The Conservative National Policy Convention is taking place in Halifax, Nova Scotia from August 23-25. We Need a Law, a national lobby group advocating for laws regulating abortion in Canada, will be present at the convention. Along with Right Now, another influential pro-life group, they will be hosting the “Life of the Party” hospitality suite.
The two groups are looking to Conservative party delegates to delete Article 65 from its Social Policy, an article which states: “A Conservative Government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion.”
Mike Schouten, director of We Need a Law, sees the deletion of this article as an important step for the party to take in order to reflect the values of many Canadians and retain voters. “It is clear that Article 65 conflicts with the party’s guarantee of free votes for all members on matters of conscience,” stated Schouten. “Deleting this article does not mean we have an abortion law, but it means we can have a national conversation.”
Canada is the only democracy in the world to leave pre-born children unprotected throughout all 40 weeks of pregnancy.
Tabitha Ewert is a lawyer with We Need a Law and will also be attending the convention. “It’s time Canada started to get in line with our international counterparts by implementing a framework around abortion,” Ewert said. “Almost everywhere else in the world, pre-born children are protected after the first trimester. It is to Canada’s shame that we do not value the next generation when we refuse to recognize the human rights of these vulnerable human beings.”
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As delegates come to Halifax, they will be greeted by large billboards sponsored by We Need a Law, billboards reading Canada has no abortion law. These billboards are part of a national campaign to raise awareness about the status quo and get people thinking about what they actually support in terms of a woman’s “right to choose.”
“We want this message to be at the forefront of delegates’ minds,” emphasized Schouten. “Everyone needs to know that Canada is alone in failing pre-born children in this way, and we need to do something about it. We know the majority of Canadians are unaware that there is no law, and the majority would also support a law at some point. The current policy in Article 65 is negatively worded and prevents us from moving forward and acting on the will of Canadians. We need to have a national conversation and start protecting fetal interests.”
