Category: Reproductive Rights

All surrogacy is cruel to human infants because even so-called “altruistic surrogacy” demands the removal of the neonate from her or his gestational mother when every aspect, every cell, every desire of that neonate, is geared toward being on the body of the gestational mother, to suckle and seek comfort and safety.

Whether surrogacy is altruistic (in whatever limited sense) or commercial, the fundamental ethical issues remains the same. Ekman sums this up well: “the woman is reduced to a container… Pregnancy is made into a function that serves others. Functionalisation always precedes commercialisation, as we have seen in prostitution.

It is urgent that nations around the world bring in legislation that enacts the rights of children under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which in Article 9 gives every human being the right not to be separated from their parents. This legislation protection is best achieved by an explicit acknowledgement in domestic laws that we stand by our commitment to respect the rights of every child to remain with and be brought up by their gestational mother.

http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/lifestyle/11390-ethical-case-abolishing-all-forms-surrogacy

More than a month after she made her decision, “Jane Doe”, a young Mexican migrant in Texas, USA, was able to have an abortion on 25 October after a federal appeals court in Washington, DC cleared the way for a federal district court to order the Trump Administration to stop blocking her access and allow her to get the care she requested.

Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project, had this reaction: “Justice prevailed today for Jane Doe. But make no mistake about it, the Administration’s efforts to interfere in women’s decisions won’t stop with Jane. With this case we have seen the astounding lengths this administration will go to block women from abortion care. We will not stop fighting until we have justice for every woman like Jane.”

http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/usa-after-a-month-of-unprecedented-personal-obstruction-by-donald-trump-appeal-court-orders-him-to-desist-and-jane-doe-has-an-abortion/?

Pelvic issues like incontinence, prolapse, period pain and painful sex are common but they are not normal. Just because a woman menstruates does not mean that period pain is normal.

Pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence affects one in three women, which makes these issues common. What is normal is that two-thirds of women are not affected. Period pain is common and affects one in five girls and women. What is normal is the 80% of women who have pain-free periods. The sooner we reform this culture, the better access women will have to effective solutions.

The World Health Organisation has outlined that there is a global maternal health crisis. In response, a working group of women’s health physiotherapists from four nations was set up with the aim of reducing the physical, psychological and social impact of pregnancy and birth-related injuries. We propose a proactive model to revolutionise postpartum care, similar to a successful model currently available to new mothers in France.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/24/stop-telling-women-their-suffering-is-normal-pain-should-be-treated?

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which reports on how well governments respect and protect children’s human rights, is alarmed at the prevalence of the hatches – usually outside a hospital – which allow unwanted newborns to be left in boxes with an alarm or bell to summon a carer.

The committee, a group of 18 international human rights experts based in Geneva, says that while “foundling wheels” and baby hatches had disappeared from Europe in the last century, almost 200 have been installed across the continent in the past decade in nations as diverse as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic and Latvia. Since 2000, more than 400 children have been abandoned in the hatches, with faith groups and right-wing politicians spearheading the revival in the controversial practice.

Herczog, a prominent child psychologist from Hungary, says baby boxes should be replaced by better state provision of family planning, counselling for women and support for unplanned pregnancies.

“There is growing evidence that it is frequently men or relatives abandoning the child, raising questions about the mother’s whereabouts and whether she has consented to giving up her baby,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/10/unitednations-europe-news

For people born with penises (and conditioned AMAB) to demand total access to AFAB spaces is a gross assertion of unearned privilege and should be rejected, however deeply they may feel some sort of “essential” feminine identity.

Total-access trans advocates have whined and raged against women who assert their moral right to choose and enjoy separate or segregated spaces, and this is bullshit. There are many words for people born with penises who feel totally entitled to women’s spaces, none of which are pleasant. The demonization of trans-exclusionary radical feminists and use of “TERF” as a slur is male privilege . . .

Feminism generally asserts the autonomy of all people to freedom of thought, individual gender expression and broad freedoms of association under law. Such freedoms do not include the right to de-center the vast majority of women for one’s own comfort, including women of color and all ages, who are “cis.” Such de-centering is a selfish attempt to hijack a movement almost two centuries old, and should not be tolerated.

AFAB = Assigned female at birth

AMAB = Assigned male at birth
http://nabokovsshadows.tumblr.com/post/161550773829/anti-terf-as-amab-privilege

Women’s rights groups in Poland have had their documents and computers seized in police raids which took place a day after thousands of activists marched against the country’s restrictive abortion law.

In October 2016, legislation was proposed to completely outlaw abortion overall. The plans prompted around 30,000 people to assemble despite awful weather in Warsaw’s Castle Square, chanting “We want doctors, not missionaries!”.

The far-reaching protests were successful and triggered lawmakers to vote against the restrictive new law just three days afterwards. The eastern European country is one of the few countries in the world to outlaw abortion following decades of total legalisation.

http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/poland-march-on-3-october-police-raids-in-4-cities-on-4-october/?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/poland-abortion-police-raids-a7987181.html

The perils of adoption . . .

OTTAWA — For decades, Canadian social workers forcibly separated indigenous children from their families, putting them up for adoption by nonnative families in Canada and around the world.

On Friday, the Canadian government took a step to make amends for that adoption program, which began in the 1960s and lasted till the 1980s, by agreeing to pay 750 million Canadian dollars in legal settlements.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/world/canada/indigenous-forced-adoption-sixties-scoop.html

A GAY dad brutally murdered his adopted toddler daughter after calling her “Satan dressed up in a baby grow”, a jury has heard.

Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, was allegedly heard yelling “shut up you little f***ing brat” in the months before 18-month-old Elsie died of a brain haemorrhage.

http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/gay-dad-matthew-scullyhicks-alleged-to-have-murdered-his-adopted-18monthold-daughter/news-story/7045bbc3e4e80d79c6489d08732e8f5f

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is poised to roll back the federal requirement for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, vastly expanding exemptions for those that cite moral or religious objections.

The new rules, which could be issued as soon as Friday, fulfill a campaign promise by President Trump and are sure to touch off a round of lawsuits on the issue.

More than 55 million women have access to birth control without co-payments because of the contraceptive coverage mandate, according to a study commissioned by the Obama administration. Under the new regulations, hundreds of thousands of women could lose birth control benefits they now receive at no cost under the Affordable Care Act.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/politics/trump-birth-control.html?_r=0&referer=https://t.co/IuYhebr4us?