QUEBEC, February 27, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Thursday, April 10, 2014 at noon, taxpayers across Quebec will gather at the local constituency offices of their MNAs and urge their elected representatives to delist abortion from the services covered by the provincial health insurance plan.
The mini-rallies are part of a nationwide initiative launched last fall by Campaign Life Coalition’s Youth Division, aimed to raise Canadians’ attention to the more than $80 million the provinces spend every year on the highly-controversial, medically-unnecessary procedure of abortion.
“Did you know that Quebec taxpayers currently shell out at least $26 million annually for the elective abortion procedure alone?” said organizer Georges Buscemi, president of Campagne Québec-Vie.
“That price tag,” he added, “excludes the cost of abortion complications such as perforations, sepsis, uterine hemorrhage, infertility, breast cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide. All these indirect costs could easily escalate the total cost of abortion in our health care system to hundreds of millions of dollars annually!”
Buscemi pointed out that for $26 million per year, Quebec could hire 121 family doctors or 360 nurses to help alleviate the shortage crisis. It could purchase 17 life-saving MRI machines every year or provide crucial therapy to 328 additional autistic children each year.
“All these uses of taxpayer dollars would represent genuine health care … rather than killing babies,” he said.
The Canada Health Act is the federal legislation that requires provinces to fund “medically necessary” services. It does not define abortion as being medically necessary.
The organizers of the Defund Abortion campaign want to spread the message that in almost all abortion cases, the life of the mother is not in danger. The vast majority of abortions in Canada are performed for convenience, as a back-up birth control method. That is clearly not a medical necessity and should not be funded as such, they say.
“It is clear,” Buscemi stressed, “that Quebec’s MNAs can easily delist abortion from our provincial health insurance plan. With a stroke of the pen, the government can stop funneling taxpayer money to finance abortions. All they lack is the political will and moral fortitude to do the right thing.”
As part of the Defund Abortion campaign in Quebec, Campagne Québec-Vie also invites Quebecers to write to the Minister of Finance, Nicolas Marceau, to encourage him to do what is needed to end public funding for abortions. A model letter is available on the Campagne Québec-Vie website in English here, and in French here.
Campaign Life Coalition’s Youth Division started the Defund Abortion taxpayer defense initiative two years ago, with a rally attended by over 2,300 protesters at Queen’s Park in Toronto. In addition to subsequent rallies at the Ontario legislature, in 2012 CLC Youth organized its first province-wide Defund Abortion Mini-Rally campaign, where 47 MPP offices were targeted with simultaneous rallies.
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Last fall the campaign was ramped up to included rallies in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Alberta, and Ontario.
Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia will host rallies this spring.
“It’s ludicrous to ask us to open up our wallets for these killings when provinces are drowning in debt, and genuine areas of health care are neglected, such as treating autistic kids, fixing doctor and nurse shortages, improving elder care and buying MRI machines,” said Alissa Golob, Campaign Life Coalition’s youth coordinator.
“It's one thing for an individual to make a personal choice to kill a baby in the womb. It's quite another to expect the rest of us to pay for it,” she said.
There are 125 elected MNAs in Quebec. The goal of the Defund Abortion campaign is to host a mini-rally in front of as many of their constituency offices as is possible.
The success of this ambitious campaign goal depends on keen and passionate pro-lifers coming forward to volunteer as Team Leaders in each riding, and on many others coming out to stand for life and defend their rights as taxpayers to demand their money not be used to kill pre-born children, Buscemi said.
“Download this instruction manual to read the simple steps involved in organizing a mini-rally,” said Georges Buscemi. “Then, please consider volunteering.”
The Quebec Defund Abortion Mini-Rallies website allows you to input your postal code which will bring up the photo, name and constituency office address for your local MNA.
To find out more about joining or leading a mini-rally at your MNA's office, visit the Quebec Defund Abortion Mini-Rallies website or contact Campagne Québec-Vie by email at [email protected], or by phone at (514) 344-2686.
The French website is available here. The English website is available here.
Information about all Defund Abortion rallies is available by contacting Alissa Golob by phone at 1-800-730-5358 x. 238, by email at [email protected], and on Campaign Life Coalition's Defund Abortion campaign website.