Why Bristol Palin's pregnancy is a legitimate campaign issue

The mother of the fecund young woman in question is soon to be nominated as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. The elder Ms. Palin is a strong advocate of "abstinence only" sex education and one assumes that "abstinence only" sex education is what the younger Ms. Palin received. Clearly the message failed in this case. Governor Palin's spokespeople say that the family is delighted at the news that the young woman plans to have the baby and ultimately marry the father.

Fine. Let us hope that neither the birth of the child nor the wedding will come about as a result of undue duress on the part of the parents involved. Let us also hope that, against the odds, the extremely young couple's partnership is successful and their child healthy and happy.

But not all families or young couples will wish to take the same path as these two. They may realise that the failure of their education and the mistake that they made by practicing unsafe sex, in an age when unsafe sex can kill, both have the potential to ruin their lives and affect those around them. Well to those families Governor Palin, and her erstwhile running mate The Aged One, stick up two fingers and roundly say "fuck you". They both believe, she most vehemently of the two, that a woman should have no right to control her body or her reproductive processes. In her own words Ramb-ette, as I like to call her, has said that she would oppose abortion even if her "own daughter was raped".

So she wants to ensure that America's children are not provided with education about sex, reproduction or options other than "don't do what we're not telling you about" and should this "education" fail, as it clearly did in the case of her very young daughter, she also wants to ensure that there are no legal options available even in the worst of circumstances (i.e. rape and incest).

So I'm sorry to those who might disagree but the issue is valid, it is not an intrusion of privacy (she made it public) and it must and will be discussed.

It's all happening now

Parliament is in the process of debating the new human fertility bill which will regulate amongst other things the creation of hybrid embryos, stem cell research, IVF treatment and abortion. Yesterday an amendment that would have prevented the creation of hybrid embryos was fortunately defeated but tonight's votes on amendments to IVF provision that prohibit it for gays and single women (or at least make it almost impossible to access) and amendments that would reduce the upper limit on abortion from 24 weeks are harder to call. I am especially worried about the abortion amendments. Despite there being significant scientific evidence that there has been no improvement as to the viability of embryos outside the womb before 24 weeks the largely Catholic opposition have tabled so many amendments (reducing the limit to 9 weeks, 13 weeks, 18 weeks etc) that some may feel that a new 20 week limit is reasonable.

You can follow it all here.

Note: curiously all of the parties are allowing members a so called free vote,ie they do not have to follow the dictates of the party platform, but in reality the votes will be anything but. Instead of, as one would expect in a representative democracy, looking to their constituents for guidance these rebel MPs will be following the dictates of their church!

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 22: his religious mentor John Hagee thinks that if his, and therefore God's, chosen candidate can just pack the Supreme Court and get rid of that pesky Roe v. Wade decision all of America's economic problems will be behind her.

"And I will appoint no activist citizens!"

According to a new poll from AP/Yahoo nearly two thirds of Americans think that the 1983 Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade should remain in force. That's 66%! Perhaps these folks ought to do a little research into where John McCain stands on the issue before November. Hint: it is a long ways away from leaving Roe v Wade in force!

Your tax dollars at work

POPLINE is a US government funded project, run by USAID, that bills itself as the "largest bibliographic database on population, family planning and related health issues". Just don't go there and try and do a search on "abortion" because they have consciously excluded the word. You will get zero results. Just remember a freedom to speak is not a freedom to search!

God invents new dimension - string theory still unproved!

Three physical dimensions not good enough for you? Well meet Shari Richard who has seemingly invented 4D ultrasound in order to demostrate to you what a heinous crime abortion is. Her videos, which I shall not link to, may been found somewhere in the YouTube universe. I don't know if you have to wear special glasses to achieve the full 4D effect.

Today in infamy - (almost) all life is sacred edition

On this day in 1998 an abortion clinic in Birmingham AL was bombed killing a police officer. The bomb was planted by right-to-life-terrorist Eric Rudolph who was captured five years later after other bombings and is currently serving his (right-to-)life sentence.

Terrorists strike in America's heartland

Unfortunately because they attack an abortion clinic they are described as vandals. Well God is on their side, right?

Dear Governor Romney,

I think we can all agree that abortion is nothing more than cold blooded murder. Therefore I feel that your stated support for jailing "abortionists" does not go far enough. Not only does your plan neglect to punish the instigator of the crime, the ex-mother who is surely guilty of filicide, but I also feel that imprisonment for other party is far too lenient a fate. As you and I both know the only effective deterrent is execution and none of this mamby pamby lethal injection rubbish either I think that they should either be burnt at the stake (something that your home state of Massachusetts is familiar with I am sure) or drawn and quartered.

I eagerly await your reply.

Yours in death for pro-life.

Yank in London

Quote of the day

It's such a waste of life...As a doctor, I look at the abortion issue from a health perspective and the fact is that an early abortion is safer than giving birth. That is not meant to promote abortion because if women want to have children it is a risk they are naturally willing to take. However, if they don't want them they should never be forced to take that risk."

Dutchwoman Rebecca Gomperts of the group Women on Waves. Ms. Gomperts is the doctor aboard the Dutch abortion ship that moors in the waters off of countries where abortion is illegal and provides abortions in international waters.

Britain to reform abortion law?

To make it simpler and less stressful to get an abortion?

God's a sneaky one, isn't She?

A Parliamentary committee begins a series of hearings on abortion regulation today as a controversy brews over the undisclosed association of a number of witnesses with "faith based" anti-abortion groups. At least eight scientists who have made written submissions to the committee have failed to disclose their membership in groups that oppose abortion. This has led to the committee's clerk writing to all of those who submitted evidence to disclose any associations that they have with "relevant organisations".

"I am Emily X"

The diary of a Planned Parenthood Worker



More here.

I think we often forget how much we owe people like this and how bloody difficult it is for them to do their jobs everyday. So I would like to thank Emily and her co-workers. I hope the rest of you do too.

Keep abortion legal - keep abortion safe

A study conducted by the World Health Organization the Guttmacher Institute shows that outlawing abortion does little if anything to affect the abortion rate but that it does significantly affect the danger to the women involved.

Given these data should the right to lifers now switch to supporting safe and legal abortion in order to save lives?

Hey look a man can dream, can't he?

Is this the way God wants it to be?

The Guardian has an excellent feature today on the state of affairs in Nicaragua after the passage of the law that bans ALL abortions, even in cases of rape or were the mother's life is in danger. So far at least 82 women have died and as far as I can tell none of the foetuses have lived either. A success all around. I think that all of Nicaragua's undoubtedly entirely celibate priests should give themselves a well deserved round of applause.