This weekend, we had the honour of planting 100,000 flags on the lawn of the Supreme Court of Canada to draw attention to the ongoing injustice of abortion in Canada. The sea of pink and blue flags is a humbling and sobering experience, as we consider that each flag represents one pre-born child whose life was taken, unprotected by our law. It is also a valuable opportunity to make visible those our society would like to forget.
Sex selection abortion happens [https://defendgirls.com/] in Canada. It impacts both boys and girls as families seek to create exactly the type of family they envisioned, but it disproportionately impacts girls. These stories are based on true stories, showing the very real decisions made based on sex preference, allowed by our complete lack of abortion law. We need a law.
As the election approaches, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer continues to be vague on the issue of pre-born human rights. “Instead of any clear statement, Scheer has chosen to fall back on not ‘re-opening’ the debate, as if this debate isn’t already happening all over Canada right now,” said Tabitha Ewert, legal counsel for We Need a Law. “We are not sitting around waiting for politicians to open this debate – it’s happening. Their choice is how they want to participate in this debate.”
According to a recent poll conducted by Angus Reid, Canadians are divided on the need for abortion laws in this country. This is not a new revelation; polls taken over the past number of years have shown similar results. There will always be slight changes in the percentages of Canadians who are either for or against laws restricting abortion and the latest numbers show a slight increase in those of us who have a desire for these laws.
This week, thousands of Canadians will gather on Parliament Hill again for the nation’s largest annual march: the March for Life. Other cities across the country will hold similar marches in solidarity, including a first-ever event in Toronto, Ontario.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of legal abortion in Canada. The Missing Project seeks to tell the story of abortion in Canada by featuring fifty stories of Canadians whose lives have been touched by it.
A decision by Ad Standards that ruled a pro-life billboard stating, “Canada has no abortion laws” has been upheld by an Appeal Panel. In a letter received by We Need a Law on October 16, 2018, the Vice President of Ad Standards, offered no reasons as to why the pro-life advertisement contravened the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.
Delegates at the Conservative National Policy Convention happening now in Halifax, NS have just voted in favour deleting Article 65 from the policy handbook. The policy dates back to the Harper era and states: “A Conservative Government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion.”
Mike Schouten
