Reproductive Rights

A collection of 76 posts

COVID crisis

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: God Loves Abortion

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

COVID crisis

Bill Maher Roasted by Katie Porter

Katie Porter, as a freshman congresswoman, has been making waves, especially in congressional hearings. She's definitely one to watch out for and has been consistently bringing her expertise from her previous working life to the fore. Bill Maher is one of those characters whom people either love or

COVID crisis

Christian Pro-Life Lobby Isn't, You Know, Pro-Life

Yes, I know this isn't a particularly original observation, but it is something I feel I have to say in light of the request to take LGBT people out of an anti-lynching bill. As I reported yesterday, a Christian group wants to be able to lynch gay people.

COVID crisis

The Religious Right & Project Blitz

I have written before about how the religious right is raising their game to capitalise on the chaos and distraction caused by Trump in order to pass laws concerning abortion. This move to force their pious views and hardline Christian values upon American society is part of an organised and

Alabama

The Stupidity of Abortion Lawmakers

Let's whet your appetite: how did abortions get banned faster than assault rifles— Tay☁️ (@taywildin) 15 May 2019 Birth control? BAN IT!!Abortion? BAN IT!! What about guns? Look, banning things never works. People will find ways to get them#AlabamaAbortionBan — Debbie Redd (@DREDD_48) 15 May 2019

COVID crisis

America, Sort It Out! Abortion Rates Go Down When Countries Make It Legal

Wow, things have really taken a turn for the worse. You blink, and states in the US suddenly go nuts. Here is what happens when you concentrate with a one track mind on President Trump and forgets to keep an eye on everything else. Before I get into what has

COVID crisis

‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Abortion Law Signed by Georgia Governor

Oh dear. I guess this means some incoming lawsuits. I hope so, at any rate. This is from The New York Times: Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation on Tuesday, effectively banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, when doctors

COVID crisis

Pro-Life Argument from a Zygote's Internal Self-Organisation

Today, I want to look at a pro-life argument proposed recently by Vincent Torley. It looks at human development differing and being special on account of internal self-organisation. Let Vincent explain: Professor Condic goes on to explain (on page 11) that the embryonic development differs in one crucial respect from

COVID crisis

Dealing with some Pro-Life Arguments: Human Individuals

Vincent Torley recently hit a thread with a sizeable comment regarding his pro-life stance. I will post the whole comment here, and will try to deal with most of it, though it might take some unpicking, so if I miss some pertinent aspects, be sure to let me know. Let

Catholic sex abuse scandal

Catholic Commenters, the Pope, Nuns and Their Abortions

Our regular fervent Catholic commenter recently stated these gems: I don’t believe the words of the Bible. Nobody does. Bible believers believe what they think the Bible’s words mean. In other words, they don’t believe the Bible, they believe their interpretation of the Bible. I believe the

crime

Quote of the Day: 3lemenope on Gaming and Violence

This is a discussion-provoking quote from 3lemenope on the subject of whether violent computer games cause greater prevalence for violence in society. This is so often a subject for debate and the data isn't always what people would expect. Research has led to mixed results and claims of

COVID crisis

High Court upholds ban on abortion clinic protests

Ealing Council has been engaged in trying to enforce a buffer zone around abortions clinics in its jurisdiction. This has been met with great support from the pro-choice advocates in the UK, but with less joy from the pro-lifers. Obviously. Good news is that the decision to do so has

COVID crisis

Iowa approves 'most restrictive abortion bill in US'

Oh dear. The BBC: The US state of Iowa has approved an abortion law banning most abortions once a foetal heartbeat is detected. Republican lawmakers passed the bill in back-to-back votes, sending it to the governor's desk to sign into law. If it comes into effect the bill

COVID crisis

Debating Abortion: Potential Humans - Produce as Many Real Ones as Possible!

Quite often, in the abortion debate, one hears the "potential Mother Theresa" or potential human (being) argument. Potentiality is quite problematic. After all, any given human is also a potential mass murderer or potential Hitler. Potentiality, as a concept, is rather dubious at best. The idea is that

abstracts

What Is Personhood? Setting the Scene.

I recently gave a talk on personhood to the University of the Third Age at one of my local schools. My talk was the first one of a day that was designed to look at what it means to be a human. After my piece, an evolutionary behavioural scientist gave

Reproductive Rights

Ealing Council introduces pioneering measure to protect women from harassment outside abortion clinics

This sort of thing - the move to protect people from abortion clinic harassment - has been bubbling under the radar in the UK recently. This is from Humanists UK: Ealing Council has voted in favour of introducing a public spaces protection order preventing anti-choice protesters from accosting, intimidating or

COVID crisis

Government Won't Accept UN Recommendations on Abortion and LGBT Discrimination in Northern Ireland

This has come from Humanists UK: The Government has published its response to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. The UN’s report, published last month, highlighted the lack of sexual and reproductive rights and discrimination

Church

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Abortion and Same-Sex Marriage

The phenomenon that is Jacob Rees-Mogg in UK politics is an interesting one. He is the quintessential English "gentleman" politician - an upper classed toff of a Conservative MP who appears to fulfil all the stereotypes you can muster. And I'm not just goint OTT here

COVID crisis

Indian court rejects abortion for 10-year-old rape victim

Oh completely dear. Thi is what happens when you stick to strict rules without seeing the common sense in reality. A change in law is desperately needed here, methinks. The BBC: India's Supreme Court has refused to allow an abortion for a 10-year-old girl, allegedly raped by her

climate change

The UK Government Is Very Open about Its Bribery and Hypocrisy

Recently (for my more international readers), the UK electorate was involved in a snap election because the Prime Minister, Theresa May, looked at her massive lead in the polls and saw that she was about to enter into vital negotiations with the EU over Brexit. In order to have the

COVID crisis

Does Missouri Bill Let Employers Fire People Who Use Birth Control?

This was reported a week ago, and may not be news to some of you. There seems to be a lot of this sort of governance and bill-passing going on at the moment. As Feministing reported last week: Yesterday, the Missouri House voted to pass SB 5, a bill imposing

COVID crisis

Jail for Driving Someone to an Abortion?

Texas lawmakers are trying it on, and it's not looking good because the Senate accepted House amendments the bill and it now heads to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk for his approval. What is the bill? Well, as the Texas Observer states: The Observer spoke to several other

COVID crisis

Referendum on Abortion Announced in Ireland

This long-overdue news comes from Humanists UK: Ireland’s newly elected Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced that a referendum will be held in 2018 on the issue of repealing the eighth amendment of the Irish constitution, which strictly prohibits abortion in nearly all circumstances. Varadkar announced the planned referendum alongside

catholicism

Citizens’ Assembly calls for wide access to abortion in Republic of Ireland

This has come from the British Humanist Association: The Citizens’ Assembly, a public forum of 99 members set up to advise the Irish Government on public ethical issues, has voted 52 to 29 to recommend reform of Ireland’s constitution to allow abortion without restriction for up to 12 weeks,

COVID crisis

Texas Anti-masturbation Bill Coming closer to Being Law

Sometimes, to illustrate the ridiculous, you must analogise, or logically mimic. These techniques are the best friends of philosophers since they show that "if you accept that, then you must accept this, and this is ridiculous". A $100 fine for masturbating is being argued for by Texas State