Why is it so hard to talk about abortion?

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, where I work as Legal Counsel, just released the newest edition of FaithToday. The cover story is entitled “Why is it so hard to talk about abortion in Canada?” and it’s a great read. Read it online here.

I was interviewed, along with CCBR’s Stephanie Gray, former speech writer for Prime Minister Stephen Harper Paul Malvern, National Post managing editor Jonathan Kay, former PWPL blogger Veronique Bergeron, MyCanada’s Faytene Gressechi, my colleague Don Hutchinson, and our very own Andrea Mrozek.

I thought Kay’s comment was interesting:

The reluctance of Canadians to debate abortion may also have something to do with how vocal Americans are about it, and a desire to distance ourselves from American fundamentalism. Why Americans are more prepared to debate has a lot to do with “the state of the law so plainly at variance with the moral view of so many of its citizens…The U.S. is an openly Christian country, and there is a vast difference between the religious nation and the liberal abortion law – even though the laws vary from state to state. And that tension drives the debate, the tension between the morality of the people and the law, and as long as the law doesn’t reflect people’s values, there will continue to be that tension.

He then compares this reality to Canada’s where there is less “religious pressure” to ban the procedure and also less tension between the law and status quo.

I also wrote a sidebar on MP Mark Warawa’s Motion M-408, a motion which simply sought a Parliamentary condemnation of sex-selection abortion, and how debate was shut down in Parliament. You can read that article here.

There’s also an article on cases that challenge free speech limits in Canada, and some commentary on the abortion debate. You can read it here.

If you’re around for the March for Life, you’ll likely see some free copies being distributed – feel free to take one. And more info FaithToday is here.

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