reproductive rights ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

Alberta Politics: Missing Jason Kenney surfaces, safe and sound, speaking up for Christy Clark at chichi Vancouver steak house

Apr

30

2017

PHOTOS: Alberta Progressive Conservative Leader Jason Kenney, from the days no so long ago he could still be found in in this province. Below, from various Twitter photos: Vancouver journalist Bob Mackin, “Liberal” B.C. Premier Christy Clark, and Conservative federal leadership candidate Andrew Scheer. Got questions for the elusive Jason Kenney? Look no further than ...

Alberta Politics: Ted Byfield’s back, cyber-crusading for Jason Kenney’s bid to lead Alberta back to the Fifties!

Jan

30

2017

PHOTOS: Ted Byfield at the microphone (Edson leader photo). Below: Alberta Education Minister David Eggen, the late Link Byfield, Mr. Byfield’s son, and a cover from the bad old days of Alberta Report magazine. Like the proverbial bad penny, Ted Byfield is back. It should come as no surprise that Mr. Byfield, now 87 and ...

Against the Grain: Million-Woman March on Trump’s Inauguration

Nov

14

2016

Washington, DC residents and folks who can get there, take note: There are some murmurings of a march on Trump’s inauguration in support of women’s rights, which the Republican platform is set to erode. According to preliminary plans posted on Facebook, the march will take place on Saturday, January 21, the day after Trump is ...

Alberta Politics: Where exactly is the ‘compromise’ Jason Kenney thinks the NDP should make on sexual minority rights?

Sep

11

2016

PHOTOS: Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Jason Kenney back in the day … welcoming refugees? Well, not if they wanted health care. Unintended ironic juxtaposition, I suppose. (Photo from abbotsfordtoday.blogspot.ca.) Below: Alberta Education Minister David Eggen; New Testament Baptist Church, just west of Edmonton. Where exactly is this “sensible Alberta compromise” Jason Kenney advises the province’s ...

Dead Wild Roses: Things to Ruin Your Day – Forced Sterilization of the Roma

Mar

2

2016

When the government really isn’t on your side… Excerpts taken from here. “Between 1971 and 1991 in Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic and Slovakia, the “reduction of the Roma population” through surgical sterilization, performed without the knowledge of the women themselves, was a widespread governmental practice. The sterilization would be performed on Romani women without their ...

Dead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Religion, Abortion, and Bill Nye

Jan

10

2016

Religion is a particularly nasty subset of the patriarchal fabric of our society. Most organized religions provide the justification for the continued male dominance in society. I mean, if the notion of a Grand Ooga-Booga isn’t preposterous enough on its own, the fact that most of His divine commands and intuitions are tethered to a ...

Dead Wild Roses: Reproductive Rights – The Whole Ball Game – Glosswitch

Dec

5

2015

One of the main axis of female oppression is reproduction. Glosswitch expounds on this theme, I recommend viewing the entire post here. “The trouble with reproductive choice isn’t that most of us are in mourning over embryos gone to waste. It’s that, if you really believe in it, you have to give people with uteruses the ...

Alberta Politics: Independent MP Brent Rathgeber gives St. Albertans a former Tory insider’s take on the many sins of the Harper PMO

Oct

9

2015

PHOTOS: Independent MP Brent Rathgeber, in a typical pose, chats with a couple of constituents at last night’s candidates’ forum in St. Albert, Alberta. Below: Conservative candidate Michael Cooper, Mr. Rathgeber again, New Democrat Darlene Malayko and Liberal Beatrice Ghettuba. ST. ALBERT, Alberta The only Independent candidate in Canada with any hope of winning on ...

Alberta Politics: Fortune favours the brave? Trudeau risks advocating sane gun laws and ripping PM’s dog-whistle bigotry

Oct

8

2015

PHOTOS: Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau during a visit to Edmonton last year. Below: NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It should have been natural for the leader of the NDP to finally be the one who clearly called out Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his unprincipled and unpatriotic campaign of dog-whistle ...

Alberta Politics: St. Albert-Edmonton Conservative candidate Michael Cooper must clearly state his position on women’s reproductive rights

Oct

3

2015

PHOTOS: St. Albert-Edmonton Conservative candidate Michael Cooper, centre, with former Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Denis, left, and Employment Minister Pierre Pollievre in a photo grabbed from Mr. Cooper’s campaign website. Below: A shot of Mr. Cooper snapped on my doorstep when he turned up campaigning for the Conservative nomination. ST. ALBERT, Alberta St. Albert-Edmonton Conservative ...

wmtc: bernie sanders, the pope, and the politics of amnesia

Sep

28

2015

I see a lot of excitement online, in places like Common Dreams and The Nation, and in my Facebook feed, about Bernie Sanders, supposedly remaking US politics, and Pope Francis, supposedly remaking the Roman Catholic Church. About Sanders, I shake my head and wonder why long-time Democrat voters do not see him and his candidacy ...

wmtc: my feminism includes trans people. all women need to listen to each other.

Jun

21

2015

The continuing liberation of transgender people is a marvel to behold. We are witnessing history, as trans people and their issues become part of the mainstream. From Chelsea Manning to “Transparent” to Laverne Cox, and of course Caitlyn Jenner, transgender people and issues have never been so front and centre. I don’t do celebrity gossip ...

wmtc: icymi: indiana woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for failed pregnancy

Apr

22

2015

This month, four decades of anti-woman, anti-abortion hysteria in the US hit a new low. Last August, an Indiana woman sought medical attention after a premature delivery resulted in the death of the fetus. The emergency-room doctor called the police. In April, that woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison. From WaPo: Indiana woman ...

wmtc: what i’m reading: pro: reclaiming abortion rights by katha pollitt

Dec

26

2014

Katha Pollitt’s new book, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, is a powerful gust of fresh, clean air that blows away the toxic stench of the current discourse about abortion. Pro is a thorough, no-holds-barred takedown of the hypocrisy of anti-abortion-rights movement – not only in the most obvious sense that people who claim to be “pro-life” ...

wmtc: the courage and compassion of dr. willie parker, the last abortion doctor in mississippi

Aug

10

2014

“The Pink House”, the last abortion clinic in Mississippi.The owner painted it pink so it would stand out, in defiance. I’ve thought a lot about heroes, that tremendously overused word, about who my heroes are and why I love them. Moral courage, as you may know, is my highest value. Now, reading this story in ...

wmtc: the decision "you’ll regret for the rest of your life": the reality gap in fictional abortions

Jul

27

2014

The conversation around the movie “Obvious Child” has prompted me to re-visit a long-standing interest of mine, one I share with many other reproductive rights activists: the portrayal of abortion in the mainstream media. I haven’t seen “Obvious Child” (I wait for DVD or Netflix, as always), but I’ve heard that it includes a rarity: ...

wmtc: dark times in canada, part 2: marci mcdonald on jason kenney: "and you thought harper was right-wing?"

Apr

30

2014

You won’t catch me implying that Stephen Harper and his corrupt, anti-democratic, anti-human government is moderate. But there’s always room to move even further to the right, and that space is called Jason Kenney. Marci McDonald, author of The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, has written a lengthy exposé of Kenney ...

wmtc: cherry-picked data and undisclosed bias: the failure of freakonomics

Feb

13

2014

Allan came home from one of his used-book sale sprees with copies of both Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics. I had read so many excerpts from, and reviews of, these books over the years, and their appearance was a reminder to actually read them myself. You’re probably familiar with the general premise of Freakonomics. Steven D. ...

wmtc: murdoch mysteries, abortion on tv, and maybe an anti-war reference, too

Dec

31

2013

I always like to have a detective-mystery series to follow. I try many of them, like a few, and watch several episodes in a row as downtime relaxation. I recently started the Canadian “Murdoch Mysteries,” which takes place in Toronto at the turn of the 20th Century. Back when we still had cable TV, I ...

Dead Wild Roses: Every Reason for an Abortion is a Good Reason

Nov

4

2013

From the article on Reality Check. “Abortion is often framed as a mercy bestowed upon a woman who has committed the “crime” of having had sex. Mercy is something that someone else grants you, however, and not something you can simply decide for yourself that you deserve. That’s what people are stabbing at when they ...

wmtc: september 28: global action for accessible, safe, and legal abortion

Sep

28

2013

Today, September 28, women all over the world are taking action to demand the right to accessible, safe, and legal abortion. Women and our allies in more than 50 countries have formed a global mobilization that seeks to decriminalize abortion, provide access to safe and affordable abortion services, and end the stigma and discrimination against ...

wmtc: a teenager’s courage reveals the brutality of anti-choicers: "please stop calling me a whore"

Jul

27

2013

This articulate and courageous 14-year-old girl says she wants to be a science teacher when she grows up. I hope she will also be a writer, because this is one of the best personal essays I have read. I’m a 14-year-old girl who has lived in Austin, Texas, my whole life. I like art, music ...

wmtc: beatriz and savita are not exceptions: abortion bans kill

Jun

2

2013

You may have heard of the latest anti-woman denail of basic human rights to make international news. A few months back there was Savita Halappanavar, who died in Ireland when she was denied a life-saving, medically necessary abortion. Now there is a woman known as “Beatriz” (not her real name) in El Salvador. Beatriz has ...

wmtc: thank you, dr. henry morgentaler

May

29

2013

Canada lost a true hero today, someone who spent the better part of his life defending the rights and freedoms of others. From the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Morgentaler decision: Jillian Bardsley, Medical Students for Choice, Toronto Chapter, on Canada’s lack of abortion providers, and what students are doing about it Michele ...

Dead Wild Roses: Let’s do Some Gun Control!

Apr

20

2013

If we are all over regulating women’s bodies, I’m thinking guns should not be a frakking problem. What if gun rights were regulated like abortion rights? Here’s a list of just some of the hoops you’d have to jump through before you could own a gun: Only one store in the entire state would ...