It was recently reported that Abortion Care Canada, a major pro-abortion group that has received more than $2.2 million in government funding over the last few years, may have to close their doors due to a lack of government funding. It seems that more pro-abortion groups have lately been applying for funding from the same pot, and the resulting distribution of funds has meant less for some than they expected.
Obviously, the fact that millions of taxpayer dollars have gone into funding abortions is an issue. The government is promoting abortion even though many Canadians are morally and ethically opposed to the killing of pre-born children. There is no similar funding for alternative pregnancy care for women, showing a clear bias toward efficiency over what is meaningful and right.
But this is where the beauty of the pro-life movement really shines. Rather than give up in despair or spend time applying for grants and complaining about a lack of funding, the pro-life movement simply gets to work.
Let’s look for a minute at the numbers. In 2023, Abortion Care Canada used their massive government grants to help 450 women access abortions. Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, another prominent pro-abortion group, used their hundreds of thousands of dollars of funding to help 504 women access abortion. This includes one immigrant woman they feature who was about 6 months along in her pregnancy. How ironic that the cover of their 2023-2024 report features a smiling staff wearing birthday hats, when it is birthdays they are actively working to prevent.
Pregnancy care services, on the other hand, receive little to no government funding. Yet the Pregnancy Care Canada network helped more than 48,000 women in 2023. Counselling services, baby supplies, prenatal classes, parenting programs, phone calls, text messages, online resources, and post-abortion care were provided to tens of thousands of women seeking help. And isn’t this the harder work than arranging travel or an abortion appointment and then walking away?
In recent years, the government has threatened multiple times to remove charitable tax status from pregnancy care centres because they do not offer abortion. How can they possibly justify this while claiming to be pro-woman and seeing just how many women are seeking the support of these centres?
Women need and want better options than abortion. Canada’s lack of abortion law means pro-abortion groups get hundreds of thousands of dollars to help women end the lives of their children while pro-life groups are vilified for providing life-preserving alternatives. Thankfully, the pro-life movement doesn’t spend time complaining or waiting for government support. Instead, they give their time and money to do what the government won’t: help women thrive with their children, not without or in spite of their children.
The pro-life movement continues to provide real help and care to women through donations and volunteer support while also working for laws that recognize and protect the human rights of pre-born children. Because regardless of where the government funding goes, an unexpected pregnancy should never end the life of a child.