QUEBEC, November 14, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The president of the Association of Obstreticians and Gynecologists of Quebec has offered a stark condemnation of late-term abortion, saying her group believes the grisly practice is comparable to “infanticide.”
“It is not a question of legality, they are infanticides,” Dr. Isabelle Girard told Le Journal de Montreal on November 12. “A child at 36 weeks to whom you decide to give an intracardial injection so the heart stops beating and then induce labor, is infanticide. … The child could have been given to a family for adoption.”
“Ask any doctor who does it, if he does not feel that this is infanticide,” she added. “It is not a matter of taboo. It is a question of responsibility. Us, we protect life.”
Dr. Girard was commenting on earlier quotes in the paper by Jean Guimond, one of three doctors in the province trained to carry out abortions after 23 weeks.
According to Guimond, these abortionists often refuse to do late-term abortions due to pressure from hospital ethics committees and fear of being ostracized by colleagues, forcing women to go to the US.
The abortionists “are very fearful of being ostracized,” he said. “They have the technology and expertise. But they are prevented to do so because ethical committees and pro-life lobbies are very powerful.”
According to Guimond, the mere mention of late-term abortions in hospitals raises eyebrows. “It's always a risk of losing what has been acquired,” he said. “It's so controversial that the administration could say 'we do not do that anymore'.”
Guimond says that as a result of the unwillingness of doctors to commit these abortions, women seeking them are sent to US clinics where the abortion itself is covered by provincial health insurance, but the woman is responsible for travel and living expenses.
Guimond said he hopes late-term abortion will be easily available to all Quebec women in the near future.
In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada declared hospital therapeutic abortion committees unconstitutional and left the country with no abortion regulations whatsoever, making abortion available without restriction through all nine months of pregnancy.
However, Montreal lawyer Jean-Pierre Ménard told Journal de Montreal that while ethics committees have no decision-making power over abortionists or their practice of abortion in the last 3 months of pregnancy, the committees are influencing abortion decisions.
“It is coming back, but by the back door. This is not consistent with the rights of women,” Ménard argued. “They will say that the committees do not have decision-making rights, but this is presented as a reality to women without her rights being explained to her.”
However, the pro-life group Campagne Québec-Vie stated it supports the ethics committees that are opposed to the grisly practice of abortion right up to the moment of birth.
According to Quebec statistics quoted by the Journal de Montreal, the reasons given for requests for third trimester abortions include women that believed they were in menopause, adolescents who deny what happened to them, and women who learn that their husband “has a double life.”
“We want to support the medical staff, administrations and ethical committees that oppose these late abortions,” said Mario Richard, CEO of Campagne Québec-Vie.
“Although the Canadian legal vacuum permits eliminating the unborn child until the moment of birth, the vast majority of Quebecers deplore this barbaric procedure to kill a child.”
“Unfortunately,” Richard noted, “according to the guide of the College of Physicians, medical personnel refusing to participate in an abortion are still required to refer a patient requesting it to a colleague practicing this type of abortion.”
“Campagne Québec-Vie calls for respect for freedom of conscience of medical staff, which includes the freedom not to cooperate with these abortions by referring for this vile procedure.”
In addition to recognizing conscientious objection, Campagne Québec-Vie calls for an end to funding for abortions at the provincial level.
“We ask that the Minister of Health recognizes that the stigma of the practice of late-term abortion to medical staff, hospital administrations and the general population is well founded, and that the Quebec government stops funding abortions, including late-term abortions, both in the United States or in Quebec.”
Contact:
Mr. Réjean Hébert, Minister of Health and Social Services
418 266-7171
[email protected]