The People vs the Sky Monster

The Independent : The Vatican is calling on Catholics and their organisations to boycott Amnesty International if, as expected, Amnesty affirms a policy of abortion for rape and incest victims.

Note that Amnesty is not declaring abortion to be a basic human right here but is attempting to come to grips with its own field reports :

"Darfur is not the first place in the world where military conquerors have used mass rape to subdue a population but the report put together by Amnesty International observers in the region in 2004 was particularly harrowing. As well as being traumatised, the victims were frequently injured or afflicted with sexual transmitted diseases, and left to cope alone with unwanted children. One survivor said: "Five to six men would rape us, one after the other, for hours during six days, every night. My husband could not forgive me after this. He disowned me."

Even in countries where the law permits abortion for rape victims, women who seek the operation can encounter a wall of obstruction. In Peru, a 17-year-old girl discovered that her foetus had anencephaly - meaning that it was going to be born without a brain - but a doctor refused to allow her access to an abortion. She was compelled to give birth and breastfeed the child for four days before it died."

Amnesty's deputy general secretary, Kate Gilmore :

"Amnesty International stands alongside the victims and survivors of human rights violations. Our policy reflects our obligation of solidarity as a human rights movement with, for example, the rape survivor in Darfur who, because she is left pregnant as a result of the enemy, is further ostracised by her community. Ours is a movement dedicated to upholding human rights, not specific theologies. Our purpose invokes the law and the state, not God."

Sorry, Amnesty, but in any contest between humans and the Imaginary Sky Monster, the Vatican will always first protect their position as the Sky Monster's chief earthly interpretors.

Here's an "innovative solution to the abortion debate" I think the Vatican could get behind though :

"NEW YORK—Pro-life advocates celebrated approval of the new anti-abortion drug UR-86 by the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday, calling it a "safe and effective method" for terminating pregnant women while leaving their unborn children unharmed.
Pfizer, manufacturer of UR-86—dubbed the "last-morning-ever pill"—said the drug is intended only for occasions when the mind-set or politics of the mother threaten the life of the fetus."

Yeah, ok, that one was from The Onion
But this isn't.
Birth Pangs reports that in the US, "36 states have some sort of fetal homicide law."

Which ever wave you happen to find yourself on at the moment, Canadian feminists, stay vigilant out there.