Labour pains

It just gets better and better.

Further to the previous post, about how the HarperCons are now caught between the devil and the deep  blue machine on the connection between maternal health and reproductive freedoms, this As It Happens interview last night by CBC Radio's Carol Off is a totally worth your time.

You can listen to it by clicking on Part II here -- the interview is at the top of the half hour -- or going directly to the Windows Media Player here.

First up is Liberal MP Dr. Carolyn Bennett -- who knows a whole more about maternal health than the entire Conservative caucus.

That said, I would have liked to have heard another Liberal MP on the subject, emergency room physician ob-gyn Keith Martin, who has been in the field in some of the hellholes for women of the earth. Maternal health is practically an obsession for him. He insists that it will have a positive impact on everybody's health. That's because, if you create the physical infrastructure (clinics, hospitals etc.) and train the people to help pregnant women -- as well as those who don't want to be pregnant -- your efforts extend to other areas of healthcare in the region.  (We had a long conversation on Thursday afternoon which I hope to write up soon.) He also doesn't shy away from the subject of abortion.

Anyway, Bennett is followed by Bev Oda, Minister of International Co-operation, the cabinet minister who was stuck with the tough questions after PM Stephen Harper made his grandiose, opportunistic and hypocritical announcement about ''championing'' the cause of maternal health last week.

Off keeps trying to pin her down, on how much the government is willing to commit, what exactly its plans are, whether it recognizes  the connection between maternal care, child mortality and reproductive rights ...

Oda gives an Olympic-worthy skating performance, doing triple flips to avoid dealing with the specifics and, more important, family planning.

My only regret is that Off didn't pin Oda down on maternal health and infant mortality right here at home.

Still, I knew this was going to be fun.

This may be the issue that brings the Harper government down.

My work is done here.

(H/t to reader Jay H. who sent me the link.)

UPPITY WOMAN DATE: Via Dammit Janet  come this.

Despite harsh criticism from two prominent Catholic bishops, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff stood firm on Friday on his position that abortion rights must be tied to any Canadian plan to improve maternal and infant health in the developing world.

Calgary Bishop Fred Henry on Friday called Mr. Ignatieff’s proposal “pathetic,” while on Thursday Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto labelled the Liberal leader’s position on abortion and the developing world “sad.”

“In light of the many positive contributions that Canada can make to the improvement of maternal and child health, it is astonishing that the leader of the Opposition has issued an official statement advocating contraception and abortion as fundamental elements in addressing this important issue,” said Archbishop Collins. “Even those who think that abortion should be allowed do not, however, propose it as a positive contribution to the good of society.”

Bishop Henry was even more blunt.

“I thought it was pathetic for a political leader to suggest that abortion is somehow tied to the health of women and children,” said Bishop Henry. “It was a particularly crass remark in light of all the orphaned children we now see in Haiti. It was absolutely incredible that he would say that and he is alienating religious people with these comments. This will not win him votes.”

Male celibate priests who don't even believe in contraception pronouncing on women's reproductive rights in the 21st Century.

BWAHAHAHA.

Perhaps you gentlemen might get over that virgin birth thing.

Comments

[CanNurse]

Thanks so much for writing this, Antonia. As a nurse-midwife, Maternal child health is also an obsession with me. I have worked in Africa & seen the devastation and grief that not providing decent mat-child health brings, not only to the woman, but to the whole family & community. It is the same here. I have already seen the health care cut-backs affecting women & their babes, with everything from "speed-up the delivery with drugs, we need the bed", to sending new Mom's home, with little or no support 3-5 hours after birth - which increases complications & also dramatically reduces successful breast-feeding intiation & continuation in new Moms. I could go on & on. Stay with this! And I hope Carole Off does too.

[The Stygian and his Shemitish Dogs]

More of a wedge issue for the Liberals ... they've been playing a double game here with the church for too long..... this could get interesting, especially as Catholics have traditionally been a reliable bloc for them.

But will it be as effective as this one has been?

[Max]

Hey Antonia - any particular stance on gender-selective abortion? Love to read your thoughts. Cheers!

[Antonia]

Hey Max -- I have addressed this before, several times.

Very simple.

Women are not as valued in men in most societies. They are considered inferior, burdens, chattel, nothing more than possessions. Indeed, in some of these places, widows have been burned to death after their husbands die, or are expected to throw themselves on their funeral pyres.

In those women-hating societies where prenatal gender tests and abortions are available, women (sometimes against their wills) terminate their pregnancies if they find out the fetus is female.

Hence we have 10s of millions of ''missing women.'' For example, the ratio of men to women in China now is something like 122-100. I can guarantee you that, when those kids grow up, crime is going to be a problem.

If women had equal rights, economic parity, etc. you can bet this horrible practice would end.

Does that speak to your obvious concern for the well-being of women, Max?

[Max]

How can abortions result in tens of millions of missing women? I may be behind the times here, but I thought life didn't begin until the baby was delivered. So is gender-specific abortion murder when it's against the mother's will?

[Jim M]

Your comment looks like a logical train-wreck, Max. Something along these lines (or tracks): http://www.onepennysheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/train_wreck.jpg You must have missed a signal before writing your comment because only the engineer can fall asleep at the switch of your railroad.

[Antonia]

Max,

I know how concerned you are about women. It shines through in your comments.

In answer to your question regarding missing women.

Let's start with China, where it is a FACT that, in the younger generations, men outnumber women 122-100. Since we have not heard of the mass murder of women there, nor has there been any disease to wipe them out specifically, there are only two explanations.

1. They are exporting their baby girls -- a fact proven by my goddaughter who was adopted and many of her friends. That's because, when they have girls, they are deemed less worthy than boys, so, because of that one-baby rule, the girls go to orphanages where Westerners can adopt them.

2. With the advent of fetal gender testing, they are aborting female fetuses.

In other countries, they merely set out their girl babies for the hyenas, or leave them to die of exposure, or throw them off cliffs. They don't treat them when they become ill or starve them in order to guard precious resources for boys. Etc.

I hope that answers your questions and concerns about the fate of women around the world.

I am glad that we agree that life doesn't begin until the fetus is alive and breathing on its own, separate from its mother.

[Max]

Jim M, I would argue that the logical train-wreck here is to claim that aborting female fetus is a "horrible" practice while agreeing that a fetus isn't alive. Logically, if one holds that the fetus isn't alive, than this practice shouldn't be viewed with any more horror than the removal of a tumour. It seems to me that the belief here is that when a fetus is aborted simply because it's a female, it's abhorrent, but when it's aborted because a woman freely decides to do so for any other reason besides gender, it's empowerment.

[Antonia]

Max, I love how you care about women. It's soooooooooo touching.

Have you ever heard of ''concern trolling?''

No?

Here's a definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29#Concern_troll

Now then, I am tired of addressing your ''concerns'' especially since it was YOU who brought them up, YOU who went off topic, YOU who are hijacking this thread, etc.

One more time: If women were as valued as men, they would not be beaten, starved, sold, traded, murdered, neglected, raped, thrown off cliffs, buried alive, etc. JUST BECAUSE they are female.

Now go away. I am tired of you.