The Abortion Tragedy in the Philippines

I'm so tired of the gaggle of "Pro-Life" politicians in the Philippines.  You've seen them and unfortunately heard them:  Golez, Pacquiao, Enrile, and our favorite dork of the month, Sotto, harping on about the grave dangers of condoms, pills, and IUDs.  All, of course, propped up by the Philippine Mini-Popes, i.e. the CBCP.

Look, I'm a progressive liberal.  I'm about as liberal as a person can get.  When I say liberal I mean liberal in every way:  an economic liberal, a military liberal ("a dove"), and a social liberal.  I grew up in a liberal family, in a liberal culture, in a liberal country called Norway.

In my country, RH isn't an issue.  It hasn't been an issue since...well...it's never really been an issue.  This is because the Catholic Church holds absolutely no sway in Norway.  None.  The pope never visits us because we honestly don't want him to.  (We think he's a bigot, to be quite honest with you.)  In my country the government's been giving out free condoms and birth control pills since the 1960s,  and the state doesn't interfere in a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body.

I love me some Wanda Sykes!

Well-known American comedienne and actress Wanda Sykes is absolutely awesome.  Anytime I watch any of her stand-up comedy shows or acting spots on TV and in movies, I just can't stop laughing.  She's comedy gold if you ask me.  Her most recent film work was as the voice of Sid's Granny in Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Wanda is happily married to her wife, Alex, who hails from France.

In response to the recently released 2012 Republican Party Platform, which includes an idiotic proposal to write an amendment to the US constitution to ban same-sex marriage, Wanda's sense of humor shined through on television interviews.

According to Wanda (and common sense in general), the hard right shouldn't be threatened by marriage equality:

Democratic Party Platform Endorses Marriage Equality

In a series of speeches peppered repeatedly with references of the right of same-sex couples to marry, including from First Lady Michelle Obama and high profile Latino Catholic politicians, the first night of the Democratic National Convention in the U.S. was very memorable.

A huge congratulations to my American Democrat friends, whose party has, as of today, officially adopted a platform that solidly supports marriage equality for all.  This is the first time a major U.S. political party has officially endorsed same-sex marriage, and it's a very, very big moment for equality in America.

Under the heading "Freedom to Marry," the 2012 Democratic National Platform states:

Leaders Who Listen to Reason Rather than Bishops

"I believe it would be a terrible distortion of democracy if the majorities – the actions of those majorities – denied rights to the minorities."
- Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina
(A Catholic president in a majority-Catholic country, by the way, which today has marriage equality.)



  

"Mentalities have changed. There is no longer any reason not to open marriage to people of the same sex." 

- Marc Verwilghen, Fmr. JM of Belgium
(Said in 2003, just prior to marriage equality passage.)