Thursday, July 31, 2014

Provinces Can Fill Legal Vacuum Surrounding Abortions

If the Federal government refuses to touch the subject, the provinces can step in:
The Constitution Act (1867) lays out the division of powers between federal and provincial governments.

Section 92 (16) confers on provincial legislatures the power to make laws in relation to “all matters of merely local or private nature in the province.” Similarly, paragraph 7 of that same section authorizes provinces to make laws in relation to “the establishment, maintenance, and management of hospitals, charities, etc.” This specifically authorizes the provinces to establish and regulate hospitals, and to regulate hospital-based health care services.

There is a lot of room for provincial legislatures to step up. For example, there are no laws stipulating that women seeking an abortion need to be properly informed on the physical and psychological risks accompanying abortion. Similarly, no health jurisdiction in our country has parental consent for abortion legislation.

A few weeks ago, my 16-year-old daughter was asked to come in for a night shift at the retail outlet she works at. In order for her to do that, my wife and I had to give our written consent. We didn’t have a problem with this — it provided a measure of respect for and deference to our parental responsibilities. In contrast, if our daughter found herself in an unplanned pregnancy, she could quite easily be pressured to think abortion was the only solution for her and to abort her pre-born child without our knowledge.
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Note the stark contrast in how we treat our daughters when it comes to tattooing and employment standards compared to the current legal vacuum regarding abortion — a decision for which there is also permanent ramifications.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. We know that standard informed consent rules, which apply to plastic surgeons, don't apply to abortion providers. And it was just a few years ago when Quebec government initiative to apply basic health and safety standards to abortion facilities, was met with fierce resistance from the abortion industry.

Yes, they argued that they shouldn't be required to have a sterile operating room to do abortions, they claimed that these requirements were excessive and that, if enforced, they could drive abortion facilities out of business. Quebec did back down from these requirements back in 2009. But a government that's truly concerned about human life can do just that - drive these butchers out of business.

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