HAMILTON, March 17, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Wednesday’s public debate at McMaster University addressing the question “Should Abortion be Legal,” left the over 140 audience members with much reason to conclude Canada’s lack of an abortion law is a tragedy that cannot be logically defended.
The debate, held in the new state-of-the-art McMaster medical building and hosted by LifeLine, McMaster University’s pro-life club, was a follow-up to the previous day’s campus demonstration of graphic pictures of abortion. (https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06031506.html)
Stephanie Gray, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, readily agreed to argue the ‘against’ position when contacted months ago by LifeLine. Finding someone to argue the ‘for’ position, however, was a much more difficult task than they had bargained for.
André Schutten, Public Relations Officer for LifeLine, expressed his disbelief at how hard it was to find a debater. “We tried for weeks and put in lots of work trying to find a debater. It was ridiculous.” For years now many pro-abortion organizations have held to a policy of avoiding public debates on the issue.Â
Among those contacted were: 14 professors on campus, especially those known for their strongly feminist and liberal stances; McMaster Medical Students for Choice; a local MP; the Morgantaler abortion clinic; and the Sexual Health Awareness Centre in Hamilton. No-one accepted the challenge.Â
Finally, Fiona Simpson, a third year molecular biology student and member of the McMaster debate society, bravely agreed to take up the challenge.
While the debate ended up being a bit of a mismatch – Ms. Gray is a seasoned professional on the life issues who has been interviewed by ABC, NBC and Fox among others – it served to highlight the great challenge pro-life forces face in the current abortion conflict; the fact that the underlying foundational philosophies of the two sides are increasingly irreconcilable.
Employing both science and logic, Ms. Gray argued convincingly that the unborn child is human, and that the reasons our society gives for allowing abortion are therefore not valid. Ms. Simpson did not counter this assertion, and even admitted that she could not win on that issue, but instead argued that the fetus does not have rights based on the modern conception of rights as granted by government.
Throughout the debate Ms. Simpson claimed that the issue is not about morality or religion but about how the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is to be interpreted. When cross-examining Ms. Gray she asked two telling questions: “Do you have faith in the Charter?” and “Do you have faith in the Supreme Court?”
Throughout the debate Ms. Simpson returned repeatedly to section 7 of the Charter (which states that, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof…”), and argued that giving the unborn child the right to life on par with that of the mother would effectively deprive the mother of life and liberty.
At one point Ms. Simpson, inadvertently expressed the crux of the feminist position: “Forcing a woman to keep her fetus effectively forces her to spend nine months in complete self-loathing and fear.”
While Ms.Gray was seen by many to have presented the more compelling and coherent arguments, LifeLine president Johanna Miller expressed her admiration that Ms. Fiona accepted the challenge to debate after no professor or medical expert would step up to the plate. “The generation before us takes it for granted that the abortion issue is closed, but the fact that Ms.Simpson agreed to debate is encouraging. It shows that young people are willing tackle the issue.”
Ms. Miller considered the debate a success, although she was somewhat disappointed that the Medical Students for Choice did not show up, especially since the debate was held in the Medical building.
Surveys filled out by the audience indicated that many attended looking for reassurance or deeper, logical reasons for being pro-life. Ms. Gray’s persuasive defense of the pro-life position did exactly that. A number of students came up afterwards looking to become more involved in defending life. “The debate was an extra push for a lot of people,” said Johanna, “it confirmed their pro-life stance.”
Next on LifeLine’s agenda is a campus wide awareness campaign promoting this May’s March for Life in Ottawa.
See previous article
Astonishing Success of Pro-Life Project at Canadian University
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06031506.html
See LifeLine website
https://www.mcmasterlifeline.com