Canadians oppose unrestricted abortion

By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Ottawa

A recent Environics Focus Canada poll, commissioned by Life Canada, found that 33 per cent of Canadians believe human life should be protected from conception and another 24 per cent say protection for the unborn should begin after the third month.

Life Canada is an umbrella organization for 103 educational pro-life groups across the country. This is the third year it has commissioned such a study.

"Every year the results are better and better from our perspective, from the pro life perspective," said Life Canada's executive director Carroll Rees.

The survey showed that only 28 per cent support having protection for human life begin at birth - the present state of the law in Canada.

"Canadians are not in favour of the status quo," Rees said. "They'd like to see some restrictions on abortion."

Rees noted that more and more Canadians - now 73 per cent - would support laws requiring doctors to inform women about the stages of fetal development (including an ultrasound) and the health risks of abortion.

Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton-Melville) has a private member's bill in the works to guarantee "a women's right to know all the risks of having an abortion."

"It's a health issue," Breitkreuz said. "How can anyone object to letting people know what some of the risks are?"

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