Thursday 3 October 2013

#DefundAbortion Report I: Major Fail on Primary Point

I have lots to report from today's Defund/Defend Abortion bun fest, but for now the MAJOR takeaway.

It was an abject failure in getting across their main spin-point.

That being: the funding of abortion is a separate issue from how people feel about the procedure itself.

That, in fact, a 'majority' of Canadians do not want public healthcare funding for abortion.

Here they are, spinning a 2013 poll with a pie chart that demonstrates that 51% 'question' taxpayer funding of abortion.

Of course, they're being creative with numbers as usual.

Here is the poll report (pdf). 43% think abortion should be funded whenever a woman wants one; 42% only in emergencies (p. 11).

If my math is correct that means 85% of Canadians are fine with healthcare funding for abortion in some or all cases.

In the coverage of today's events, here is a fetus fetishist spinning for the reporter.
For Ms Buchner, it’s not a “pro-life” or a “pro-choice” issue, though she admits she stands on the pro-life side of the grander debate. She says publicly funding abortions is an issue that should concern all Ontarians.

“There are many views and approaches about the procedures,” she says. “This isn’t about that. Today, I would hope that a lot of people who maybe even support choice and abortions would agree they shouldn’t be publicly funded.”
On Twitter today, I tested this theory. I challenged several 'defunders' on whether they were OK with abortion except for the paying for it part.

Most didn't answer. Others pivoted.

Bottom line: not one 'defunder' said she or he was OK with abortion except for the paying for it part.

(Any such person is welcome in the comments here to prove me wrong.)

In prochoice Canada, the funding issue is the one that polls best for fetus fetishists. Ergo, the big push on it.

They think they can get some traction on it.

Nope.

They still need to prove that there are ordinary Canadians, either pro-choice or 'don't give a shit', who want to exclude abortion from the healthcare system.

Because -- and I think even the nimrods understand this -- that would entail the inevitable conclusion that abortion is OK for people who can pay for it themselves, but not OK for everyone else.

And that's kinda un-Canajun, eh?

2 comments:

deBeauxOs said...

Who paid for that poll, and how were the questions asked?

Anti-choice fetushists? Zygote zealots? Campaign Lies Coalition?

Also, if no other medical procedures were included in that survey, as a control mecanism for keeping the focus on the funding of healthcare - and not on slut-shaming - that poll is kinda bogus.

Even though CLC did their usual twisty tricks with math to produce the results they wanted for their propaganda.

choice joyce said...

Angus Reid. Pretty much as bad as the other 3 you mention.

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