Canada missing the mark on moral leadership
I am writing in response to Matthew Penny’s article, titled “Prochoice movement needs to renew itself” (Sept. 13).
Pro-choice advocates for a woman’s right to control her own body, especially induced abortions, while pro-life, advocates for full protection of human embryos/ fetuses, especially opposing induced abortion.
Penny laments, “Women must travel to Halifax to have the procedure done” since “In Cape Breton abortion services literally do not exist” although “abortion has been legal in Canada for decades.”
Using examples of recent conservative shifts in abortion laws in the United States and a major liberal shift in abortion laws in Ireland, Penny says he worries a sense of complacency could allow a conservative shift here. He contends that such a conservative shift, if it were to happen here, would be won by people who sit on moral pedestals, who are not in the position they criticize, but who want to have an occasional case of “warm and fuzzies” at the expense of hardship they would put on pregnant women.
Surely a more serious response to the grave situation we have in Canada is called for. In Canada it’s the absence of a law protecting the pre-born that enables a woman to have an abortion right up to the day of birth, meaning there is no right to abortion under the Charter. Still, government pays to abort pre-borns, details of which are so disturbing news agents won’t print them. It is frightening that Trudeau and his entire governing party and pro-choice people praise this and yet they contend pro-life people are hard of heart.
Given the Trudeau government’s lack of moral leadership, it is hard to imagine Penny having any need to worry about a conservative shift, as long as he is in power. Trudeau started out by eliminating the Office of Religious Freedom, a show of contempt that made way for him to undermine freedom of conscience here and overseas. He raised Canada on the world stage to be recognized as an aggressive leader in support of abortion, support usually announced as feminist-based medical aid for women.
When the U.S. reinstated the Mexico City Policy, saying no foreign aid money is to go to fund abortions, Trudeau gave $20 million to a global abortion fund to help fill this gap. He announced $650 million for sexual, reproductive health and rights worldwide, a move that can see Canada paying to battle against pro-life laws in dozens of countries. He encouraged Prime Minister Varadkar’s promotion of abortion in Ireland, offering congratulations in his success. On Sept. 28, his government announced an increased commitment to feminism, creating an ambassador position to champion feminist-based aid programs. As one journalist aptly questioned, did Canada just get a new “Ambassador of Abortion”?
Meanwhile, we suffer increasingly higher rates of suicide, sexually transmitted disease, mental illness, euthanasia, family breakdown etc. Pro-life peacefully cries out for this physical, emotional and spiritual breakdown in Canada. Their pro-life guide is Humane Vitae; perhaps we should do a serious study of it.
Angela MacDougall Jamesville, Victoria County