By Mike Schouten, Special to the Sun
Alone among advanced nations, Canada has no law on abortion. None since 1988 when the Supreme Court of Canada swept aside the protections pre-born children enjoyed under the Criminal Code.
Leading pro-choice advocates regularly argue that if the law recognizes the rights of pre-born children, even minutely, Canadians might develop alternative thoughts regarding abortion. Joyce Arthur, the executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, once said, “If the fetuses are recognized in [law], … it could bleed into people’s consciousness and make people change their minds about abortion.”
Unfortunately, rather than moving back up the “slippery slope” leading towards a more inclusive human rights doctrine in Canada, Canadian jurisprudence tells a very different and very ominous story. While the promotion of infanticide by “ethicists” such as Peter Singer and two philosophers in a recent issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics is generally dismissed by the public as extreme, Canada’s top legal experts are increasingly using our lack of legal protection for pre-born children as an excuse to enter the world wherein infanticide is an acceptable practice for women who have given birth and don’t receive the support they require to take care of their newborn child.