Election called, and abortion rightly a key issue

For immediate release

Ottawa, ON – While the federal election campaign began, for all intents and purposes, months ago, today Parliament was dissolved and the campaigning officially begins. As the leaders and candidates hit the campaign trail, We Need a Law encourages all Canadians to ask the candidates what they will do to protect pre-born human rights.

“Canada remains the only democracy in the world that has failed to enact any legal protection for pre-born children, and it is time our political leaders stopped using abortion as a political weapon and instead got serious about reasonable legislative options,” said Tabitha Ewert, Legal Counsel for We Need a Law. “We have seen all the leaders talking about this already – it’s always been one of Trudeau’s choice wedge issues, and Bernier, Scheer and May have all commented on it in recent weeks. They know it is an important issue to Canadians – one that Canadians are debating. Now these leaders need to ensure they meaningfully participate in that debate as well.”

We Need a Law proposes various options for legislation that the majority of Canadians can support. This could include banning sex-selective abortion and requiring all women seeking an abortion to have free access to counseling from an independent counselor. “Coercion is a very real issue for women seeking abortion,” stressed Ewert, “and it is our hope that a waiting period and independent counseling would give support to women facing pressure to abort. It is time to recognize that abortion is not pro-woman, but regressive in allowing others to abuse and abandon both women and children with little consequence.”

“The abortion debate has never been closed, and requires real leadership. It is the hope of We Need a Law, and tens of thousands of Canadians, that pre-born children will be recognized for the human beings they are with corresponding human rights recognized by Canada’s law,” Ewert said.