The Defund Abortion Rally at Queen’s Park this past March.
In 2011, Campaign Life Coalition Youth began a new initiative to make Ontarians aware that their hard-earned tax dollars are funding abortions in the province without their consent. The Defund Abortion campaign has grown significantly since its first year as it has included two major rallues at Queen’s Park, mini-rallies at politicians’ offices, petitions and pamphleting blitzes. The next major step is for other provinces to follow suit, beginning with Newfoundland and Labrador on Sept. 28.
Georges Buscemi, president of Campagne Quebec-Vie, told The Interim that his office is currently examining materials used in Ontario. He hopes to translate them so that the issue of abortion funding can be raised in the province. Buscemi would like to tell Quebecers that there “are no limits to (the practice of) abortion or its funding. We can have one for any reason – we live in an abortion-on-demand regime.” Abortion is not expected to become a major issue in the province in the short term, he said. “Something would have to happen in Quebec and all of Western civilization” that would cause us to reassess permissible abortion.
Denise Hounjet-Roth, president of Campaign Life Coalition Saskatchewan, has made sure that her side of the country does not miss out on the campaign. Though defunding abortion has been highlighted by several smaller initiatives in the past, the upcoming rally will be the first to focus exclusively on the issue since the province held a referendum on abortion funding in 1990. Posters for the Regina March for Life and 40 Days for Life events across the province have featured the Defund message. A website has been set up – I’mFundingWhat.com – in order to spread the word. A petition is available through the website and Campaign Life Coalition events, but it has yet to be presented to Members of the Legislative Assembly. Finally, Defund Abortion will be the theme of the next Saskatchewan March for Life that takes place next Spring.
When asked about the aim of the project, Hounjet-Roth told The Interim, “to defund abortion in Saskatchewan, of course,” explaining that “people don’t know that their tax dollars are going to abortion in this province, or how much.” She said, “we want the average (person) on the street to know what they are paying for.” However, Hounjet-Roth is especially concerned about the estimated $2 million per year that could be used to provide genuine medical care for Saskatchewan residents. Hounjet-Roth suggested better uses for the money, including building funding expensive medications or finding cures for diseases.
Campaign Life Coalition estimates that a minimum of $75 million is spent directly on surgical abortion nation-wide, and CLC Youth says that costs of dealing with the health consequences of abortion including infections, depression, and infertility could be many times that amount.