by Peter Ryan<\/p>\n

I have dedicated my working life to the cause of life since 1977. I got involved because my only two siblings miscarried. I am the lone unborn survivor. I know I might not be here.<\/p>\n

If I supported a woman\u2019s \u201cright to choose,\u201d I\u2019d be saying it\u2019s okay if my mother had aborted me. I can\u2019t say that. Who can? I have a right to life! So does everyone. It began before birth.<\/p>\n

I am father of seven, grandfather of fifteen including two about to be born. When our pregnant daughter emailed us an ultrasound photo, we did not react, \u201cOur grandfetus!\u201d Who does? It\u2019s a baby.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Medical Association says the life of \u201ca baby\u201d begins at conception. Calling it a baby is no religious statement. It\u2019s fact.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s wrong to play word games when the baby is unwanted. Terms like \u201cclump of cells\u201d are dishonest when the intent is to dehumanize. To differentiate the unwanted from the wanted is to travel the same road that leads to genocide.<\/p>\n

Express your concerns by using this Simple Mail<\/a> to government officials!<\/strong><\/p>\n

10,000 babies have died at the Morgentaler Clinic since it opened. That\u2019s no religious statement. It\u2019s undeniable truth.<\/p>\n

Please note I have not even touched upon the issue of abortion\u2019s morality. I have merely stated an important fact.<\/p>\n

Surely that fact is relevant to the public discussion about using tax funds for the clinic. Arguments about \u201cabortion access\u201d that fail to note what the access is to \u2013 killing thousands of children \u2013 are at best superficial, at worst disingenuous.<\/p>\n

In both life and public policy, truth matters. History is too full of examples where evil flourished when truth was suppressed or succumbed to word games like apartheid and \u201cthe final solution.\u201d In public policy and life, integrity means facing up to the truth. Putting blinders on is unworthy of us.<\/p>\n

Some will retort, \u201cBut abortion is legal.\u201d As if that settles the argument. It does not, for three reasons.<\/p>\n

First, the argument is a non sequitur. It is legal for me to build a rocket ship and fly to the moon. It does not follow the government has to pay for it.<\/p>\n

Second, there is no Canadian legislation defining abortion\u2019s legality. The 1988 Morgentaler decision by the Supreme Court addressed the criminality of abortion, not public funding. No Canadian court has ruled the Charters of Rights requires a province to fund unrestricted abortion at a private clinic. It is an open issue.<\/p>\n

Third, it is dishonorable to hide behind the law. Slavery was once legal. It was legal for Nazis to kill Jews. That did not make those activities just. Those who argue \u201cabortion is legal\u201d must explain why that is just, and cannot skirt the truth that abortion kills a child.<\/p>\n

Again, some clinic supporters protest, \u201cBut the Canada Health Act has decided the matter. New Brunswick is in violation.\u201d That is less than truthful. The Act is silent on abortion. The Act defers to the provincial constitutional power over health care, allowing each province to decide what it funds under the Act\u2019s insurance provisions.<\/p>\n

New Brunswick is within its legal right to not fund unrestricted abortion at private clinics. The fact most other provinces fund clinics does not mean they alone follow the Act. Critics who try to shame New Brunswick for standing apart act like bullies.<\/p>\n

To be pro-life is not to point a finger at women who abort. Such women are in a panic over pregnancy; they often act under duress.<\/p>\n

Our government and community should partner to better support women with relevant resources when they feel pressured to have abortions, as so many do. Our Women\u2019s Care Center provides no-pressure, resource-based (including early ultrasound) support. A social environment where women are empowered to freely choose life is a desirable, achievable public policy goal.<\/p>\n

Peter Ryan is the Executive Director of the New Brunswick Right to Life Association and this article is published here with his permission.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Peter Ryan I have dedicated my working life to the cause of life since 1977. I got involved because my only two siblings miscarried. I am the lone unborn survivor. I know I might not be here. If I supported a woman\u2019s \u201cright to choose,\u201d I\u2019d be saying it\u2019s okay if my mother had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3014,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[61],"tags":[79,546,219,359,81,106,422,303,256,388,317],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3014"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1064"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1855,"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064\/revisions\/1855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.weneedalaw.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}