Signal-Boosting: Abortion Law Reform

The Hand Mirror wants you to write to your local MPs to tell them to support Steve Chadwick, and so do I.

Listen up: it's vital not to get complacent about the state of abortion in New Zealand. There is a wide misperception that we have abortion available on demand. We do not. After a terrible defeat in the late 1970s, what we have is a law which says that women may only have an abortion if it threatens their health. Of late this bill has been interpreted in such a way that mental health is also considered - but women still have to see two consultants and get them to approve their decision about what to do with their own body. Bloggers at THM have written tonnes about abortion and accessing it in New Zealand under their abortion tag, but the long and the short of it is that abortion is tough to access here and it's worse for poor women. Even if you don't think having an abortion should be made legally easier (for I feel that, irregardless of the legalty, having an abortion will always be a difficult decision for any woman) the social inequities must be fixed, and this bill should help.

So please, write to your MPs while Chadwick is soliciting their support. And don't be complacent.

Seriously?

OK, look, as a mature adult and a slash fan I have come to appreciate Draco a lot more over the last few years. I even enjoy post-series Harry/Draco now, although I pretty much blame blythely for that. However, since as we all know HP fandom is the size of a blimp and like everyone my age I know the canon backwards, I enjoy taking a refreshing dip into giant-squid-infested waters every now and then when I'm between reading fandoms.

But seriously. SERIOUSLY. You know that period during sixth year when Draco was trying to kill Dumbledore and instead nearly kills a couple of other people, you know, Ron and Katie? THAT WAS ACTUALLY HIS FAULT. Like, yes, he was under pressure and that's horrible and sad and I generally wouldn't approve of the idea of being super-punitive towards a sixteen-year-old boy. BUT HE DID HAVE A CHOICE, OK. The thing about Draco is that he is CONSTANTLY being given choices by everyone around him - more choice, frankly, than either Tom Riddle or Harry fucking Potter ever had. And he certainly had more resources than some of his fellow Death Eaters at Hogwarts (Crabbe and Goyle, for example.) Everyone around Draco reaches out to him particularly doing sixth year.

So you don't get - I mean, you really do not get to just say "Oh, Katie Bell's being awkward around you? How horrible of her! That wasn't your fault!" I mean, seriously! a) IT WAS HIS FAULT and b) Even if it WASN'T his fault, come on! Why shouldn't she be awkward! He nearly killed her! He placed her under the Imperius curse, an "Unforgiveable" (har har har) may I add!

Seriously!!!!!!!!!

It's still weirdly easy for me to get het up over HP. I have no idea why.