We Need a Law
We Need a Law is an effective lobby group that is actively engaged in providing legal protection to unborn children. ‘They are a meeting place where parliamentarians, organizations and all Canadians can come together with the shared determination of providing a loud and clear message that we need to do all we can to legally protect pre-born children.’ (About) They strive to protect a woman’s right to have her child, defend girls, and end late-term abortions, engaging, equipping, and mobilizing Canadians in the political process and persuade then to change minds, change laws, and save pre-born lives.
In Canada, over 100,000 pre-born children are killed by abortion every year. This staggering number is the result of violent actions that end the life of developing unborn children. Abortion risks a woman’s overall health, their ability to have children in the future, and increases their risk for breast cancer. Abortion destroys a precious child’s life, effects a mother’s conscience, and destroys a cultures sense of morality. ‘If a woman is aggressively attacked by a person who knows that she is pregnant, and the attack results in harm to, or the death, of her baby, there are no lawful consequences for the aggressor as it relates to that baby. Furthermore, that unborn child does not count legally because it was not born yet.’(Pre-born victims of crime) We Need a Law states “this gap in Canadian law leaves women open to intimate partner violence without appropriate consequences for those who would abuse or victimize them, and sends the message that women who desire to carry their baby safely to term are unsupported in that choice.” (Pre-born victims of crime) In 2016, Bill C-225 was introduced. This was The Protection of Pregnant Woman and Pre-born Children act, but was also known as Cassie and Molly’s Law. Even though this bill was voted down, many Canadians were supporting it. Independent polling also found that approximately 70% of Canadians (and close to 75% of women) support tighter penalties for those who commit crimes against pregnant woman. This indicates a desire for change in Canada to reflect the value of a woman’s choice to carry her baby and her right to do so in safety.” (Pre-born victims of crime) “Knowing this, we continue to advocate for a law that would honour pre-born victims of crime by legally recognizing them as victims, also in the hope that doing so would deter violence against the mothers who carry them.” (Pre-born victims of crime)
In Canada, there is sex-selective abortion. News reports by CBC and CTV of recent years of increased awareness on this issue. It is now up to Canadians to act, to end the use of abortion as a tax-payer funded service to target girls. ‘Sex-selection in embryos for in vitro fertilization is illegal, yet it continues to be accepted as a reason to receive an abortion.’(Defend Girls) “This devaluing of girls, particularly evident in certain ethnic communities, is part of a larger cultural devaluing of women. Some women have virtually no say in the decision to abort a female child, and this unnatural selection is another example of how “choice” actually reflects a larger problem where women are told it would be better if they could be more like men.” (Defend Girls) Polls show, the majority of Canadians agree that there should be restrictions to prevent sex-selective abortion. We must stop the discrimination against the pre-born, for human rights also belong to them. The UN Declaration of Human Rights states, “Recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the maned family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
The pre-born are the most vulnerable in our society, with an entire future ahead of them. And yet, some call it a mistake, you can make disappear. It is legal to have an abortion, but has not always been. In fact, inducing an abortion was a crime in Canada until 1988, when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the abortion law as unconstitutional. Since then, abortion has been legal at any stage during a woman’s pregnancy, and is publicly funded as medical procedure under the Canada Health Act. Till this day, abortion remains one of the most divisive political issues of our time. Every child deserves a chance to live. Both France and Spain have a law that protects unborn children after 12 weeks gestation. In France the only exceptions are if the “pregnancy poses a grave danger to the woman’s health or there is a strong probability that the expected child will suffer from a particularly severe illness recognized as incurable.” (International Standards Abortion Law) ‘There is an exception in Spain of foetal impairment, but only up to twenty-two weeks.’(International Standards Abortion Law) “Germany allows abortions on request until 12 weeks provided the woman receives proper counselling three days before the procedure. The state-regulated counselling is required to inform the woman that the pre-born have a right to life and to try to convince her to continue her pregnancy.”(International Standards Abortion Law) ‘These countries are secular, pluralistic nations much like Canada. However, in Canada, about 15% of abortions occur after the first trimester. ‘ The Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) reports that 12.7% of abortions occur at 13 weeks or later, and 2.4% of abortions occur after 20 weeks, including when the baby would be viable outside the womb. This accounts for about 12,500 pre-born children per year, with up to 2,500 of those being aborted after 20 weeks, based on the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada’s estimate of 104,158 total abortions annually in Canada.” (International Standards Abortion Law) Since it is not required of abortion clinics to report statistics, it is difficult to know how many babies are lost at each stage of pregnancy. However, it is possible to know how Canadians feel about this reality.’The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world. As Dr. Seuss once wrote, “Even though you can’t see them or hear them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small!” In the UN Declaration of Rights it states that “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection before birth as well as after birth.” Abortion destroys a precious child’s life, effects a mother’s conscience, and destroys a cultures sense of morality.
Of the whole world, Canada is the only democracy that provides not legal protection of pre-born humans. As a country who is proud of its freedom and human rights, this is a pathetic reflection. We Need a Law is an effective lobby group that is actively engaged in providing legal protection to unborn children. “The gap between public opinion and public policy regarding abortion legislation is growing, and we need to increase pressure on our government to take action to end the injustice of almost 100,000 deaths each year in Canada.” (About) They strive to protect a woman’s right to have her child, defend girls, and end late-term abortions, engaging, equipping, and mobilizing Canadians in the political process and persuade then to change minds, change laws, and save pre-born lives.
Works cited:
“About.” We Need A Law, weneedalaw.ca/about/.
“Defend Girls.” We Need A Law, weneedalaw.ca/initiatives/defend-girls/.
“International Standards Abortion Law.” We Need A Law, weneedalaw.ca/initiatives/international-standards-abortion-law/.
“Pre-born victims of crime.” We Need A Law, weneedalaw.ca/initiatives/pre-born-victims-of-crime/.
Seuss. “Horton-(Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who).” Board of Wisdom, boardofwisdom.com/togo/Quotes/ShowQuote?msgid=397252#.WpV7alhy6e8.
“Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” United Nations, www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/.