OTTAWA, July 10, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Newspapers across Canada featured stories today reporting that “the anti-abortion United States government is having an effect north of the border.” The frenzy was initiated last week when the Bush administration drafted a policy to allow states to cover “unborn children” under the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
While pro-lifers are hopeful that pro-life measures in the US will encourage similar legislation in Canada, pro-abortion activists are worried that a pro-life victory in the US would embolden pro-lifers in Canada. Both pro-lifers and those opposed to life recognize that the influence of the United States on the policies of other governments is substantial, particularly for those governments in close proximity to the US.
A Canadian Press story carried by the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and other Canadian papers quotes Campaign Life Coalition’s Mary-Ellen Douglas as saying the Bush move “will help to peel the scales from people’s eyes, stop the denial of reality and the killing of the pre-born.” Douglas noted pro-lifers in Canada are watching the legislation closely since, “whatever happens in the United States usually happens in Canada.”