On “personhood” and what it means to be a non-person in Canada

The Famous Five, gagged. This is what it’s coming down to, folks.

Well. How about that “debate” in the House of Commons today? Or should I say, that NON-debate? Because the legal status of zygotes, embryos and fetuses in Canada is really not up for debate anymore. This “debate” was settled in 1988, as far as abortion goes.

And it was settled even earlier, as far as the legal status of women goes. Although I find it shocking that we women — whom this proposed non-debate would affect most, after all — were not legally persons here until 1929, still, one would think that the personhood rights the Famous Five won us were legally binding and thus eternal.

Unfortunately, someone doesn’t see it that way.

Stephen Fucking Woodworth — yes, let’s call him by his full, right name here — is a believer in science only insofar as it supports his notions of a sky-pixie who would actually WANT women and girls to become pregnant willy-nilly, even by their own relatives and who knows what other abusers. And he thinks his sky-pixie wants the law to compel us to stay that way, even when it endangers our very lives.

In short, Stephen Fucking Woodworth doesn’t see women as legal persons, only as incubators for “legal persons”. And those incubators must be forced to incubate, even if it violates our constitutional and charter rights to make it so.

Does this sound like much of a “debate” to you, so-called-progressive bloggers who STILL don’t get it?

Unfortunately, living, breathing women don’t matter much to the Harper Government™. Nothing drove that home to me more than the case of Veronica Castro. She was deported back to her native Mexico for being an Illegal Person, apparently…and it cost her her life. She was beaten and robbed (and, ultimately, killed) by the same human-smugglers she was paying to help her get out of Mexico. Where she feared for her life. Why did she fear for her life? She was an abused woman.

And the Harper Government™…well, we all know how they feel about THEM.

Perhaps Veronica Castro would have had better luck if she were still a bun in the oven. At least then, some concern troll on Parliament Hill would try to reopen the nonexistent debate on whether she counted as a person or not.

As it stands, the non-debate has adjourned until June. Too late for Veronica, but not too late for the rest of us. Time to mobilize, and pressure your MP. Yes, even the SupposiTories are not in lockstep on this issue. If they want to play wedge politics with women’s lives, let’s turn the wedge on them and bust the fraudulent fake majority of the Harper Government™ wide open.

The Famous Five would approve.