News

EDMONTON, March 1, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In anticipation of the upcoming spring election, Alberta Pro-Life has reinvigorated a campaign demanding that the government defund abortion in the province.

Working with a grassroots initiative begun by pro-life university and college students, Alberta Pro-Life took on the campaign in mid-January to more effectively lobby the Alberta government to change its current policy of paying for abortion-on-demand with taxpayers’ money. Taxpayers pay for an average of 12,000 abortions per year at a minimum cost of $14,500 each through the Alberta health care insurance plan.

Stephanie Fennelly, Executive Director of Alberta Pro-Life, told LifeSiteNews that previous campaigns to defund abortion in the province have been directed at politicians. However, this campaign will focus on educating voters.

“The strategy of the new campaign is that in a democracy power does not lie with politicians in particular, or with the people in general. Rather it resides in voters,” Fennelly said. “Our campaign is designed to engage potential voters who agree with us on the issue” in order to make abortion funding an election issue.

(Click “like” if you want to end abortion! )

Alberta Pro-Life has set up a blog to chronicle the campaign, with postings that explore the different avenues the defunding campaign will take, and to alert pro-lifers to the events planned.

Fennelly also said the campaign will engage voters through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

“We are not targeting the campaign towards traditional media however, but rather towards Albertans on the ground,” she said. “We will be open to the media covering us, but not relying on it. Rather we will use traditional campaign tactics like door knocking and lawn signs to engage the population by going directly to them with our message.”

Another strategy will be to contact and promote the defunding campaign in the different churches in Alberta.

Cameron Wilson, a member of Alberta Pro-Life and one of the university students who started the defund abortion campaign, commented to LifeSiteNews, “If we want people to be upset by abortion funding then what better method is there than talking directly to people about abortion funding?”

“Most Albertans don’t know that their taxes fund over 12,000 abortions each year, costing well over $6 million dollars annually in our province,” Fennelly stated. “Albertans have a right to know this. It is this information that has motivated people to join the campaign, and this is the information that we will deliver.”

“Our goal is to inform voters about the injustice they are funding. Voters have significant power and we must engage them in this issue.”

“I call upon the youth of Alberta to take up the banner of justice,” Wilson urged. “We are the leaders of the future, it is ours to shape. Let us not allow it to be a future with abortion.”

More information is available of the Alberta Pro-Life Defund Abortion blog here.

The Defund Abortion in Alberta Facebook page is here.

The Twitter account is DefundAbortionAB