Why are Canadians talking about abortion?

Across Canada, people are talking about abortion. Not just the usual suspects, but a broader group, including the mainstream media. 

Why?

On the eve of the March for Life, May 7, 2014, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said all Liberal nominees would have to be resolutely “pro-choice.” Current pro-life Liberal Members of Parliament would be “respected,” but only “to a certain extent.”

That same day, NDP Member of Parliament and Status of Women critic Niki Ashton gave notice for her new motion. It asks Parliament to recognize abortion as a fundamental human right, and to fund it globally. 

This motion and Justin Trudeau’s statements are pure politics, ignoring both what abortion is and what it does – to women, families and society.

Enter the IMFC with a new paper released May 12, 2014, addressing exactly that.

Interconnected: How abortion impacts mothers, families and our society focuses on the various harms that have been revealed by academic studies and meta-analyses.

We consider abortion’s proven impacts on mental health, relationships, sexuality and society.

The report challenges the myth that abortion has no negative ramifications. It challenges the myth that abortion affects only the woman involved.

“My body, my choice,” is political propaganda, not scientific fact.

It is not helpful to overstate the negative ramifications of abortion. However, by far the bigger concern Canadians face today is the problem of pretending there are none.

The impacts of abortion include (but are not limited to):

• 42% of post-abortive women reported major depression by age 25
• 39% of post-abortive women suffered anxiety disorders
• 27% of post-abortive women experienced suicide ideation
• A meta-analysis published in the prestigious British Journal of Psychiatry showed an overall 81% greater risk of mental health problems for post-abortive women
• Women having abortions are 37% more likely to divorce and twice as likely to never marry
• 34% of women reported a decrease in sexual desire post-abortion
• Women who aborted had more positive attitudes toward risky sexual behavior including sex with strangers and being forced to have sex
• Men whose partners aborted had more positive attitudes toward group sex, sex with strangers and paying for sex

Anyone but the most severe ideologue can see that these scientific studies are a legitimate cause for concern.

A better understanding of the societal effects of abortion helps us to see that abortion does not make this world, or Canada, a better place. The impacts of abortion extend beyond the fetus and the woman.

With two of three major parties attempting to declare that abortion is a right, and un-debatable, the Canadian political landscape is shifting to an even more extreme and fringe position—not by pro-life standards, but by global legal standards. We were already fringe before, for the lack of law.

This is why Canadians are discussing abortion. And ultimately, discussing abortion can only be a good thing. This busts yet another myth—that the issue is “settled” in Canada.

The new IMFC study can be found online here.