I took this picture in the fall. I haven't posted it until now because I've been so nervous about the amount of drama potential of posting it. Fear of being shouted down and demonized for a simple picture. I'm not pro-life, just thought this shot was interesting and had turned out well — but that I am required to explain myself and my reasoning for posting a photograph says something to me about the political climate and what it says isn't good.

The abortion debate is something I've wrestled with for some time. I've finally developed a philosophy surrounding it that I feel comfortable with.

First, a fetus, embryo, or zygote is as a life. Period. It is not just a random clump of cells, it is a growing and developing life. Its dependence on another life does not make it any less of a life itself — all animal life is dependant on other life.

More that that — a human fetus, human embryo, or human zygote is a human life.

At this point, many of you might be assuming I'm pro-life. This is not the case, I am still pro-choice. Why? Because we still have the right to make choices about our bodies. The analogy I draw is this: Person X needs a kidney transplant or they will die. The only matching potential donor is Person Y. Person Y has the right to choose not to donate a kidney to Person X. There are plenty of reasons Person Y might choose not to donate their kidney, such as fear of medical complications, religious beliefs, or even worry about the impact having surgery could potentially have on their future productivity. While Person Y may or may not come to regret their decision themself, what Person Y chooses to do with their body is their choice and it is not for other's to judge their reasoning or morality in that regard.

Essentially, a pregnant woman should not be required to sacrifice the control of her body in favor of another (in this case the unborn child). To do so is to deprive the woman of her rights to control her body.

A tenth of two to five-year-olds have a serious psychiatric illness, yet most cases are being missed, warn experts. The problems go beyond tantrums and bad behaviour and impact negatively on all aspects of an infant's life, the Institute of Psychiatry will hear. And failure to spot and treat these conditions early is causing unnecessary distress and suffering. Mental health services need to be geared towards very young children as a matter of urgency, they said. full story

Keep your fucking poisons away from the little kids, alright? This "early treatment" crap is being pushed in the United States as well. The FDA has even approved SSRIs for such "diseases" as "Separation Anxiety Disorder", which essentially is when your kid doesn't like being left at preschool or daycare and cries about it a bit "too much". I can't imagine the amount of damage these psychoactive drugs are doing to the developing minds of the very young kids that are being given them right down to the age of toddlers. Soon they'll be giving Prozac to fetuses that don't kick enough.