On January 28, at Fredericton’s Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, two national organizations allegedly representing Canadian women hosted a high profile event, “Come Celebrate; It’s Your Choice.”
This celebration marked the 10th anniversary of the Morgentaler Supreme Court decision granting the unrestricted right to abortion on demand, which was hailed by New Brunswick’s elitist feminists as “one of the most important historic events in the history of reproductive freedom for women in Canada.” In fact, the radical feminist organizers of the event spared no superlatives in describing that raw act of judicial activism, going so far as calling it the defining moment in women’s equality rights in this country – in fact their definitive act of empowerment.
What will we celebrate next? The Holocaust? Rejoicing, reveling even, in a decision that is in great part responsible for the ruthless destruction of one million innocent babies since 1988 is obscene and sick.
Most clear thinking people take strong exception to the contention that the legalization of abortion serves the interest of women. I am constantly amazed that some are still buying this incredible nonsense.
Former pro-choice feminist Frederica Mathewes-Green has observed that women have abortions for the same reason that an animal will gnaw off its own leg to get out of a trap. She pointed out that abortion is not a sign that women are free, but bitter proof that they are desperate. From the woman’s position, there simply is no better description of abortion than that.
If someone wants to argue that women often feel forced to have abortions because of men who won’t live up to their responsibilities, and because Canadian society is indifferent to the needs of children and pregnant women, fine. But it is utterly laughable to suggest that submitting to an abortion in some way empowers the women with their feet in the stirrups, in Morgentaler’s Fredericton abortion mill or anywhere else.
When a woman is pregnant, what she wants is a man who will be there for her, and a society that truly values children and pregnant women. If because those things are not there she feels forced to destroy her own child, please explain to me how that is supposed to be some sort of act of empowerment, as she certainly isn’t the one being empowered.
The reality is, the willingness of women to submit to abortion is the best thing that ever happened to irresponsible men. If some Canadian women want abortion to be legal so they can provide responsibility-free sex to the men in their lives, so be it. But they should not fool themselves into believing that they are the ones being liberated.
For women, abortion is not an act of achievement, but one of surrender. It is not about power, but an admission of powerlessness. The reality is, powerful women don’t kill their children for anyone or any reason.
(Thaddee Renealt is head of the New Brunswick Knights of Columbus pro-life program).
