Thanks, Dr.M (Part 7,492)

W00t! Still standing up for our rights!:

"Abortion provider Dr. Henry Morgentaler has the legal right to challenge the New Brunswick government's policy on abortion funding, a judge has ruled.

Morgentaler is trying to force the government to pay for abortions done at his private Fredericton clinic. Currently, women pay the $750 fee themselves, while the province only pays for abortions approved by two physicians and performed at an approved hospital."

Niiiiiiice, it sounds like New Brunswick has something reminiscent of the old "therapeutic abortion committees" that existed nationwide prior to R. v. Morgentaler. What travesties: before being "approved" for an abortion, women would have to plead their case before "committees" (usually men, and often stacked with anti-choicers), a humiliating process that just added to the gestation time of the pregnancy. Talk about the Dark Ages.

"In a decision made public this week, New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench Judge Paulette Garnett rejected the province's argument, saying Morgentaler has the legal right to take the case to court."

Where he'll hopefully win.

Some oppose funding the Morgentaler clinics (and other womens' health clinics that perform abortions) because they're private clinics, not hospitals. But this argument falls flat on its face right out of the gate because it conveniently overlooks the fact that most medical practices are private businesses that bill the Ministry of Health for their services. The Morgentaler clinics are no different from any other ob-gyn clinic in that respect. As long as we have a healthcare system that funds medical procedures, there's no non-ideological reason to oppose funding for this one.

Go Dr. Henry! (And as always, thanks.)

(h/t: birth pangs)

Anti-choice = cheapass

Surprise surprise: taxpayers can't dictate which medical procedures their tax dollars fund:

"An anti-abortion crusader who refused to file his tax returns as a form of protest has been found guilty of three counts of failing to pay taxes and ordered to pay a fine.

David Little refused to file his income tax returns between 2000 and 2002 because he felt the federal government was funding abortion procedures." [...]

"Judge Leslie Jackson handed down the 62-year-old's sentence in Fredericton on Friday. Little has been told he must pay $3,000 or spend 66 days in jail."

Oh, boo-freakin'-hoo, break out the violins. But wait... Fredericton? Fredericton, New Brunswick? New Brunswick is one of the most disgustingly difficult places to get an abortion in the whole country. Women have to jump through so many hoops getting the procedure "approved" that most end up spending $500 to get it done at the Morgentaler Clinic. Mr. Little has little to beef about.

Or is something else going on?

Interesting that the taxes Numbnuts is refusing to pay are from two non-consecutive years, and five to seven years ago at that. If he's been paying his taxes like a good little boy in the interim, that doesn't help his credibility as a civil disobedience crusader -- in fact, it kind of looks like he's just trying to get out of paying taxes for those two years. Correction, it really looks like he's just trying to get out of paying taxes for those two years.

So what now? Rather than pay the $3000 fine, maybe he'll do a little time and when he gets out -- still have to pay the taxes! Why? Because that's the way democracy works, we don't get to cherrypick where our tax dollars go. If we did... well, goodbye separate school funding. See ya 'round, tax-exempt status for churches. Do they really want to go down that road? Didn't think so.