Reproductive Freedom

Victoria's abortion reform bill will be debated in the upper house this week. The Catholic Church objects to a clause requiring doctors who choose not to perform abortions to refer patients to another doctor, arguing that this breaches that doctor's freedom of religion. A senior Catholic doctor disagrees: "The clause is there to stop the random fanatic sabotaging a woman's access to abortion. Most doctors are decent and honourable, and work around (a conscientious objection) to find a way that patients' needs are met. But some allow their consciences to trample over the rights of women, and it can lead to horrible outcomes." More info can be found at Women's Health Victoria.

Via alryssa: Planned Parenthood gains from Palin email campaign: "Instead of (actually, in addition to) all of us all sending more e-mails about how absolutely horrible she is, let's all make a donation to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name." The best part: Palin gets a thank you card for each donation in her name. That's more than just amusing - it's a genuine protest from voters.

93% of parents in Washington DC want comprehensive sex education for their kids.

New South African president fires ‘Dr. Beetroot’: Quoth the erstwhile health minister: "Raw garlic and a skin of the lemon - not only do they give you a beautiful face and skin, but they also protect you from disease. All I am bombarded about is anti-retrovirals, anti-retrovirals."

Refugees and asylum seekers

Rudd's first boat people are being detained on Christmas Island, albeit not in the $30m-a-year 800-person detention facility. Well, there are only 14 of them. Who they are, where they're from, and whether they're seeking asylum, the guvmint isn't saying. They're not processing asylum claims much faster than the previous regime, either.

Remember Shayan Badraie, the six year old Iranian refugee whose mental and physical health fell apart in mandatory detention? You may have seen him on Four Corners back in 2001, thanks to a smuggled video camera. Shayan and his family survived and are getting on with their lives. A new book describes their ordeal, and the Immigration Department's utter indifference to the destruction of a child.

Even the guards were traumatised at immigration detention centres.

To end on a more positive note: check out the Miss Africa Australia Pageant.

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You can't throw a stone online without hitting meta about racism and anti-racism. A lot of it is just bloggers blowing off steam; you won't get it unless you already "get it". But there's some worthwhile, thought-provoking stuff too. Here are a few from my overflow of links.

Ricky Sherover-Marcuse's 12 Working Assumptions is made of understanding and hope.

The NYT on unconscious prejudice: Racism Without Racists (ta, ashamel!)

Ten misunderstandings white liberals have about race

This one's harsh, but it's to the point: Sixteen Maneuvers to Avoid Really Dealing with Racism.