Irish women’s rights after death of Savita Halappanavar

This video is called Protest at death of Savita, denied an abortion in Irish hospital.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Abortion ban reforms fail to impress pro-choice activists

Wednesday 19 December 2012

by Our Foreign Desk

Irish pro-choice campaigners gave a cautious welcome to moves toward reform of the abortion ban today – but warned that government proposals did not go far enough.

Health Minister James Reilly said on Tuesday that the government would have a Bill before the Dail by Easter which would allow women to receive abortions if a continued pregnancy threatened their lives, including from their own threats to commit suicide if denied one.

The Enda Kenny administration promised action on abortion following the October death of Savita Halappanavar, who died from blood poisoning and organ failure after doctors refused to terminate her pregnancy because her 17-week-old foetus had a heartbeat.

Mr Kenny said the government was determined to push through its legislation and TDs who vote against would risk expulsion from his right-wing Fine Gael party.

About a dozen have indicated that they would vote against any move to ease access to abortion under any circumstances, while the country’s powerful Catholic church has urged the government to exclude the threat of suicide as grounds for granting abortion – which would effectively leave the law as it stands.

But critics said the proposed Bill – which would mark the first time Irish TDs hold a vote on abortion – was merely a long-overdue legislative recognition of a 1992 Supreme Court ruling on the case of a 14-year-old girl who was threatening to kill herself if forced to bear the child of a man who had raped her.

Communist Party of Ireland (CPI) chairwoman Lynda Walker said the government’s proposal was just “one small step on the road to providing women with the reproductive services they require” and was “the very least that can be offered to women in any civilised society.”

The CPI called for the repeal of the 1861 Offence Against the Persons Act which bans abortion and an investigation into the number of deaths and complications that have occurred in the republic in circumstances related to abortion law.

The parents of Savita Halappanavar, who died after being refused an abortion in Ireland, want the amended abortion law to be named after their daughter: here.

Related articles

• Irish in New York favor abortion law reform following Savita Halappanavar tragedy (irishcentral.com)
• Savita Halappanavar’s husband to take Ireland abortion case to EU Human Rights Court (irishcentral.com)
• Savita Halappanavar: A Death That Woke Up A Nation (quicktake.wordpress.com)
• Ireland to clarify law on abortion when mother’s life is at risk (antiguaobserver.com)
• Father of Savita Halappanavar wants to see change in Irish abortion law (irishcentral.com)
• Never Again: A response to the death of Savita Halappanavar (stillnotshakespeare.wordpress.com)
• Irish women’s rights (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Savita Halappanavar’s medically unnecessary death | Jill Filipovic for Feministe (guardian.co.uk)
• Savita case may spur wider inquiry into pregnancy care (thehindu.com)
• Husband: Ireland hospital denied Savita Halappanavar life saving abortion because it is a “Catholic country” (cbsnews.com)

Irish protests against killing women by ‘pro-life’ rules

This video from Ireland says about itself:

Nov 18, 2012 by Trade Union TV Ireland

March to protest the horrific state of affairs as it stands in Ireland, where Savita Halappanavar in the year 2012 in an Irish hospital died suffering and in pain after being denied an abortion she and her husband repeatedly requested.

Enough is enough. No more women can die.

From the Garden of Remembrance to the Dáil, where we will hold a candlelight vigil in conjunction with Galway Pro-Choice to grieve Savita’s unnecessary death. Bring a candle to light to mark her loss.

We will have one speaker at the Garden of Remembrance to start our protest then we’ll march to the Dáil and at 5pm we will light our candles in solidarity with the vigil taking place then in Galway.

Video © Paula Geraghty

This video from Ireland is called Protest at death of Savita, denied an abortion in Irish hospital.

Related articles

• Never Again: Protesters to march and hold vigil outside Dáil in memory of Savita Halappanaver (thedailyshift.com)
• Protests over Savita death planned across Ireland & UK (newstalk.ie)
• Savita Halappanavar death row: Thousands rally in Ireland – Indian Express (indianexpress.com)
• Irish govt. wants Savita probe to ‘stand up to world’s scrutiny’ (thehindu.com)
• Thousands march in Dublin over abortion rights (guardian.co.uk)
• Protest and Vigil for Savita Praveen (cedarlounge.wordpress.com)
• Indian parents blame Irish abortion laws for daughter’s death (sfluxe.com)
• Thousands protest in Ireland to liberalize abortion laws (csmonitor.com)

Dutch Christian fundamentalist’s ‘Akin’ on abortion

This satirical video from the USA is called Todd Akin Rape & Abortion Apology: NewsyToons.

Remember United States Republican politician Todd Akin, claiming that there is a thing called “legitimate rape“, and that supposedly raped women don’t get pregnant; so, in banning abortion, there is no need no make an exception for rape cases?

Well, the Netherlands now has its own “Todd Akin”. In the campaign for the September 12 Dutch general election, Kees van der Staaij now says, with the same lack of medical science knowledge as his United States ‘hero’, that raped women supposedly have just a small chance of getting pregnant.

Van der Staaij is wrong on this, medical scientists say.

Who is Kees van der Staaij? He is the leader of the fundamentalist Calvinist Protestant SGP party. That party has two seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament. They are a bit comparable to the “Reverend” Ian Paisley‘s party in Northern Ireland.

The SGP does not have women candidates in elections. They say that Dutch women have the right to vote since the 1920s, but that this right should be abolished. They are the only party in parliament which wants to bring back the death penalty (abolished in the Netherlands in 1870).

The SGP wants the government to persecute “false religions” (meaning religions which are not fundamentalist Protestant, like Roman Catholicism). A predecessor of Van der Staaij as SGP leader, C.N. van Dis, said in an interview that gay people will burn and freeze in hell.

If “moderate conservative” Dutch parties will not get a majority of their own in parliament, then they may make deals with Kees van der Staaij’s SGP. Like already happened under the old Dutch Rightist government coalition, which collapsed this spring.

USA: Last week, Paul Ryan gave an interview in which, defending his position that there should be no excuses for abortion, he referred to rape as a “method of conception”: here.

Paul Ryan Defends Use of ‘Forcible Rape’ Terminology: here.

Todd Akin, US Republican misogynist

By Patrick Martin in the USA:

Akin affair highlights hypocrisy and ignorance in US official politics

23 August 2012

Republican Congressman Todd Akin continued Wednesday to reject demands that he step down as the party’s candidate for the US Senate seat from Missouri, three days after making himself a national symbol of ignorance and bigotry with his declaration that women who were raped were unlikely to become pregnant or need an abortion.

Defending his opposition to abortion even in the case of rape, Akin told a local television interviewer in St. Louis, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” He added that even if pregnancy resulted from such an assault, “the punishment ought to be of the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Akin won a narrow victory in the Republican primary August 7, defeating two equally reactionary candidates, self-funded millionaire businessman John Hovde and former state treasurer Sarah Steelman. The latter had the backing of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and much of the Republican Party establishment.

Akin’s remarks Sunday touched off a firestorm of public criticism, much of it from his Republican colleagues. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his choice for vice president, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, both urged Akin to withdraw by a Tuesday 5 p.m. deadline, which would have allowed the state Republican Party to name a replacement for the contest with incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill, who was trailing in the polls against all three potential Republican opponents.

Ryan has been linked to Akin in the House Republican caucus as the co-author of legislation that would redefine rape, creating two categories of the crime, “forcible” (Akin’s “legitimate”) and otherwise.

The Republican National Committee, the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, and the super PAC founded by former Bush White House aide Karl Rove all announced they would withdraw all financial support for Akin, taking an estimated $10 million off the table for the fall campaign.

Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt also issued a statement demanding that Akin step down, backed by a quartet of former Republican senators from the state—Christopher Bond, John Danforth, Jim Talent and John Ashcroft, the ultra-conservative Christian fundamentalist who was Bush’s attorney general.

It is evident from this reactionary lineup that the Republicans were concerned not with the position taken by Akin, but with the political uproar and media backlash sparked by his pig-headed ignorance, which have damaged Republican prospects of winning the Missouri seat.

According to the calculations of both big business parties, the Missouri contest is one of a handful that will decide which party controls the Senate, giving it the upper hand on a wide array of legislation, in particular the tax and regulatory issues that are of enormous significance to corporate America.

The Democrats currently hold a 53-47 majority, but must defend 23 of the 33 seats that are up for election November 6. The Republicans must gain at least four seats to win control if Obama is reelected, or three if Romney wins and Ryan, as vice president, becomes the tie-breaking vote.

While the Republican establishment demands Akin’s removal as the party candidate in Missouri, the commission drawing up the Republican Party platform for adoption at next week’s convention in Tampa, Florida approved an anti-abortion position identical to Akin’s.

The commission voted Tuesday for language opposing abortion without exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother, as well as backing the claim that a fertilized egg was a “person” under the terms of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, entitling a pinhead of protoplasm to the same legal rights as a human being.

Akin himself seemed to have taken heart from the platform vote as well as support for his continued candidacy by right-to-life groups and the evangelical Christian lobby. In an appearance Wednesday morning on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” he said he would accede to demands of party leaders that he not attend the Republican National Convention in Tampa but would remain as the candidate.

Asked if he would categorically not change his mind about withdrawing and allow the state Republican Party to seek a court order to appoint a replacement—something which is still possible until September 25—he visibly hesitated, then said, “I’m never going to say everything that could possibly happen; I don’t know the future.”

The Akin affair puts the spotlight on one of the salient facts of modern American politics—the domination of ultra-right elements that have only minimal support in the population, but whose influence on the Republican Party, and through it on the Democratic Party and bourgeois politics as a whole, is inordinate.

Akin, whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather were steel company executives, has called for the abolition of the federal school lunch program and school breakfast program, voted against funding autism research, opposed increases in the minimum wage, and called federal loans for college students “a stage-three cancer of socialism.”

GOP vice presidential contender Paul Ryan declined to explain what is meant by “forcible rape” in abortion legislation he co-sponsored with embattled Rep. Todd Akin: here.

Akin for the Truth: How Are US Religious Fundamentalists Any Different Than Middle Eastern Ones? Here.

Todd Akin, Allen West Lavished Government Money On Staff After Losing Reelection: here.

One Poll Finds Zero Percent Of Blacks Support Romney: here.

Did Romney really have moral qualms about putting Bain’s money into arms manufacturers? Here.

Misogyny: here.

Related articles

• Rant of the Week – Todd Akin won’t go away (realtalkrealdebate.wordpress.com)
• Todd Akin dogged by his own foot in mouth: Editorial (nj.com)
• Did Mourdock Just Lose the Senate? (commentarymagazine.com)
• The Republican Rape Advisory Chart (alternet.org)
• Todd Akin Likens Claire McCaskill To ‘One Of Those Dogs,’ Fetching Taxes, Bureaucracy (AUDIO) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Todd Akin campaign keeps fundraising numbers under wraps (kansascity.com)

Brazilian support for raped pregnant girl

This video is called Horrific Brazil Rape Story.

From CNN in the USA:

BRASILIA, Brazil — A doctor excommunicated by the Catholic Church for performing an abortion on a 9-year-old rape victim received a standing ovation during a national convention on women’s health, according to a local media report.

The response came during the opening ceremony of an event hosted by Brazilian Minister of Health Jose Gomes Temporao.

The newspaper O Povo reported that Temporao called on the audience to acknowledge the “brilliant” work done by a medical team in the abortion, performed in Brazil’s northeastern city of Recife.

The girl was pregnant with twins after being raped, allegedly by her stepfather, police were quoted in media reports as saying. The abuse had gone on since the girl was 6, authorities said.

A group representing Brazilian doctors has pleaded with the government to change the country’s restrictive abortion law to allow abortions during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy: here.

Capitalism and rape: here.

Related articles

• Christine Pelosi: Steubenville Reminder: Rape Is Rape (huffingtonpost.com)
• Mamata links rise in rape cases to increase in population (thehindu.com)
• Clearing the Water on Rape (jessicavealitzek.com)
• Brazil doctor group urges legalization of abortion (seattletimes.com)
• Brazil Doctor Group Urges Legalization Of Abortion (kolotv.com)
• Brazil doctors back abortion reform (bbc.co.uk)
• Will abortion law change help female troops? (stripes.com)
• Another GOP official echoes Todd Akin: Women rarely get pregnant from rape (rawstory.com)
• Steubenville Makes Rape Culture Harder to Deny (rawstory.com)

Obama rescinds Bushist anti women measure

This video from the USA is about the Global Gag Rule.

Because of the global gag rule, local reproductive health care organizations abroad have faced a dangerous dilemma: either accept desperately needed U.S. funds but deny women lifesaving services and information, or reject U.S. assistance and be forced to cut crucial prevention services; with devastating results.

Reuters reports:

Obama lifts restrictions on abortion funding

By Jeff Mason and Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday lifted restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, a spokesman said.

The Democratic president‘s decision was a victory for advocates of abortion rights on an issue that in recent years has become a tit-for-tat policy change each time the White House shifts from one party to the other.

When the ban was in place, no U.S. government funding for family planning services could be given to clinics or groups that offer abortion services or counseling in other countries even if the funds for those activities come from non-U.S. government sources.

Obama signed an executive order lifting the restrictions on Friday, a White House spokesman said.

It has been called the Mexico City Policy because it was unveiled at a United Nations conference there in 1984 and became one of the centerpiece social policies of the conservative administration of former President Ronald Reagan, a Republican.

Critics call it the “[global] gag rule” because it also cuts funds to groups that advocate or lobby for the lifting of abortion restrictions, so they say it infringes on free speech. They also say it has reduced healthcare for some of the world’s poorest women.

Former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, rescinded the rule when he took office in January 1993 and his successor, Republican George W. Bush, reinstated it in January 2001.

Planned Parenthood, a health care provider and advocacy group for abortion rights, welcomed the move.

See also here.

When Bill Clinton took office, many people expected progressive reforms from him. The rescinding of this anti women policy was one of few that he actually implemented. The only other one which I remember right now was trying to stop discrimination of gay people in the armed forces. However, Clinton soon backed down on this because of opposition by armed forces top brass; the hypocritical “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the armed forces became the result of this.

Clinton disappointed his progressive voters on many issues: economic “reforms” that helped big business and damaged, eg, people on welfare. War in Yugoslavia. The disappointment on this, along with electoral fraud by Bush’s little brother Jeb in Florida, helped George W. Bush get the presidency in 2000.

Now with the Obama presidency, progressives’ hopes are even higher than when Clinton started. What will become of those hopes? So far, my impression of Obama is more favourable than of Clinton. However, it has been only a few days yet.

Nicaraguan women petition government to restore legal abortion: here.

Related articles

• You are the maker of manners (why I won’t be voting for Barack Obama on Tuesday) (bodyremember.com)
• What Romney wants to do to women (prairieweather.typepad.com)
• [link] Why Mitt Romney is the wrong choice on abortion rights (slendermeans.wordpress.com)
• Michigan’s extremist lame duck session continues with anti-abortion and anti-Sharia bills (dailykos.com)
• “Global Gag Rule”: A Romney-Ryan Administration Would Be A World Of Harm For Women (mykeystrokes.com)
• The Policy To Undermine Women’s Health Abroad That Romney Didn’t Mention Last Night (thinkprogress.org)
• Romney/Ryan, A World of Harm for Women (readersupportednews.org)
• How Romney Would Treat Women (nytimes.com)