Rebecca Traister, writing in New York magazine in 2019: Which is why I am almost as mad at many on the left, theoretically on the side of reproductive rights and justice, who have refused, somehow, to see this coming or act aggressively to forestall it. I have no small amount of
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wmtc: the end of roe and how we got here
With the unprecedented leak of the SCOTUS draft brief, and official confirmation of the politicization of the Court, we see the final nails pounded in Roe v. Wade — a turning point which somehow still shocks many people, despite the exceedingly clear regression to this point over the past 40 years.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Canadian Conservatives, heavily influenced by Republican ideology, are keen to squelch debate about U.S. Supreme Court’s planned abortion ruling
Canada’s conservative political parties are desperately trying to declare discussion of the leaked United States Supreme Court draft ruling on abortion a political no-fly zone. The young Jason Kenney, now Premier of Alberta (Photo: Screenshot of YouTube video). The powerful and extensive influence of radical social conservative opponents of women’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Calgary judge makes short work of bid for injunction to block COVID-19 restrictions
A Calgary superior court judge yesterday made short work of the bid by the so-called Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms to get an emergency injunction blocking public health restrictions on activities likely to exacerbate the spread of COVID-19 during the holiday season. In a hearing that could be watched online,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Say what? Conservative Alberta MP’s riding association buys pro-life transit ads in Vancouver
Regardless of exactly how Garnett Genuis’s Vancouver bus advertisement asking how there can be too many children was paid for, the Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan MP well known for his vocal opposition to reproductive rights and the Conservative Party of Canada should both have some explaining to do. Mr. Genuis boasted
Continue readingwmtc: international safe abortion day: abortion is healthcare
September 28 is International Safe Abortion Day, a day to reflect on how many women around the world do not have control over their reproduction — that is, do not have control over their lives. Abortion is the sine qua non of women’s liberation. Without the ability to choose whether and
Continue readingwmtc: ruth bader ginsburg, rest in power
These highlights of Ginsburg’s decisions and dissents on the SCOTUS are a joy to read. I used two sources, and decided to keep the overlap. Many highlight the reason she was affectionately known as the Notorious RBG. United States v. Virginia, 1996 In United States v. Virginia, Ginsburg wrote the majority
Continue readingAlberta Politics: First reading of Bill 207 reveals zero UCP votes for women’s reproductive rights
Here are two important statistics about the United Conservative Party’s Bill 207, the Conscience Rights (Health Care Providers) Protection Act, which was introduced in the Alberta Legislature yesterday … Just a minute, you say, Bill 207 is a private member’s bill, brought forward by Peace River UCP MLA Dan Williams,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The ‘most pro-life Legislature in decades’ gets ready to make its first move to restrict reproductive rights
Does anyone recall when Cameron Wilson, political action director of the “Wilberforce Project,” previously known as Pro-Life Alberta, bragged that “if the UCP wins the upcoming election, then we will have the most pro-life Legislature in decades, and maybe ever”? That was only in February this year, a century or
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the birth of the pill by jonathan eig
The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution by Jonathan Eig was a fascinating and very readable look at how oral contraceptives — otherwise known as The Pill — came to be. The Pill changed the world. It was the first contraception that was
Continue readingwmtc: september 28: international safe abortion day
Today is International Safe Abortion Day. Because without access to safe, legal abortion, women can never be free. In North America, you can help ensure that women are able to access safe abortions, is to donate to abortion funds. The National Network of Abortion Funds (N-NAF) can show you how.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The ‘Chicago Principles’ are code for the right of the powerful and privileged to shout down everyone else
“Free speech in universities” is nowadays a rallying cry for the snowflakes of the extremist right, who can dish it out but can’t take it. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that pushing post-secondary institutions to enforce the Chicago Statement on Free Expression, an ingenious manifesto that uses “free
Continue readingwmtc: abortion without apology: the war on women, the slippery slope, and how you can fight back
Tl;dr? Learn about the National Network of Abortion Funds, and give generously. * * * * Right-thinking Americans and Canadians are reeling at extreme anti-abortion laws sweeping through at least a dozen states: Alabama, Missouri, and Georgia, are the worst offenders, but Ohio, North Dakota, Kentucky, Mississippi, Iowa, and others
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Lest we forget? Does Veterans Affairs’ video blooper signal something more seriously amiss in Canada?
On Thursday 13,000 soldiers of what used to be known as the Red Army marched through the heart of Moscow to military bands playing “The Sacred War” as Russia marked the 74th anniversary of the surrender of Berlin and the end of the road for Hitler’s “Thousand Year Reich.” According
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Free votes’ on ‘matters of conscience’ may seem incongruous for a guy like Jason Kenney, but then again, maybe not …
Last Thursday, presumably hoping to distract from the NDP’s launch of an advertising campaign illuminating the dark side of Jason Kenney, the United Conservative Party leader announced a passel of policy ideas that would include significant changes to how the Legislature operates. Among Mr. Kenney’s ideas were a ban on
Continue readingwmtc: from the archives: for millions of american women, roe is already history
With the resignation of US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, it is very likely that Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, will be overturned. I’m getting frustrated by the spate of stories about how abortion will now be illegal — with no mention of how Roe has
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As reproductive rights wither in the United States, a UCP candidate’s abortion-restricting strategy for Canada is revealed
“On abortion, we’re never going to see a black and white, yes or no question. My job as your MP is to fight for incremental changes. … It’s called the foot-in-the-door tactic.” — Joseph Schow On a day when there’s serious talk in the United States that women’s right to
Continue readingwmtc: congratulations to the people of ireland! #repealedthe8th
While this blog was offline, an amazing and incredibly important thing happened: the people of the Republic of Ireland affirmed the human right to control our own bodies. In a referendum to “Repeal the 8th” — so-called for the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which gave equal legal
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Group making incendiary ‘ideological sex clubs’ claim about Gay-Straight Alliances has history of backing social conservative causes
As was widely reported yesterday, a judge of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench will begin hearing arguments in Medicine Hat today in a legal effort by a social conservative group to upend the Alberta law that prevents schools from informing parents when students join a gay-straight alliance. The claim
Continue readingAlberta Politics: NDP ‘Bubble Zone Bill’ to protect abortion clinic patients and staff passes as UCP Caucus heads for hallway hideouts again
Alberta’s “Bubble Zone Bill” to protect abortion clinic patients and staff from harassment, intimidation and potential violence has been passed by the provincial Legislature. When the vote on Third Reading happened yesterday, the entire United Conservative Party Opposition had once again gone into hiding. They’ve done the same thing every
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