Governor Andrew Cuomo's bill has already passed the state Senate.

However the bill is stalled in the state Assembly (which is the other 'half' of the state Legislature). This is because of strong opposition, particularly from female legislators.

If passed, the law would allow state residents to pay a woman to carry to term a child conceived through in-vitro fertilisation. A surrogate mother would not be allowed to use her own eggs - which would make her biologically related to the child. This is known as traditional surrogacy.

While the bill has been presented as "an unequivocal progressive ideal, a remedy to a ban that burdens gay and infertile couples and stigmatises women who cannot have children on their own," it has run up against strong opposition.

Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, who is openly gay, says commercial surrogacy "is called 'pregnancy for a fee'.

"I find that commodification of women troubling."

In a similar vein Dennis Poust, director of communications for the New York State Catholic Conference, says "Like those [secular feminist] groups, we stand up against the exploitation and dehumanisation of women.

"This bill treats women almost like livestock at the service of men."

Poust says the bill was comparable to one that seeks to legalise prostitution in that both ... lead to the exploitation of poor women, largely for the benefit of wealthy men.

"The one commodifies babies, the other sex, and always the victims are poor women," he says.

"In commercial surrogacy, women's human dignity is surrendered and they are reduced to objects desirable only for their body parts, whether that be the rental of their wombs or the mining of their eggs in risky, invasive medical procedures.

"The beneficiaries are nearly always wealthy and often male, while the exploited are always poor women."

Feminist speaker, author, and activist Gloria Steinem wrote an open letter about the state legislating a "profit-driven reproductive surrogacy industry.

"Under this bill, women in economic need become commercialised vessels for rent, and the foetuses they carry become the property of others," the letter says.

"The bill ignores the socio-economic and racial inequalities of the reproductive commercial surrogacy industry, and puts disenfranchised women at the financial and emotional mercy of wealthier and more privileged individuals."

Steinem's letter points out surrogate mothers are often college-age women who are victims "of an educational system that does not provide free or affordable college education.

"These women are often given fertility drugs without being warned of the possible side effects," and the women face other medical and psychological injuries from the procedure, "including an inability to bear other children, and even death".

She says another factor against the bill is its failure to provide measures to vet intended parents - unlike adoptive parents, who are thoroughly vetted.

Source

• Catholic Herald
• Image: Standard Media

The group is being blamed for last week's bombing of the Mexican bishops' conference offices.

No-one was injured in the early morning blast, which caused little damage to the building. So far nobody has been arrested.

Although news reports say the anarchist group posted a signed statement about the bombing on Contra Info - an international website claiming to be run by "anarchists, anti-authoritarians and libertarians" - there is no link to an English language copy of the statement.

Nor does there appear to be a Spanish-language version on the website.

According to the news reports, the ContraInfo post says the anarchists claim to have planted the bomb as retaliation "For every torture and murder in the name of your God! For every child defiled by paedophile priests!"

The bishops conference declined to comment on the alleged attackers, saying it will be "the authorities who determine the veracity of that message and if it will be part of its investigation. We will continue working normally."

The Mexico City says it is referring the case to the federal attorney general's office as the attack was on "a building administered by a religious association."

Source

• CNA
• The Dialog
• National Post
• Image: Agenda EFE

While they argue it's the right of every woman to decide what to do with her own body, they are staunchly against surrogacy.

Surrogacy in this context is the practice of arranging for another woman to carry and give birth to another woman's child.

Members of Se Non Ora Quando met last week at a high-profile anti-surrogacy conference at Rome's Lower House of Parliament.

The many conservative Catholic politicians at the conference were delighted with the support they received from staunchly left-wing feminists.

These feminists came from Italy, Germany, Sweden and France.

They argued the United Nations should "ban the practice of surrogacy," describing it as "incompatible with human rights and with the dignity of women."

Surrogacy is not legal in Western Europe - and has been banned in several countries including Germany and France.

The European Parliament rejected surrogacy in a 2015 non-binding resolution.

However, many women reportedly seek women willing to undertake surrogacy roles in countries where the practice is legal.

It is an option, for instance, for women in Canada and the United States.

It is also legal in New Zealand.

The Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004 authorises altruistic surrogacy in New Zealand, but prohibits commercial surrogacy agreements.

Source

• CNA
• The Atlantic
• Image: Surrogacy Insurance

St Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson stated in an open letter that the organisation promotes values "incompatible" with Catholic teachings.

The archbishop urged parishes that host Girl Scout meetings to consider alternative programmes that are more Catholic- or Christian-based.

Archbishop Carlson's letter states that Girl Scouts of the USA and affiliated organisations promote role models like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan who are "in conflict with Catholic values".

The letter states the organisation promotes and is partners with groups that advocate for things such as contraception and abortion rights.

Continue reading

Indeed. Forty years after that statement and fifty years after the publication of The Feminine Mystique, the road that Friedan embarked upon has led women to places they have never been before—entering the workforce and academia in ever-higher numbers, yes, but also historically low fertility rates, no-fault divorce, and abortion on demand. The emotional consequences for women have not been rosy. Stevenson and Wolfers report that, in spite of the fact that all objective measures of women's happiness have risen, both women's subjective well-being and their well-being relative to men have fallen since the 1970s. For the first time in the last 35 years, men report higher levels of happiness than do women.

Friedan's diagnosis of "the problem that has no name"—women's sense of purposelessness—was justified, but her prescriptions have been disastrous. The road that Betty Friedan and second-wave feminists paved has led women to lives new and unfamiliar, but not to a solution to the problem. In following the impact of feminism through three broad categories of the life cycle—education, child-bearing years, and the empty nest—we see that the promises of feminism have fallen flat, as women have bought into a feminist mystique that has left them more alone and conflicted in their pursuit of fulfillment than ever before.

Friedan oft laments what she calls the "sex-directed education" of women. Women, she discovered when interviewing college girls to write her book, embark upon higher education primarily to meet a man and cannot be bothered with academic pursuits. Continue reading

Sources

• The Family in America
• Image: tumblr