Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Some Springtime Cheer

I'm late on this again. If it makes people feel any better, there were a million other things I meant to do yesterday that I also didn't get to. The spring weather makes me restless.

Yesterday was a pretty standard day at the clinic, all the usual protesters were out and about. Because we finished relatively early, and I wanted to stick around because there were some things I needed to do, I got the rare pleasure of seeing the protesters hang around after the patients were all inside and the escorts had left. I kind of assumed that they went inside as soon as all the escorts took off; but no, they were still out there, pacing up and down. Even the Holy Ghost, who doesn't carry a sign and whose whole purpose is "sidewalk counselling". Is she trying to get them on the way out?

In other news, as I mentioned briefly before, I'm taking charge of the Fredericton branch of this rally against Bill C-484. It's kind of exhilirating to do this kind of grass-roots organizing because you really never know who is going to come out of the woodwork. I kind of expected to get very little interest, but people have been falling over themselves to help out. It's been awesome, and I'm actually feeling okay about the turnout we're going to get. I'm just hoping for fifty people, and already on the Facebook group there are over sixty confirmed. So that is awesome. I even have speakers!! I feel like a real grown up who organizes things. :P

Bah, I still have so many issues I want to blog about, like sex-selective abortion, this new Bill C-537, and on and on. But I'm not going to now because I don't have my notes with me and because I'm very busy. Well I'm not really very busy, but I feel like I am.

One thing I do just have to mention is that yesterday there was a guy who was bringing his girlfriend, and he didn't want to come in - he just waited in the car - because he was scared of the protesters. Can you imagine? I know I've said this before, but really; if it's ever me coming here, the guy with whom I am in this situation would damn well be coming in with me. It takes two to tango people!! I feel like I should start putting that at the end of my post, like Sue Johanson and her corny condom slogans.

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps he was ashamed. Is that the same as scared?

Anonymous said...

Maybe he was afraid to run into his parents or other relatives inside. All kinds of people of all ages (well...under 50 or so) get abortions.

Dan F said...

"While we can all agree that sex selection is unethical,"

Who's this 'we' - white woman? If a woman's got four sons and wants a daughter (or, just wants a daughter) - who the hell are you to say she's not right? Can she not have her eggs selected and artificially implanted?

Ah - just kidding, but again - they're selecting for a reason, don't you think? Why would you call that choice any less valid than some others?

Jeesh - so much judgmental talk around here, i.e. -

"the guy with whom I am in this situation would damn well be coming in with me."

Umm... based on the need for escorts outside, I'm assuming many dudes don't even show up?

Please, correct me if I'm wrong here.

The Pedgehog said...

"Why would you call that choice any less valid than some others?"

Maybe as an individual choice, it's okay - I'm not really sure. But most sex selective abortion is done as a direct result of a society's determination that males are worth more than females. Value judgements based on sex = unethical.

"Jeesh - so much judgmental talk around here, i.e. -

"the guy with whom I am in this situation would damn well be coming in with me." "

I'm not really sure what is "judgemental" about this statement. As far as I'm concerned, pregnancy involves two people, so I'm not sure why it would be judgemental of me to expect the other party responsible to stand with me in my decision.

"Umm... based on the need for escorts outside, I'm assuming many dudes don't even show up?"

Most women who come into the clinic come with someone - either a family member, friend or partner. So yeah, a lot of dudes do show up. The need for escorts has nothing to do with whether or not the women are unaccompanied. It has to do with protecting them and making them feel safe. Believe it or not, having your (male) partner by your side is not always the best protection, as they can get scared too (shocking, I know) and sometimes they get riled enough to want to throw some punches.