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Abortion advice: long on abstinence, short on evidence

by Guest    
July 8, 2011 at 1:05 pm

contribution by Darinka Aleksic

If you were pregnant and needed advice, and saw this ad in the Yellow Pages, you might give them a ring.

Considering Abortion? Free Pregnancy Testing Information & Advisory Service, Quick & Confidential.

Unfortunately, the Albany Women’s Centre, who posted this advert at Yell.com, failed to mention is that they don’t offer any medical services and they are, in fact, opposed to abortion in principle.

Yesterday, following a complaint made by the charity Education for Choice, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the Albany ad was misleading and must not appear again in its current form.
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Nadine Dorries claims backing for her campaign but it’s not so simple

by Unity    
July 5, 2011 at 9:03 am

Yesterday, Conservative MP Nadine Dorries posted a press release on her blog, claiming that the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) backed the amendment that she and Frank Field MP have put forward.

The amendment calls for ‘independent’ abortion counselling for women who want an abortion, with the aim of excluding respected organisations such as BPAS and others, and is tacked to the contentious Health and Social Care Bill.

She wrote:
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Let’s not get derailed in discussing violence against women

by Guest    
June 24, 2011 at 2:28 pm

contribution by Ray Filar

It’s the same every time. A feminist politician or campaign group proposes a patently sensible idea, and the derailing begins.

The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) report is a comprehensive study on the massive prevalence of violence against women and girls, calling on Michael Gove to make a priority of educating against sexism in schools.

Great stuff. Simple common sense, even; unless you are generally in favour of violence against women. But developments like these are a starting horn for discussion derailers.
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Poor kids need a voice, not pity

by Owen Jones    
June 18, 2011 at 12:00 pm

I was far from alone in feeling angry – as well as moved to the point of tears – by the BBC’s Poor Kids documentary. Angry that nearly one in three children grow up in poverty in the world’s sixth biggest economy; that most kids living in poverty are in a household where at least one adult works; and that 13 years of New Labour rule failed to reverse the bulk of the social damage bequeathed by Thatcherism.

But what made me perhaps angriest was the fact that it has taken a one-off documentary from the BBC to give Britain’s poor – all 13.5 million of them – a platform.
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What Labour should learn from Coronation Street

by Chris Dillow    
June 18, 2011 at 10:00 am

There’s a delightful symmetry in the fact that Corrie’s Graeme and Xin storyline climaxed on the same day that Ed Miliband complained about “those on benefits who were abusing the system.”

That speech produced what Sue calls a “gasp of horror” from the disabled and the Left generally.

You shouldn’t need me to point out that complaints about benefit abuse is an example of the right’s “small truth, big error” rhetorical trick. But I will: continue reading… »

Cameron’s Cuddliest Conservatives

by Guest    
June 17, 2011 at 4:01 pm

Contribution by Sarah Hayward

Fridays are normally a bit of non-event as far as Parliament is concerned. But it’s always worth checking out what backbenchers are up to. Today saw the second reading of Christopher Chope’s private member’s effort, the Employment Opportunities Bill. Among the provisions of the attractively-titled Bill was an opt-out on the national minimum wage.

Yes. It seems despite Cameron’s best detoxification efforts, and embracing of Labour’s landmark policy, there’s still a rump of Tories willing to support efforts to lower wages for the least well-off, ironically and inversely pushing up the welfare bill for those benefits that are linked to income, but that’s another blog.
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How Liam Byrne could help save his career through welfare reform

by Don Paskini    
June 14, 2011 at 2:30 pm

Liam Byrne is currently one of Labour’s most important politicians. He combines his role in co-ordinating the party’s policy review with leading for Labour on Work and Pensions. His hobbies include “banging on” about immigration, deficit reduction and welfare reform.

But in fewer than eighteen months, his political career is almost certainly going to be over. Here’s why and how the principles of responsibility and reciprocity could help him save his job, while at the same time helping reform the welfare state for the better.
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Leave them kids alone: on sexualisation

by Guest    
June 10, 2011 at 11:36 am

contribution by Reni Eddo-Lodge

My four year old sister has a pink pair of plastic high heeled shoes. She also has a red scooter that she rides along the street, picking up and collecting the elastic bands that postmen drop on their rounds. She wears those shoes and collects bands just for fun.

Yet when I first saw her teetering about the house in these heels I panicked. In my grown up mind, a high heel is a shoe designed to make the leg look elongated and sexually appealing. My instinctive protectiveness made me want to snatch away the shoes, to have her running around in trainers again.
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Yes, inequality does kill and here’s the proof

by Chris Dillow    
June 9, 2011 at 3:37 pm

In The Spirit Level, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett claim that “unequal societies are almost always unhealthy societies.”

Some new research provides laboratory evidence for this.

Armin Falk and colleagues conducted a simple experiment. They split people into pairs. One person had to do a tedious job, of counting the number of zeros on sheets of numbers, with the pair being paid according to the number of correct answers.
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Do voters really want Labour to be more right-wing?

by Don Paskini    
June 8, 2011 at 1:19 pm

The Guardian reports that “voters want a tough responsibilities agenda, similar to that of New Labour”, based on submissions to Labour’s policy review process. Respondents want to cut crime and anti-social behaviour, reform welfare and reduce immigration, protect wage levels, cut international aid to “look after our own first”, be more Eurosceptic, reform banks and cut bankers’ bonuses, reduce tuition fees, reverse police cuts, increase apprenticeships and expand youth services.

Some thoughts on this. continue reading… »

Worrying lessons from the ‘Gay Free Zone’ conviction

by Guest    
June 7, 2011 at 6:37 pm

contribution by Peter Tatchell

Last week Mohammed Hasnath, aged 18, was convicted for posting homophobic stickers in London’s East End. The stickers declared the area a “Gay Free Zone” among other things.

Clearly, such homophobic prejudice needs to be challenged. There are, however, a number of troubling aspects to Hasnath’s conviction.
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Should science be central or a side-show in the abortion debate?

by zohra    
June 7, 2011 at 11:10 am

There was a great turn-out last night at the pro-choice meeting that Jess McCabe and Sunny Hundal organized.

The discussion was wide-ranging, with some excellent speaking from Diane Abbott MP, Abortion Rights and Education for Choice. One of the topics I raised and I’d like to explore further is the ethical – and political – case for women’s access to abortion.
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Baby names and the storm in a teacup

by Guest    
May 30, 2011 at 4:28 pm

contribution by Jennie Kermode

A Canadian couple’s decision to raise their baby without declaring it a boy or a girl has sparked controversy across the media. But what, ultimately, is all the fuss about? How has the home life of one small child come to reveal such deep-seated hysteria about our relationship with gender?

Let’s get one thing clear from the start. This is about the baby’s home life. Nobody has suggested that ‘Storm’ should be forbidden to express a gender or should only ever be allowed to play with gender neutral, politically correct toys.
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But who will think about the kids?

by Flying Rodent    
May 29, 2011 at 10:40 pm

What’s not to love about this story?

A Toronto couple are defending their decision to keep their infant’s sex a secret in order to allow the child to develop his or her own gender identity… The boys are encouraged to choose their own clothing and hairstyles – even if that means wearing girls’ clothes – and to challenge gender norms.

Now, the caveat – people are free to raise their rugrats as they see fit. If Mum and Dad want to encourage junior to develop his or her own gender identity, it’s certainly not for me to interfere. That said, why not go the whole hog and name the poor kid Gaylord MacWoofter, then spend the next eighteen years flushing its head in the toilet themselves?
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What does the objectification of Pippa Middleton say about our culture?

by Guest    
May 21, 2011 at 2:00 pm

contribution by Matt McCormack Evans

Despite the relative plainness of Ms Pippa Middleton’s attire at the Royal Wedding, there has been a huge world-wide response to her wearing something not even especially tight.

She had a modest hair-do, no jewellery to really speak of, and was dressed in a fairly simple, white dress. It shouldn’t matter what she was wearing but I make mention of it to highlight that no matter what one wears, the objectification still takes place.
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How Ken Clarke could redeem himself

by Guest    
May 19, 2011 at 8:17 pm

contribution by Emma Poole

I’m not sure it’s a task anyone could achieve but if he followed the little bit of “soapbox” advice I’m going to give here, then it’d help redeem him in my eyes.

As you may be aware I am a rape survivor. Luckily it wasn’t a “serious” rape as he didn’t punch me at the same time! To me though, it has been a curse.
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Assange, Strauss-Kahn: don’t rush to judgement

by Dave Osler    
May 16, 2011 at 1:37 pm

Nobody in their right mind should come to strident conclusions about rape allegations on the basis of preliminary newspaper reports. That does not stop some people doing just that.

When Sweden began extradition proceedings against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for alleged sexual offences last year, the default assumption of many of his political backers was that this simply had to be a set up.

Take this article from one leftwing publication, for instance. No mention is made of the substance of the accusations he faces, and there is a blanket assertion that he should not be sent to Stockholm, presumably in any circumstances.
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The EDL and Islamophobia should have no place in the LGBT community

by Guest    
April 27, 2011 at 6:55 pm

contribution by Pav Akhtar

Last month sympathisers of the English Defence League (EDL), including a founder member of the far right group, were the core initiators of a proposed ‘East End Gay Pride’ march through Tower Hamlets.

LGBT GROUPS in the local area and BME LGBT groups and SAFRA statement, were united in opposing them. These responses were pivotal in preventing the far right from organising under the Pride flag to progress an entirely different goal – of isolating and demonising Muslim communities.
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A good week for employment… if women are ignored

by Guest    
April 16, 2011 at 10:34 am

contribution by Scarlett Harris

This week’s unemployment figures came as a welcome surprise to many people as Richard Exell points out at Left Foot Forward.

As Richard explains, the rise in employment and the drop in unemployment seem to be genuinely good news and not masking a boom in “atypical” work such as temporary or self-employed jobs. So, good news all round then? Alas, not for women.
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Leaked document: How far does Nadine Dorries want to restrict abortion rights?

by Unity    
April 8, 2011 at 9:15 am

A document obtained by myself indicates that Conservative MP Nadine Dorries’ recently launched Right to Know campaign could be part of long-term strategy to secure the complete prohibition of abortion in the UK on any grounds.

Dorries recently put forward two abortion-related amendments to the Government’s Health and Social Care Bill.
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