Ideology can't be left to the anti-abortionists (a look from the other side)

 
 Zohra Moosa

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/07/anti-abortionists-ideology-abortion-rights

There was a great turn-out last night at the pro-choice meeting that Jess McCabe and Sunny Hundal organised.
The discussion was wide-ranging, with some excellent speaking from Diane Abbott MP, Abortion Rights and Education for Choice. One of the topics I raised and I'd like to explore further is the ethical – and political – case for women's access to abortion.
There was a strong current in the room advocating taking a scientific, public health approach to abortion rights. They recommended making informed, fact-based interventions to the debates on abstinence education, for example. And some people highlighted how effective this can be, especially where anti-abortion lobbyists are making spurious "pseudo-scientific" claims and considering how the mainstream majority already believes in women's right to choose.
However, some people also made a lot of the fact that anti-abortion lobbyists are operating from a position of ideology, rather than science. While this may be true, I don't agree that ideology, per se, is a bad thing. Feminism is an ideology. I kind of like it. Moreover science can be marshalled in defence of all kinds of ideologies – including ones I don't agree with.
Science is a tool, and it is not apolitical. Scientists can be political actors, with agendas. The idea that science is the opposite of ideology is not borne out by how science is produced, how evidence is gathered, what conclusions we come to through "facts". Enter climate change debates!
Meanwhile, I do not want to lose the ethical, political, and also ideological at times, case for abortion rights and reproductive justice. Women have the right to own and control what happens to their bodies. These rights are enshrined in laws and human rights principles that the UK has signed up to. And all women are entitled to them.
For example, regardless of whether "life" is viable at 20 weeks or not (it's not), women should still be able to legally, safely, affordably access abortion. We should also be able to access abortions after 24 weeks. And we really should be able to access abortions regardless of where in the UK we are located – the restrictions in Northern Ireland are unacceptable. Full stop.
Certainly I understand the benefits of pragmatism and advocating "evidence-based policymaking", as well as why we should equip ourselves and others, including our politicians, with the facts on abortion as we move into this next phase of pro-choice campaigning. Myth-busting and real stories from women who've actually had abortions are essential to resist anti-women movements and illustrate how appropriate a pro-choice position is for a fair and humane society.
But let's also remember that our work is political: our rights to our bodies is a contested ideological terrain. Let's not be so keen to leave this arena lest we suddenly find ourselves out of the conversation altogether.

Report: Louisiana Considering Bill That Would Overrule Roe v. Wade

By Doug Mataconis, Outside the Beltway
Louisiana's Republican-controlled legislature now has a bill before that would, effectively, challenge the entirety of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade:
The Louisiana state legislature is considering a bill that would make performing an abortion a criminal offense, including in cases of rape and incest, and that would force a woman to pay out of pocket for an abortion that is necessary to save her life.
State Rep. John LaBruzzo (R), who introduced the bill, told lawmakers in a committee hearing last month that he fully intends for the bill to make its way up through the federal courts and challenge Roe v. Wade - the 1973 Supreme Court decision that barred states from outlawing abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Read more: http://nation.foxnews.com/abortion/2011/06/07/report-louisiana-considering-bill-would-overrule-roe-v-wade#ixzz1OblQ28qt

Free Speech? Man Buys Billboard Saying His Ex Had Abortion Against His Will

A New Mexico man's decision to lash out with a billboard ad saying his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes has touched off a legal debate over free speech and privacy rights.
The sign on Alamogordo's main thoroughfare shows 35-year-old Greg Fultz holding the outline of an infant. The text reads, "This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!"
Fultz's ex-girlfriend has taken him to court for harassment and violation of privacy. A domestic court official has recommended the billboard be removed.
But Fultz's attorney argues the order violates his client's free speech rights.
"As distasteful and offensive as the sign may be to some, for over 200 years in this country the First Amendment protects distasteful and offensive speech," Todd Holmes said.
The woman's friends say she had a miscarriage, not an abortion, according to a report in the Albuquerque Journal.
Holmes disputes that, saying his case is based on the accuracy of his client's statement.

Read more: http://nation.foxnews.com/abortion/2011/06/07/free-speech-man-buys-billboard-saying-his-ex-had-abortion-against-his-will#ixzz1OblARJ4q

Indiana: Abortion law for government to decide

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PLANNED_PARENTHOOD_INDIANA?SITE=FLSTU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Planned Parenthood Showdown Looms

INDIANAPOLIS -- "A looming showdown over Indiana's new law that cuts funding for the Planned Parenthood organization may test how far Republican-led states are willing to go to push anti-abortion agendas."

Read the rest here.... http://www.theindychannel.com/health/28137157/detail.html

Komen for the Cure Donated $730K to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz in 2009

"He confirmed 20 of Komen’s 122 affiliates have made donations to Planned Parenthood and, last year, those contributions totaled $731,303"

Read the rest here.... http://www.lifenews.com/2010/10/12/nat-6765/

Senator files abortion pill bill

From the AP

AUSTIN, Texas—Conservative Sen. Dan Patrick has reintroduced a bill to restrict the use of abortion-inducing medications to be considered during the special session.
Gov. Rick Perry called a special legislative session beginning Tuesday to tackle budget issues and congressional redistricting. The governor gets to decide what issues are considered in a special session and he did not name abortion as one of them. Unless he puts it on the agenda, the bill will certainly fail.
Nevertheless, Patrick filed the bill which requires doctors to administer any abortion-inducing drug strictly according to federal guidelines. The prescribing doctor must also have a signed contract with another specialist doctor to treat any emergencies as well as adhere to strict reporting and follow-up requirements.
Doctors who do not comply face disciplinary action.

Russia's church, lawmakers want to limit abortion

By MANSUR MIROVALEV Associated Press

MOSCOW—Russia's Orthodox Church teamed with Conservative parliamentarians Monday to push legislation that would radically restrict abortions in a nation struggling to cope with one of the world's lowest birthrates.
The legislation would ban free abortions at government-run clinics and prohibit the sale of the morning-after pill without a prescription, said Yelena Mizulina, who heads a parliamentary committee on families, women and children.
She added that abortion for a married woman would also require the permission of her spouse, while teenage girls would need their parents' consent. If the legislation is passed, a week's waiting period would also be introduced so women could consider their decision to terminate their pregnancy, Mizulina said.
During the time of the Soviet Union, abortion laws were liberal, and unrestricted termination of pregnancy became virtually the only method of family planning. Sex education was frowned upon.
Russia's abortion rates are still among the world's highest, contributing to a fertility rate of only 1.4 children per woman—far below the 2.1 needed to maintain the existing population. The rate has become a serious concern for Russia as it fights to stem a steep population decline
Mizulina said she wants to see public debate on abortions before the bill is submitted to parliament, an apparent attempt to build support after similar legislation stalled last year.
A bill proposed in late 2010 called for the criminal prosecution of doctors who end late-term pregnancies, but it faced government opposition and was never put up for a vote.
The effort to restrict abortions has strong backing from the Russian Orthodox Church, which has sought a more muscular role in society in recent years. It counts more than 100 million Russians in a population of 143 million as its congregation, although polls show that only about 5 percent of Russians are observant.
"I hope that very soon we will live in a Russia without abortions," church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin said at Monday's presentation.
According to a United Nations survey in 2004, Russia had the world's highest abortion rate: 53.7 per 100 women.
Figures from the Russian Health Ministry suggest the rate may have declined in recent years, though it remains high: In 2009, there were 74 abortions for every 100 births in Russia, a significant drop in comparison with 169 abortions per 100 births in 2000.
The total number of abortions recorded by the Health Ministry in 2009 reached nearly 1.3 million.
Mizulina claims that the official statistics do not include pregnancies terminated at private clinics, or those stopped by morning-after pills, and the true number might be closer to 6 million.
She also proposed that the law be changed to allow women to leave unwanted children at orphanages anonymously without risking criminal prosecution for child abandonment.
It was unclear how much support the anti-abortion measures would receive in parliament.
Natalya Karpovich, a lawmaker with the dominant pro-Kremlin party United Russia, who is expecting her fifth child, said she supported stricter regulation of abortions. But she said banning the procedure in Russia was unrealistic and would only lead to more children whose parents were unwilling or unable to care for them.

Rep. Virginia Foxx Introduces Pro-Life Amendment

Alleged use of aborted fetal cells is alarming

When it comes to the abortion industry, there is no limit to the horrifying stories exposed daily. From the coerced, forced abortion on underage girls, sex trafficking-Planned Parenthood connection, the butcher shop horrors exposed in Philadelphia, to mention just a few.
Now we are learning that a company called Senomyx is using aborted fetal cells in research and development of artificial flavor enhancers for major food corporations: PepsiCo, Kraft Foods and Nestle, according to LifeSiteNews. Pro-life watchdog group Children of God for Life has joined other pro-life groups to target these food corporations by letting the public know about Senomyx. What they do not tell the public is that they are using HEK 293 — human embryonic kidney cells taken from an electively aborted baby to produce those receptors.
These stories don't surprise me but make me want to fight more for the end of this century's holocaust on the unborn. There is no good that can come from what the pro-choicers advertise as "choice." Abortion is inherently evil. The results are devastating and ripple through countless generations affecting every family member and societal group in its path.
Take heart, America is starting to wake up. According to Gallup, 61 percent take the pro-life view that abortions should either be legal under no circumstances or legal only under a few circumstances. Many states are passing pro-life legislation: ultrasound bills, banning tax dollars for abortions and pressing forward with Personhood Petitions which refer to the presence of a particular set of characteristics that grant that individual certain rights such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The end- game of the pro-life movement is to see the day when no more babies die and no more women cry.

 From...
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com