Monday, June 4, 2007

I wish that there was an end to abortion in Canada.

As Canada is about to celebrate its 140th birthday, the CBC launched a Facebook discussion group called The Great Canadian Wish List. Users of the famous networking site were invited to suggest and vote on what they wish for Canada. The wish with the most votes would be covered by the CBC on Canada Day.

The organizers must have counted on the predominantly youth crowd to wish for meeting Kyoto targets and increasing foreign aid. Much to their surprise the number one wish turned out to be Abolish Abortion in Canada. In just 2 days or so, about 300 people wished to end abortion in Canada. Yes, there was a pro-abortion wish too, then supported by about 70 users.

The CBC had to admit - that's a wish they couldn't ignore. So it was reported on the CBC blog. Of course, the CBC stood by its standards of "neutrality", so the only quote they choose (from thousands of posts, discussing the issue) was against the wish, about women's rights not being up for debate. How about the unborn children's right to life? You won't find that in the article. The pro-life side is presented as a group willing to end abortions and complaining about being misrepresented by the mass media.

There article included the link to pro-life wish (at the beginning) as well as the pro-abortion wish (at the end). I guess that was the first time when those links were posted in the "open webspace". That's when the race began. The poor-choice wish gained about 600 supporters (as of late evening Jun.3rd), outrunning the wishes for better healthcare and lower tuition fees. But the wish to end abortion is still the top one - with nearly 1400 supporters.

Some of our opponents blame the pro-lifers for signing up plenty of 40- and 50-year/olds to boost the vote. Well, the profiles of those who supported the wish are visible, many of them have pictures. I know, looks could be misleading but judging on the pictures, most of the people who wish to end abortion are much younger than 40.

There are still 27 days ahead, so nobody could say how the race is going to end. But no matter what the final outcome is, this experiment with the Great Canadian Wish list proves that the abortion debate is not dead. It shows that supporting the right to life for the unborn is definitely not something exclusive to the older generation. And it means that even if the wish to end abortions doesn't make it to CBC this year, there are enough Canadians to make it come true.

So how can you contribute to the pro-life cause?

1) Register on Facebook. (If you're concerned about privacy, you can use your first name and an initial.)
2) Join the Great Canadian Wish List group.
3) Click "Browse wishes". Abolish Abortion in Canada is currently at the top.

By the way - you are not limited to just one wish at a time. Feel free to browse the wishes and support as many of them as you choose. Here are some great wishes I found there:

Recognition of Personhood Before Birth.
Restore the Traditional Definition of Marriage.
For a spiritual revival in our nation.
Wish for more people.
Elected Accountable Senate.
Proportional Representation.
Support Israel's right to exist.
• And finally: Privatize the CBC!

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