elizabeth may, gravedigger

well, it's all finally blown up. what started as an obscure comment (that may made in a campaign speech in london) winding its way through the email channels has wound up turning heads and ruffling feathers. as well it should. various insiders within the women's orgs were hoping to have a quiet sit-down with her instead of reacting publicly to what can only be described as her disturbing and Shockingly Inappropriate stance on abortion. but once again, the orgs who think of themselves as the women's movement failed to realize that a big bubbling world exists beyond these barracks.

now people are talking. both right-wingers and the ndp are salivating, general lefties are confused, audra's pissed, and the green machine is scrambling to defend its miraculous leader. may herself is so crafty, she sent a bumbling shmuck into 'babble' armed with a 'statement' she wrote... and the thread was ablaze today. maybe elizabeth hoped it would clear things up. and it did, but probably not the way she expected. if anything, we now have better confirmation that her feelings about choice are, um, fishy. either way, she's no dumbass sending someone else (a man, no less - gasp!) in to do her dirty work. she'll no doubt hang him the fuck out to dry if she ever wakes up and realizes how deep this hole is and smartly Recants Everything.

i like moal's characterization of the situation:

"Right now all I hear from May and the GPC is that
a) abortions are bad, they make May queasy, and women should be talked out of them
b) women have abortions because they're poor or uneducated
c) we should therefore have less abortions
d) we should support policies which result in less unwanted pregnancies

Here is what we are not hearing from May and the GPC:
a) we need to work to ensure that all women are guaranteed access to abortions
b) abortion is a legitimate right that women are capable of choosing for themselves
c) women choose to have abortions for a number of reasons, they are not simply forced/reduced/induced into them because of poverty"