Canadians can’t debate abortion till they know the lay of the land

[Karen]

Special to the National Post August 7, 2010 – 5:30 am
http://life.nationalpost.com/2010/08/07/canadian-cant-debate-abortion-till-they-know-the-lay-of-the-land/
By Rikki Ratliff

For those of you who believe a woman can only have an abortion during
her first trimester in Canada it’s okay, you’re not alone. Two thirds
of Canadians stand ignorant with you according to the latest Angus
Reid Public Opinion poll on abortion.

The fact is there have been no laws restricting abortion in Canada
since 1988. Now before you start thinking I’m about to begin a
religious rant on this issue, let me stop you. Because the real sin
occurs not in the vacuum of policy on this issue, but in the vacuum of
how people understand it in this country. For how can a democracy
properly function when its masses make blind assumptions about the
laws surrounding its moral framework?

I was curious about the motivations behind Angus-Reid’s latest
findings. I thought surely some right-wing religious group — looking
to let the abortion debate out of its cage again to rear its ugly and
polarizing head — was behind the funding on this survey.

Jaideep Mukerji, vice-president of Public Affairs for Angus-Reid,
quickly quelled those thoughts. Angus-Reid swallowed the cost for this
one. In fact, this is the second time in seven months their team has
polled Canadians on this issue.

“We feel [abortion] is an important social issue in many of the
countries we poll in and one that we want to make sure we understand,”
Mr. Mukerji said. He admitted being surprised by the results and found
it interesting that while most Canadians would support at least some
change to the status quo, 55% don’t want to re-open the abortion
debate.

But do Canadians expect their lawmakers to be telepathic? We’d like
some changes, but we don’t want to talk about it or what they are. In
our efforts to perfect the taboo-sidestep, we have also dodged the
information necessary to make an informed decision on one of the
issues that shapes the moral identity of this country.

Despite the unfettered possibilities, you’d be hard-pressed to find a
willing doctor to perform a late-term abortion. The website, Canadians
for Choice, displays Statistics Canada reports from 2003 that indicate
“less than 1% of abortions take place past 20 weeks gestation.” A
soothing notion perhaps, but hold that pacifier because the fact
remains a woman can literally be hours from giving birth and still
choose to abort the fetus all the while protected by the R. v.
Morgentaler decision of 1988.

For those in favour of keeping the decision, you’re in luck — at least
during this prime minister’s office tenure. An informal gag order has
been placed on lawmakers within his own Conservative party to not
introduce new legislation restricting abortion in Canada. Whether for
fear of losing votes or based on personal convictions, we can only
guess. But one thing is certain, it’s not a discussion this government
is willing to have or a debate this country will resolve soon.

Dr. Dan Reilly, who teaches ethics in obstetrics and gynecology at
McMaster University, agrees.

“Until we decide on when human life begins and what it means to be
human and how morality works, until the big questions get settled, we
won’t settle the [abortion] question.”

The questions will never find answers when we wander through a dimly
lit democracy. In the Era of Information there is simply no excuse for
79% of Canadians stabbing at guesswork with the abortion laws in this
country. The privilege of living in a democracy comes with the
responsibility of pursuing truth.

Rikki Ratliff is a producer and reporter for Listen Up TV