Confessions of College-age Drama Queen: From abortion to gay-pride, the politics of protesting
This Sunday October 1, 2006, a group of pro-life women, men and children took to Wellington St. carrying signs that read “Abortion Hurts Women,” “Abortion Hurts Children,” and “Jesus Forgives and Heals.” They were not obstructing foot or street traffic but simply standing on the eastside of the road for quite a length of it in a very peaceful yet still eerily obtrusive way. While driving this length I was compelled to get out and stand on the other side of the road baring the slogan, “Systemic misogyny resulting in predominantly male legislative bodies restricting women from legitimate medical treatment thus causing them to turn to unsafe backdoor abortions hurts women,” but I didn't think it would fit on a sign.
Firstly a note: I am aware of the danger of treading precariously close to hypocrisy by suggesting in an opinion column that others should practice self-censorship when it comes to their opinions.
I am not attempting to question a pro-life individual's right as a Canadian citizen to freedom of speech and assembly. Nor am I going to draw a pro-life/pro-choice line in the sand. What I am prepared to speak out against here is the attempt by the religious-right to muscle its way into Canadian politics.
There is no doubt in my mind that anti-abortion protests are, on the surface, the same as gay-pride parades, door-to-door witnessing and feminist slogan t-shirts in that they are merely legally sanctioned platforms from which to express personal opinion. I am conscious of the fact that if freedom of speech is to legitimately exist, we must all accept that Take Back The Night has as much right to be present as white supremacy conventions. But where white supremacy and pro-life groups differ from gay-pride and feminist demonstrations is that the latter is hoping to enfranchise rights to persons while the former is advocating a restriction of rights. What worries me is not that private citizens are against abortion but rather that these citizens are representative of a growing religious-right that is threatening the constitutional foundation of this nation.
The Constitution Act was passed by Pierre Eliot Trudeau's government in 1982 and contains, among other things, a framework for Canadian legislative values. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms cannot possibly speak to the personal morality of all Canada's citizens and in fact attempts to ensure that the personal, including religious, ethos of governing bodies does not infringe upon the freedom of the individual. As Trudeau put it “the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.” Of course despite having the Charter, many Canadians still suffered, if not still suffer, discrimination throughout their private lives; Native Canadians, immigrants, non-whites, homosexuals and, of particular interest to this article, women. For instance, even with the Charter in place, abortion was still illegal under some circumstances until 1988 when the Supreme Court of Canada made a unique ruling.
Parallel to the feminist belief that only a woman and her supporting persons should decide whether or not she should have an abortion, the 1988 Supreme Court ruling did not legalize abortion but rather removed the issue from legislation completely.
Therefore, abortion in Canada is now neither legal nor illegal as it is a private medical procedure. No doctor has to perform an abortion, no woman has to have an abortion and any woman who wants to have an abortion is free to do so without it being the business of the state. And just as this is a private matter, so too are ones of religion yet, more and more religious-right groups are popping-up around the country trying to wriggle their private opinion into public law.
In the most recent election, it seemed as though gay marriage and abortion were going to become election platforms. A growing number of Canadian politicians are also members of various religious-right groups such as the Campaign Life Coalition (www.campaignlifecoalition.com) and the Promise Keepers (www.promisekeepers.ca). These groups are pro-life, anti-gay and downright un-Canadian but have a burgeoning hold on our government. Religious-right interest groups are slowly turning our Conservative party, which used to stand for fiscal accountability, into a party of social irresponsibility and religious fascism.
I am not suggesting that religious views are wrong. I heartily encourage the religious-right to refrain from having abortions and to not grow up to be abortion doctors. I just prefer that they keep my gynecological health off of their political agenda. The imposition of religious agenda into secular Canadian politics is a threat to democracy, minorities and equality as it attempts to impose one groups value system on a pluralistic nation. We would not look kindly upon Hindu's banning beef consumption, Mennonites restricting us from use of our automobiles or Buddhist monks requiring everyone to wear orange. Allowing the Evangelical minority to dictate the values of Conservative politics undermines the Canadian democratic system by denying centrist voters a healthy alternative to the Liberal party. Our political spectrum is being pulled too far to the right and if we continue to be apathetic, nay, supportive of this movement, our comfortable moderate government will be nothing but a chapter in history textbooks.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Firstly a note: I am aware of the danger of treading precariously close to hypocrisy by suggesting in an opinion column that others should practice self-censorship when it comes to their opinions.
I am not attempting to question a pro-life individual's right as a Canadian citizen to freedom of speech and assembly. Nor am I going to draw a pro-life/pro-choice line in the sand. What I am prepared to speak out against here is the attempt by the religious-right to muscle its way into Canadian politics.
There is no doubt in my mind that anti-abortion protests are, on the surface, the same as gay-pride parades, door-to-door witnessing and feminist slogan t-shirts in that they are merely legally sanctioned platforms from which to express personal opinion. I am conscious of the fact that if freedom of speech is to legitimately exist, we must all accept that Take Back The Night has as much right to be present as white supremacy conventions. But where white supremacy and pro-life groups differ from gay-pride and feminist demonstrations is that the latter is hoping to enfranchise rights to persons while the former is advocating a restriction of rights. What worries me is not that private citizens are against abortion but rather that these citizens are representative of a growing religious-right that is threatening the constitutional foundation of this nation.
The Constitution Act was passed by Pierre Eliot Trudeau's government in 1982 and contains, among other things, a framework for Canadian legislative values. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms cannot possibly speak to the personal morality of all Canada's citizens and in fact attempts to ensure that the personal, including religious, ethos of governing bodies does not infringe upon the freedom of the individual. As Trudeau put it “the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.” Of course despite having the Charter, many Canadians still suffered, if not still suffer, discrimination throughout their private lives; Native Canadians, immigrants, non-whites, homosexuals and, of particular interest to this article, women. For instance, even with the Charter in place, abortion was still illegal under some circumstances until 1988 when the Supreme Court of Canada made a unique ruling.
Parallel to the feminist belief that only a woman and her supporting persons should decide whether or not she should have an abortion, the 1988 Supreme Court ruling did not legalize abortion but rather removed the issue from legislation completely.
Therefore, abortion in Canada is now neither legal nor illegal as it is a private medical procedure. No doctor has to perform an abortion, no woman has to have an abortion and any woman who wants to have an abortion is free to do so without it being the business of the state. And just as this is a private matter, so too are ones of religion yet, more and more religious-right groups are popping-up around the country trying to wriggle their private opinion into public law.
In the most recent election, it seemed as though gay marriage and abortion were going to become election platforms. A growing number of Canadian politicians are also members of various religious-right groups such as the Campaign Life Coalition (www.campaignlifecoalition.com) and the Promise Keepers (www.promisekeepers.ca). These groups are pro-life, anti-gay and downright un-Canadian but have a burgeoning hold on our government. Religious-right interest groups are slowly turning our Conservative party, which used to stand for fiscal accountability, into a party of social irresponsibility and religious fascism.
I am not suggesting that religious views are wrong. I heartily encourage the religious-right to refrain from having abortions and to not grow up to be abortion doctors. I just prefer that they keep my gynecological health off of their political agenda. The imposition of religious agenda into secular Canadian politics is a threat to democracy, minorities and equality as it attempts to impose one groups value system on a pluralistic nation. We would not look kindly upon Hindu's banning beef consumption, Mennonites restricting us from use of our automobiles or Buddhist monks requiring everyone to wear orange. Allowing the Evangelical minority to dictate the values of Conservative politics undermines the Canadian democratic system by denying centrist voters a healthy alternative to the Liberal party. Our political spectrum is being pulled too far to the right and if we continue to be apathetic, nay, supportive of this movement, our comfortable moderate government will be nothing but a chapter in history textbooks.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
