Choice Joyce: Show the Lies

August 27, 2008 by choice joyce

Annual “Show the Truth” tour traumatizes communities with offensive lies

In mid-August, the anti-abortion group “Show the Truth” embarked on a multi-city tour of southern Ontario, covering Windsor, Leamington, Chatham, London, St. Thomas, Sarnia, Woodstock, and Stratford (see links below for several news stories).

The tour involves showing large photos of alleged aborted fetuses, in an effort to shock people out of their complacency with the “truth” of abortion. However, the tour caused great offense to probably thousands of people, including many with anti-abortion beliefs, because of the protesters’ tasteless, in-your-face shock tactics. Hundreds of people wrote angry letters to the editor or called police to complain. One woman in Stratford said she would pursue pressing charges against the group for traumatizing her 10-year old daughter. The fact that the tour inflicts real harm on communities and families exposes the lie of the protesters’ “pro-life” position.

A common theme throughout most of the letters and editorials, is that the fetus photos were assumed to be true representations of abortion – even if they were deemed inappropriate to show in public. But the “Show the Truth” tour has absolutely nothing to do with truth. It’s pure propaganda. How is showing a hugely magnified fetus, totally removed from its original context, supposed to tell us anything about abortion?

Something that’s totally erased from these pictures, indeed from the entire debate, is the women who make the difficult decision to have an abortion for various compelling and personal reasons. What gives the protesters the right to show graphic photos of fetuses that once were a private part of a woman’s body and life? If being “pro-life” is supposedly all about respecting life, then why are the protesters treating both women and fetuses with such outrageous disrespect?

The photos are totally unrepresentative of modern abortion practice. The vast majority of abortions are done in the early stages, when the embryo or fetus is the size of a cashew or much smaller. Yet, the protester photos are grossly enlarged, and usually depict later-term fetuses. I’m reminded of what an abortion clinic nurse once said, after she had just viewed a horrifying anti-abortion film replete with these types of pictures. I’ll let Dr. William Harrison, an abortion provider from Arkansas tell the story:

After the video was over, [a friend] said to her, “I suppose you are accustomed to seeing this.” She, appropriately appalled by what she had just seen, replied, “I have never seen anything like that in my life!” Well, I’ve never seen anything like that either, and I see the face of abortion almost every working day.

One might ask why there’s such a huge discrepancy between what abortion doctors see every day, and the photos shown by anti-abortion protesters. According to doctors who can tell the difference, it’s because many photos actually depict natural miscarriages or stillbirths. Also, a 1998 book by Cynthia Gorney (Articles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion Wars) relates how some photos have been cleverly staged by anti-choice photographers using stolen body parts from hospitals. Some of these older photos date back at least 40 years, to a time when abortion was illegal. If any of them actually show an abortion, it’s the height of irony that the anti-abortion movement wants a return to the very thing their pictures are protesting. But in fact, anti-abortionists cannot prove their photos are of abortion at all. They have no documented legitimate sources for most of them, if any. For all we know, they could have been created in Photoshop – and until they prove otherwise, that’s probably what we should assume.

Showing false and highly offensive pictures in public may or may not be legal, depending on the circumstances. Regardless, it’s neither moral nor appropriate. If you wanted to protest child sexual abuse, would you show a large colour poster of a 6-year old being raped? The protesters unwittingly sabotage their cause, because the only truth the public sees is the face of fanatical extremism.

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Links to news articles:

* Stratford City Gazette, Aug 20, Abortion protest graphics upset girl, mom
* Woodstock Sentinel Review, Aug 19, Pro-life group protests
* Stratford Beacon Herald, Aug 16, Onlookers angered by graphic anti-abortion presentation
* London Free Press, Aug 15, Abortion protest group is doing nothing wrong
* London Free Press, Aug 14, Pro-life protest rattles region (St. Thomas)
* Chatham Daily News, Aug 14, Wrong place for message
* Chatham Daily News, Aug 13, Anti-abortion protest held

Ranty McRanterson: I’m Back.

August 27, 2008 by Cammy

So it’s been a while since I’ve made a post. Mostly I just decided to take a huge break from the internet and internet mingling and focus most of my time on work, a new relationship and getting my life back on par with happiness. But I’m back and I’m keeping up with the exciting world of internet articles. So you can expect some posts coming up.

But for now, chew on this :Yucky

Antigone Magazine: Farewell

August 25, 2008 by AmaryIIo

Well, we’ve had a great time here at blogspot this past year and a half. It’s time to say goodbye because…

WE’VE MOVED! Check us out at our new home – antigonemagazine.wordpress.com

Yours truly,

Antigone Magazine

Antigone Magazine: Dreams for Women – 15th week!

August 16, 2008 by Amanda Reaume

div>Here is the 15th week of the Dreams for Women art project and I want to again thank the University of Toronto at Scarbourough for sending up the many postcards that they made at their International Women’s Day Celebration. I want to particularly thank Jenna Hossack, who sent them in and was kind enough to make a donation to Antigone Magazine of $25!!! We appreciate it so much Jenna! The ladies at the University of Toronto at Scarborough totally rock! We’ll be seeing more of their work in the coming weeks!

You gals have been doing such a fabulous job!

Thanks to all those who submitted… and keep it up… spread the word! I just wanted to remind readers that we currently only post postcards every second week! We’re hoping to post them every week but we need your help! So get some friends together and make some postcards and send them in!

Seventh Week

Also, here’s another link to the movies!

Antigone Magazine is launching a Feminist Postcard art project! We want to know what your Dreams for Women are.What are your own dreams for yourself, your friends, your sisters, your daughters? Paint, draw, write, sketch or decoupage your dreams on a postcard and send it to the address below:

Antigone Magazine

C/O WILLA UBc

Box 61-6138 SUB Boulevard

Vancouver, BC, Canada

V6T 1Z1

antigonemagazine@hotmail.com

With your postcard submission, we ask that you make a donation (if you can!) to Antigone Magazine for anywhere from $1 to $10. You can send your money along with your postcard or donate on our blog: http://www.antigonemagazine.blogspot.com/ .

But don’t worry… if you don’t have the money, just send along the postcard and tell people about this program.

What is Antigone Magazine? We’re a grassroots national magazine that works to encourage young women to get involved in politics in Canada. We work to empower young women to engage politically and civically and to actively take part in leadership roles.We are raising the money in order to help launch the Antigone Foundation, a national foundation that will encourage young women aged 10-30 to get politically and civically engaged. Help support Antigone as we help to make the dreams of young women come true!

Antigone Magazine: Female senator told to “stick to making tea”

August 13, 2008 by Aviva Levin

Yup, that’s correct. Liberal Nova Scotian MP Robert Thibault, in an article published in the Hill TImes, was quoted saying that Conservative Sen. Marjory LeBreton “should go back to making tea for Brian Mulroney and stay out of serious people’s business.”

Now this is not the first time the Honourable Robert Thibault has been accused of putting his foot in his mouth. Indeed, last week he was accused of making ageist comments. Apparently he alluded to the fact that his Conservative rival in his riding was too old for the job, saying that Greg Kerr, 60, is trying to enter politics at an age when people start considering their retirement plans. The spryer 49-year-old Thibault is being called upon by the Canadian Association of Retired Persons to withdraw his remarks, which he has so far refused to do.

Now here I have a confession to make: I’m just not that bothered by the latter remark. Maybe because I have yet to experience the horrors of ageism, compared to my wide experiences with sexism. Or maybe because questioning someone’s age seems like a legitimate angle in political campaigning. Much like the Hillary Clinton ads asking ‘who would you rather answer the red phone?’ I think it’s perfectly fine to ask ‘do you want your MP to statistically be at higher risk for a variety of memory and physical impairments, not to mention the need for Early Bird dinners?’ What I don’t find fine is equating being an “idiot”, as LeBreton is accused of being, with upsetting traditional gender roles.

Therefore: Am I an ageist? Am I only centered on political matters that pertain to me? Or am I willing to stand up and say that being politically correct means not being a bigot, but yes, it can go to far? I guess I’ll get my answers by the amount of hate mail that enters my inbox…

Whileaway North: Whileaway North 2008-08-04 12:57:00

August 4, 2008 by Jael

Rebecca Allen has an excellent post up about why pop culture matters, and why it’s important to analyze it.

(and I’ve been surfing pretty indiscriminately this morning, so I don’t remember where I grabbed the link from — so no hat tip. Sorry.)

Whileaway North: Comfort Foods

August 3, 2008 by Jael

Men lose weight more easily than women

Well, yes. We knew that, didn’t we? We knew it anecdotally, at least. There can’t be many women in North America who’ve watched their male friends decide to lose weight and suddenly drop impressive numbers of pounds. Whether that’s even remotely healthy is a separate question, of course.

What I find interesting in this article, though, is the little paragraph about comfort foods:

Gender differences in preferred comfort foods may also play a role in weight loss success. Research shows that men find comfort in foods associated with meals prepared by their mothers such as meat and potatoes. Women, however, crave foods that don’t involve preparation such as breads, prepackaged sweets and chocolate – foods that are quite accessible and easy to overeat.

I’d love to know more about the “research” they’re referring to here (the whole article suffers from an appalling inability to cite sources, but that’s another post). Intuitively, though, it makes sense: men tend to crave food that involves extensive preparation (“like Mom used to make”), and women crave food that… doesn’t. Which makes sense, because who craves something when they’re going to be the ones putting in all the effort to make it? I wonder if men who do all the cooking are as likely to crave meatloaf as those whose wives cook for them?

Antigone Magazine: Dreams for Women – 14th Week!!

August 2, 2008 by Amanda Reaume

Here is the 13th week of the Dreams for Women art project and I want to thank the University of Toronto at Scarbourough for sending up the many postcards that they made at their International Women’s Day Celebration. I want to particularly thank Jenna Hossack, who sent them in and was kind enough to make a donation to Antigone Magazine of $25!!! We appreciate it so much Jenna! The ladies at the University of Toronto at Scarborough totally rock! We’ll be seeing more of their work in the coming weeks!

You gals have been doing such a fabulous job!

Sixth Week
Seventh Week
Eighth Week

Ninth Week

Tenth Week
Eleventh Week

Also, here’s another link to the movies!

Antigone Magazine

C/O WILLA UBc