There is nothing enlightened about abortion. And now that cameras can see into the womb, life is undeniable. Now that preemies survive life outside the womb at a younger age than many of those aborted, the barbarism of this practice is clear to those who have eyes to see.As a matter of advancing the cause of women, why is someone who treats her body as a commodity to be admired?Why is a woman with so little self-respect as to have sex without commitment to be admired?

On July 1, Canada Day, Governor-General Michaëlle Jean's list of inductees to the Order of Canada was announced. It's usually a pretty ho-hum affair which "recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation" and really not that exciting unless you actually know someone who is receiving it. This announcement was anything but boring. On the list was one name that caused Canadians to lose their collective minds - Henry Morgentaler. Words that come to mind when people say that name range from life-saver, to murderer, to abortionist.

Sort of like how each episode of Sesame Street amusingly was sponsored by a few letters and numbers, today's post is sponsored by irony. Generally when I want to write something about reproductive rights, the first sites that match my search terms are ones that inevitably lead me to websites like prochoice.com, which is not remotely pro-choice and contains inaccurate information about abortion, complete with an extremely freakish waving fetus and a lecture on how parenthood is hard and you can never be prepared for it anyway, so just go ahead and carry a pregnancy to term because there are absolutely no costs associated with child birth or raising children that people should prepare themselves for. Today, I wanted to find some sites that participated in The Pill Kills Day '08, which took place this past Saturday, June 7. Of course, initially all I could find was commentary on how horrific and misleading this campaign is.

Have I told you lately how much I love how smart this community is? Here's what I'm on about: Over the weekend, BlogHer community member Valiens of A Brain Like Mine blogged great questions about the BlogHers Act fundraiser to save women's lives: "I'm wondering whether the women's health care available in any given country is able to provide birth control in any meaningful way, and I'm wondering what the general attitude and practice is among the providers in the various countries about abortion....I'm also wondering if any of the organizations being supported are specifically political in nature, or in support of, or being supported by, political organizations, and which ones they are, and what their mission statements propose. Again, this could be an important factor regarding donations. Transparency is most desirable.On top of that, I'm willing to say I have some potential donors who would have questions about vaccinations, AIDS treatments, religious involvements...more" I love Valiens' questions because it gives me an opening to talk more about BlogHer's philosophy for our BlogHers Act fundraiser, and why we chose to work with GlobalGiving to support five projects we deliberately selected with an eye to exactly the issues she raises. Here goes...

Is John McCain a Pro-Choice Republican? Would you vote for him if he was? There seems to be a lot of confusion over whether or not John McCain is pro-choice or pro-life. Why is that? Up until a few hours ago, I would have said I thought he was pro-choice. Maybe it has something to do with Republicans For Choice supporting John McCain?

I wasn't always pro-life. In the early '90's, I was a card-carrying, sign-waving, Clinton-campaigning pro-choicer.  I held to the notion that a fetus couldn't fully be life, since it was dependent entirely on another for its existence.  And I believed the notion that abortion is unfortunate, but it wasn't any of the government's business.

A man purposefully puts RU-486 in a woman's drink, causing her to miscarry, not just once but twice (CNN News clip). This is truly a heinous crime and an affront to a woman's right to choose. A woman's reproductive rights are sacred, and just as no man should be allowed to force a woman to have a child if she is not ready, no man should be able to force her to lose a child if she is choosing to keep it.