Fuck yes!

“22 weeks

The fifth and final abortion amendment is Richard Ottaway’s attempt to reduce the abortion time limit to 22 weeks. MPs are going through the lobbies now.

11.15pm

That’s it. MPs have rejected Ottaway’s amendment by 304 votes to 233, a majority of 71.

The first major Commons debate on abortion in almost 20 years has ended with the status quo.

The anti-abortion lobby has failed to change the law. The abortion time limit remains at 24 weeks.

So, after seven hours of debate, the only substantial changes to the law are new rights for single women and lesbians seeking to have a child through IVF.”

 

FUCK YOU to the Anti-Choice brigade.

Oooo I’m getting happy! :D

20 weeks

MPs are now voting on whether to reduce the limit to 20 weeks, Nadine Dorries’s amendment.

10.50pm

Again rejected.

***

This is good stuff, good stuff so far. I just hope that MPs don’t flake out and think that 22 weeks is a good compromise. It’s not. Just stick to 24 weeks, dammit.

However, I’m a realist, and I do realise that the anti-choice, anti-woman brigade will be back.

 

Keep 24 Weeks!

I’m tired, so forgive any ramblings.

Who else is desperately refreshing the rolling coverage of the abortion debate on the Guardian’s website?

I am so, so, so relieved that the proposal for a 12 week limit have been defeated. 12 weeks - are you fucking kidding me?!

You know, there has been so much said about this whole issue on the f-word and elsewhere. There’s not really that much more I can add, nothing new I can really bring to the table.

It is very worrying that there is a real possibility that women’s rights can be undermined tonight. And, if not tonight - well, Nadine Dorries and co will continue to fight for their anti-choice, anti-woman agenda. No, it’s not pro-life at all. It’s bullshit. What about the life of a woman who is vulnerable? Any reductions on the upper limit will be affecting those women who are most vulnerable. And that’s fucked up. I don’t care how many high-profile cases about babies surviving at 20-24 weeks there are. The reason why these cases are so high-profile is simply because they’re so goddamn rare. Duh, it’s a basic principle of news worthiness!

I’m now so relieved that the 16week proposal has been squashed. Thank Goddess.

I am  horrified, yes, horrified that these amendments have even been proposed. I don’t give a shit about what the BBC news reporters claim the debate is about: it’s not “sanctity of life” vs science. The real issue at stake is a woman’s fundamental right to choose, to have her own autonomy. Dammit all, feminists fought so hard. We’re still fighting. Writing letters (that’s about all I could do this time round), protesting, signing petitions.

The “DC Madam” Trial: A fine example of male privilige, abuses of power and hypocrisy

Just read this post at the F-Word.

I can’t believe it.

Actually, I tell a lie. I’m not surprised at all. I mean, when the “clients” (talk about an euphemism!) include politicians with a good deal of power and authority, no bloody wonder they can weasel their arseholey way out of giving evidence or whatnot. It’s pretty damn sickening, really. If you ask me, it’s a complete abuse of power.

It just absolutely tickles me that one of the men, Senator David Vitter, is “a right-wing ‘family values’ crusader and abstinence-only indoctrination architect”.

Well, of course he fucking is.

I’m sorry, but it is my belief that these “a right-wing ‘family values’ crusader and abstinence-only indoctrination architect” types are the most likely to be hypocritical scumbags. I’m sure I should find some data to back this theory up, but in such cases, these types do tend to crop up a lot.

Not only is it complete double standards to allow the male Johns to avoid questioning in court while interrogating 15 women, publicling outing and shaming them, but the questions they appear to be asking the women seem to be of a more titillating nature, as opposed to asking them sensitive and/or sensible questions. There appears to be no other function of these questions - such as “when she was ‘aggressive’ with a client, when she was ‘more submissive,’ when she had a difficult client (’he tried to remove the condom’) and how often she got ‘intimate’” - than titillation, or shaming the woman.  

You know, this is a pretty damn good example to use when people claim that men and women are “equal” now, ‘cos in a post-patriarchal society, this bullshit wouldn’t happen in a court case.

Sex And The City

I know I haven’t written for a while, and I have started a few drafts but felt that I had nothing new to bring to the table at this stage, and I am preoccupied with universities and revision etc, etc, blah blah blah.

Anyway, I saw this brilliant article in the Guardian’s Women section today, and then I found this post on the F-Word about the article.

I have to say that I do agree with some of the criticisms of Sex And The City in both articles, but I do love Sex And The City at the same time, and yes, I do love the shoes too : ) Sure, it’s not perfect feminist TV, but let’s face it, what is?  

Mind you, I think it is fair to say that Charlotte is an incredibly annoying character.

:)

Going on a history trip at 2 ‘oo clock this morning Berlin for three days, and Krakow for about three days! I’m so excited! I’ve never been to Berlin, but I’ve always wanted to, particularly as I love Germany so much. Also, Poland’s been on my “go-to” list for a while now!

Huzzah!

And hopefully, when I come back, I’ll have some half-decent blog posts. About stuff in general.

Save Pervez

If you haven’t signed yet, here’s a link

Latest Anti-Choice annoyance: “Post-Abortive Men” and the bollocks that is

Urgh.
Check out this bollocks.

Now - if that article creeped you out (holy shit - I think that bloke’s using that crucifix to compensate for something),  or annoyed/enraged/pissed you off, check out this piece by the f-word on it to calm you down a bit.  

Grr- damn those pesky anti-choicers. It seems they’d use every dirty trick in the book to undermine - or scrap - womyn’s abortion rights.

Whether it’s using shocking imagery (cheap and tacky, I know), making up ridiculous “post-abortion syndromes”, or - now - this whole ridiculous “post-abortive men” malarky.

*Sigh*

You know, they have some damn nerve. They do, they really do. I just love how they didn’t care at the time; in fact, it even says that one of them “felt only indifference” at the time, but now - it’s a totally different story. How convenient for those damn anti-choicers. It just seems to me that they’re using these supposed “men’s tears” to try to control women and manipulate the abortion debate with false emotions.

Men’s tears? So what.

Now, I do tend to attempt to be somewhat diplomatic with most issues, but no - not this one. Usually I tend to avoid invalidating people’s feelings. But - perhaps it’s because I’m inclined to cynicism - I doubt very much they really care about those abortions. It’s more than likely that they’re just pissed they couldn’t control those women.

I’m not saying that I think men aren’t affected by abortions; as it mentions in the F-word article: “As Broadsheet’s Catherine Price says: ‘I think few people would argue that the decision to have an abortion is a serious one, and that it carries the possibility of regret. There are plenty of instances when both women and men could benefit from therapy or counseling both before and after the abortion — and it is definitely not a decision to be taken lightly.’”
But I just a smell a rat with these guys. Just reading what they said makes me stop and think, hmm - wait a sec, there’s something not quite right. I can’t see them as genuine. That’s why I’m not at all sympathetic to their “plight”.

Yaaaaay! :D

I’m really jazzed ‘cos I got my first Uni offer, from Royal Holloway

I’m still hoping for LSE, but I’m pretty excited that things seem to be happening now.

One down, one more to go (’til Summer)

Had my A-level sociology theory and methodology paper today. I was so panicky, and felt I’d forgotten everything before the exam. Last night, I just couldn’t sleep - I couldn’t turn my brain off, especially as I was worried about my English Language coursework deadline, which was technically today, but…

Tomorrow I have my history Mussolini paper. I’ve written fuckloads of notes. I just hope they stick it in my head. Ah well.