The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The assertion about Òabortion being a private matter between a woman and her doctorÓ has been made a lot lately. But itÕs not entirely true, at least not as far as Canadian taxpayers are concerned. Canada spends generously on things like senior pensions, education and health care. Despite the obvious public support for core spending, Canadian voters remain less willing to fund programs they believe are not providing positive outcomes. The most obvious example is welfare. With the backing of taxpayers, governments provide a basic minimum amount, recognizing overly rich payments encourage dependence. A similar logic applies to abortion, because the government is more involved in promoting abortion than Canadians realize. What might Canadians say about the federal government offering unemployment benefits to women who have an abortion? It is worth asking because OttawaÕs employment insurance program does just that. According to EI guidelines, when a pregnancy is terminated within the first 19 weeks it is considered an illness and benefits can be collected. If an abortion occurs in the 20th week or later benefits are paid out under the EI maternity program despite there being no mother or child. According to the federal government, the Òbirth motherÓ need only sign Òa statement declaring the expected due or actual date of birth.Ó Government support doesnÕt end there. Last year, the federal governmentÕs Canadian International Development Agency quietly approved funding to the United Kingdom-based International Planned Parenthood Federation. This special interest organization will collect $18-million over four years from Canadian taxpayers to promote its agenda. Planned Parenthood acts as a political pressure group. On January 22, the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. Òabortion-rights advocate Planned Parenthood is launching a major effort to elect pro-abortion-rights candidates to Congress and the White House in November.Ó It will Òspend $10-million to persuade voters to elect abortion-rights candidates in the 2008 election.Ó The Canadian government should not be sending tax dollars to advocacy groups that engage in political activism in Canada or elsewhere. Ottawa should undo policies that either encourage or reward an abortion. It should certainly not pay out EI illness or maternity benefits when there is no child.
