Only one-in-five Canadians (20%) are aware of the current status-quo of abortion in Canada: a woman can have an abortion at any time during her pregnancy, with no restrictions whatsoever. A large proportion of respondents (43%) mistakenly believe that, under current guidelines, a woman can have an abortion only during the first three months of her pregnancy, with no other restrictions. Two other incorrect responses also garnered mentions. Ten per cent of Canadians think a woman can have an abortion at any time during her pregnancy, but only if her life is in danger, if she has been the victim of rape, or if the fetus has serious defects, and 14 per cent believe a woman can only have an abortion during the first three months of her pregnancy, and only if her life is in danger, if she has been the victim or rape, or if the fetus has serious defects.On top of that, almost 7 in 10 respondents either believe that women have enough access to information about alternatives to abortion, or they're not sure. Only 31% are aware of the grim reality - that women don't get enough information on alternatives to abortions - if they even get any.
And yet, almost 6 in 10 respondents don't want the abortion debate reopened. They are comfortable with what they believe is the status-quo. And they don't really want anyone to tell them that the real situation is different. So, we have a catch-22 situation: without being aware of the the true status-quo, people don't believe they need to bother reopening the abortion debate and, without reopening the abortion debate, most people will remain unaware of the legal vacuum on abortions, which has existed in Canada since the ill-famous Supreme Court decision of 1988. If anything, it's surprising, how, despite this glaring lack of awareness, we have roughly half of the respondents supporting grater restrictions on abortions than what they believe those restrictions are.
So how can we break out of this catch-22? Obviously, we need to fight that ignorance; we need to raise awareness of what the status-quo really is, despite all the opposition from the pro-abort groups. But here's another thing that can help us break the deafening silence: A large majority (79%) would back an initiative in their own province that would make it mandatory for health care workers to offer information to pregnant women about alternatives to abortion. And we should demand just that. After all, if we're talking about "choice" - that means choosing something out of several alternatives. In addition, we should demand that standard informed consent rules become applicable to abortions. Again - if we're talking about a medical procedure, then patient should be made aware of all the possible side effects. Not to mention the mandatory ultrasound - let every woman know what her baby in the womb truly looks like. Our opponents claim that they are "pro-choice" - fine; but let this be informed choice. Because so far, ignorance is their power.
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