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January 13, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — Pro-life outreach organizations such as the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (where I serve as communications director) have been concerned since last March that the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the economic conditions created by the government response, could be triggering a spike in the abortion rate. Women frequently choose abortion when they feel fiscally trapped, and the number of people feeling the pinch as the pandemic stretches into 2021 is growing.
Canadian media outlets are now confirming our fears, with abortion activists and workers indicating that they believe the abortion rate is rising. According to Winnipeg City News, the National Abortion Federation (NAF), an organization dedicated to helping women procure abortions, revealed that it got four times as many calls in Canada in 2020 compared to 2019. In 2020, the NAF received 110 calls — the year before, it had been merely 30.
These numbers aren’t a great sample size, but as City News noted, they “reflect a host of social issues like job insecurity, anxiety levels, potential health impacts and socioeconomic status.” With so many careers threatened, businesses at risk, and jobs disappearing, many feel that it is a bad time to have a child. Additionally, many fear going to the hospital; it is also difficult for partners to be part of the process due to COVID-19 health restrictions.
According to NAF director Jill Doctoroff, many of those calling her organization are non-citizens living in Canada who found themselves unable to fly home (or were concerned they could not return if they did), as well as students and those still working through the immigration process. Angela MacDougall of the Battered Women Society also told City News that she has observed a rise in requests for abortion information, and indicated that social isolation is a contributing factor.
Of course, the primary concern of Canada’s abortion activists is that there are too few abortions, not too many. Several have indicated to the media that “access to abortion” is difficult during the pandemic and urged the government to respond. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is currently suing the government of New Brunswick over its refusal to use taxpayer funds to float an abortion clinic in Fredericton, claiming that limited access to abortion in the province constituted a violation of the Canada Health Act as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
States are blocking pro-lifers from sharing the simple message “Choose Life” on their vehicles!
Please SIGN this joint petition between LifeSite and The Children First Foundation to make "Choose Life" license plates available in every state! Tell governors and state officials to allow this pro-life freedom of speech.
Advertising industry statistics show that, for the typical vehicle, a “Choose Life” plate and its simple, powerful message will be seen by other drivers 30,000 to 80,000 times a year.
And, across the U.S., “Choose Life” vehicle license plates (or tags) have raised more than $28 million for pro-life pregnancy centers, maternity homes, safe havens, and adoption centers, varying with each state.
The potential for expanding the “Choose Life” license plate program to new states and new members is incredible – but only if citizens are allowed to have the plates!
It is appalling that seventeen U.S. states do not allow their citizens the right to put “Choose Life” license plates on their vehicles.
The plates have been called pro-life “scare tactics” by Planned Parenthood and unlawful or hateful “private speech” by pro-abortion lawyers. The “Choose Life” message, however, is one of pure love that scares nobody except those who profit from death.
It is unacceptable that we are blocked from our God-given and Constitutional right to spread the message of love and life for vulnerable unborn and newborn children.
Your signature on this petition – no matter where you live – will help to get the “Choose Life” license plate program in states where it is not yet permitted!
Please SIGN and SHARE this petition to make a real difference in persuading these state governments and Departments of Motor Vehicles to “Choose Life.”
Consider, for example, our experience in New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo is a nationally-recognized advocate of abortion and has been a relentless opponent of the pro-life movement.
Cuomo has blocked the approval of “Choose Life” license plates in NY, despite widespread support for these truly positive messages of love and life. A headline in the New York Post declared, “The DMV Acts Like We Live in Pyongyang.”
And, in nearby New Jersey and Connecticut, similar hurdles were faced.
But we took the fight to the government officials and even to federal court. And, with the help of petitions, we were able to get “Choose Life” license plates on the road in both states.
It is high time for us to convert EVERY state in America to choose life.
Your signature on this petition - no matter where you live - will help make that happen by placing “Choose Life” license plates on tens of thousands more cars.
For love, for life, for the babies, please SIGN and SHARE our worldwide petition to tell state officials and politicians to stop blocking approval of the “Choose Life” license plate!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please click on this link to read many past LifeSite articles on "Choose Life" license plates: https://www.lifesitenews.com/tags/tag/choose+life+plates
In the meantime, Canadian pro-life organizations are still faithfully doing outreach, conforming activism to health restrictions and reaching Canadians wherever we can. The Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform still attained a reach of over four million views of abortion victim photography and facilitated thousands of conversations in 2020, and other organisations — especially crisis pregnancy centres such as Aid to Women in Toronto and the Back Porch in Edmonton — have been finding creative ways to reach women during these bizarre times we live in. After all, the government may have announced a state of emergency recently.
Pro-lifers know that children in the womb face a state of emergency every day in Canada.
