The abortion debate is supposedly "settled" in Canada, but polls consistently show two-thirds of Canadians want laws to protect unborn life.For the past six years, LifeCanada, a pro-life educational organization, has commissioned scientific polls that consistently show only one third of Canadians support the status quo of no law restricting abortion at any stage of pregnancy.
If so, why do most political parties treat the issue as politically radioactive?
"To a large degree if has to do with the brainwashing of the Canadian population and politicians, of course, into believing that those who bring up the issue of abortion will immediately be branded as fanatics," said Liberal MP Tom Wappel (Scarborough Southwest), a Catholic who has spent 19 years defending life and family on Parliament Hill. [Wappel's photo is at right.]
Wappel blames the mainstream media for perpetuating the thinking that abortion is "settled in Canada and cannot be opened up," and for contributing to the marginalization of pro-life voices...
Majorities also support parental consent laws for women under 18 (54 per cent this year) and informed consent laws (67 per cent this year), requiring that women receive information about fetal development and possible medical complications before an abortion.
LifeCanada's executive director Gudrun Schultz said Gallup polls done from 1975 to 2000 showed similar results. "This is not something new we have uncovered, this has been the consistent result of questioning Canadians over the past 32 years," said Schultz. "Many people are surprised to hear that the numbers are so high."
Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin), co-chair of the parliamentary pro-life caucus, said most MPs would probably be surprised too. "I don't think that most MPs, in the business of their lives, are aware of the Environics polls and the good information there," he said. [Vellacott's photo is at left.]Vellacott described a "knowledge gap" among politicians and in Canadian society at large on everything from the viability of life in the womb, technology that shows fetal development, to reproductive technologies and end-of-life issues.
(Comment: "Knowledge gap"? I don't think so. Consider the educational backgrounds of the politicians and the large amount of information that have been given them by pro-life organizations and citizen advocates. No, the problem isn't a lack of knowledge. Rather, it is a lack of honor, compassion, courage and concern for justice.)