Abortion in Quebec
By Carroll Rees

Abort their conference was the battle-cry of the demonstrators planning to protest the national pro-life conference at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal.  Their website invited participants to bring musical instruments, tam-tams and even pots and pans to make noise.  I am sure that even they were surprised to learn that the Holy Cross Fathers had issued a statement saying the conference would not be held at the Oratory for security reasons. 
           
This apparent victory was not enough.  Even though they appeared to have met their objective of  “Aborting our conference” they did not abandon their quest but decided that they should try to  silence us completely.  They posted a new statement in French on their website following the Oratory’s press release which said “We believe that the stakes linked to the right to abortion are still on the table and that such discussions are still too prevalent.  We consider it pertinent, that is essential, to continue to denounce them in the public square and to reaffirm loudly the right of women to dispose of their bodies”.  Hey, whatever happened to freedom of speech?  If they are so convinced that their position is right, why are they opposed to a discussion?
           
Fortunately, the conference took place as planned at the Protestant church La Bible Parle with just under 400 participants.  The added publicity contributed to the success of the conference in that more people were made aware of the conference and decided to join us.  Registration was higher than expected which means that even more people had an opportunity to hear the excellent speakers and learn more about various pro-life issues.  In the end, it wasn’t much of a victory for the demonstrators. 
           
Journalist, Brigitte Pellerin, wrote an excellent article referring to a “silver lining” in the dark cloud over the conference.  The complete article, which first appeared in the Ottawa Citizen can be read at «http://www.brigittepellerin.com/abortion.pdf ».  In it, Ms. Pellerin says: 

“So where's the silver lining? First, the sheer aggressiveness displayed by the "pro-choice" people betrays a certain desperation. As though they were afraid the merest discussion on the subject would automatically bring back the stereotypical coat-hangers in dark alleys. If they were confident in their position, and in public support for it, they wouldn't need to demonstrate so violently.
         
Second, such actions are slowly pushing moderate Quebecers toward the pro-life camp. Very few people want to be associated with rock-throwing masked thugs. And despite the depressingly huge number of abortions in Quebec every year -- an astonishing 42 for every 100 live births -- I'm not ready to believe most Quebecers are in favour of abortion. A large majority (over 80 per cent) who answer the question tell pollsters they're pro-choice, but who knows what ambivalence such results conceal, especially among the countless women who spend the rest of their lives haunted by the sound of little feet that never toddled.”

I believe she is absolutely right about the soft support for abortion in Quebec.  The September 2005 issue of Chatelaine magazine features two articles on the issue of abortion and is quite revealing.  Josée Blanchette, a pro-choice writer, admits that she is not comfortable with the widespread practice of abortion in Quebec.   Thirty thousand abortions a year in Quebec is starting to resemble a luxurious contraceptive method, she says.  Women in Quebec now have access to sex education from kindergarten on, tax-funded morning after pills without a prescription, free birth control pills from the school nurse and condoms in drugstores at all times.  She recognizes that the debate is focused only on rights, ignores responsibility and the reality that freedom can be abused.   Blanchard even acknowledges that abortion takes a life and leaves its imprint on a woman’s psyche.
           
Concern over the high number of abortions is not new in Quebec.  A 2004 report by the Quebec government entitled “La situation démographique du Québec” reports that one of the reasons the  morning after pill was made available to women in Quebec without a prescription was to try to reduce the number of abortions.  It did not work.  The number of abortions continued to rise as did the number of women using the morning after pill.  The number of induced abortions rose from 29,140 in 2002 to 29,429 in 2003.  Increased use of the morning after pill is even more shocking.  The number of Quebec women using the morning after pill rose from 8,665 in 2001 to 12,607 in 2002 and up to 15,148 in 2003.  These statistics do not include the number of morning after pills distributed free of charge to young women by local CLSCs.   Even the Quebec government was stunned at this revelation.
           
The French television program “Enjeux” featured a one-hour special on the high incidence of abortion in Quebec in February 2001. The program featured a 20 year old woman by the name of Manon who was having her second abortion. Manon explains that she is sad and angry because she is having this abortion, she did not use any contraception and says of the child “I might have wanted to have it”.  In tears, she explains “if I didn’t want any I should have protected myself instead.”   The nurses in this program explain that 1 in 2 women having abortions do not use contraceptives.  Following the abortion procedure, they try to urge the women to use contraceptives so that they do not end up having to undergo another abortion, which is always a difficult experience.  Apparently they are often not successful.  Women still show up for a third or fourth abortion and one nurse says that she can tell the advice she gives them about using contraception “goes in one ear and out the other.” 
           
Quebec women may continue to have the highest number of abortions in Canada but a recent Environics poll, commissioned by LifeCanada, revealed that 62% of Quebecers believe that human life should be protected by law at some point before birth. A large majority of them (71%)  believe that before a woman agrees to an abortion, she should be provided information by her physician on fetal development including an ultrasound scan, the possible complications and side effects following an abortion, and alternatives to abortion.  For the past twenty years, as the number of abortions continued to rise, the focus has been on more sex education in schools and more access to contraception including the morning after pill.  Obviously these methods are not working.  Isn’t it time that we consider other solutions? 

Carroll Rees is the Executive Director of LifeCanada.