TORIES AND ABORTION

The Windsor Star
2005-03-24
Tories and abortion
By Claire Hoy

The born-again Conservative Party of Canada burst out of its inaugural policy convention in Montreal last weekend convinced it will give the dreaded Liberal government a run for its money in the next election. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, buoyed by the 84% approval of his leadership from the 2,900 delegates, has promised to take the party's new mix of "moderate, mainstream" to every corner of Canada to fight the "corrupt, incompetent and visionless" Liberal government.

B.C. Tory MP John Reynolds, who chairs the party's election-readiness committee - a key structure in a minority government situation - predicted the party would enjoy an immediate "bounce" in public opinion polls because those nasty Liberals will no longer be able to accuse them of having a "hidden agenda" on social issues, primarily abortion. "It's over," crowed Reynolds. "We have nothing to hide."

True. But that's because, by a 55-45 vote of the 2,900 delegates, the Conservatives adopted a see-no-evil; hear-no-evil; speak-no-evil abortion policy. The party has "nothing to hide" on its abortion policy, because it doesn't have a policy. One of this country's most important moral issues has officially becomes the only major public issue that dare not speak its name. It's already been a no-no for Liberals, New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois - along with the overwhelming majority of the Canadian media.

Despite Harper's biblical references in his keynote speech to the delegates Friday night - he reminded Prime Minister Paul Martin about the commandment "Thou shalt not steal," re: the ongoing Gomery commission into the adscam scandal - Harper opted to ignore another of those 10 commandments ("Thou shalt not kill") not on a moral principle, but because of the crass, political calculation that it's too politically inconvenient to even allow a debate.

During his speech, Harper announced - to lukewarm applause - there would be no abortion law introduced by him should he form the next government. Imagine. According to Statistics Canada, there were 105,154 abortions in Canada in 2002 - that's one every five minutes - yet anybody who wants to take issue with any aspect of abortion has no major political party to speak on behalf of the unborn.

NO LEGAL SANCTIONS

The advocates of abortion-on-demand - which is what Canada currently has, making it the only western nation with no legal sanctions at all on abortion - have successfully perpetrated the false notion, that there are only two positions on abortion: their "moderate" position that anything goes, and the "extremists" view that abortions should be outlawed, period.

As in all issues, of course, there are shades of grey which, no matter how you feel about them, at least deserve to be aired in the public forum. But Harper, willing to trade principle for a "bounce" in the polls, will have none of it.

To the extent that public opinion polling really reflects the public mood - and politicians love to use the numbers when it coincides with their bias - polls have consistently shown that Canadians are far from unified on all aspects of abortion. Yes, only 10 or 15% favour an outright abortion ban. But that doesn't mean the remaining 90 or 95% are completely "pro-choice," to use the favoured term of the pro-abortionists. Polls have consistently put the absolute pro-choicers at around 40%, which means that about half of you hold views somewhere between the two absolutes.

Abortion advocates have successfully managed to sell the false notion that any position not in keeping with their absolute view is "extreme." But it isn't. Ask Canadians how they feel, for example, about public funding of abortions at private abortion clinics, and you'll find an almost equal split.

CUT-OFF DATE

How is it, we ask, that it's a crime against humanity - not to mention the sacred, socialist health-care system - to offer public funding for cataract removal at a private clinic, but it's completely acceptable to use public money to fund abortions at private clinics? Surely it's worth asking, eh?

In Britain, for example, abortions are completely legal for the first 24 weeks. After that, except in special circumstances, they're not allowed. Most countries, in fact, have that sort of abortion law, and polls in Canada show considerable sympathy for a cut-off date for legal abortions. But hey, even that can't be debated for fear the activists will shout "extremists."

And so it goes. Maybe Harper and company will knock off the Liberals at the next election. Maybe not. In the meantime, despite remarkable medical advances showing that the unborn are somewhat more inconsequential hunks of flesh and blood - as one noted pro-abortionist used to write - the terrible toll on humanity continues unabated. And nobody can even talk about it.