Earlier this week, Alberta 's Environment Minister Lorne Taylor was a guest on the Rutherford Show on QR77 and CHED radio stations. Dr. Taylor will not be running again in the upcoming provincial election. Radio host Dave Rutherford asked Dr. Taylor if there was anything he regretted about his three terms in the provincial legislature. He said he regretted not doing more on socially conservative issues, specifically, that abortions had not been de-insured. Rutherford asked him why it hadn't been. "Albertans didn't want it," he replied. Albertans didn't want it? Here at Alberta Pro-Life we were appalled. Dr. Taylor has been a strong supporter of the campaign to de-insure abortions. In 1996, it was his constituency association of Cypress Hills-Medicine Hat that put forward a resolution to the conservative policy convention that the province hold a referendum on the question. The resolution was defeated.
So, given his support, why would he say Albertans don't support the concept? He has seen the polls which show that over three-quarters of us support de-insuring most abortions. In a conversation after the interview, Dr. Taylor said that despite the polls Albertans do not put a high priority on the subject. "I hardly ever hear from constituents on this issue," he said. "And when I do, it's from the same handful of people who represent a special interest group." He hears far more from people about cattle and BSE, power bills and many other subjects. As painful as this was to hear, it's hard not to agree with him. He is not the first elected MLA who supports de-insuring to have told us the same thing. So where do we go from here? First, we have to spread this message beyond our own "ghetto", that is, the small number of people who belong to pro-life groups who actually know there has been an ongoing campaign to de-insure abortions. That means talking to people about the issue, people who do not usually pay attention to politics or current events. Second, we need to raise the issue during the provincial election. Yesterday's Edmonton Journal speculated that the election will be held November 22. All Conservative candidates must be nominated by August 18. Several cabinet ministers have recently announced they will not run again, including Treasurer Pat Nelson, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Halvar Jonson and Dr. Taylor. There are 12 provincial parties in Alberta . Visit http://www.electionsalberta.ab.ca/welcome.html to find out who they are, what they stand for and what candidates have been nominated. The Elections Alberta site will also show you the new constituency boundaries. It is usually quite easy to elect candidates for the nomination in a constituency since few people attend these meetings. One does have to be a party member to vote, however. It is so important to have candidates, especially those who actually have a chance of winning the seat, who support life issues. The federal government has jurisdiction in some areas, for example whether abortion and euthanasia are legal or not, but the provincial government has jurisdiction in many other crucial areas: · Will abortion be covered by taxpayers? · Can minors have abortions without parental knowledge or consent? · Do women receive all relevant information about abortion side effects and complications? · Are health care workers protected from being forced to participate in procedures that violate their conscience? All of these are areas in which the provincial government has authority and we need candidates who uphold the pro-life positions on each of these issues. Alberta Pro-Life in conjunction with several other groups plans to put together a guide to help voters decide who to vote for in the provincial elections. We need contacts in every constituency in the province to help us distribute these guides. If you can be that contact, let us know. Educating citizens is a huge part of our job. That job becomes easier during an election campaign because people usually pay more attention to news and current issues at that time. You will recall that during the recent federal election, the media was full of stories about abortion, a subject that is rarely mentioned in Canadian media. Health care will probably play a big part in the upcoming campaign as it did in the federal one. We need many, many people to write letters to the editor, show up at election forums and talk to their friends, neighbours and co-workers about abortion. When candidates express opposition to private, for-profit clinics, ask them if they will shut down the abortion clinics which do almost half of the province's 10,000 abortions each year. When they suggest that the system is running out of money, point out that we could redirect between $5 million and $10 million a year to real health services if we would stop paying for abortions. This website is loaded with information about de-insuring and can help you make the case. No matter how tired you are of elections, no matter how disheartened with the outcome of the federal vote or cynical you are about politicians, please get involved in this provincial election. The thing about a democracy is that ordinary people can effect change. It just takes patience, diligence and a core of people willing to take their case to the voters. It's up to us.
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