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How is Canada doing on abortion rights?
July 25, 2008 - 3:09am
According to data in the polling results 91% of respondants are in favour of abortion in Canada. Only 5 % responded that abortion should be illegal under all circumstances.
Therefore it is this 42 percent that need to be messaged because it can be hypothesized that many of them when questioned keep abortion or get rid of abortion rights would answer keep it.
here is the polling data from the angus reid site.
angus reid
Who are these 42 percent and who are they to determine under what circumstances abortion should be legal?
I disagree that it should be okay if the fetus is past viability. This is the way the law is formulated in most of Europe. That said, this affects a very small proportion of abortion demand and the woman should still be able to have the fetus removed whenever she decides.
That is my understanding of the 42% - or how I myself view the issue. However, overall this isn't much of an issue due to the rarity. I would like to see the change so that it cannot be used as a red herring by anti-choicers and to ensure that fetuses that are viable human beings on their own are not being destroyed.
All of that said, abortion after this stage would probably disappear if access was improved across the country.
Here is the situation in my province
Using the data provided it is 91 % legal 5% illegal.
I think that this is a great number.
Exactly, it is no one else's business but the woman's.
How be you just stay completely out of the feminism forum from now on. Or else you're gone.
I wonder how a similar women only poll would be responded to.
Do men push the results one way or the other?
[ 25 July 2008: Message edited by: remind ]
Yes, it is business of the murderer and the victim only.
MP's and the government have frequently stated that they wish to avoid opening the debate, as if it was a settled issue. But with bill c-484 and the continuing efforts of what apparently is a small minority to get abortion banned, and another chunk of the Canadian population in a sort of middling-against position it's clear it is not. Just because you can't see something doesn;t mean it's not there. So good debate in the public eye on this issue in a is really necessary- women's well- being is at stake.Would that some (i.e many Liberals and Conservatives) politicians weren't so worried about getting elected.
[ 27 July 2008: Message edited by: Pride for Red Dolores ]
These 42 percent are regular, everyday men and women who think abortion shouldn't be available anywhere up to passing the baby through the birth canal. This doesn't have anything to do with restricting females access to abortion.
Andrew Coyne wrote a very interesting article in McCleans about this topic.
"Alone among developed countries, Canada has no abortion law. Is 'settling' for a non-decision any way for a democracy to behave?"
http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20080709_112194_112194
I think that Andrew Coyne's opinion on abortion will have credibility when Andrew Coyne has to face the decision about having an abortion. But not before then.
Ah, Maclean's! That bastion of pro-woman and pro-feminist thought and theory!
From the article, re Morgentaler and the OC:
Wow! By the dozen you say?!? Hold still so I can count all of you!
Yeah, the child-abusing priest who's currently under investigation, that's such as loss.
How interesting indeed that Mr. Coyne is so very concerned with the way in which the abortion laws were struck down 20 frikkin years ago. The right has had all this time to weasel around. Hmm, the timing, what's that about? Harper, you think? And Bill C-484? Were the Liberals not conservative enough on this issue, were the big tough conservatives like Coyne too scared to bring this up when the Liberals were in power? What-the-fuck-ever. [img]rolleyes.gif" border="0[/img]
It is the only way for a democracy to behave, in actual fact, as it is acknowledging woman's full equality in not being forced/compelled to give her body into the service of another.
Did we ever have a really good debate as to why people shouldn't be allowed to voluntarily sell themselves as slaves to others?
I certainly don't recall one.
Let's have that debate. After all, people's well-being is at stake.
And what about sodomy? It was decriminalized in 1968, but was there really a broad public debate? I don't recall one either. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Let's have that debate now. After all, the well-being of queers is at stake.
How am I doing, Pride?
The complete polling results, including breakdowns between female and male responses, can be found here. Below I repeat the gender breakdowns. I believe that the male and female responses are within the margin of error of each other.
The gender breakdowns are as follows:
Question: What is your personal feeling about abortion?
1. Abortion should be permitted in all cases. F 44%. M 48%.
2. Abortion should be permitted, but subject to greater restrictions than now. F 21%. M 17%.
3. Abortion should be permitted only in cases such as rape, incest and to save the woman's life. F 24%. M 20%.
4. Abortion should only be permitted to save the woman’s life. F 5%. M 8%.
5. Not sure. F 6%. M 7%.
Question: Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?
1. Abortion should be legal under any circumstances. F 50%. M 48%.
2. Abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances. F 42%. M 43%.
3. Abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. F 5%. M 6%.
4. Not sure. F 4%. M 2%.
Question: In Canada, abortions are provided on request to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, and are funded by the health care system. Which of these statements comes closer to your own point of view?
1. The health care system should fund abortions whenever they are requested. F 42%. M 44%.
2. The health care system should only fund abortions in the event of medical emergencies. F 45%. M 44%.
3. The health care system should not fund abortions at all. F 4%. M 4%.
4. Not sure. F 9%. M 8%.
Question: In your view, should women under the age of 18 require the consent of their parents or legal guardians in order to have an abortion?
1. Yes. F 53%. M 53%.
2. No. F 35%. M 37%.
3. Not sure. F 12%. M 11%.
[ 28 July 2008: Message edited by: Martha (but not Stewart) ]
These debates are already going on, they're just not reported by the media.
[ 28 July 2008: Message edited by: Pride for Red Dolores ]
[ 28 July 2008: Message edited by: Pride for Red Dolores ]
I have often noticed that the right to abortion was by far the one that elicited the most support among even midly progressive men. Make no mistake, I entirely and actively spport that right.
But looking at the one woman's issue that men usually champion in the light of those that they don't, I have to acknowledge that the (unrealized) promise of abortion on demand still makes it somewhat easier for men - in their mind, at least - to insist on sex on demand, not use contraception and not take responsibility for accidental offspring. Which I think is part of the reason to choose this issue to champion and pass on others. So, "progressive"...? I am not sure.
[ 28 July 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]
What are you failing to get about any abortion laws = impingement upon a woman's Charter Right to NOT be compelled to give their body into the service of another person? That is what self-determination is, NOT being compelled in anyway, shape, or form to give one's body/self into the service of another person, for any reason!
There is NO issue that needs addressing!
Access has nothing to dowith abortion laws, and everything to do with Universal Access in the Health Act and its not being enforced. And that is the actual, and only, issue, that needs to be addressed.
ETA: A response to the edited add on, of:
What debates, with whom, and about? And how dare they debate a woman's Charter Rights!
[ 28 July 2008: Message edited by: remind ]
A law protecting fetuses that are at or past viability would not infringe on a woman's right to not be compelled to give her body in the service of another person for any reason. As long as the woman has the choice to have it removed when SHE CHOOSES.
Martin, I agree with you. I think a certain percentage are progressive, but a lot of men probably see it as an easier way to have zero responsibility when it comes to sex, to not have to use contraception and to not be on the hook for child support.
[ 28 July 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]