It’s been 11 years since the Supreme Court Of Canada legalized abortion, following Dr Henry Morgentaler’s 20-year legal battle. Since that time, opinions on abortion haven’t changed much.
A 1998 Environics poll indicates widespread support for the decision and strong pro-choice beliefs among Canadians. Four out of five people believe abortion is a private decision to be made between a woman and her physician, according to the poll, which surveyed 925 people.
The poll also indicates that, although demand for abortions in Canada is on the rise, only half of Canada’s medical schools teach the procedure.
There are 70,549 therapeutic abortions per year in Canada, or 28.2 percent for every 100 live births. There are 29,093 abortions per year in Ontario (according to 1995 Statistics Canada figures).
Each year, half a million women die from pregnancy-related complications and 100,000 die from unsafe abortions.
HLI reports between 150 and 500 million abortions annually worldwide. The Feminist Women’s Health Center On The Worldwide Status Of Women (in the US) puts that figure at 50 million, of which 30 million are illegal.
The Church and Wellesley area is served by St Michael’s Hospital, a Catholic institution fighting an anti-gay rep (the church does not accept “practicing” homosexuals). Right after absorbing the homo-friendly Wellesley-Central, St Mike’s bureaucrats sent out a memo banning tubal ligations for men and women.
Activists have said that many of the hospitals shut down by the provincial Tories in the last year provided abortions — and that women’s choices in Ontario are now severely limited.
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