Monday, March 25, 2019

Who is lying - Kelowna Right to Life billboard or someone else?

Joyce Arthur has some problems with this billboard and she wants people to complain to Ad Standards. She thinks the following statements are all false. They are not.

My comments in bold on each of her statements.

implying that abortion is available until the 9th month of pregnancy
(Abortion is legal in Canada up until 9 months of pregnancy)

implying that full-term foetuses are routinely aborted 
(From 2013/2014 to 2017/2018 there were 5,048 late-term abortions in Canada. These late term abortions were all at least > 500 grams or 20 weeks gestation
2014-2015 Livebirth abortions: there were 14 abortions from (25 +) weeks gestation 
2015-2016 Livebirth abortions: there were 6 abortions from (29 +) weeks gestation / unknown gestation 
2016-2017 Livebirth abortions: there were 8 abortions from (25 +) weeks gestation 
2017-2018 Livebirth abortions: there were 5 abortions from (29 +) weeks gestation / unknown gestation)

claiming that Canadian law allows abortion up to 9 months
(There were a Total of 33 Livebirth abortons of (25+ weeks gestation) / unknown gestational age in a five year period)

implying that most abortions happen around 16 weeks or later 
(At least 5,048 later than 20 weeks, unknown how many were between 16 and 20 weeks)

calling a foetus a “child” or a “person” 
(A fetus is a very young human child)

making unsupported statements, e.g. “up to 25% of your friends, neighbours and relatives are likely missing” due to abortion 
(in Canada in 2018 there were 385,777 live births. There are about 100,000 abortions in Canada each year. Looks to me like approximately 25% of pregnancies ended in abortion)

using the word “committed” rather than “performed”, to imply that abortion is illegal 
(to commit: carry out or perpetrate (a mistake, crime, or immoral act).

equating legal abortion with extreme child abuse 
(abortion is extremely abusive towards the pre-born child)

characterizing abortion as a procedure to be “performed at the patient’s request without a referral”
(no referral is required in Canada for abortion)

implying that most abortions occur later in pregnancy by showing images of later-term fetuses
(5,048 is a lot of late term abortions)

implying that fetuses at all stages of gestation will feel pain in an abortion 
(one fetus feeling pain from an abortion is one too much)

claiming that "Canada has no abortion laws" when the 1988 R.v. Morgentaler decision that legalized abortion in fact stands as law as decreed by the Supreme Court, and abortion is regulated in other ways (such as through the Canada Health Act) 
(there are no laws in Canada that provide any protection to the pre-born child)

No comments:

Post a Comment