Canada Marks 20 Years of Legalized Abortion, Pro-Life Groups Hope for Change
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- Canada followed the United States by 15 years in allowing abortions to be done across the nation without any major restrictions. In January 1988, Canada's Supreme Court ruled Canada's abortion law was unconstitutional and allowed them to be done with even fewer limits than in the U.S. In 1967, Canadian justice minister Pierre Trudeau presented a bill to legalize abortion and it became law in 1969. The high court there eventually issued a ruling on an appeal abortion practitioner Henry Morgentaler filed claiming the law was unconstitutional and that abortion should be allowed without any limits. National Post columnist Michael Coren said it "Would be obscene" to call the occasion an anniversary saying the word "Is indelibly linked with celebration, joy and achievement." Coren looked back on the decision this way: "It is 20 years since the courts bowed to Henry Morgentaler and his followers and introduced the universal right to abortion in Canada, making this country unique in the democratic world in having no law whatsoever to protect the life of an unborn child at any time during pregnancy."
Ref. Source 7
Supporting Women in Canada Means Educating That Abortion Hurts Women
by Patricia Maloney
Canada, unlike the United States, has no abortion laws. The abortion law we did have was struck down in 1988 by the Supreme Court of Canada when challenged by Dr. Henry Morgentaler, an abortion doctor.
Our Court declared in that ruling, that the existing law violated a woman's right to "security of the person" under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This ruling had to do with procedural problems related to Therapeutic Abortion Committees where a panel of doctors had the authority to grant a woman a certificate to obtain a legal abortion if they felt continuation of the pregnancy would be harmful to the woman's health. The court did not rule that the Charter granted a "right to abortion". Since then, all attempts to create any legal abortion restrictions, have failed.
As Americans debate publicly funded abortions, they should take note that in Canada, all abortions are paid for by our public health care system. And because Canada has no abortion laws at all, abortion is legally permissible up until the moment of birth, and for any reason. Ref. Source 5
Poll: Canadians Want More Restrictions on Abortion
New polling data shows Canadians may support the current situation where abortion is essentially legal in Canada, but they want limits in place on abortions that the current state does not allow. Source 3
Canadian Medical Association: Babies Not Human Until Birth
Concerned about the renewal of an abortion debate in Canada, the delegates to the Canadian Medical Association's annual general council meeting yesterday made a head-scratching determination: babies are not human beings until after birth. Ref. Source 4
Canada: 491 Babies Born Alive After Failed Abortions, Left to Die
Figures from Statistics Canada, a federal government agency, show 491 babies were born alive following botched abortions during the period from 2000-2009 and left to die afterwards. The numbers have pro-life advocates up in arms.
Andre Schutten, legal counsel for ARPA Canada, noticed the numbers and blogged about them recently. Ref. Source 3
Canada's Top Abortionist Henry Morgentaler Dies at Age 90
Infamous abortion practitioner Henry Morgentaler - responsible for legalized abortions in Canada funded at taxpayer expense - has passed away at the age of 90. Morgentaler is the man who opened up Canada to legal abortions in 1988.
Denise Mountenay, the head of the Canada Silent No More Campaign, a group for women who have had abortions and regret their decisions because of physical complications or mental health issues afterwards, talked about him previously. Ref. Source 1
Canadian Abortion Activist: "Naïve Reporters" Should Shut Out Pro-Lifers
Joyce Arthur, executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, recently blasted media outlets for being too "balanced" in their coverage of Dr. Henry Morgentaler's death by interviewing pro-life Canadians.
The pro-life perspective "is an extremist view," not deserving of "legitimacy" and "does not deserve equal time or respect in Canada" railed Arthur in a recent Rabble.ca piece. According to Arthur, "naïve reporters" should not be interested in the pro-life expression of "concern for women's well-being," or the perspective that all human beings, including those at earlier stages of development, deserve human rights. Ref. Source 2