On May 5th, the British Columbia government decided to celebrate International Midwives Day by authorizing midwives to participate in something antithetical to their purpose: aborting pre-born children.
The word “midwife” originated in the Middle Ages in England to refer to women who were “with the wife” as she gave birth. Before the development of modern medicine and the training of doctors and nurses to deliver children, midwives were often the only people present to help a woman give birth. Even husbands were often socially proscribed from being present during the birth of their child.
And so, midwifery is arguably one of the most pro-life professions. For millennia, midwives have helped women during one of the most difficult and vulnerable times of their lives. And in eras where childbirth was a potentially lethal process (many mothers and pre-born children died during or soon after birth due to medical complications or infections), midwives did their best to preserve the life of both the mother and the child.
Today, although doctors and nurses have largely assumed responsibility for helping women in labour, midwives still exist. According to the British Columbia College of Nurses & Midwives, midwives provide “primary care to clients and babies during pregnancy, labour, birth, and the postpartum period.” Although there are only 500 midwives in British Columbia, they still assist with about 30% of births in the province.
And even as a part of this announcement, the province expanded the scope of midwives to help more with the delivery process. Starting April 1st, they will now be permitted to induce labour using any or all methods (just like a doctor) and use an ultrasound to discern the baby’s position before birth.
But rather than only helping with delivering new life, midwives in British Columbia can now participate in delivering death to a pre-born child. With this policy change, midwives will now be permitted to prescribe the abortion pill Mifegymiso, also called RU 486. According to the government’s press release, midwives in Quebec and Saskatchewan already are allowed to prescribe this abortifacient.
The government claims that “this will especially benefit people living in rural and remote communities, where access to reproductive care can require travelling long distances. By allowing midwives to prescribe Mifegymiso, the Province is improving midwife-led abortion care and increasing access to safe, confidential and timely services closer to home.”
“Midwife-led abortion care” – now that’s an oxymoron if ever there was one.
And here’s another self-contradicting statement from the government’s press release: “These measures build on ongoing investments to ensure women and gender‑diverse people have access to compassionate, equitable and comprehensive care at every stage of life.”
Care at every stage of life… except the first nine months of life.
Canadians need to call out this abuse of language. Midwives should not help kill babies. Care at every stage of life cannot include abortion. Because abortion is not a form of caring. Abortion ignores the life and rights of the pre-born child. It sloughs off the reality and responsibilities of the mother. It is an exception to our government’s prohibition on murder. And contracts the medical community’s vow to do no harm.
But even more importantly, Canadians need to oppose the expansion of abortion in our country. For 57 years, the needle on abortion has only ever moved in the wrong direction. Abortion in therapeutic settings was legalized in the 1969 Criminal Code reform. That law was struck down entirely in the Morgentaler decision of 1988, leaving Canada without any law on abortion. British Columbia passed its first abortion bubble zone in 1996, and most provinces have followed suit. Health Canada approved the abortion pill in 2015. By 2017, Health Canada removed several safeguards around the abortion pill’s use. Every single province covered the cost of these abortion pills by 2019. And now midwives in three provinces can prescribe the abortion pill themselves.
Canada needs to reverse course, and we need your help to do that. Visit our action page for ways to get involved in pro-life activism today.