INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS GAMBIA:
FREE GAMBIAN JOURNALIST EBRIMA MANNEH:



The following call for solidarity comes from the Care2 Petition site. The "African media foundation" referred to below is undoubtedly the Media Foundation for West Africa who have been protesting his imprisonment for some time. Some time means four years as Manneh was originally disappeared in 2006. You read all about Mannah's case and also numerous other struggles for freedom in West Africa at the Media Foundation's website. Molly found the site to be quite interesting and worth recommending.
EMEMEMEMEM
Free Gambian Journalist Ebrima B. Manneh

The exact reason for journalist Ebrima B. Manneh's arrest is uncertain, and the Gambian government denies knowledge of his whereabouts, but it's widely believed he is detained by the government as a prisoner of conscience.

Manneh's arrest was supposedly by the Gambian government, though they deny any involvement. Reports of the arrest cite several possible reasons for his imprisonment. It's unclear which reason is correct, but all of them point to the fact that Manneh is detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

An African media foundation has petitioned the Gambian government to answer questions about Manneh's disappearance, but so far they have remained silent.

Don't let the Gambian government cover up Ebrima B. Manneh's whereabouts after his murky arrest for a practicing a universal right. Tell the Gambian President Dr. A.J.J. Yahya Jammeh to release Manneh immediately.
EMEMEMEMEM
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following letter the President of Gambia.
EMEMEMEMEM


letterTarget: Dr A.J.J. Yahya Jammeh, President of Gambia
Sponsored by: Care2.com
The exact reason for journalist Ebrima B. Manneh's arrest is uncertain, and the Gambian government denies knowledge of his whereabouts, but it's widely believed he is detained by the government as a prisoner of conscience.

Manneh's arrest was supposedly by the Gambian government, though they deny any involvement. Reports of the arrest cite several possible reasons for his imprisonment. It's unclear which reason is correct, but all of them point to the fact that Manneh is detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

An African media foundation has petitioned the Gambian government to answer questions about Manneh's disappearance, but so far they have remained silent.

Don't let the Gambian government cover up Ebrima B. Manneh's whereabouts after his murky arrest for a practicing a universal right. Tell the Gambian President Dr. A.J.J. Yahya Jammeh to release Manneh immediately.
Dear Dr. A.J.J. Yahya Jammeh,

The exact reason for journalist Ebrima B. Manneh's arrest is uncertain, but evidence suggest he is imprisoned by your government for an act exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Multiple parties, including Manneh's father, fellow journalists, the Media Foundations for West Africa, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have asked your government to answer questions about Manneh's disappearance, including his current whereabouts. The government issued a statement saying they were not involved in the arrest and didn't know Manneh's location, despite reports that he was escorted into a hospital by police. Now, after ECOWAS issued a statement saying that Manneh's right to liberty and fair trial were violated, and asking the government to release him, restore his human rights, and repay his damages, the government is silent.

The story behind Manneh's arrest may be unclear, but one thing is certain: no one should be imprisoned for exercising the universal right to freedom of expression. I urge you to release Ebrima B. Manneh immediately.

Sincerely,
[Your name here]

POPULAR CULTURE:
COMIX ARTIST HARVEY PEKAR DIES AT 70:




A blast from the past today. One of the icons of American comix, Harvey Pekar, died today. Now it's been perhaps too many years since I was a great comics fans and collector, but Pekar's work on American Splendor sticks out in my memory. Pekar had the unique talent to make the seemingly trivial events of everyday life shine with luminous meaning. His style was, of course, not for everyone, but his concerns and subject matter were universal (or at least pertinent to the 99% of us who are neither rich, famous nor members of a cult, either religious or political). He'll be sorely missed.



I sold my first comic collection almost a quarter century ago, and have been only peripherally a fan since then. Turns out I've missed a lot, at least in terms of Pekar. Here's one of the many tributes to the man, this one from the Care2 site.
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Harvey Pekar, the Mark Twain of Comics, Dies at 70
His work has been compared to Mark Twain and Anton Chekov. Harvey Pekar, the "genius of the mundane," a neurotic, obsessive, erudite comic book writer and cultural historian died early Monday morning in Cleveland. It's a great loss to American arts and letters.

A pioneer in underground comics, Pekar brought the voices and lives of everyday people to the forefront of his work. While cranky and irascible, Pekar wrote of class concerns with empathy and clarity. His work was an equalizing force kin to Studs Terkels' oral histories (which makes it unsurprising that his last full-length work was a graphic adaptation of Terkel's Working.) As Joanna Connors of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote:

"Unlike the superheroes who ordinarily inhabit the pages of comic books, Pekar could neither leap tall buildings in a single bound, nor move faster than a speeding bullet. Yet his comics suggested a different sort of heroism: The working-class, everyman heroics of simply making it through another day, with soul -- if not dignity -- intact."

From off the streets of Cleveland...
Pekar is perhaps best known for his biographical comic American Splendor, which elegantly catalogued the unexpected pleasures and frustrations of life in Cleveland, Ohio. Pekar was a file clerk at a VA hospital by day, but wrote prolifically about jazz and literature in his off hours.

Pekar's work broke open comics as a medium that served a greater purpose sans the superheroics. They elevated daily life to something beyond humdrum--in Pekar's hands, finding the right pair of shoes for a song at the thrift store was a meditation on style and passing trends. He paved the way for future generations of independent comic artists dedicated to replicating the unsung morsels of daily life.

Top Ten
Pekar was politically outspoken, particularly about the undue influences of corporations. In the late 1980s, Pekar was a recurring guest on Late Night with David Letterman, until he became critical of General Electric on the air (GE owned NBC at the time).

Pekar worked with peace activist Heather Roberson on the book Macedonia, ultimately producing a case study about a country that, despite heavy political pressures, has never descended into war like its neighbor Kosovo. Other works include histories of the Beat poets and Students for a Democratic society.

Pekar's work merged the personal and the political in a highly accessible way. It embodies a core democratic sentiment: That all people should have access to art and politics--and that even the most unexpected sources have something to contribute to the conversation. To see some of his last works, visit The Pekar Project.


HPHPHPHPHP
I have already admitted that I missed a lot of Pekar's later work which if you were to judge from the above made was what originally the more or less implicit political content of his work into something quite explicit. I think that his early work, set as it was in the depressing city of Cleveland ( probably even worse than Winnipeg )and dealing only with the events of everyday life was a much needed corrective to the tendency of all opponents of the way things are to drift into a fantasy world of spectacle. There is a direct line between this concern for the ordinary person and his later efforts. Anyways, here's his obit as published in the British newspaper The Guardian.

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Harvey Pekar obituary

Harvey Pekar, who has died aged 70, was the writer of American Splendor, an autobiographical comic in which he wrote about the everyday, often mundane, aspects of his life. Pekar experimented with the narrative form and used a shifting roster of artists on his comics, but it was the sheer ordinariness of the stories that slowly earned him a strong following, critical acclaim and comparisons with Chekhov and Dostoevsky.

Set in the rundown neighbourhoods of Cleveland, Ohio, American Splendor's world was revealed without exaggeration or self-aggrandisement. Pekar, opinionated and curmudgeonly, was often the most frustrating and aggravating character to appear in his books. The writer became a regular guest on the talkshow Late Night With David Letterman, but his confrontational style led to him being banned from it.

In 1990, Pekar was diagnosed with lymphoma and underwent chemotherapy. Heavy medication led to hallucinations and occasional paralysis, but the cancer went into remission. His wife, Joyce Brabner, kept detailed notes during this period and collaborated with him on Our Cancer Year (1994), an unflinching account of their relationship, illustrated by Frank Stack.

Our Cancer Year was central to the 2003 movie American Splendor, directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, and starring Paul Giamatti as Pekar and Hope Davis as Brabner. Pekar and Brabner also appeared as themselves in the film, which won major prizes at the Sundance and Cannes festivals.

When asked in an interview whether he thought the film was an accurate account of his life, Pekar replied: "I don't know what's normal because I don't see too many movies ... but yeah, it felt right. It felt true." Not surprisingly, he gave his own account of the film-making process in his 2004 collection, American Splendor: Our Movie Year.

Born in Cleveland, he was the eldest son of Saul and Dora Pekar, Polish Jews who had recently moved to the US from Białystok. Pekar grew up in a working-class neighbourhood, where his father ran a grocery store. After graduating from Shaker Heights high school in 1957, he held down a series of short-lived jobs, including stints as a janitor and an elevator operator.

He attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland but dropped out after a year. He was also briefly in the navy – as he later recounted in his 2005 comic, The Quitter, drawn by Dean Haspiel. In 1965 he settled into a dull but stable job as a clerk at a Veterans Affairs medical centre in Cleveland, where he remained until his retirement in 2001.

Pekar had read comic books from the age of six but lost interest in them after a few years because he found the stories cliched and repetitive. In 1959 he began writing jazz reviews for magazines. His interest in comics was rekindled in 1962 when he met the 19-year-old artist Robert Crumb.

Crumb was already involved in the nascent "comix" scene of artists who were creating underground, counterculture strips. Pekar, although impressed by the freedom of expression offered by this new movement, felt that they concentrated on a bohemian lifestyle which he – as a wage slave – did not share.

Pekar enjoyed the directness of writers such as Henry Miller and felt that even his workaday life had its moments of humour and drama. In the early 1970s he began writing stories, using stick figures and laying out the scripts as storyboards. He showed these to Crumb, who offered to illustrate some of the stories. Their collaboration appeared in Crumb's The People's Comics in 1972 and Pekar's autobiographical tales were featured in other underground titles, including Bizarre Sex, Flaming Baloney, Snarf and Flamed-out Funnies.

In 1975 he conceived the idea of self-publishing so that he could write longer, more involved stories. Although he lost money on the first issue of American Splendor, published in 1976, later annual issues – which ran to around 60 pages – slowly found an audience. By the early 90s, American Splendor had a print run of 10,000 copies per issue.

Pekar continued to review books and records and write essays, often for the alternative press. From 1992 to 1996, he also penned a series of comic strips about jazz, drawn by Joe Sacco, for the Village Voice newspaper. Doubleday published the collection American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar in 2006. A sequel, More American Splendor, came out the following year.

American Splendor was published by Dark Horse Comics from 1994 to 2002 and Vertigo (DC Comics) from 2006 to 2008, giving Pekar the financial stability to work on other projects, including Unsung Hero (illustrated by David Collier, 2003), about the experiences in Vietnam of an African-American colleague at the VA hospital where Pekar worked.

Pekar wrote Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History (drawn by Gary Dumm, 2008) and Studs Terkel's Working: A Graphic Adaptation (drawn by various artists, 2009). He also contributed to The Beats: A Graphic History (various artists, 2009).

He divorced twice before marrying Joyce in 1983. The couple adopted a daughter, Danielle, in 1998. They survive him, along with his younger brother, Allen.

• Harvey Lawrence Pekar, comics writer, born 8 October 1939; died 12 July 2010
HPHPHPHPHP
And here is my favourite Harvey Pekar quote, taken from an interview which he gave to Walrus Comix.
HPHPHPHPHP


"NO… ACTUALLY, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO SELL OUT!! I mean if I KNEW how to sell out... I mean I haven’t given in to commercialism because I DON’T KNOW HOW TO give in to commercialism... If I DID, I might have done it a long time ago!! "

No doubt Harvey will find lots to grumble about in heaven. RIP.

ENVIRONMENT:

STOP THE TARSANDS PIPELINE:

The following story and petition comes originally from the Friends of the Earth via the Care2 site. I have to admit that I am somewhat uneasy about this item. It is all well and good to be against a pipeline that is intimately tied to bringing oil from the Alberta tarsands to its major market, the USA. Still, it's a simple fact that of the USA continues with its present economic system that they plainly need such oil, as in necessity. This sort of project will go ahead because there is no alternative for the USA in the way it presently operates. I don't think that such projects can be realistically opposed unless a lot of other things are opposed simultaneously. Be that as it may here's the article and appeal.

TSTSTSTSTSTSTSTS
Public Comment Needed To Prevent New Oil Pipeline
posted by: Beth Buczynski


Canada, and more specifically the province of Alberta, is ground zero for tar sands extraction.

As North America’s number one source of foreign oil, the tar sands produce the world's most harmful type of oil for the atmosphere, emitting high volumes of greenhouse gases during development, which contribute to global warming.

To access these underground stores, Big Oil companies must strip mine huge tracts of forest, causing cancer hot spots in indigenous communities living downstream from the toxic byproducts.

As if these characteristics weren't horrifying enough, these same companies are now pressuring the Obama administration to allow construction of a pipeline that would pump oil from the Canadian tar sands to refineries in the Gulf Coast that supply our country's gasoline.

Known as the "Keystone XL," oil companies are counting on this massive pipeline to make the expansion of tar sands operations profitable profitable, but they've failed to take into account (at least publicly) the "extra-large" effects this will have on environment, wildlife, and human health.

Consider these points from DirtyOilSands.org:

Oil sands production harms human health in at least two ways: when extracted, and when processed and refined from bitumen into gasoline. As described above extraction pollutes water resources. Communities downstream, in some cases hundreds of kilometers downstream, have been impacted: directly, with elevated cancer rates; and indirectly, with their subsistence economy endangered by polluted fisheries.

The spread of refineries processing tar sands oil is a problem because the synthetic heavy crude produced from tar sands is laden with more toxins than conventional oil. Communities adjacent to tar sands oil refineries face increased carbon dioxide emissions, and increased exposure to heavy metals, and sulfurs.

The communities along the Keystone XL pipeline's proposed path, would face increased risk of spills, and, at the pipeline's end, the health of people living near Texas refineries would suffer, as tar sands oil spews higher levels of dangerous pollutants into the air when processed.

Thankfully, President Obama has the power to halt this plan because Big Oil needs his permission, in the form of a presidential permit, to begin construction.

On April 9, the State Department released a draft analysis of the project, called an Environmental Impact Statement, which kicked off a 45-day public comment period.

Submitting official comments is a key opportunity for members of the public to pressure the Obama administration to reject this pipeline. The State Department is required by law to listen to your concerns and take them into account before making a final determination as to whether this project is in the public interest.

Click here to make your voice heard. Urge the Obama administration to reject new pipelines for the world's dirtiest oil.

TSTSTSTSTSTSTSTS

THE LETTER:

Please go to the link above to send the following letter to the Obama Administration.

TSTSTSTSTSTSTSTS
I am writing to submit my concerns about the impacts the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would have on the climate and communities -- and to urge you to deny a permit for this pipeline.

Tar sands oil is dirtier than conventional oil, causing three times more greenhouse gas emissions than regular gasoline. The 900,000 barrels of dirty oil that would be pumped through this pipeline every day would add 38 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere annually, which is equal to adding six million new cars to the road. Your draft environmental impact statement ignores how this pipeline would make global warming worse, a serious oversight that must be amended.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS:

TAKE ACCOUNT OF PEOPLE WHEN FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE:

Everybody wants to save the Earth these days, and surely the sentiments are laudible. Despite the gloating of the climate change deniers the scientific evidence is virtually incontrovertible that a)the Earth is warming and b)human activities are very much responsible for this. The minor actions of a couple of researchers don't take away at all from the tens of thousands of others across the world who have come to the obvious conclusion. Whatever those who search the internet for evidence of their pre-formed beliefs may think.

Yet, there is something that should be taken into account when measures are proposed to mitigate climate change...the rights of indigenous people. While very few outside of Nazi and primitivist ideological cesspools would advocate outright genocide of such "marginal" people to "save the Earth" the general 'liberal consensus' gives such people minimal importance. Here's an item from the Care2 site about how such things should deserve attention.

IPIPIPIPIPIPIPIP
Bring Indigenous Voices into the Conversation About Climate Change

The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries or UN-REDD was created to offer developing countries financial incentives for cutting down carbon emissions by preserving forests and biodiversity.

Addressing global climate change is vital, but unfortunately policies developed by the global North are not always harmonious with the livelihoods of the indigenous peoples that live on the lands. The watchgroup REDD-Monitor points out specific language in REDD's call to action that can be problematic:

1. "conservation" sounds good, but the history of the establishment of national parks includes large scale evictions and loss of rights for indigenous peoples and local communities.

2."sustainable management of forests" could include subsidies to commercial logging operations in old-growth forests, indigenous peoples’ territory or in villagers’ community forests.

3."enhancement of forest carbon stocks" could result in conversion of land (including forests) to industrial tree plantations, with serious implications for biodiversity, forests and local communities.

When groups of marginalized people barely have a voice at the state or national level, it is easy and convenient for world leaders to overlook them. But besides bringing unique perspectives and knowledge of the issue, indigenous peoples need to have a say in the fate of the land they live on.

TAKE ACTION:

Tell the Head UN-REDD Programme Secretariat Yemi Katerere that indigenous peoples must participate in deciding climate change policies by signing the petition.

IPIPIPIPIPIPIPIP

The Letter:

Please go to the link above to send the following letter to the United Nations Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD).

IPIPIPIPIPIPIPIP
Dear Dr. Katerere,

As the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) develops its policies for COP-16 in Mexico, I am writing to encourage you to promote the participation of local and indigenous peoples. They are the key to conserving standing forests and restoring degraded forests to combat global climate change.

[Your comment will be inserted here]

In particular, EcoLogic encourages integration of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in REDD projects and policies, including: a) free, prior, and informed consent of local and indigenous people in REDD project development; b) land rights based on traditional ownership, occupation, and use; and c) a transparent and fair process to recognize and adjudicate these rights.

I strongly support the EcoLogic position that indigenous people must be an active part of the solution to protect the world's forests.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
[Your name here]

INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY:

DON'T TOUCH THAT PILL- THE GESTAPO WILL GET YOU:

Here's a sad tale from the USA via the Care2 site about one student;s experience with that part of the working class whose product is pretty much social control. to be sure I have yet to get to this on this blog ie how I see little difference between teachers and prison guards and policemen. Rest assured I will get to describing my view of how people whose main function is to keep a segment of the population in one place through a good part of the day are in the same category as prison guards. Until then here's a horror story about political correctness gone wild.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Seventh Grader Suspended For Touching Pill
Judy Molland
It all happened on February 23 at River Valley Middle School in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Seventh grader Rachel Greer was in the locker room during fifth period gym class when a fellow student walked in with a bag of pills.

"She was talking to another girl and me about them and she put one in my hand and I was like, ‘I don't want this,' so I put it back in the bag and I went to gym class," said Rachel. The pills were the prescription ADHD drug, Adderall, and after years of training under the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, Rachel knew she had to "Just Say No.

"But that wasn't the end of it. During sixth period, an assistant principal came and took Rachel out of class. It turned out that the girl who originally had the pills and a few other students got caught. Then came the shocker: "We're suspending you for five days because it was in your hand," the administrator told Rachel. Apparently he told the girl that he was very sorry he had to do it, but the rules are the rules. District officials later said that if they're not strict about drug policies no one will take them seriously.

What lesson can Rachel learn here? Because she said NO to illegal drugs and told the complete truth about what happened in the locker room, she was punished. Presumably she would also have been punished if she had said YES, so maybe next time she'll choose that route.

What does it take for school administrators to use some common sense? A policy, zero tolerance or any other, is a guideline. Every situation is different, and school officials need to be able to approach each situation individually, and make an appropriate decision, based on the relevant facts.

After hearing the news, Patty Greer, Rachel's mother, went to school officials to complain. "That's not a good policy," Greer said. "We're teaching our kids if you say no to drugs you're going to get punished; it's not right."

District officials were not impressed. Martin Bell, COO of Greater Clark County Schools, replied that the girl should not have put out her hand. "Someone hands them a pill or a drug or something like that and they say well I said no I didn't participate. Well the act of saying no is not to be there, not to be involved in the handling the, you know, they didn't have to put their hand out." (In case you're wondering, I am quoting Mr. Bell verbatim here.)

According to Greater Clark County Schools district policy, even a touch equals drug possession and a one week suspension. Wanna get a five-day vacation from school? Just say no, and get yourself suspended!

And this just in: When Mason Jammer, a kindergarten student at Jefferson Elementary in Ionia, Michigan, curled his fist into the shape of a gun Wednesday and pointed it at another student, school officials suspended the 6-year-old until Friday, saying the behavior made other students uncomfortable. Really? Couldn't the school find any other way to teach Mason not to make a gun with his hand? When will this madness stop.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

What can I say ? Insofar as propaganda has any effect such liberal attempts at social engineering will have the definite effect of convincing young people that aggression is OK as long as it is mediated through authority . It will convince a subset of young people to become good Nazis. To another subset it will convince them that 'anything goes" provided they don't get caught. While I may disagree with the later possible effect it is better than aggression mediated through authority like what the social engineers want to "teach".

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

SOLAR POWER AND COMMUNITY:

The older I get the more cynical I become about a vast variety of "do good" projects, whether right wing, left wing or no wing whatsoever. rather than being a total curmudgeon, however, I do always search for things that I find encouraging rather than discouraging. What follows is one such thing. The SELF (Solar Electric Light Fund) seems to me to be the sort of thing that actually benefits the recipients of what is called "aid" rather than benefiting the giver by subterfuge. Hopefully my first impression is true. I certainly approve of their fellow organization, the Partners in Health. See what follows for links. Here's the promo from the Care2 site.

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Rebuilding with Sun Power: SELF Fosters Clean Energy and Community Building
posted by: Nancy Roberts
As the disasters in Haiti and now Chile are showing us, the challenges of immediate relief can be dwarfed by the needs of long-term, sustainable development in agriculture, sanitation, infrastructure, and education all over the world. The Inter American Development Bank recently estimated that the cost of reconstruction in Haiti alone could be $14 billion. But can the rebuilding be done in a way that will truly help people in the long term, not by rebuilding in the same way, but by taking advantage of the opportunity to improve health, well being and the environment?

Traditional aid models have often focused on sending money and products that are not aligned with the destination's culture or environment. Others are seeking a better way. An 18 year old nonprofit called SELF (Solar Electric Light Fund) is taking a different approach, based on community self determination, to alleviate "energy poverty" in parts of the U.S. and around the world. SELF designs and implements sustainable energy solutions in the developing world. In partnership with government, business, and NGOs, SELF has facilitated solar electricity projects in more than 15 countries in the belief that sustainable, solar energy sources will greatly help to meet global challenges of food and water scarcity, climate change and poverty.

In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, SELF is working with the NGO Partners in Health to speed the process of helping all 10 PIH healthcare centers in Haiti run on solar power, so that they will no longer be dependent on diesel fuel, which is expensive, polluting and in short supply after the earthquake. Sadly, Walt Ratterman, one of SELF's staff, was killed in the quake in Port au Prince. A true solar hero, he had been working with SELF since 2006 in Rwanda, Benin, Lesotho and Burundi as well as Haiti, helping SELF implement solar systems and train villagers.

SELF takes the phrase Power to the People seriously, and literally. Their Solar Integrated Development Model is based on principles of Self determination--villagers choose solar electrification projects and determine their own priorities; Self-help--villagers purchase the systems through micro-credit financing; and Self-reliance, where the villager (men and women) are trained in the installation and maintenance of their systems.

It can be overwhelming to contemplate the multiple needs of living beings who are hungry, frightened, uneducated or threatened, and I am so grateful for the thousands of non-profit agencies, like SELF, that are attempting to address these needs in the face of daunting odds. As we reflect today on the hardship brought on by catastrophe and by long-term conditions, the words of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda encourage us to reach across the artificial boundaries of nations to help as we can:

They have spoken to me of Venezuelas,

of Chiles and of Paraguays;

I have no idea what they are saying.

I know only the skin of the earth

and I know it is without a name.

Pablo Neruda: "Too Many Names"

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS:

GAY MARRIAGE INTERNATIONALLY:

The subject of gay marriage has been a matter of recent legal dispute, both here in Canada and down in the USA. Despite setbacks it seems inevitable that gays are likely to win the legal right to marry in all but the most backward of jurisdictions. It will be faster in some cases and slower in others. Molly recently came across the following extremely informative article on the Care2 site. It documents the present state of affairs internationally and also has links to the situation in US states and the timeline of developments in this matter. To say the least it contains a wealth of information, as do many of the entries on the Care 2 site. Highly recommended.

GMGMGMGMGMGMGM
Which Countries Have Legalized Gay Marriage?:
posted by: Steve Williams

Which Countries Have Legalized Gay Marriage?
While several states allow gay marriage in the US, the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage due to the Defense of Marriage Act. However, there are several countries that do recognize gay marriage.

Here is a resource page that contains information on which countries allow same-sex couples to get married. It will be updated to reflect future changes in marriage laws as they happen. For the sake of clarity, this page will only include those countries where same-sex marriage has been recognized. It will not include civil unions and other forms of legal recognition, as they will be part of a future list.

Gay Marriage in the Netherlands

The Netherlands became the first country to officially allow same-sex marriages on April 1, 2001. The bill, which widened the definition of marriage to include same-sex partners, was passed in September, 2000. The legislation also allowed same-sex couples the right to adopt. To find out more about the history of gay marriage in the Netherlands, please click here.

Gay Marriage in Belgium

On January 30, 2003, Belgium became the second country to recognize gay marriage. The change in the law granted almost all the rights open to heterosexual married couples, however it did not include the right to adopt. Legal co-parenting for Belgium's same-sex couples came into force just over three years later in April, 2006. For more information about gay marriage in Belgium, please click here.

Gay Marriage in Spain

Despite heavy opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, the Spanish parliament passed same-sex marriage legislation on June 30, 2005. The legislation, which made Spain the third country to recognize gay marriage, also granted adoption rights for same-sex couples, however some disparities between homosexual and heterosexual marriages remained. To help remedy this, the law on assisted reproduction was amended in 2006, allowing co-parenting recognition for married lesbian partners who had used IVF treatment to have a child. For more information on gay marriage in Spain, please click here.

Gay Marriage in Canada

Although the Netherlands was the first country to legally recognize gay marriage, a joint wedding by two Canadian same-sex couples actually preceded the recognition of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands, and seemed to precipitate, at least in part, full recognition of gay marriage throughout Canada some years later. Here is a little more detail about that case:

The couples involved were Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell and Anne and Elaine Vautour. The two couples had a joint marriage ceremony officiated by Rev. Brent Hawkes at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto on January 14, 2001. Both couples were given a government record-of-marriage following their unions. However, Ontario officials refused to acknowledge the legality of the same-sex marriages that had been carried out that day.

After a lengthy legal battle, on July 12, 2002, a lower court ruled that the marriages were legal. This decision was affirmed in the Court of Appeal for Ontario on June 10, 2003. The Court of Appeal deemed that the exclusion of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

This decision was not appealed by Ontario's government, and as such the couples' unions were formally recognized as having been carried out on the aforementioned date of January 14, 2001, making it, in retrospect, a quiet landmark for same-sex marriage in Canada. The date of registration the two couples eventually received was June 11, 2003.

Similar legal victories were had in British Columbia and Quebec, and eventually in nine of Canada's provinces, until the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2004 in Re Same-Sex Marriage that same-sex marriage had constitutional validity.

The Court compelled the Canadian federal government to enact legislation to recognize gay marriage. The Canadian legislature eventually then codified the revised definition of civil marriage in the Civil Marriage Act. The legislation received Royal Assent (and therein became law) on July 20, 2005. To find out more about the history of gay marriage in Canada, please click here.

Gay Marriage in South Africa

Almost one year after South Africa's highest court ruled that the country's existing definition of marriage violated its constitution's guarantee of equal rights, gay marriages in South Africa became legal on November 30, 2006, following the South African parliament having passed a bill for same-sex marriage earlier in the month.

This made South Africa the first country in Africa to officially grant same-sex marriage, and the fifth country in the world. Same-sex adoption rights had already been affirmed in 2002. To see a brief history of the recognition of gay partnerships and how this culminated in gay marriage in South Africa, please click here.

Gay Marriage in Norway

Following a gender-neutral marriage bill that was passed by the Norwegian legislature on June 11, 2008, Norway became the sixth country to officially allow same-sex marriage on January 1, 2009. The new law also allowed co-parenting same-sex adoption rights and state funded IVF treatment for married lesbian couples. To find out more about gay marriage in Norway, please click here.

Gay Marriage in Sweden

Following a gender-neutral marriage bill being passed by the Swedish legislature in April, 2009, Sweden became the seventh country to recognize gay marriage on May 1, 2009. Sweden had previously passed a law to allow same-sex couples to adopt in June, 2002.

Notably, Sweden's Lutheran Church voted to permit gay marriages to be carried out in its congregation from November 1, 2009. This decision was a result of a vote in which nearly 70 percent of the 250 synod members of the Church of Sweden voted in favor of the move.

In 2007 the Church had approved the recognition of gay partnerships within the congregation, but without the term "marriage" being attached. To find out more about gay marriage in Sweden, please click here.

*Pending* - Gay Marriage in Portugal

On January 8, 2010, Portugal's parliament voted to approve gay marriage. The bill was passed by 125 votes to 99. A provision to allow adoption by same-sex partners was struck down. At the time of writing this, the bill must now be reviewed in committee before coming back to parliament for a final vote. However, the bill is expected to pass, and President Anibal Cavaco Silva is not expected to veto the legislation, meaning that gay marriage in Portugal could be a reality as soon as April, 2010.

*Pending* - Gay Marriage in Nepal

Following a Supreme Court decision in November 2008, in which the Court found laws against homosexuality to be unconstitutional, Nepal is now on its way to having a new range of LGBT friendly laws which will also legalize same-sex marriage. This change is expected to come into force in May, 2010.

Care2 Related Content:
Which States in the US Allow Gay Marriage?

Resources:
BBC Gay Marriage/Same-Sex Partner Recognition Time-line

AMERICAN POLITICS:

OH WHAT AN EVIL SON OF A BITCH !:

At the same time as the American Empire is waging wars abroad that punish millions of people for the actions of a few hundred barbaric religious fanatics the domestic scene of the USA continues to cough up personalities with huge followings who would put Al-Queda to shame for sheer brutality and lack of the common moral values that keep human society together. One of these is the tele-evangelist Pat Robertson who has already become infamous for remarks such as that the devastation of New Orleans was due to "support for abortion". To say the least Robertson would be far ahead of Osama in the line-up for the "scum of the Earth award" if he had political power. It's sobering to think that the Vice-Presidential candidate (and maybe future Presidential candidate) of one of the major political parties in the country in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal was of his ilk. Robertson tried and failed in a bid to lead the Republican Party back in 1988, but I'm speaking of somebody more recent.

Robertson's latest is that the tragedy of the Haitian earthquake was because of some mythical "pact with the Devil" that the insurgents who fought against the French slavery system during Haiti's war of independence back in the early 19th century "signed". Yeah, I'm sure. Personally I'm not a Christian, but I hope that sincere followers of that faith recognize what a great slander it is upon their beliefs and respond accordingly. It is, of course, totally insane, and it says buckets that this should be taken as 'legitimate comment' in the homeland of the greatest empire the world has ever seen.

The following article from the Care2 site tells more about this atrocity, and asks you to sign a petition demanding an immediate apology from Robertson. The possibility of this is doubtful, but it's worth the effort to at least go on record as being opposed to barbarism. Robertson is one of the few people on earth that make decent people wish that the income tax bureaucracy was more efficient. If you want to read more about this lowlife, and have the stomach, there is a Wikipedia article on his antics, including all the failed prophecies that the Lord "delivered to him".

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Pat Robertson is Going to Hell:
And he might be taking you with him. Because if there is a god, Pat Robertson is one of the devil's pied pipers.

People who love their fellow man do not expound on the cause of natural disasters and unfathomable human suffering, they just do what they can to help.

Here is what Pat Robertson said on his Christian Broadcasting Network show Wednesday (1/13) about the devastating earthquake in Haiti that many sources are now saying has claimed the lives of as many as 500,000 people:

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French ... and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.'

True story. And the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' "Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another."

After a firestorm of protest and criticism, CBN released a statement to clarify Robertson's comments, claiming:

"On today's The 700 Club, during a segment about the devastation, suffering and humanitarian effort that is needed in Haiti, Dr. Robertson also spoke about Haiti's history. His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty (examine the actual history of the Haitian Revolution-Molly ) at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French. This history, combined with the horrible state of the country, has led countless scholars ("scholars" ?????-Molly ) and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed."

The statement goes on to detail Robertson's compassion for the Haitian people and his relief efforts already underway.

Of course Robertson has a long history of claiming natural disasters are sent by god as divine retribution for sins he arbitrarily determines:

Robertson linked Hurricane Katrina to abortion.

Robertson blamed Ariel Sharon stroke on his policy on the Gaza Strip.

Robertson called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez.

I suspect that the devil knows a lot more about Pat Robertson than he knows about the devil.

Sign the petition to demand an immediate apology from Robertson.

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Go to this link to sign the following brief and to the point petition demanding Robinson apologize.

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"Pat Robertson, your ridiculous treatises are deeply offensive. We demand that you immediately apologize to the people and government of Haiti."

AMERICAN POLITICS:

DOMESTIC 'RENDITION' OF IMMIGRANTS IN THE USA:

The following disturbing story about how immigration enforcement (ICE) in the USA often involves what are actually illegal acts comes from The Media Consortium. It came Molly's way via the Care2 website.

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Extraordinary [Domestic] Rendition: ICE Perpetuating Human Rights Abuses:
By Nezua, Media Consortium
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, apparently isn’t beholden to US or international law. In The Nation, Jacqueline Stevens reveals the “clandestine operations, akin to extraordinary renditions” carried out by ICE.

Beyond the department’s public list of detention facilities—many of which are already sites of alleged abuse—ICE is also “confining people in 186 unlisted and unmarked subfield offices” around the nation. According to Alison Parker, deputy director of Human Rights Watch, these secret detention centers may violate the UN’s Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the United States is a signatory.

But what’s most appalling is ICE’s assertion that the department is some sort of super-police with powers of rendition. James Pendergraph, former executive director of ICE’s Office of State and Local Coordination, said in late 2008 that “if you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally, but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear.” The boldness with which a law official would state such an idea is confounding; the confession, if true, is criminal.

Last week, The Diaspora wrote about the introduction of the CIR ASAP immigration bill by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL). Freshman Congressman Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) is a recent addition to the list of 87 cosponsors on the bill, as The Colorado Independent reported last Wednesday.

This is a positive step forward. The bill will most likely be sponsored in the senate by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). CIR ASAP establishes a basic layout of progressive immigration reform, but the final bill will probably become more focused on enforcement in Schumer’s hands.

Finally, David Moberg reports on the Obama administration’s controversial use of “audits” to purge employment payrolls of undocumented workers for In These Times. While the audit method is much quieter and less likely to make headlines, it is also ineffective. Not only do audits rely upon “flawed federal databases” to judge who is documented, they also purge immigrants who are “legal.”

As the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Executive Vice-President Eliseo Medina explains, workers fired as a result of ICE probes or audits do find other, lower-paying jobs that offer even less protection to the worker. Ultimately the number of undocumented workers in the US remains the same, and the entire exercise but “a losing game of musical chairs.” Medina stresses that SEIU is not suggesting the law shouldn’t be enforced, simply that it be enforced in a way that works.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about immigration by membersof The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS-UGANDA:

AGAINST THE UGANDA ANTI-GAY BILL:

Over in Uganda the government, under the influence of American Christian Right missionaries has introduced a bill that prescribes not just criminal penalties for "homosexual acts" but penalties up to and including death. Sort of a "trial run" for what some might like to see in the USA. Here, from the Care2 site is the story and an appeal to write the Ugandan government against this bill.

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Uganda to Debate Anti-Homosexuality Bill:

I know that many of you have been concerned about proposed legislation in Uganda that further criminalizes homosexuality and, in certain circumstances, could mean the death penalty for the so-called crime of "aggravated homosexuality".

Well, now you can speak out.Care2 has created a petition that you can sign to protest Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill that will then be sent to Uganda's President, Yowen Museveni.

More on this below.

First, here are a few updates on the developing situation in Uganda.

Firstly, Times Online is reporting that the Ugandan parliament will begin debating the Anti-Homosexuality Bill today, Friday December 18. Times Online has also spoken to several members of the Ugandan public regarding the proposed Bill in order to gauge their reaction. In places, the article makes for uncomfortable reading:

“Homosexuality is not natural and it’s not African,” said Arthur Owori, a 43-year-old technician. “What next? Will people start going with animals?"

Robina Matanda, a 40-year-old businesswoman in Kampala, was adamant that homosexuality must be punished.“It’s very bad, it’s inhuman, it’s immoral, it’s abusive,” she said. “They should pass the Bill and it should be the death penalty.”Student Annitah Natukunda, 24, said: “I don’t support the death penalty but I would support castration."

However, not all Ugandans believed that the Bill should be passed, while one citizen contended that, rather than legislating the death penalty and longer prison sentences for homosexuals, gay people needed "help" instead.

This was echoed by a rumored amendment to the Bill that may have gained traction this week.

In our previous coverage of Uganda's "Kill the Gays" legislation (as it has been nicknamed by many in the media), it was mentioned that some members of the Ugandan parliament were considering ditching the death penalty clause in favor of forced reparative or "conversion" therapy.

Suddenly the "Kill the Gays" legislation becomes a "Cure the Gays" drive. While on the surface this may seem like an improvement, the degree to which this can be considered a victory is only very slight given the mental and physical damage that conversion therapy can cause.

While the MP that tabled the Bill, David Bahati, is adamant that the death penalty for repeated offenders should remain, Martin Ssempa, a Ugandan pastor credited as one of the main driving forces behind the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, has released a letter (.pdf, 4 pages, from Christianity Today) addressed to US pastor Rick Warren in which he attempts to counter international criticism leveled at the Bill, urges Warren to rethink his condemnation of the proposed legislation, and also says:

At a special sitting of the Uganda Joint Christian Council task force sat and reviewed the bill to make comments. We resolved to support the bill with some amendments which included the following: a. We suggested a less harsher sentence of 20 years instead of the death penalty for pedophilia or aggravated homosexuality. b. We suggested the inclusion of counseling and rehabilitation being offered to offenders and victims. The churches are willing to provide the necessary help for those who are willing to undergo counseling and rehabilitation.

You may remember that megachurch leader Rick Warren had gone to the liberty of announcing that he and his wife had severed all ties with Ssempa whom they had previously worked with as part of Warren's pastoral work.

In what he called an "extraordinary" statement that was issued earlier this month, Warren played down his connections to Uganda's religious leaders, saying that his pastoral work in Uganda was simply about spreading the teachings of Christianity.

In their ongoing (and excellent) coverage of this issue, Box Turtle Bulletin analyze Ssempa's letter further and provide evidence to show that, at least for Ssempa, Warren's trips to Uganda have served as an inspiration for the anti-gay drive.Meanwhile, international criticism of the Bill has continued. At a meeting in Strasbourg, France, on Dec. 17, EU leaders adopted a resolution opposing Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill. In the resolution, EU members went a step further than just condemning the Bill. They asked the Ugandan parliament not only to “not to approve the bill" but also "to review their laws to decriminalize homosexuality.”This is interesting, because this now becomes a challenge, not only calling for the Ugandan government to rethink their latest anti-gay bill, but to reconsider their entire vilification of homosexuals. They won't, of course, but the EU has put impetus behind its request. As previously stated, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill attempts to permit Uganda to break previous international commitments that do not correspond with the spirit of the Bill, for instance any previous treaties that promised not to make further attempts at criminalizing homosexuality. However, the EU resolution reminds Uganda of its inability to withdraw from ratified human rights treaties through the use of domestic legislation (Article 4; Joint Motion for a Resolution 0RC-B7-0258/2009). Further to this, the resolution formally warns that, should the legislation be passed by the Ugandan government, EU member states will consider cutting aid to Uganda, saying in Article 5 of the resolution:

"5. [The EU parliament is] extremely concerned that international donors, non-governmental organisations and humanitarian organisations would have to reconsider or cease their activities in certain fields should the bill pass into law."Why have EU leaders gone to such lengths? One reason could be that they fear that once Uganda adopts such massively overreaching legislation, other African countries will intensify their own institutionalized homophobia. Evidence of this already happening appeared this week when the Rwandan government announced that they too are to consider legislation that would also criminalize homosexuality. Newsweek have an interesting article on the "domino effect" that Uganda's anti-gay legislation may have in Africa. To read it, please click here. In the US, prominent political figures have also continued to condemn the Bill, while Senator John Kerry, chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee, released a statement, saying:

“I join many voices in the United States, Uganda and around the world in condemning Uganda's draft legislation imposing new and harsher penalties against homosexuality.

Discrimination in any form is wrong, and the United States must say so unequivocally. Many Ugandans are voicing concern that such a law will create witch-hunts against homosexuals, and hinder the fight against HIV/AIDS. Over the years the United States government, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has worked closely with Ugandans to combat HIV/AIDS and other public health issues; we value our relationship with Uganda's people. Given the pressing HIV/AIDS crisis Uganda is facing, this bill is extremely counterproductive.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also spoke out this week when she again condemned the Bill as she spoke to students at Georgetown University and responded to their questions:
Also noteworthy this week, Pope Benedict reiterated his opposition to what he described as "unjust discrimination" against gay men and women as well as “violations of human rights against homosexual persons.” Read more about the Pope's statement here.

As always, I'll keep you updated on this issue, including information from Uganda's parliamentary debate on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill when it becomes available. Care2 Action:Stop the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Sign the Care2 petition now, and forward it to your friends.
Find Out More at Care2:
To find out more on Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill, links to our continued coverage of this story are provided below:
Rowan Williams, Leader of the Anglican Church, Publicly Denounces Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill: Rick Warren Speaks Out While Uganda Reportedly Drops Death Penalty Clause
Ugandan Gay Death Penalty Bill: Sweden Threatens to Withdraw Aid, Should the USA?
Uganda's Gay Death Penalty Bill is 'Morally Repugnant' Says United Reform Church

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THE PETITION:

Please go to THIS LINK to sign the following petition to the Ugandan government to reconsider their bill to "kill gays".

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Uganda's Anti-Gay Bill Threatens Human Rights

Target: Yowen Kaguta Museveni, President of Uganda

Sponsored by: Care2.com
There is a dangerous proposal that threatens the human rights of LGBT people in Uganda.

If passed, Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill would start a witch-hunt for homosexuals in the country. Its punishments include:

* A 7 year jail sentence for consenting adults who have LGBT sex

* A life sentence for people in same-sex marriages

* Extradition and prosecution of LGBT Ugandans living abroad

* The death penalty for adults who have LGBT sex with minors or who communicate HIV via LGBT sex, regardless of condom usage

* Jail for anyone who doesn't report suspected LGBT activity within 24 hours

The bill also endangers HIV/AIDS programs, and may be exploited by those wanting to abolish these programs.

This proposed legislation is anti-ethical, anti-equality and anti-human rights. Tell Uganda's President Museveni that this bill is unacceptable, and that people should not be criminalized for sexual orientation or gender identity.

INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM:

BANNING CLOTHESLINES ????:

Here's a bizarre one from down USA way. It seems that "thousands" of communities in the USA have banned the good old fashioned clothesline. Strange stuff, as in many countries in Europe it is the precise opposite ie excessive use of electricity for driers is prohibited and clotheslines are considered a badge of civic responsibility. Hopefully civilization will eventually arrive in all too many US neighbourhoods. What is the cost of an energy sucking clothes drier nowadays ? I don't know because the old clunker in my basement has been running for well over 20 years. As to "property values" the idea of living in a neighbourhood where snoops have the ability to restrict the way you dry your clothes would drop the value of a house by at least 50% for me. It is doubtful that busybodies would restrict themselves to this one item. Case closed. Here's the story from the Care2 site.

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Clotheslines Banned in Thousands of U.S. Communities:
You are officially invited to join the fight to legalize it...again. No, we're not talking about the smokable plant that's gotten so many politicians in hot water. We're talking about the good old fashioned clothes line.

As families all over the nation seek out different ways to reduce their carbon footprint and save money by using less energy, many have decided to return to hanging their clothes outside to dry them. However, many have met with great disappointment when homeowner's associations and community management services have told them the lines are not allowed.

Treehugger.com reports that, "hanging clotheslines was against the rules in so many communities nationwide that state governments are being forced to step in and make it against the law to ban them. ( I like that idea-a law against passing laws. Too bad it isn't generalized-Molly )And states like Vermont and Utah have already succeeded. But the fight for the right to hang clotheslines is just getting started.

"Using an electric clothes drier can account for up to 10% of a household's total energy use, and the EPA and other environmental organizations concerned with energy conservation and energy efficiency have been telling people to purchase Energy Star appliances for years. While this is a good idea on paper, many people aren't financially able to simply go out and upgrade to a fancy new washer and dryer. However, they are being told they can't have simple outdoor clotheslines, which are much cheaper and carbon neutral.

The reason for this clothesline prejudice, at least according to the ones making the rules, is that hanging clothes is unsightly, offensive, and causes property values to drop.

"It's already hard enough to sell a house in this economy," said Frank Rathbun, a spokesman for the national Community Associations Institute, "And when it comes to clotheslines, it should be up to each community association, not state lawmakers, to set rules, much like it is with rules involving parking, architectural guidelines or pets" (via an interview in the NYTimes).

While hanging clothes all over your trees and bushes might not be the best way to make friends with the neighbors, you can hardly call a few t-shirts and pairs of jeans flapping in the breeze an offensive practice...or can you?

Richard Monson, the president of the California Association of Homeowners Associations, told Legal Affairs magazine that a clothesline in a neighborhood can lower property values by 15 percent: "Modern homeowners don't like people's underwear in public. It's just unsightly."( All the worse for "modern homeowners"-Molly )

What do you think?

FEMINISM-OKLAHOMA:

HALF WAY THERE BY THE LAW:

Here's an interesting article from the Care2 site. Seems like down Oklahoma way the ever busy evangelist nuts have managed to pass a law that that will make many details of a woman's abortion publicly available. The 'reasoning' behind such a law is obvious. I urge the readers to go to the Care2 site, not necessarily to read the article which is reprinted below but to read the comments. There are, no doubt, rational arguments against abortion, but, for the life of me, I was unable to find any such thing in the comments that followed the article. Lots of stuff about the 'forces of good' and other rhetoric that would make a Pakistani Taliban member look moderate, but nothing rational. It is no wonder that the USA is the home ground of the worst of irrational political opinion, whatever its ideological cover, from anarchist to religious extremist. I can say, as a long time 'proud hick', that this sort of thing should make anyone not "proud to be an Okie from Muskogee".

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Oklahoma Law Will Publicly Post Details of Women's Abortions Online:
posted by: Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux 2 days ago
On November 1, a law will go into effect in Oklahoma that will post personal details about every abortion performed in the state and post them on the internet. The information will be accessible via a public website, so anyone will be able to access details like the date of the abortion, the county in which the abortion was performed, the age of the mother, her marital status, and her race. Although lawmakers claim that no identifying information will be included, this kind of information could easily be used to pinpoint a woman in a small community.

Proponents of the new law say that it will reduce the number of abortions performed in the state, but I'm not sure how that will work - except by shaming women. "They're really just trying to frighten women out of having abortions," Keri Parks, director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma, told Lynn Harris, who wrote about this Wednesday for Broadsheet. The law's defenders claim that the information will be posted online for "academic" research, but the Center for Reproductive Rights points out that it will be nearly impossible to use the information for that purpose.

The other part of the law is that doctors who refuse to provide this information will face criminal sanctions and loss of their medical license - even though this feels to me like a violation of medical ethics and doctor-patient confidentiality. It also gives doctors a lot more paperwork to do. ( Well yeah, on both counts, especially the former-Molly )

The questionnaire itself does not seem to have pure scientific or sociological research-gathering in mind, as evidenced by questions like "Did the fetus receive anesthetic?" or whether "there was an infant born alive as a result of the abortion." Additionally, the website will cost upwards of “$281,285 the first year and $256,285 each subsequent year”, according to the Tulsa World News. So not only does the website violate privacy, it also will be an enormous money sink in the middle of a recession.

The bill also makes sex-selective abortion illegal, which is another subject entirely. And although I personally am against sex-selective abortion, I agree with Feminists for Choice, who say that "the real problem lies in the government stepping in and placing restrictions on the 'right' reasons for a woman to seek an abortion. It would not be a far step to assume that if the government can restrict the reasons for receiving and/or assisting in the process of an abortion, it could just as easily continue to build on these restrictions until we basically outlaw any and all reasons for seeking an abortion."

Luckily, the Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging on the law that it "covers more than one subject" (not that it violates basic civil rights, but I guess I'll take whatever loophole strikes this law down). This may seem like a bizarre lawsuit, but it worked before, when in 2008 Oklahoma almost became the proud owner of a law that required women to have an ultrasound and have the fetus described to her before she could proceed with an abortion. Hopefully the lawsuit will be successful - otherwise, best not to move to Oklahoma.
Read more: oklahoma, abortion, womens rights