The bulk of the Baby Boom Generation came of age during a period of great social change. Unlike previous generations, the boomers, the sons and daughters of those who had sacrificed so much for their native countries during World War II, were not content to simply follow the status quo of their parents. No, the first cohort in a long time to be raised in an era of relative peace and economic stability felt a necessity to buck the established order.

The “Woodstock Generation,” as my parents’ age group is often referred to, became involved in anti-war protests and environmentalism, frequently rejected traditional Christian values in favour of Eastern mysticism, New Age-inspired spiritualism, and embraced the women’s liberation movement, a terrible by-product of which has been 43 years of unrestricted access to abortion in Canada.

What sets Canada apart from other nations (most notably our excited cousins to the south) is that many Canadians find abortion to be too much of a controversial subject to discuss in polite company. Nevertheless, most average, hard-working citizens of this country would be shocked to learn that various governments (whether Liberal, Conservative or NDP) are complicit in the senseless killing of more than 100,000 unborn babies each year.

Yes folks, it’s hard to believe. In what one day will be remembered as a dark period in Canadian history, the murder of at at least 3 million innocent babies – two generations of taxpaying citizens — since 1969, when then prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau removed the abortion prohibtion from the criminal code, thus beginning the long legacy of infamy this barbaric procedure has left Canada.

And now, for want of a better term, the chickens are coming home to roost. The hippies and flower children that rejected traditional morals and values and were too busy enjoying their wealth and freedom to notice the normalization of abortion into Canadian society in the 1960s and 1970s are entering their senior years during a time when governments are struggling to deal with crushing debts as well as shrinking tax bases.

The women’s lib movement championed the right of women to break free from the bonds of “male patriarchy” and embrace independence. Instead of getting married after high school and starting a family (as had been the norm for generations) getting an education and exercising one’s newfound freedom became more fashionable. With sexual liberation came lots of unwanted pregnancies. Sadly, many of these pregnancies ended in abortion.

With more and more women focusing on careers and postponing having children, the size of the traditional Canadian family has shrunk dramatically from a birthrate of 4.0 in 1960 to just 1.5 today.

To make up for this shortfall, governments since the 1970s have advocated, in the name of multiculturalism, opening up our borders to allow as many as 250,000 immigrants (many without skills or the ability to speak English or French) into the country, while at the same time turning a blind eye to the pointless annual killing of over 100,000 unborn Canadian babies who, if they had been allowed to live, would now be contributing to Canada’s economy.

I’ve often been amazed by the rationality of the Left, who include unfettered abortion as one of their primary causes and would fight tooth and nail to preserve it. The reason is this side of the political spectrum (many of whom are ardent NDP and Green supporters) uphold the welfare state as a Canadian symbol. The trouble is, these ideologues just cannot seem to figure out that without a strong enough tax base to support them, the social programs Canadians have enjoyed for decades will simply become unsustainable and will be cut.

The culture of death we instituted in this country has led to an overall cheapening of human life. It’s no coincidence that the viciousness of violent criminal offenses has gotten more severe over the past few decades. The justice system often fails to respond to the seriousness of taking a human life by meting out light sentences.

Fortunately, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. This past spring, as they do every year in May in the national and regional marches for life, 25,000 concerned citizens from coast-to-coast stood up in support of the rights of the unborn. Even though Canada is one of the few countries in the world without an abortion law, there is a strong grassroots groundswell of moral conservatism in this country which I believe with enough hard work and political will can one day turn the tide. Let us all pray for change and for our elected representatives to find the courage to do what’s right.

 Chris McGarry is a writer in Belfast, PEI.