Saturday, June 13, 2009

Changing the Culture Shouldn't Mean the Abandonment of Fetal Rights

The National Post:

Signal Hill is a group lobbying to make abortion a thing of the past. But unlike almost every other anti-abortion group in Canada and the United States, Signal Hill believes it is a waste of time trying to make abortion illegal.

"If we made abortion illegal tomorrow it's not going to change anything. I am not concerned with the law," said Yvonne Douma, the executive-director of the British Columbia-based organization.


If we made abortion illegal, of course it would change *something*. It would mean that a lot of abortionists would go out of business.

I'm all for changing the culture. But I don't think that just because you want to change hearts, you should disparage the work of those who work towards fetal rights.

This is a human rights struggle, after all. You don't abandon the legal aspect of human rights.

It does not have to be an "either/or" proposition.

They want to radically shift the conversation from the polarized rut it has been stuck in for years to something more productive.


I'm all for expanding the discussion on fetal rights.

But the truth is, the dynamics of the issue will make it polarized. You can package the abortion debate any way you want, it still remains the abortion debate.

"My approach was to go after cultural change and pull it out of the legislative arena and not even talk about it or discuss it. Politicians will not take this on anytime soon."


There has been more attention paid to it in the last five years. If we do not keep up the pressure, then nothing will ever happen. It might take a long time, but it doesn't mean we should stop.

Established anti-abortion groups don't believe this middle way is the route to change. They believe in changing the law before public opinion is on side, as in civil rights campaigns.


That is a really biased statement from a biased reporter. The reporter is framing the attempt to change the culture as the "middle way". It's not a "middle way"-- it's complementary to what political pro-lifers are doing.

Kristin Williams, a spokeswoman for the group, said Mr. Obama has helped create common ground on the issue and leave the divisive labels behind.


What about common ground on fetal rights?