Rob Nicholson is the man

I finally figured out why Mr. Harper won’t let us debate abortion in Canada. You can fool me five or six times but I eventually get it. I’ve been sending my emails to the wrong person. Duh.

I should be sending them to the Minister of Justice, Mr. Rob Nicholson. Wow I really am as thick a as brick. Why I couldn’t figure this out on my own, I have no idea.

You see every time I send an e-mail to Mr. Harper, his office keeps responding to me with a variation on this:
“In your e-mail, you raised an issue that falls within the portfolio of the Honourable Robert Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Please be assured that your comments have been carefully noted. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your e-mail to Minister Nicholson. I am certain that the Minister will wish to give your views every consideration.”

(sometimes it's Bev Oda, or some other MP, but usually Rob Nicholson is the main forwardee)

So there you have it folks. From now on, make sure you send all those cards and letters and emails, about how we want an abortion debate; or how we want legal protection for our pre-born citizens; or how we need to re-examine that archaic 400 year old law that says an unborn child is not a human being--on to Mr. Nicholson.

Just make sure you send a copy to Mr. Harper as well. You don’t want Mr. Harper to feel out of the loop or anything. You know. It might be bad for his ego.

Rob.nicholson@parl.gc.ca
stephen.harper@parl.gc.ca

And another MP speaks out: Jeff Watson

Debate abortion, unborn's human rights says Tory MP Watson

According to the CBC:

Watson said human rights for the unborn and abortion don't necessarily go hand-in-hand but said "there could be links between the two."

"I’d love to hear the debate on this. What are the various permutations and implications if human rights are extended to the unborn?" Watson said. "Parliament is exactly the place to have that discussion. If it doesn’t happen in Parliament, where do we have these discussions?"

"Obviously, the government has been extremely clear it is not going to reopen any debate. But the rules of Parliament are such that individual members of Parliament, if they want to discuss these issues, can bring them forward for discussion.

"And I think it's clear how the government will vote on those issues, too."

Watson admitted "it's no secret" he is a pro life member of Parliament and believes the "old debate" about abortion should be re-examined.

"I think there’s more that can be done with respect to that issue," Watson said.

He said the government could provide more social and financial support to women who experience unplanned pregnancies. Citing a college student as a hypothetical example, he said a young woman today would not have to choose between education and being an unexpected mother.

"With the right supports you could have both," Watson said. "There’s more to this discussion than the old debate."

Good on Jeff Watson. The debate continues. With or without Stephen Harper. 

Could there be a better Christmas present than this--pro-life MPs speaking out in defence of our pre-born Canadians?

Merry Christmas to all.

Is this 400 year old law outdated?

Tory MP boldly calls for abortion debate with statement that avoids using the word abortion

If Scott Stinson wants us to call what MP Stephen Woodworth is doing: "obfuscating", does it matter?

I say this is just one more gutsy principled Conservative MP in a growing list of similarly gutsy principled Conservative MPs. Good for them.

Just because the other Stephen doesn't want to have a debate using that word, well, we'll simply have the debate without Mr. Harper.

Woodworth said in his press release:
"Canadian law provides no human rights protection whatsoever for children before the moment of complete birth. This results from an unusual Canadian statute which defines a human being as a child who has completely proceeded in a living state from the mother’s body, whether or not the child has breathed.

This means that in Canada a child is legally considered to be sub-human while his or her little toe remains in the birth canal, even if he or she is breathing. This law was first formulated prior to the seventeenth century, when an early version of it was recorded in Coke’s Institutes of Law. In those times, medical science and principles of human rights were not sufficiently advanced to challenge such a law.

The important question is whether this 400 year old Canadian law is supported by 21st century medical science and principles of human rights. Perhaps Canadians should at least examine this question. MP Stephen Woodworth proposes that Parliament has a responsibility to lead that examination."

Yes I agree heartily with Stephen Woodworth. Let's examine this question.

Yonder breaks a new and glorious morn

This year I gave away my tiny little Nativity scene that I kept in my office. I had bought it at the dollar store a couple of years ago, and every year I would place it on my desk at Christmas, because, as everyone knows, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ.

Since I didn't have it anymore I knew I'd have to get another one. So off I went back to the same dollar store. They didn’t have any. There were lots of bells and Santa Claus, ribbons and angels and other things we have come to associate with Christmas. But no Nativity scenes.

I then proceeded to go to gift shops, card shops, one department store, and saw lots more bells, Santa Claus, ribbons and bows, and tree ornaments. Nothing even remotely resembled a Nativity scene. I did actually find one porcelain Nativity scene--for $85. That seemed a bit rich, considering Jesus was born in, you know, a stable; with the sheep and the hay and the cows.

I even found a s'more in a manger. This is not a joke. This is for real. This would be a marshmallow in a manger. You know, like spun sugar and gelatin in a manger sitting on top of a graham cracker. Apart from the fact that I was offended, it was really rather pathetic. Move on, I thought, don't let it get you down. Don't lose sight of what you're looking for, a Nativity scene with Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Finally I found it in another dollar store. Three figurines: a baby Jesus lying in a manger with a little baby sheep beside him, Mary too, and a man with a staff. I think the man figurine was actually a shepherd, but he looked close enough to Joseph that I grabbed him. When I asked my sister who she thought he was, she that yes, he was probably a shepherd and not Joseph, since Joseph usually knelt beside baby Jesus.

That was fine. At least, I said, my Joseph is not a marshmallow.

My Nativity scene is complete. I am ready for Christmas.

Pro-life experts need not apply

The government agency Echo, has decided Ontario women need more access to abortions in a report called: Recommendations to Improve Abortion Services in Ontario: Report from the Expert Panel.
(Echo is a non-profit organization completely funded with Ontario tax dollars. Their revenue came from government grants of $2,338,423 in 2010, and $1,373,999 in 2009.)

So how did Echo conclude this? Well they asked a panel of "experts" to study abortion access in Ontario. The only problem is that, of all the experts they asked, none of them oppose abortion. No pro-life experts were consulted.

But here’s what else bothers me. It’s that Ontario abortion doctors are already performing way more abortions than we expected in 2010 at a cost of about 35 million dollars. Isn’t that enough? As well, Echo says they represent all Ontario women, but not all Ontario women are pro-abortion. So how can Echo say that they represent all of us? Clearly they can’t.

Their “expert” panel consisted of:

“a cross-provincial Abortion Expert Panel, who based the recommendations on their own expertise, key stakeholder consultation, and the findings of an Ontario based-study undertaken by Dr. L. Ferris through the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. The panel, assembled by Echo: Improving Women’s Health in Ontario, has been meeting over the past year to articulate clear recommendations and to assist in the development of the release strategy for key information from the study findings. The recommendations have implications for the health care, regulatory and training systems.”

I asked Echo’s CEO Pat Campbell if the "cross-provincial Abortion Expert Panel that was consulted with, had also consulted with medical professionals/other experts, who oppose abortion? Her answer was:

“None of the expert panel members oppose abortion.”

The report's “vision” is to:

“ensure accessible, safe, appropriate, timely, and non-judgmental abortion services for Ontario women through an integrated and sustainable sexual and reproductive health system.”

Some background on Echo comes from their Strategic plan and Reflecting Women’s voices.

Their stakeholders include the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the premier’s office, Members of Provincial parliaments, policy makers, and Ontario Women. This means this “pro-choice” group has the ear of not only your Premier and your MPP, but also your Ministry of Health. In fact Echo's mandate is to :

“provide input to government policy” and to “Act as a provincial advisor on women’s health to the Minister, the government and stakeholders; and Provide expert advice and recommendations in response to Minister and Government requests.”

Their “Health Issue focus” includes “Abortion Availability”. But there is no mention anywhere, in any of these three reports, on focusing on adoption availability/promotion, or on focusing on crisis pregnancy centres, two very important other choices for Ontario women.

Echo says it will:

“be the organization that...the women of Ontario seek out with their questions, ideas, options and support on issues of women’s health, equity and access.”

But will pro-life women go to Echo “with their questions, ideas, options and support on issues of women’s health?” I don’t think so.

Echo's conclusion from this "expert panel" is that:

“Ontario women benefit from access to well trained, committed service providers that do this important work in a generally effective and safe manner. The recommendations in this report are intended to continue to support the development of a system of care that supports improved quality and equity of access [to abortion].”

So what is our take away from this?

It is that in Canada’s biggest province, a 100% publicly funded organization, that supposedly “reflects all Ontario women’s voices”, but doesn’t bother to consult with pro-life voices, and that does not advocate for crucial pro-life choices, can conclude that women need more abortion access, when Ontario’s abortion doctors are already killing a whopping 44,000 babies a year and spending a fortune doing it. Do we really need to kill/spend more?

May I suggest you write a letter to Mr. McGuinty (dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org ) and your MPP?

(MPP contact information here)

You could tell them that you aren’t really interested in your tax dollars buying more abortions.

Even better, you could tell them that you’d like to see an expert panel formed to study, support and advise Ontario women on Crisis pregnancy centers and adoption agencies.

In fact maybe Mr. McGuinty could throw $35 million at these choices. That would indeed be money well spent.