Maggie Gallagher Knows Women's Rights, Not

Photo by Isaac Mao

Shorter Maggie Gallagher: Just because I have no understanding of the concept of human [of the female persuasion] rights doesn't mean I don't have an opinion about it.

Reminded of the horrifying fact that [i]n China the government owns everything, including women's bodies by the government's announcement that families with only one child killed in the recent earthquake can now obtain a certificate to have another child, Ms. Gallagher does not hesitate to showcase her ignorance (emphasis mine):

Tibetan Buddhists have their friends in Hollywood, and the international human rights community still frowns on torturing political activists. But China's brutal oppression of women's bodies and basic disrespect for human life generates a collective yawn in the Western human rights community.

Throw an AIDS/HIV activist in jail? International outrage, naturally. But who really cares about the right of an ordinary Chinese woman to have her baby?

Chinese population policies spawn an ambivalent (at best) reaction in the West because so many agree with the goal, they tend to downplay or ignore the means.

Let's keep this simple so that even Maggie Gallagher can understand:

1) Opposition to a government's brutal oppression of women's bodies and basic disrespect for human life, irrespective of manifestation -- forced pregnancy or forced abortion -- is the essence of any human rights community.

2) Who really cares about the right of an ordinary Chinese woman to have her baby? The exact, same, very people who care about the right of an ordinary American woman to have an abortion.

3) In the West (or the East, or Mars for that matter) the goal of human rights for women isn't that of Chinese population policies, namely population control via government ownership of women's bodies.

And just so we're clear, when you contemplate Mahire's ordeal, keep in mind that a woman subjected to a forced pregnancy requires over nine months of constant government surveillance, bureaucratic interference, and forced examinations and medical procedures.

Bottom line: Only the few as ignorant as Maggie Gallagher tend to downplay or ignore the fact that both forced pregnancy and forced abortion are governmental means of brutal oppression of women's bodies and basic human rights violations.

Things That Induce Vomiting: NYPD Chopper

Photo by vipeldo

A bunch of religious terrorists fly planes into our buildings, thus we are to welcome our new NYPD overlords because, after all, law-abiding New Yorkers have nothing to fear.

So far, it appears all this $10 million helicopter has managed to do is to tell officers on the ground that a guy was dead in his car, and that a modeling shoot was going on on a rooftop. You know, the stuff regular police officers are supposed to figure out on their own, as part of their job, without the benefit of having access to our lives on tape, and on demand, 24/7.

There's also a pinky swear in the article, from the NYPD, that they won't be peeking into our apartments: "We don't invade the privacy of individuals. We only want to observe anything that's going on in public." You know, public places like the inside of your car and your apartment's rooftop garden.

Right!

In the spirit of testing the claim that I have nothing to fear from this NYPD abomination, I present to you a preview of my soon-to-be launched Chopper T-shirt line,

To: NYPD Chopper

Logo 1:

To: NYPD chopper

If you can see

THIS
(goes over bust area)

You're a dirty pervert!

Logo 2:

To: NYPD chopper

Buzz off!

Logo 3:

To: NYPD chopper

Got probable cause?

Logo 4:

To: NYPD chopper

With love [NOT]!

So, if you live in the city, or plan to visit, what will your message to the NYPD chopper be?

Pregnancy Spacing

Photo by freeparking

If you want to have more than one child, how long should you wait between pregnancies?

According to the results of a study from India, [b]irth intervals of less than 18 months are associated with high risk of stillbirth and neonatal deaths, while [a] birth-to-pregnancy interval of 24 months is optimal.

The researchers conclude:

"Postpartum family planning should be promoted for all women, and methods both for spacing and limiting birth should be widely accessible"....

If the political climate in India is anything like the one here, good luck with translating that recommendation into practice.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann: Liar for Jesus

Photo by chaosinjune

What kind of a depraved liar do you have to be, to be Archbishop Joseph Naumann?

In related news, Archbishop Joseph Naumann, head of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, recently said that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) should not receive Holy Communion because of her support for abortion rights....

...

According to Naumann, Sebelius' veto last month of an abortion-related bill showed a lack of respect to Kansas lawmakers and residents, who are embarrassed that Kansas "has become infamous for being the late-term abortion center for the Midwest"....

Kansas law prohibits elective, and most medical, late second trimester abortions. The only late-term abortions performed in Kansas are those done to preserve the woman's life or avoid a "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function" of the woman.

So according to this deranged person, Archbishop Joseph Naumann, Kansas lawmakers and residents are all psychopaths who are embarrassed that some pregnant women in their state have life-threatening medical problems.

What's next, a proposal from Archbishop Joseph Naumann to force all women with problem pregnancies into exile to neighboring states in order to achieve that most desirable statistic of all, zero late-term abortions in Kansas?

I guess objecting to science and facts is no longer enough for religionists. They're now objecting to the very existence of sick pregnant women. Because what better way to eradicate late-term abortions than to do away with the pregnant women who need them.

China and the U.S.A., Sitting in a Tree, K.i.s.s.i.n.g.

Photo by babasteve

The Bush administration's position is that Chinese women are superior to American women. For shame!

According to the Bush administration, Chinese women who are forced to have an abortion by their government can seek asylum under the law.

Why?

The State has an interest in ensuring so grave a choice is well informed after all. Just like our State has an interest in forced pregnancies, the Chinese State has an interest in forced abortions.

So why are Chinese women given special treatment?

I'll tell you why. Because the Bush administration has decided that, because pregnant Chinese women are capable of making their own decisions, the Chinese State has no business subjecting women to forced medical decisions.

Meanwhile, when it comes to American pregnant women, anachronistic assumptions about the inferior decision-making capacity of women are sufficiently legitimate state interests so no relief from forced medical decisions for the inferior American women.

ACOG ♥ the IUD

via

Ode to the Intrauterine device (IUD) at the annual ACOG meeting in New Orleans:


1. among the most effective contraceptives

2. treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding

3. treatment of endometriosis

4. associated with a 40 percent reduction in the risk of endometrial cancer

5. suitable for both women who've never given birth, as well as for those who have

If you are about to start using a birth control method, or are considering switching methods, I can not urge you strongly enough to give the IUD serious consideration.

After all, the IUD is the bestest, prettiest method of them all.

"How North Carolina will be won"

Obama will look to drive his margins up, while Hillary will claw her way into the range.

Missouri Senators: RU-486 On Par With Morphine and Opium

Photo by pasotraspaso

RU-486 is the opium of the [female] people, according to Missouri politicians.

Missouri Senators in a vote of 34-0 approve a bill, designed to track the sale of controlled substances and cold medicines, that puts RU-486 in the same category as morphine, opium and pain pills.

Less than a half hour after the bill's passage, Sen. Norma Champion, who is anti-abortion rights and the bill's handler [is that like a bear handler?], asks the Senate to reconsider the bill minus any mention of mifepristone because:

Turns out [RU-486] wasn't supposed to be in the bill.

It was left in because of a clerical error. The House had originally tacked it on as amendment.

...

"There was a problem with the computer version, for one reason or another," Champion told her colleagues.

Why these Missouri politicians believe that we've all just recently fallen off a turnip truck is unclear.

First, just the fact that, at any point in crafting this bill, RU-486 was even considered for inclusion in a bill designed to track drug sales is indefensible.

Medically, there's no justification for singling out RU-486 for this degree of government intrusion. RU-486 is a safe and effective drug with no addictive potential.

Politically, the lackeys at the FDA have already taken care of regulating RU-486 based on ideology, not science.

Briefly, the FDA restricts the distribution of RU-486 because the Agency determined that post-marketing distribution restrictions on the product were necessary to ensure its safe use.

Yeah, right! To use just one example, associated deaths: Viagra 5/100,000 prescriptions; RU-486 1/100,000 prescriptions. And, unlike Viagra, RU-486 has not been shown to have contributed to any deaths.

The FDA has determined that post-marketing distribution restrictions on Viagra were not necessary to ensure its safe use.

Second, a bill with an inappropriate provision, as per the bill's handler, sails thorough and gets voted on and "oops, it was a clerical error" is deemed an acceptable excuse. Are there no controls in place to insure a bill's accuracy? What assurance do the people of Missouri have that previous bills don't contain a provision to legalize slavery, or make Satanism the official state religion? Or are we to believe that this was the one and only clerical error in the history of the Missouri Senate?

Third, and most worrisome for the people of Missouri, 34 Senators vote on a bill without bothering to read it. I don't understand how that's possible. If you're a constituent maybe you could ask each and everyone of these Senators for an explanation.

But wait, there's more!

In 'Morning after' pill restriction said to be error, an article on the debacle, Chad Livengood, reporter for the Springfield News-Leader, writes that:

RU-486, or mifepristone, is an emergency contraceptive ingested orally to prevent or delay ovulation.

Thunk, thunk goes my head as it hits the desk repeatedly.

That 34 elected officials voted to pass a bill that they hadn't even bothered to read is, perhaps, not scandalous. They are, after all, just politicians. That a reporter can't be bothered to get his facts straight is.

If your article is about the 'Morning after' pill you need to at least mention Plan B somewhere in the article. You need to also make it clear that "morning after" pill is the lay term for the post-coital emergency contraceptive Plan B. The very same Plan B that's a progestin (levonorgestrel), an emergency contraceptive ingested to prevent or delay ovulation, and, most relevant here, an OTC drug (with some politically based age restrictions).

Of course, Chad Livengood's article isn't about Plan B but rather about RU-486. The very same RU-486 that's an anti-progestin (mifepristone), an abortifacient (or an emergency contraceptive, depending on dosage and regimen) ingested to cause shedding of the uterine lining (or prevention of ovulation and endometrial shedding when used as birth control), and a drug with a federally mandated distribution restriction.

So, to recap. First, 34 Missouri Senators vote on a bill they haven't bothered to read. Then, the Senators get a do-over [you know, how you do when you're responsible for a major screw up at your job]. Finally, a Missouri newspaper can't be bothered to get the facts straight and avoid misinforming its readers.

Well done Missouri!

By the Grace of God, Court Affirms Belief-Based Plan B Sales

Photo by babasteve

When it comes to dispensing Plan B, a safe and effective drug with no major side effects, it's not only the pharmacist's religious beliefs that take precedence over the patient's health, her autonomy and her relationship with her physician.

The pharmacist's religious sado-masochistic tendencies also play a deciding role. For you see, as long as the pharmacist keeps his/her S&M tendencies in check and only inflicts reparable harm on the patient, it's acceptable for the pharmacist to commit malpractice and refuse to sell a legal drug.

Bottom line: A court just decided that, when it comes to Plan B, suffering irreparable harm is the standard for access to an OTC drug. There's no way to go but down from here.

Negligence in Immigrant's Cancer Death

Photo by colros

Note to the federal government: Biopsying a large, painful, growing lesion on the penis is not considered "an elective outpatient procedure."

For Once, Blame It on the Naughty Bits

AP Photo

The God-anointed Messiah (aka Wayne Bent, 66, the founder of the apocalyptic church The Lord Our Righteousness Church) acknowledged having sex with three women — the wives of two of his followers and his daughter in law. He said it was at the direction of God and the instigation of the women. (emphasis mine)

Just once I'd like one of these people with a direct line to God to stop hiding behind everybody's skirts -- God, instigating women, provocative underage boys and girls -- and just assume responsibility for their acts.

How about the truth: "What with being busy propheting about and, wouldn't you know it, at the same time being tingly in my naughty bits, I, all by my own self, decided to have sexual relations with my followers' wives as well as my son's wife and, [allegedly] a minor here and there. You know, how you do when you're the God Whisperer ... um ... or Whisperee, whatever."

On a more serious note, this sounds ominous:

In a lengthy discussion dated Sept. 11, 2007, Bent said his work is finished and he does not expect to be "in the earthly sphere" much longer.

Unclear if this particular Messiah is suicidal or homicidal.