Ottawa, Canada, May 8, 2007 / 09:23 am
The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) is urging Canadians to reconsider the juridical void, which makes it possible for women to access free abortions across the country.
In an April 30 message, released ahead of the 10th annual March for Life on Parliament Hill, COLF director Michele Boulva argues that abortion counters the Canadian ideal of a just society that works to maintain the dignity of each person.
The March for Life is May 10. Organizers have noted that an increasing number of participants are young people. Three million babies have been aborted in Canada in the 36 years since abortion has been decriminalized.
“It is an illusion to think that the human rights of each and everyone will be respected if we do not begin by respecting the first of all fundamental rights: the right to life, which is recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Boulva wrote. “It is only by respecting life from its earliest beginnings until its natural end that we may hope to have the rest of our rights respected.”
Boulva said the time has come to extend the human rights protections, guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to unborn Canadian citizens.
“Today, astonishing and abundant scientific evidence confirms the humanity of the unborn, each of whom is unique and irreplaceable,” said Boulva, citing French scientist Jerome Lejeune.
Lejeune has said: “From the moment of fertilization, that is from the earliest moment of biologic existence, the developing human being is alive, and entirely distinct from the mother who provides nourishment and protection.”
“As a civilized country, considering the knowledge that we now have about prenatal development, we cannot continue to deny the evidence: to destroy a human fetus or embryo is to prevent the birth of a unique and irreplaceable human being,” she said.
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Boulva noted that recent surveys indicate that two-thirds of Canadians are in favor of a law that would give greater protection to unborn human life by restricting the period during which abortion is allowed, said Boulva. Currently, in Canada, an abortion can be procured at any time in a woman’s pregnancy.
“Our communities must be more creative in supporting women and couples confronted with an unexpected pregnancy,” said Boulva. Moreover, governments must provide publicly funded services that offer alternatives to abortion, as well as informed consent and parental notification laws.