Making predictions for the New Year is a dicey business but, even with 1993 barely begun, there are encouraging signs that it will be a good year for preborn babies and their distressed mothers.
The pro-life movement is totally opposed to all abortions but a recently-released Environics poll is a step in the right direction – a first baby step.
The poll, commissioned by the Citizens’ Voice Association of Richmond Hill, shows convincingly that a large majority of Canadians would support provincial legislation to give pregnant women full information before making a decision on abortion.
This is not surprising. Canadians are, on the whole, a fair people. It is an appalling injustice that women seeking abortion are not told about the development of the child and about the possible risks of the procedure itself. Abortion is the only medical intervention we can recall in which facts are routinely withheld before the patient consents.
But, do not be surprised at the reaction when provincial legislatures examine any such proposed legislation.
To the ordinary person, such regulations would seem to be absolutely warranted: merely giving women the facts. For the pro-abortion lobby, however, any move to provide pregnant women with informed consent will be vigorously condemned.
You see, the pro-abortion jackals are not concerned with the welfare of women and babies. They are ideologically committed to abortion. Any measure that would undermine, even slightly, their lie that abortion is the only solution to difficult pregnancies will be resisted ferociously.
Pro-lifers may worry that supporting informed-consent legislation is equivalent to supporting abortion. There is no moral compromise here. This measure is designed to save lives and can be supported. At the same time, pro-lifers must step up the pressure to save all lives.
As the informed-consent debate begins, watch carefully just who are the political parties and leaders who oppose it. Watch which women’s groups oppose it. The censorship will come from those who do not care about women and children; let us hope that Canadians will not be fooled.
