Yet Another Abortion Defunding Gambit

Gearing up for their Defund Abortion Bunfest on October 22 at Queen's Park, the fetus fetishists have released another *yawn* poll.

The majority of Ontarians oppose taxpayer funding of abortion according to a poll commissioned by Campaign Life Coalition, LifeSiteNews.com, and The Interim. More than six in ten Ontarians oppose the status quo of paying for all abortions in the province while just three in ten support subsidizing this unnecessary, elective surgery.

According to an Abacus Data poll, 40 per cent of respondents think abortion should be available but only funded in medical emergencies, while 11 per cent think abortion should be available but never funded, and 10 per cent do not think abortion should be available at all. In contrast, 30% think abortion should be available and always funded. Another 8 per cent said none of those positions match their view.

I downloaded the PDF and got this:

While overall a significant majority (81%) of Ontarians feel that abortions should be available to those who choose to have one, a majority (61%) also oppose government funding of all abortions, including many of those who support access to abortion.

Now unless Ontarians are significantly stingier about funding medical care than Canadians overall, this doesn't square with consistent numbers from Angus Reid.

In three polls from January 2009 to Jan 2010 (I couldn't find any more recent), about 43% of Canadians are cool with funding all and 41% are in favour of funding only in emergencies.

In fact, the number saying 'fund only in emergencies' is down by 5 points over the period. But 'not fund at all' is up by 6 points (from 4% in July 2009 to 10% in July 2010). So I'd call that a wash.

The poll included another of those idiotic 'gotcha' questions fetus fetishists love. Like this one going all SHRIEEEKY over the fact that Canadians didn't know that there is no time limit on abortion under law. (There are of course medical guidelines on limits.)

This time they're going all SHRIEEKY over the fact that 91% of Ontarians don't know that abortion costs the government 'at least $30 million' a year.

Well, duh. Under our system of single-payer medicare, I betcha 91% of Ontarians haven't the foggiest what is spent on appendectomies, cancer care, childbirth, or any other medical procedure.

And that's a good thing.

I did find out how they came up with that figure spent on abortion in Ontario.

Statistical Evidence:

Abortions in Ontario per year: 32,000 (Canadian Institute for Health Information) to 51,000 (Source: Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report (POWER)
Average cost of an abortion: $1000 (Joyce Arthur, Pro-Choice Action Network)
Annual cost of abortions (excluding complications): 32,000 x 1,000 = <$32 M to $51M

(Isn't that sweet? Citing pro-choice Joyce Arthur as an expert.)

I have no reason to quibble with that number, but wouldn't it be more responsible to put it in some kinda context? Like, what do we collectively spend on childbirth, vasectomies and other 'lifestyle choices' (as the CLC spokesthingy styles abortion)?

I tried to find out what a vasectomy -- 99.5% covered by OHIP -- costs and this is the best I could find. It looks dodgy, but the figure of $500 to $1000 seems reasonable.

(Reversing vasectomies has been defunded and the 'unsnipping' will run you nearly $2000.)

This next quote is also sweet, considering that the fetus fetishists probably expected Tim 'Defund Abortion' Hudak to be premier at this point (emphasis mine).

“The poll results show that a clear majority opposes the status quo of taxpayer funding for all abortions, proving that politicians should not be afraid to address abortion defunding.” said Jim Hughes, President of Campaign Life Coalition. “What politician or political party will have the guts to stand up for taxpayers and accountability to resist paying for the personal choice to destroy an unborn human being?” asked Hughes.

Quick answer, Jim: Nooooobody.

Slightly longer answer: Because with the vast majority of Ontarians staunchly pro-choice, to do otherwise would be political suicide.