PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, February 28, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A young pro-abortion woman is poised to win a $1000 youth leadership award after garnering the largest number of people in support of her ambition – to bring abortion to Prince Edward Island, the only province in Canada that remains abortion-free.
“I feel that we are on a new brink of a feminist age as we see women laying claim to their bodies in such a plethora of ways,” said Kandace Hagen, the current front-runner of the ACTIVE-8 initiative run by the Atlantic Council for International Cooperation. The online contest requires that each ambassador – two from each Atlantic province – make a pledge to improve their community.
“The declaration of female reproduction justice has been ringing so clearly these past few years as we continue to take strides to claim control of every aspect of ourselves,” says the Charlottetown native, who shared in her video testimony the trials she faced at the age of 14 as she had to travel off the island to have her baby aborted.
The woman has vowed that if she wins, she will donate the prize money towards providing travel bursaries to island mothers seeking to abort their babies on the mainland.
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Hagen’s pro-abortion platform received international attention and support after a private email from Ann Marie Tomlin, a spokesperson for P.E.I. Right to Life Association, was leaked to the media. In the email, Tomlin encouraged her pro-life friends and acquaintances to vote for an alternative candidate so that Hagen would not win the youth leadership contest.
“The vote is close so please send this to all the youth and youth groups you know,” Tomlin had written in the email.
When the email was leaked, Tomlin’s efforts backfired as national and international left-leaning media defended Hagen’s cause and became her champion.
Michelle Lovegrove-Thomson of The Paltry Sapien hailed Hagen last week as a “courageous women” for making her abortion public and for devoting her energies to secure abortion access for island women. “This issue deserves attention, and you should vote for it,” wrote Lovegrove-Thomson.
Anna North of Jezebel called Hagen’s platform “pretty awesome” and criticized those she called “anti-choicers” for “start[ing] a campaign to sabotage her candidacy.” North also encouraged her readers to vote for Hagen.
Tomlin said that since her e-mail was leaked Hagen has not only gained more support, but P.E.I.’s pro-life movement has been maligned and raked through the mud by a frenzied pro-choice media.
But Tomlin says she remains convinced that she did not do anything wrong. She believes that unborn P.E.I. children need someone to stand up for their right to life.
“I’ve spent the last 30 years of my life trying to protect women and children from abortion. When I hear there is someone up for an award for promoting death for children and harm for women, of course I will do whatever I can to oppose them.”
Tomlin made it clear that she in no way personally opposes front-runner Hagen, only the position that she is representing. Tomlin surmised, however, that Hagen has not yet processed the extent of the harm caused to her by her abortion.
“I know that women first go through a period of denial. Part of the denial is trying to convince yourself that you did the right thing. Often women don’t just try to convince themselves but they try to convince others by promoting abortion. I don’t see that as leadership, but rather as a desperate cry for help.”
Tomlin and her pro-life companions have endorsed Tara Brinston from Fredericton for the leadership award on account of her pledge to improve the rights of persons with an intellectual disability.
“She wants to improve things for the disabled and part of the pro-life mandate is to protect the disabled,” said Tomlin.
The ACTIVE-8 youth leadership campaign closes tomorrow at midnight. Whichever ambassador garners the most public support for their work wins the recognition and the prize.
Rena Kulczycki, an ACTIVE-8 spokesperson told LifeSiteNews that while the whole focus of the campaign is about “highlighting young people from Atlantic Canada who are engaged in global issues and social justice,” votes from people around the world are counted in the final tally.
Abortion activist Hagen currently leads with 1471 votes while disability advocate Tara Brinston sits at 1024 votes, a difference of 447. Paul Manning sits at third place with 303 votes.
Brinston told CBCNews that she would welcome pledges from people who are “inspired by the work I do within the disability movement.”
View the list of Global Youth Ambassadors here.
Find more information about disability advocate Tara Brinston here.