Bodily Integrity? Whose choice?

Firstly apologies for the lack of posting around here the last couple of days. I am in the middle of doing up my thesis proposal at the moment so that is kind of consuming my life at the moment.

I watched a documentary in Katherine's Sexualities & stigma class last night, Like a Ship in the Night by Melissa Thomson. It is the human story of 3 women from various parts of Ireland-North and South and from very different class backgrounds. However these women have one thing in common, they made a decision at some stage within their lives to have a termination of a pregnancy, otherwise known as an Abortion. It is not your traditional abortion documentary that some of us may have seen in Secondary school religious class, where they talk about the physical medical act of abortion and describe the operation in excruciating detail. I will say now, that whilst I personally may not necessarily like the idea of abortion-and I accept that this is my Catholic upbringing being brought to bear on my morality-I am very much more pro-choice about the issue. I appreciate that this may not necessarily go down well with some people but I will ask you to think about the Hobbesian version of liberty, which entitles you to enjoy your own personal human liberty and do whatever you want to do, so long as you do not affect the personal liberty of another independent human actor. I invariably live my life by that rule.

I decided I needed to do this post because this work affected me. The reason I think it affected me so much was the stories reflected a constant sense of burning shame which was felt by these women who shared their stories. Even when this was made, for some of them some 20 years later, all of their faces were not shown during the interviews.


If I am honest, it was probably the first time in 23 years that I have had to engage with the issue of abortion properly, despite my previous experiences in School. I do remember one of the most memorable arguments I had with one of my grandmothers was in 2002, around the time of the last of the Referenda on the issue. Despite the fact that I was unable to vote on the referenda, I was very much intrigued in the law and how it affected people's lives even when I was 17. I was arguing my point about pro-choice. My grandmother the opposite. Eventually my mother had to interject the conversation and tell her son to relax and go make a cup of tea for my grandmother.

That theme of invisible societal shame, that came with making a decision and going through with it AND enduring the consequences of that decision was almost tangible in that documentary. One of the quotes which struck me completly from the DVD was from:

"And yet spiritually or morally I knew it wasn’t an easy decision. It wasn’t that I was going off reveling in my decision. What happened was it was very complicated. I was in a kind of a climate in Ireland where abortion was a crime, where women were filthy criminals who went to England to have an abortion, and they should be stopped at all cost. And yet I had a huge amount of grief round making that choice. I didn’t want to have had to make that choice. I got pregnant. I had been using contraception. The contraception failed. I hadn’t been irresponsible. I was a young woman where I had my whole life before me and I dearly fervently wanted that life. I wanted to have as much control over that life as I could. And to be forced into a pregnancy against my wishes because a large group of people in the country that I was living in didn’t approve of my choices and my lifestyle, you know what I mean, it was just too much for me. I just decided: “No, his is the life I want to try and give myself a chance to have. I don’t want to be tied at home with child, much as I love children, much as I love my friends’ and family’s children, not right now, hank you very much.” You know, so, it was very liberating, and it was very important."
- L. via Transcripts, They left like ships in the Night(2006)

"where women were filthy criminals who went to England to have an abortion and they should be stopped at all cost" . This statement astounded me. Filthy Criminals, who "should be stopped at all cost". I am sorry but seriously! I know these women had her termination in the 1983 after the first Referenda on Abortion when no information was allowed to be given to women who were in this situation. Whilst information is now given out by the Irish Family Planning Agency & Positive Options campaign, we still export our "problem" to another jurisdiction i.e. the United Kingdom, because abortion is illegal in the North and South.

There is according to these documentary 40-50 women leaving the North every week to go to the UK. It also estimated that there are some 180 women leaving from the South every week to go to the UK. That is some 220 women a week north and south going to have a termination. Roughly 880 people a month. Roughly 10560 women a year. If we take just in the last 25 years(since the first referendum on the issue) that that figure has remained constant, that is 264,000 women who have been unable to defend their right to the integrity of their own bodies because "we" don't want to have abortion on the island of Ireland.

Women have a right to the integrity of their bodies and if we believe in that right, it then flows that they have the decision to terminate or not. I highly recommend that those of you who have your own opinions and hold the moral high ground on abortion to challenge yourself to answer this question, as a defender of that ground, Would you personally stop a women who has made the decision to terminate, based on her own experiences & circumstances? I know, I could not and I would not.

The Perils of Summer loving.

Despite the fact that it is coming into Winter here, One should never miss a chance to highlight the importance of STI screening.

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The Perils of Summer loving

With summer approaching, and a study published last week stating that women could self-test for chlamydia and then seek treatment, it is certainly timely to discuss this issue again.

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by a bacterium called chlamydia trachomatis.

The disease has been steadily increasing in New Zealand since the 1990s and is now a significant problem.

It has been estimated that if you are a woman below the age of 25 you have a one-in-10 chance of catching chlamydia.

The only way you can catch chlamydia is through sexual contact. The only exception is newborn babies, who can catch chlamydia by coming into contact with it in the birth canal. You cannot catch chlamydia off a toilet seat or at the swimming pool.

The big trap with chlamydia is that it has symptoms that are often fairly non-specific. It may have no symptoms at all. Symptoms can be similar to a urinary tract infection or cystitis, and there may be non-specific lower abdominal pain or a change in vaginal discharge. A considerable number of women experience "silent chlamydia" which can be very damaging.

If left untreated, chlamydia may go on to produce pain if it spreads into the fallopian tubes. The pain can be present at any time but especially during sexual intercourse.

The spread of chlamydia through the fallopian tubes can cause the tubes to become damaged and non-functioning. The woman may go on to have an ectopic pregnancy or become infertile.

Men who have chlamydia may experience a urethral discharge and can also experience occasional pain around the testicles if the tubes going to the testicles are inflamed.

Pain on passing urine can also occur, especially at the tip of the penis, but even though the pain may last only a few days the chlamydia remains present and can infect a sexual partner.

If a woman presents with symptoms, a cervical swab is needed to diagnose chlamydia.

If the patient is a man, a urine sample is all that is required.

However, new technology enables a woman to take her own vaginal swab to test for chlamydia.

There is lot to be said for asymptomatic screening. I will often suggest a chlamydia swab for women when doing a cervical smear. For men, opportunistic screening seems to be fairly uncommon, but that may need to change.

Treatment is simple and often only two tablets of an antibiotic are required. In other cases a longer course may be needed. It is totally treatable, and the sooner it is found and treated, the less likely it is that there will be long-term consequences.

When a person is identified as having chlamydia, we try hard to trace and treat those who may have been exposed. Only in this way are we able to stop the spread. Treating just the sufferer is not enough. Often it is embarrassing and difficult, but it is very important.

Prevention is relatively straightforward. If you are not in a monogamous, long-term relationship, condoms are essential. Condoms are effective in preventing the spread of chlamydia.

When a couple is in a situation when they feel that condoms are no longer required, it is often a good idea for both to have STI screening before dispensing with condoms.

Source:Stuff.co.nz

The side to Gay Life we don't see: Aging

We never think about it. We go out most weekends; We glam up; We meet our mates; We score some hot young guy; We become the older stalwarts of the community by 25 & jaded by the process and after a couple of months/years out of it, we go back and do it all over again, all in the name of maintaining our view that we are young & continue to be attractive & did I mention young?
The NYTimes this week ran a fantastic article on the concept of growing old as an out gay man and the stigma & prejudice which is attached to this, with regards the provision of care. The article is very well put together, and does in many ways highlight a number of issues in our Society as a whole, the issue of care and whose role is care perceived to be for? It provides a very rude awakening for a culture of young gay men in this country and in most of the Western world where boundaries are broken down, almost on what seems like a daily basis these days. Thought provoking, but will it provide the incentive to do something about it.
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Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice in Twilight

Even now, at 81 and with her memory beginning to fade, Gloria Donadello recalls her painful brush with bigotry at an assisted-living center in Santa Fe, N.M. Sitting with those she considered friends, “people were laughing and making certain kinds of comments, and I told them, ‘Please don’t do that, because I’m gay.’”

The result of her outspokenness, Ms. Donadello said, was swift and merciless. “Everyone looked horrified,” she said. No longer included in conversation or welcome at meals, she plunged into depression. Medication did not help. With her emotional health deteriorating, Ms. Donadello moved into an adult community nearby that caters to gay men and lesbians.

“I felt like I was a pariah,” she said, settled in her new home. “For me, it was a choice between life and death.”

Elderly gay people like Ms. Donadello, living in nursing homes or assisted-living centers or receiving home care, increasingly report that they have been disrespected, shunned or mistreated in ways that range from hurtful to deadly, even leading some to commit suicide.

Some have seen their partners and friends insulted or isolated. Others live in fear of the day when they are dependent on strangers for the most personal care. That dread alone can be damaging, physically and emotionally, say geriatric doctors, psychiatrists and social workers.

The plight of the gay elderly has been taken up by a generation of gay men and lesbians, concerned about their own futures, who have begun a national drive to educate care providers about the social isolation, even outright discrimination, that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients face.

Source & contd: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/us/09aged.html?em&ex=1192161600&en=252f4521b8e5d635&ei=5087%0A