It is a sign of how disconnected we have become from the actions of our politicians that postcards depicting the results of their statements and their votes would be considered “shocking” and “controversial.” I don’t beg to differ, of course—the postcards that we at the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform have been distributing for two weeks now in the constituencies of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Calgary MP Michelle Rempel certainly are both. But what is the reason for that? For many of us—myself included—it is because we often do not fully consider the impact of what our elected representatives do, and the responsibility we have in a democracy for what those we have chosen to represent us do.
Today I read a quote that highlights that disconnect. Fr. Terry Gensemer, an American pro-lifer, recently mused, “I wish I didn’t know what an abortion is. I wish I didn’t know that the word abortion referred to a little child’s face being cut in to pieces with their little blue or brown eyes being separated from their tiny cheekbones, with their tiny legs and arms butchered like pieces of meat in the butcher shop. I wish I didn’t know that their torsos were cut up and disposed of like leftovers from a family meal. I really, really wish I didn’t know.”
But we do know. And here we are.
I don’t think many people realize that pro-lifers would much rather be doing something else. For those of us who are also politicos, fighting for different fiscal policies or political ideologies would be far preferable: The personal payoff is much higher (financially, anyhow), you don’t make a lot of enemies (at least not the kind that mob your speaking engagements and are prone to throwing things), and most importantly, the consequences of failure aren’t measured in blood and severed limbs. The guy in the room pleasantly debating economics and foreign policy is generally welcome—the guy who wants to point towards the pile of baby corpses funded by our government with our own earnings, not so much. That being said—pro-lifers are emphatically not the victims in the abortion discussion, as so often portrayed. The pre-born children are. Having people treat you with disdain, I imagine, feels substantially less painful than having your arm twisted off by medical exterminators such as Dr. Fraser Fellows and his ilk.
I recognize the severe discomfort people have with highlighting the positions of politicians who support Canada’s abortion status quo. Mr. Harper, whom I’ve met twice, seems like a very affable fellow—more like a competent office manager than a pro-choice demagogue. Ms. Rempel, whose campaign events I attended in Calgary during the 2011 federal election, seemed like a delightful person, one whom I could imagine being quite uncomfortable with the more gruesome details of feticide. That being said, they are both individually responsible: Mr. Harper for forcibly shutting down the political abortion debate and publicly iterating his government’s support for the ongoing pre-natal carnage, and Ms. Rempel for publicly voting against any examination of Canada’s bizarre and ignorant dealings with pre-natal life.
Nice people, in the most castrated sense of the word, sure. Brilliant politicians, certainly. But as Abraham Lincoln once noted, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Mr. Harper may be good at attacking the hapless Justin Trudeau and fending off Tom Mulcair’s parliamentary blatherings, but when it comes to standing on principle on the most important issues facing any society—fundamental human rights—his spine wilts like a pro-choice placard on a rainy day.
There is always an understandable temptation to vote with our pocketbook instead of our principles, especially when the barbarism being perpetrated against pre-born Canadians is done so in secret. Fighting on ideological grounds and for our own interests—even fighting fiercely and against much opposition—is much easier than fighting for someone who, in all probability, will never know what you did and will never come around to thank you. But that’s not the point. At least, it shouldn’t be.
Forcing our elected representatives to “Face the Children” may be distasteful to many. The reality of abortion is, of course, very distasteful. But for some reason, I get the feeling that if this were about toddlers being shot at the rate of 266 every day in Canada, the outrage would be far more palpable.
Perhaps that’s because toddlers can make noise.
Mr. Harper and Ms. Rempel may be just what you wanted in politicians in every single way, except for this pesky abortion issue. So what you have to ask yourself is a simple question: Is that good enough?