National Post regular Jonathan Kay is all about fetuses and the nanny state:
Pro-choice, anti-guilt
JONATHAN KAY
Fifteen years ago, philosopher James Q. Wilson proposed a provocative new take on abortion.
Following on the idea that "people treat as human that which appears to be human," he suggested in Commentary magazine that every woman seeking to abort her fetus be made to examine a photo depicting roughly what that fetus looks like on the day in question -- an image contained in a catalogue retained for this purpose: "266 photographs in all," Wilson specified, "one for each day of embryonic or fetal development."
No, no, wait ... I know what you're thinking and it almost certainly involves Kay's nads and a gas-powered landscaping appliance, but I think it's time to take Kay up on his offer so, on behalf of Canada's pro-choice defenders, I'm willing to make Kay the following deal:
If Canada's women agree to the condition he describes above, then Kay and the rest of Canada's fetus fetishists will drop all objections to abortion. Period. End of story.
After all, what could be more reasonable? If Kay wants to force pregnant women to look at photos of fetuses, after which they decide to continue with the abortion anyway, what right does he have to continue to protest?
Kay wants to rub womens' faces in the consequences of their actions. And while I'm sure women have no interest in Kay's nanny state politics, I think those women should seriously consider what I'm proposing, so I'm going to explain it one more time:
If women in Canada agree to examine a picture of an appropriate fetus before having an abortion, then Kay and all of Canada's anti-choicers agree to drop their objections and never raise a voice against abortion. Ever again. Because if they can't agree to that, then they're just being sore losers, and Kay's proposal means sweet fuck-all.
So, Jonathan, how about it? You up for that? SUZANNE? JoJo? The rest of the Canadian wingnut contingent? Do we have a deal? Hmmmmmmm?
18 comments:
Perhaps it would be more effective if en masse we started mailing him our used tampons from those particularly clumpy days of the month.
I'm in. Anyone else?
I already dumped on him.
http://thestar.blogs.com/broadsides/2008/12/guilt-tripper.html
Incidentally, since most abortions are performed within the first few weeks of pregnancy,''appropriate'' photos should also be actual-sized plus only up to that particular stage of pregnancy. For example, if I choose to terminate a pregnancy four weeks in, I should see a picture of something not unlike a lentil or fava been, at the biggest.
SoCons really do love them some social engineering, don't they?
Following Antonia, one should add pics of fetal rats, cats etc. for comparison.
What about age of consent? Can someone underage look at the picture and then agree to it? What if you are too young to talk? Like this 3 day old kid, who looks at the picture and decides to remove his brother's foot from his brain?
Would OHIP cover the use of the microscope for viewing those early stage embryos?
Besides, this violates a legal principle. You can't be put away for bank robbery on the basis of a video of someone else robbing the bank. So they must provide a picture of your zygote, embryo or fetus, not some generic abortion porn shot. What if the fetus is white and you are black? Could you be more inclined to abort it?
Sigh.
That is the thing that bugs me the most about those revolutionaries huddling under the soubriquet of 'conservative'.
Every policy they advance they say, "Yeah, it's cruel. But is has to be done."
What a bunch of dishonest, irresponsible wankers.
Isn't that just typical. And how does Kay propose to force women to look at these ultrasounds? Chain them into a chair and hold their eyes open with toothpicks?
Fetus fetishists make me want to puke.
I'm calling it what it is: "State Rape". Feel free to use it. These fascists need to be called on their bullshit.
Following on the idea that "people treat as human that which appears to be human,"
I just took a dump that looked like Jonathan Kay...
Vegetarians have been wishing for years that people be required to see how their food got to their plate. Abattoir movies anyone? Should we be required to view these before every meal with meat products?
We saw with "oily" how you can put ads in gas station pumps. Should we be required to view an educational film about how the oil got to the pump? It would feature who died to get the gasoline to the pump plus some before and after images of the landscape around the wells, the terminals, the sea lanes, the refineries and the tankers.
"Chain them into a chair and hold their eyes open with toothpicks?"
and score it to beethoven.
KEvron
Isn't Jonathan Kay confusing this strategy with the personal trauma he suffered when he was in high school and his phys. ed. teacher showed the boys a slide show of photographs of male genitalia that displayed symptoms of advanced sexually transmitted diseases?
Since it clearly worked as a deterrent to Jonathan Kay's access to regular sexual activity, he is now advocating for a similar approach as a way to justify and enforce female abstinence?
Well, it's not HIS freedom being compromised, afterall.
Love the winners that hit your site Antonia.
What Kay doesn't seem to take into consideration is that the majority of abortions are done before 12 weeks. Like Antonia pointed out, we're talking about something the size of a pea or lentil. I don't even think it's possible for an ultra sound to point out more than a tiny smudge.
I think Kay is being disingenuous with his suggestion. In all practicality, it would require that women wait till the second trimester to be able to see a scan. That is cruel and unhealthy to subject someone who has made her mind up to wait that long. So I call bullshit on his challenge and completely disrespectful of women's rights.
w/v = flogg (heh)
So...December 06 in the NP. That means JK's brilliant little idea ((that certainly wasn't lifted wholecloth from any American sources that have legislated the idiotic punishment on women who apparently have to pay for the ultrasound nopenopenope)) came out the same time as Bruinooge's secret caucus drama that apparently didn't get enough publicity so they had to publish it again three weeks later?
Just says to me it's more proof that Bruinooge went Republican rouge, not rogue.
"Like Antonia pointed out, we're talking about something the size of a pea or lentil. I don't even think it's possible for an ultra sound to point out more than a tiny smudge."
Of course. That's why the women would also be fitted with magnifying glasses attached to the heavy-duty movement-restricting steel headgear that would keep their heads in place and hold the toothpicks that prop their eyes open.
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