women do not want to have abortions and are being coerced, or do want to have an abortion and then change their mind before the procedure, and that abortion providers and counsellors are well aware of this phenomenon. No need to acknowledge the fact that at any reputable abortion clinic, no woman would be undergoing an abortion unless she signed an informed consent form and the counsellor and/or doctor felt that she was making the choice herself, without coercion. That's just good medicine. We don't need a law protecting people from "coerced knee surgery" or "coerced tonsil removal".

It takes a special strength and courage to say no to abortion in face of pressure from a boyfriend, from parents and from society at large. (Our tax dollars fund Planned Parenthood, not crisis pregnancy centres.)

Yes it does. It also takes strength to say no to childbirth in the face of those same pressures. This is the annoying this about this bill and Mrozek's argument: pro-choicers are already there with you on this one, except we are anti-coerced abortion AND anti-coerced childbirth. We are anti-coercion in general (thus, pro-CHOICE). If the problem is the pressure, let's address that pressure. Let's admit the problem is that anyone is coercing women into doing anything. The problem is violence and abuse. When Bruinooge and his cronies are ready to deal with violence and abuse, pro-choicers are here to help.

Also, our tax dollars don't fund crisis pregnancy centres because CPCs are unnecessary. Planned Parenthood (and similar organizations) offer information on all choices without judgement, as well as offering a wide range of other sexual health services. PP meets a demand. When there is a demand from society for religious organizations that bully and lie in order to prevent women from accessing abortions, perhaps then our tax dollars can start funding CPCs.

New Democrat health critic Megan Leslie told the media over the weekend with regards to Bill C-510 that "if we can open that door even a crack to this idea of fetal rights -- which in my opinion promotes anti-choice ideas -- that has an impact on women's rights and freedoms when it comes to the very personal decision about abortion." What Leslie seems to want is a freeze on freedom of thought.

No, you are still free to think whatever you like. That is maybe the worst rebuttal to a logical objection I've ever read.

Meanwhile, the same Angus Reid poll cited above also shows that 81 per cent of women and 77 per cent of men think their provincial health authority should demand that all health-care workers offer information about alternatives to abortion, such as adoption and counselling for pregnant women.

Great! Most abortion providers are happy to offer whatever information women need - if you want your tax dollars to go towards helping health-care workers get information on all their options to women, I guess we should keep supporting Planned Parenthood, since that is exactly what they do!

Many women who experience an unplanned pregnancy would keep the child if they thought they had support -- physical, financial or emotional. And all too often that is absent. "It's your choice," is just another way of saying "I don't care."

The implication here being that allowing women to access all the options, to make choices about their own bodies, means that nobody cares about them. I assure you that if abortion were made illegal, women would still feel unsupported - physically, financially and emotionally - in their pregnancies. If women are lacking in support, the answer is not to take their choices away, it is to...wait for it...SUPPORT THEM. Let's talk about how we can do that, shall we? Better access to prenatal care, universal childcare, better parental leave policies, access to counselling (if needed), more support for women with alternative birth plans (props to doulas and midwives!), free and accessible birth control, better and more accessible resources and social services for new and expecting mothers, access to relationship counselling, violence prevention, comprehensive sex education in schools, dismantle the patriarchy (oh goodness, I got a little carried away there...), the list goes on and on. There are so many ways to support pregnant women. I bet that if we - pro-choice and pro-life - worked together, we could do that. And yes, we could decrease the demand for abortion, but more importantly, we could increase the proportion of women having happy, healthy, supported and WANTED babies.

No law can prevent the myriad soft coercions that push a woman toward abortion. But Roxanne's Law is a small voice empowering at least some women who, in the face of overwhelming odds and even violence, choose to say no. That's a choice we can all support.

The choice, yes, I can support it. But the bill, no. It is incredibly irritating to me that the people who are behind this bill and those supporting it are co-opting the language of choice, as if they can fool us into believing this is a pro-choice bill. But if you want to support and empower women, if you want them to feel confident exercising their bodily autonomy, you need to get out of the way, first of all, and stop introducing bullshit legislation that incrementally takes away one of their choices.

Second of all, you need to find a way to make real changes. I know I always say this every time one of these bullshit bills gets introduced, but PREVENTION! Let's educate people! Let's give them access to information and services! Instead of punitive laws that only deal with the aftermath of situations like Roxanne Fernando's, what about preventative laws and services that help make sure other young women don't find themselves in similar situations? Call me a cynic, but I feel the lack of focus on prevention points to the fact that Bruinooge and the rest of them don't actually care about women in abusive or violent situations, as much as they do about controlling women's choices.

Here's the real test: what if Roxanne Fernando had been beaten and left in a snowbank to die because she went ahead and HAD an abortion? What kind of bill would Bruinooge come up with then?

***If you are interested in writing your MP to protest this bill, here is a sample letter from ARCC***

O rly?

2010-11-01T22:30:00.000-04:00

This is how I feel about my life sometimes...

I don't know what that means. But I do know that things are about to get back to normal here at Anti-Choice is Anti-Awesome. A new normal, but a normal nonetheless.

Thank you for hanging in there.

Weekly Reader

2010-09-26T20:54:00.000-04:00

Toronto is keeping me very busy, friends! I only have links for you again this week. I will figure this blogging nonsense out soon, I promise. For now, if you really need to read my writing, I currently have a piece up at Abortion Gang. Check it out.

And now, abortion news:

Some bits and pieces about the government and their constant flip-flopping on maternal health.

Joyce Arthur takes on Angus Reid.

A pro-choice comic! Yes!

An enterprising blogger takes on 40 Days for Life.

Stay cool friends.

Weekly(-ish) Reader

2010-09-06T16:16:00.001-04:00

Hi guys! Still getting on my feet here in the Big Smoke, so all I have to offer you is this round-up of links:

The difference between being pro-choice and doing pro-choice.

(Warning! Anti-choice) article about Linda Gibbons.

Planned Parenthood talks dollars with Tories.

Ottawa aid funds illegal abortions.

A whole whack of articles about the maternal health program and whether or not the government is funding abortion overseas; after reading all of these I'm still not clear on whether we are or are not (and I don't think Bev Oda is clear either).

And of course if you're wondering what's up in my abortion-related life, here's a piece I did for Abortion Gang: Seeing an Abortion for the First Time.

Re-Introductions and a Somewhat Weekly Reader

2010-08-19T16:19:00.000-04:00

Hello friends. I am back! In your lives, that is.

I know I haven't posted for three weeks. But in those three weeks, I moved to Toronto, unpacked our stuff and set up the apartment, found a part-time job (possibly two!), sent many postcards, cooked many meals, reconnected with old and dear friends, went on a wine tour in Niagara, and ate an awful lot of sushi. So I think you'll agree that I didn't have a lot of time to blog.

My life in Toronto is still in the settling in stage. I am in training at my job at the Morgentaler Clinic here, where I am doing intake. They don't have protesters (there's an injunction), which makes coming to work a lot more pleasant. The job is part-time and it's not nearly as involved, activism-wise, as my job in Fredericton. There will not be a lot of blogging material there, friends. So I am going to have to go in a slightly different direction with the blog. But that's ok. It will still be Canadian content, and it will still be about reproductive justice, and it will still be based on my own personal thoughts and experiences. I'm still hammering out the details but I feel pretty good about what is to come.

In the meantime, here are some of the stories I missed blogging about. Headlines only this week, sorry (caution: some of these articles are from LifeSite, and the National Post which is just as bad):

Pro-life group on cross-Canada trek

UFPC takes on some of my trolls

Mary Wagner jailed for abortion protest

Lots of information and opinions on that awful Linda Gibbons

Most Canadians unfamiliar with abortion laws

Deception used in counselling women against abortion

Kopp won't face justice in Canada

David Little's charges have been dropped

CPCs plague Canada, too

No plan to regulate Ontario's CPCs

I will be talking to you all soon, and much more frequently, I promise!

"A bon voyage, not a goodbye"

2010-07-28T09:43:00.000-04:00

My beloved readers, yesterday was my last clinic day at the Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton. Tears. For real.

It was a pretty good clinic. Pink Hat was out with her sad little one-limbed Jesus (why won't he heal himself?). I caught a glimpse of Crazy Legs, and the Holy Ghost was very vocal. And guess who else was there, for the first time (that I know of)? Father What-a-Waste, from the March for Life! You guys, what is he doing? He is so handsome and sweet. He told SL that if any of the other protesters started yelling or being aggressive, he was going to be very upset and disappointed. SL said "Wait."

I hope he doesn't come back, but on the other hand, his adorable naivete might add much needed amusement to the volunteers' mornings.

One of our patients today was a character - she was wearing a t-shirt that said "I'm a Virgin (but this is an old shirt)" and she was super sassy. I liked her a lot. When she came out to the waiting room after her procedure, she loudly assured everyone that it didn't hurt, and that the sedatives were AWESOME. It was hard to tell if she was still a bit loopy from the drugs, or if she is just always like that. Either way: awesome.

That is all the cool stuff I can remember.

It was hard to say goodbye to my lovely co-workers, especially our amazing doctor. She is such a warm and good-hearted person, and she has been a really strong supporter in my life for the last three years. What an excellent lady.

So that's it: the last regular dispatch from the clinic. I will continue blogging, probably on Canadian abortion issues until I figure out where I want to go next with this. Ideas are always welcome. The weekly reader will be a little late this week, because I don't know when we will get internet set up in our new apartment. If you think of it on Friday, send some good thoughts our way for the 16 hour drive with two cats. We will need it!

Thank you thank you thank you. Always follow your heart.

One Foot Out the Door

2010-07-25T19:23:00.000-04:00

I'm not going to apologize again for blogging so late in the week, because I am in the middle of trying to move to Ontario and quite honestly it is a lot of work. Not the packing and physical moving (we're not quite there yet), but just the making sure I see all my friends enough before we go. I am an introvert so I have to be careful about the amount of energy I expend by spending time with people, but I have so little time! It is hard.

Anyway, clinic on Tuesday was ok. The protesters were getting a bit aggressive at times, and Crazy Legs was out and causing lots of trouble, accusing people of shoving her, etc. Definitely being a pain in the ass.

Inside the clinic, I was training my replacement, which was super fun because she is an EXCELLENT lady. We get along very very well and could just talk for ages. I love when I click with people so easily - it doesn't happen to me a lot. I have quite a few good friends but it usually takes me a while to get to that place with them. Anyway I have a lot of confidence in this person. She is going to be great.

Yesterday we had our annual summer BBQ for the volunteers, which was great fun as always. They really are a wonderful group of people and I'm going to miss them a great deal. I have met some excellent people through being the volunteer co-ordinator. They are all good people who do good work.

This Tuesday is my last clinic day, and then Wednesday is my last day of work. Tears! This has been my best job ever, and I will be very sad to leave it. I'm still trying to decide in what direction I want to take the blog, but I think it will largely depend on what I end up doing in Toronto.

Here are some things I read this week:

Anti-abortion group gets funding, settles lawsuit with UVic.

Graphic abortion images spark outrage.

Weekly Reader AND MORE!

2010-07-18T12:42:00.000-04:00

Another week of being terribly late to blog! I guess it's harder to blog about the clinic when nothing very exciting happens. Lately I've had a lot of available volunteers, which makes a noticeable difference - the patients are calmer, and the protesters don't try as much funny stuff.

One of the protesters was giving the volunteers an instructional lecture on rosary beads this week, but apparently it was totally good-natured.

Inside, I went to my last ever staff meeting at the clinic. Our wonderful doctor baked me a cake! It's really starting to hit me that I won't be working at the clinic any more; it makes me quite sad. It's been tough at times but all told it is a great job, and I work with some amazing people. And amazing volunteers! I will miss this gang a lot, and I will definitely be out escorting when I come home over Christmas (at least this year - I have no idea what our schedule/financial situation will be after that! Maybe I'll be home so much, you'll all be sick of me!).

I guess I'll even kind of miss the protesters. They have been interesting characters in my life.

I think I'm leaving things in capable hands. There should be someone hired for my job this week, and I know whoever it is will be awesome. And the momentum is with us, even in Fredericton. The other day someone spray-painted "choice" on the CPC again. It warmed my heart.

Here are a few things I've been reading this week:

You can take a free webinar on Emergency Contraception with the ARHP.

Two articles on abortion on TV (specifically Friday Night Lights).

Abortion still happens after 40.

Chasing anti-choicers around town (AB's #streetcornersforchoice project).