I attended the “Meet the Candidates” forum sponsored by the Antigonish Chamber of Commerce which was held at the Claymore Conference Center on September 25th. When candidates were asked, “What is your stand on abortion?”, our MP Sean Fraser first commented that it was a strange question to come up at a Chamber event. (Would he prefer to answer it elsewhere?). He then answered, with the Liberal party line, that women have the right over their own bodies. NDP Betsy MacDonald and Green Party Barry Randall followed in suit. PC George Canyon fell in line bringing up the tragic situation of a rape victim but also added that he wasn't in favor of using abortion as a form of birth control.
It's clear from their comments, that none of the candidates is competent to engage in the discussion on abortion, let alone provide any justification for the stand that they are so eager to embrace. It would benefit them greatly to care enough to become educated about some facts regarding abortions in Canada. Like:
* 80% of Canadians do not know that we have no restrictions on abortion in our country and are shocked to learn that Canada aborts almost 100,000 babies per year.
* A woman can have an abortion during all nine months of pregnancy including partial birth abortions.
* The living human baby is to be considered a non-person until he or she has been delivered completely from the mother's womb; only then is the baby considered a Canadian with rights.
* Statistics show that approximately 30% of abortions are the woman's second and third abortion, so in practice a large number of women are using abortion as a means of birth control.
* Statistics regarding abortion in the case of rape are about .04% of total abortions, which is less than one every two years in Canada. One reason for this low number, was revealed in a study done by Dr. Sandra Mahkorn, which, while not minimizing the trauma experienced by these women, discovered that 75 - 85% of pregnant rape victims chose not to abort but rather to keep their babies.
* Pat Maloney's research into late term abortions in Canada from CIHI freedom of information found that in 2018, 150 babies were born alive and then killed. These statistics are for hospital abortions only, and do not include clinics.
* Population Research Institute of America did a survey discovering that nearly 75% of women who had abortions claimed they felt pressured into it, either by the child's father (30%) or other. Proponents of abortion use the term pro-choice as opposed to pro-abortion. But, if 75% of women feel pressured into having an abortion, can they legitimately apply the term “pro-choice” in this debate?
When the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the laws governing abortion, it was because they considered the laws were an infringement upon some of the rights of women. They concluded however, that unborn children should have protection under Canadian law and charged legislators to write new laws. Every governing party since then refused to do so and consequently Canada is the only democratic country in the world, with no legislation governing abortions. The child has no rights nor do women who are seeking abortions have protection from possible exploitation. An example of what could happen as a consequence of not having such laws, would be an event involving a person who physically assaults a pregnant woman and causes the death of her unborn child. This perpetrator can be charged for assault on the woman but cannot be charged for killing her unborn child. This, despite science proving unequivocally that at the time of conception a unique human being comes into existence. He or she is an individual that is a separate life from the child's mother. For Canadians to consider “aborting children on demand” as a normal course of events is to undermine the most basic human right for any civilized society, “The Right to Life.
Perhaps if one or more of our local candidates were to seriously study the issue, voters of Central Nova might end up with a choice in the coming election.