@Momforchoice tweeted. She linked to a kick-ass letter from Joyce Arthur, the executive Director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. It reads in part:
We are writing now to request that you please refrain from issuing any “Respect for Life” proclamation in the future, on the basis that they fail to meet the criteria in your Policy. The proclamation contradicts your policy in two fundamental ways: 1. It endorses discrimination against women via the removal of their constitutional rights (and arguably promotes hatred against women), and 2. It is religiously motivated because it promotes a sectarian religious doctrine on abortion.
We note that your policy “emanates from the desire to uphold the intent and spirit of the Ontario Human Rights Code” – under which “sex” is a protected ground against discrimination. The “respect for life” that is promoted by this proclamation is disingenuous because it actually promotes discrimination against women. Its context refers to respect for fetal life at the expense of women’s lives, health, and rights. The goal of the anti-abortion movement is to restrict or re-criminalize abortion and force women to complete any and all pregnancies. But in Canada, women have constitutional rights under the Charter, while fetuses do not. Several Supreme Court of Canada rulings have said that fetuses cannot be persons, that a pregnant woman and her fetus are “physically one” person, and that all rights must accrue to the pregnant woman because she already has established constitutional and equality rights. (See for example: Dobson v. Dobson 1999 2 SCR 753; Tremblay v. Daigle 1989 2 SCR 530; and Winnipeg Child and Family Services v. D.F.G. 1997 3 SCR 925.) Therefore, it is not possible to give rights to fetuses without severely compromising the rights of pregnant women. This also means that laws that restrict abortion discriminate against women, and that calls to pass such laws promote discrimination.
Read the whole thing, it is a splendid tonic against the ShrieeeeeK!!!
1 comment:
I love Joyce. Please keep us posted on any response the Mayor might actually give dBO.
Post a Comment