For Immediate Release
June 1st 2004

Abortion-minded women deserve our best, not our bias

If urging third party counseling to ensure informed consent is a “dramatic shift in abortion regulations,” then well done Mr Merrifield.

“We do not quite understand all this fuss,” says Jakki Jeffs, president of LifeCanada/VieCanada. “Rob Merrifield reflects Canadian thinking. In an October 2003 Leger Poll, 69% of Canadians said that women should be fully informed about all consequences of abortion and fetal development.”

“We can hardly expect impartial advice from those involved with abortion advocacy or indeed those providing the counseling and abortion for payment, can we?” asks Jeffs. “Seems strange that defenders of abortion choice would fear the promotion of a fully informed one.”

Henry Morgentaler’s paternalistic comment, “there is no merit to this kind of suggestion,” is outrageous. How can there be no merit for the mother, to suggest that a counselor not connected nor paid by the abortion facility present her with fetal development information and the risks, complications, effects and alternatives to abortion? Do we leave tobacco manufacturers in charge of telling consumers the health risks of smoking?

We know that women do not choose abortion over childbirth. They believe they have no other choice but abortion, given a certain set of circumstances.

“To the best of our knowledge, there is no consistent screening for coerced abortions at Canadian clinics,” said Dr. Will Johnston, president of Canadian Physicians for Life. “Abortion providers appear to be in denial that this problem exists. Pre-abortion counseling by a third party could help to ensure that a woman requesting the procedure is not being pressured into having an abortion she doesn’t want.”

Women deserve our best, not our bias. A third party counselor might just be the avenue through which we as a country actually show we care.

Jeffs concluded, “There is irrefutable evidence that abortion is deadlier to women than childbirth and an entire body of literature showing that abortion contributes to a decline in women’s health, including evidence in a 2001 study by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.”

The 2001 Canadian abortion statistics themselves tell part of the story - two women dead from 1st trimester abortions and approximately 1000 suffering immediate onsite complications.

How much more evidence do we need? Keep at it, Mr Merrifield.

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Contact:

Mrs Jakki Jeffs, President
LifeCanada/VieCanada
519-824-7797 (w)
519-820-3399 (cell)
519-921-9604 (h)

Will Johnston, MD, President
Canadian Physicians for Life
613-728-5433
info@physiciansforlife.ca