A good editorial by Jonathan Kay of the National Post attempts to open the debate. It should never have been closed by the liberals and the liberal-left fundamentalists in this country but of course it was —from the very leadership of the liberal-left downward. And of course liberals are against opening the debate to this day.
Jonathan Kay, National Post
Published: Monday, March 27, 2006
[…] For the time being, frustrated U.S. legislators can blame their troubles on an activist Supreme Court. But what’s our excuse? Since 1991, when the last effort died in the Senate, Canada has had no abortion law—a shameful status that distinguishes us from every other nation in the free world. Fetal viability can begin after 23 weeks of gestation. At 37 weeks, doctors consider a pregnancy full-term. Yet by the lights of Canadian federal law, it is equally legal to kill a fetus at 10, 23, 37 or 40 weeks. Doctors are even permitted to remove part of a viable fetus from a woman before extinguishing it—a process opaquely referred to as “intact dilation and extraction.”
The argument for not correcting this—repeated by Liberals in shrill fashion every time Canadians go to the polls—is that any new law might compromise a woman’s “right to choose.” But of course, the rights society confers on women (or on any other group) are themselves the product of moral consensus and compromise. Few Canadians believe a woman should have the right to abort a fetus for any reason, at any point during gestation. Yet this radical minority has not only imposed its agenda on our federal government, it has convinced each of our four political parties that any attempt to modify the status quo is a marker of religious fundamentalism.
[…] Lest I be accused of suggesting that Canada take its cues from the United States—this country’s version of the crime of apostasy—let me provide some other examples. In Britain, abortion-on-demand is available only until the 24th week. In ultra-liberal Sweden, women must seek permission to have an abortion after the 18th week. In Germany, it is available only in the first 12 weeks, and even then the mother is required to undergo counselling beforehand.
[…] Where would a real abortion debate lead in Canada? At the very least, it would lead us back to the common-sense recognition that—as no less a liberal than Hillary Clinton recently observed—abortion is an evil to be avoided. It is not—as suggested by such deliberately opaque phrases as “reproductive health care” (Planned Parenthood’s preferred euphemism)—a medical banality on par with a root canal or cataract removal.
Second, we would acknowledge that the state has an interest in maintaining viable human life. The opposite view is arguable—but only if one embraces a radically libertarian definition of the state’s interest in bioethics, which would be odd in the only free nation on Earth where it is illegal to use private means to pay for life-saving medical treatment.
Liberated from the taboos imposed on us by pro-choice activists and timid politicians, Canada could create an abortion law that aligns itself with the nation’s collective moral sense. Such a solution likely would provide the option of abortion to any woman impregnated through rape or incest, or whose health is at risk, as well as on-demand abortions in the early stages of gestation, perhaps even until the fifth month, when higher areas of the brain, our species’ biological hallmark, become active. After that, abortion would be banned, except in extraordinary circumstances.
During Paul Martin’s brief reign, talk of creating an abortion law was unthinkable: In an effort to demonize Stephen Harper, he ran as the Henry Morgentaler candidate, denouncing any suggestion of reform in this area as an assault on women’s rights. Thankfully, he’s gone. Yet the self-censorship surrounding the issue remains. Will Harper be courageous enough to dispel it?
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
Contact Mr. Johannesen about this article using this form. Please refer to article's title.
FOLLOW @JoelJohannesen ON X!
- Say something. - Friday October 25, 2024 at 6:03 pm
- Keep going, or veer right - Monday August 26, 2024 at 4:30 pm
- Hey Joel, what is “progressive?” - Friday August 2, 2024 at 11:32 am
