The pro-life message remains unchanged
Following the very successful National March for Life in Ottawa and other provincial marches across Canada, several mainstream media (for example) have been reporting on the pro-life movement’s new strategy, new language, and new tactics. As much as we appreciate the kind words towards our messaging and communication strategy, I would just like to state that in reality the message has been and always will be the same. Nothing in the message has changed. What has changed, and is continuously changing, is the attitude of this generation of Canadians who now have the science, the facts, and the images at their disposal to know what abortion is.
By bringing attention to the theme of female gendercide this past March for Life, and by continuing to expose abortion as a human rights issue (as it has always been), we are not trying to shift our efforts, we are not trying to be sneaky, and we are definitely not trying to shy away from the ‘A’ word, as one reporter asked me at the March. Abortion is and forever will be the intentional killing of a wanted or unwanted zygote, embryo, fetus, and newborn, and more and more Canadians are finding the courage to admit this. Year after year, the numbers at the National March for Life and regional marches across this country keep growing. It’s not easy to go against the tide, but these marches show that it’s definitely possible.
By highlighting sex-selective abortion and exposing this form of discrimination against girls, we are not trying to trick people into discussing the issue or joining the anti-abortion side as Paul Saurette, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa, claimed in his Toronto Star commentary. In truth, we are pin-pointing the sad reality of how far our culture has strayed. There are individuals in our country and government who have devalued the inherent dignity of a human life to the extent that they justify, are indifferent to, or are personally against but do nothing to stop this intentional extermination of girls in and outside the womb.
The pro-life message does not end there. Just as not wanting a baby girl can never be a justifiable reason for an abortion, the same applies to not wanting a baby boy, a baby diagnosed with Down Syndrome, a baby conceived in rape, a baby who will never know her father, a baby who does not fit into her parents’ lifestyle, a baby conceived when her parents’ contraception failed, a baby who might be born into poverty and a life of trial and tribulation, even a baby who might grow up to be a future abortionist or an abortion activist. Just as there is no reason to kill a newborn, a 10 year old, or a 95 year old, there is no justifiable reason to kill a newly conceived human being, a week, two months or six months post-fertilization. None of these variables justify preventing these human beings from being born and having the same shot at life as every one of us who made it out alive.
Abortion kills a human being in the most gruesome of ways, hurts women and sometimes even causes their death. It needs to be abolished once and for all. This is why we are anti-abortion. This is why we are pro-life. The media can frame it how they want; our message remains unchanged.