Campaign For Life 2012 Kicks Off with Full Page Guardian Ad... to an estimated 44,000 readers!

We are pleased to announce the first major effort of the PEI Right to Life Association's Campaign for Life 2012. Today, January 7, 2012, a full page informational ad appeared in the Guardian Newspaper. This particular ad, the first in a series, is intended to clarify legal issues relating to abortion in Canada and on Prince Edward Island.

The question of "human rights" is addressed with the undeniable take home message that abortion is not a "human right" in Canadian (federal of provincial) law. On the contrary, there is a very fundamental "Human Right to Life" which is enshrined in Canadian tradition and law. We argue that the right to life be applied to all human persons, born or unborn. That we now know without question from advances in science and technology that a new human person exists from the first moment of conception, the unborn should be protected in our province and country. However, while the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms says: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” (Article 7), these rights have never been applied to the child in the womb.

The question of whether Abortion can ever be viewed as a medical neccessity is also addressed. This is an important question because the Canada Health Act says that provinces must provide and fund medically necessary services. However, The Act does not mention abortion or any other services as being medically necessary. The Canada Health Act leaves it up to the provinces to determine what procedures are medically necessary - and thus which get publicly funded. A province is within its rights to determine whether abortion is medically necessary or not, and to determine under what circumstances. Thus no province, including PEI, is required to pay for abortions, contrary to what some may (erroneously) argue.

The truth is that abortions are simply not medically necessary. In the words of former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop: “ The life of the mother argument surfaces in every debate concerning abortion. The fact of the matter is that abortion as a necessity to save the life of the mother is so rare as to be non-existent.” In support of his claim, one retro-spective study found that only 0.005% of the 2.5 million British abortions between 1968 and 1986 were necessary to save the mother's life. Yet, with the liberalization of Canadian abortion regulation in 1969 to include the ‘health’ of the mother, abortions could then be performed in most provinces for “emotional, psychological, physical, mental and socio-economic health”.

Last, but certainly not least, the current Guradian Ad also profiles the Campaign for Life 2012 Banner. The banner was designed to convey a very positive, truly pro-life theme. Ironically, advocates of life are often depicted as uncaring and out of touch with the realities a women faces when bringing a child into the world. The message in the banner is that we are concerned for both the mother and the child, we love them both! Indeed, future ads and efforts will be aimed at bringing hope and optimism to expecting mothers to address their apprehension and fears (which are often highlighted by abortion advocates resulting in even more abortions).

Click Here to download entire Guardian Ad.

Stay tuned for more Campaign for Life 2012 in the upcoming weeks and months!