Cheer up! We’re gaining ground It’s time for our annual “See we aren’t crazy fanatics on the fringe of Canadian society” celebration. I’m not referring here to this weekend’s Hallowe’en festivities in which lots of folks will dress up in weird costumes. No, I’m actually referring to a new national poll released two weeks ago at the pro-life conference in Winnipeg. It was conducted by Environics Research and commissioned by LifeCanada and supported by provincial pro-life groups and Physicians for Life. This is the third year in a row that these groups have collaborated to get this polling done. LifeCanada initiated the project in 2002. That year, two questions were added to a poll being conducted by Leger Marketing: one, about legal protection for human life before birth and the second was on whether Canadians supported abortions paid for with tax dollars. Last year, 2003, the group added six questions to the Leger poll. In addition to the two above, additional questions included one on embryonic stem cell research, informed consent, parental consent and at what stage of development people believed their own life began. This year, LifeCanada asked four questions partly to reduce the cost of the poll. However, Leger refused to do the poll this year. At first, Leger said LifeCanada had violated the contract by using the poll information on radio ads. Some groups, including groups in Alberta and Ontario had used the results in ads, but LifeCanada, which signed the contract has never run any radio ads. When that was pointed out to Leger, the company then said that it would not do the polling anyway because it was not doing controversial issues. Interestingly, Leger did release a poll this summer on same-sex marriage, one of the most controversial issues the Liberal government has faced in the past two years. LifeCanada approached Environics, another well-known and respected polling firm, and asked them to do the poll. They agreed and put no restrictions on the use of the results or their name in the promotion of the poll. So, what did the poll find? Canadians are increasingly supporting positions which respect life. Over the past three years, support for legal protection for unborn children has increased. 68% of the 2,027 Canadians polled in 2004 said they favored some legal protection before birth. That’s up from 63% last year. One-third said protection should begin at conception. Almost one-quarter, 24% said babies should be protected after three months of pregnancy and 11% said after six months of pregnancy. Only 28% supported the current situation in Canada which does not consider babies worth protecting until birth. They have no legal rights in Canada until they are born alive. In Alberta, 43% said there should be protection from conception on, with 73% supporting legal protection at some point before birth. That’s up from 39% and 69% respectively in 2003, a significant increase in just one year. Canadians supported informed consent laws which would require women to be told about stages of fetal development, have an ultrasound and learn about complications and side effects of abortion before they can consent to the procedure. 73% of Canadians supported this idea, up from 69% last year. In Alberta, 75% supported such laws compared to 72% in 2003. You probably recall the outcry during the June federal election when Yellowhead MP Rob Merrifield suggested that women should have access to third party counselling before consenting to abortion. He thought perhaps someone other than the doctor or clinic getting paid to do the abortion should tell women about the procedure and its effects. He was widely and viciously criticized in the media and by Liberals, notably former Health Minister and Edmonton MP Anne McLellan. These results prove that Mr. Merrifield spoke for the vast majority of Canadians. Respondents to the poll were asked whether they supported a law requiring minors under 18 to get parental consent before obtaining an abortion. Over half, 55%, supported such a law while 60% of Albertans agreed. (There is no comparison to 2003 because the question was changed.) Finally, on the issue of tax-funding for abortion, 18% thought abortion should always be privately funded compared to 15% for the past two years. 54% thought it should be publicly funded “only in medical emergencies such as a threat to the mother’s life or in cases of rape or incest.” In Alberta the numbers were 18% and 59% respectively. So, support for deinsuring most abortions stands at 69% in Canada (75% if one excludes Quebec) and at 77% in Alberta down slightly from 78% in 2003 and up from 76% in 2002. (The 2004 poll had a smaller sample size than the other two years.) This really is good news. Now, the bad news. You are unlikely to read this anywhere but in pro-life publications. LifeCanada is sending out a media release today to radio, TV and print journalists. Alberta Pro-Life also sends out these results to media throughout our province. The experience of 2002 and 2003 has been that the results never appear in a news item. Occasionally after several months, a sympathetic columnist will mention these results in an opinion piece but in general, the story is ignored. Similarly, Alberta Pro-Life (and other provincial groups) and LifeCanada will send out the results to elected politicians to ensure that they understand that these opinions are shared by many Canadians. And yet, politicians and legislatures continue to ignore the issues. They don’t worry about women’s health or informed consent and continue to force all of us to participate in this barbaric procedure increasing health care costs and hurting many women. Premier Ralph Klein has just called the provincial election. This is the perfect time to raise these issues and this poll with the people running in your constituency. This is particularly true if you have never talked to your MLA before. We are told repeatedly that Albertans don’t care about these issues. We hear this even from those MLAs who support our cause. They tell us they don’t hear from many constituents on deinsuring and that the very few they do hear from are the same ones they’ve been hearing from for years. (They don’t say “the fanatics” but I think that’s what they mean.) Could we make this an issue in the 2004 election on the eve of Alberta’s 100 th birthday? You will be hearing from members of all parties in the next four weeks. Take every opportunity to ask all of them no matter what party they are from, “Where do you stand on using tax dollars to pay for abortion?” Ask them about informed consent and consent for minors. Show them the poll. Print it from your computer and hand it to them. Ask about it at public forums and write letters to the editor about it. Yes, it takes some courage. Not the kind that is required in countries where they kill you for disagreeing with the government. And not the kind that was required by the early Christians facing the lions in Rome. It’s the kind that might cause some embarrassment. On the other hand, you might just be surprised how many others support your opinion but were afraid to express it themselves. This poll says well over two-thirds of Albertans are on our side. Take the chance.
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