Abortion Law in Canada - Assignment Example

Abortion Law in Canada Abortion Law in Canada Abortion can be defined as the cessation of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, eliciting in, the death of the fetus due to; impulsive removal of a human fetus in the course of the first twelve weeks of incubation, it can also be due to prompted ejection of a human fetus. Induced abortion has led to the loss of lives of the innocent fetus although some pregnancies have put the live of mothers into risks (Vasu, 2006). Canada is among the few nations in the world that lack criminal law limiting abortion practice. The law against abortion was first liberalized in the country 1969; then the Supreme Court ruled it entirely in 1988 (Marshall, 1988). Although the nation has been doing fine without the law, some quotas have taken advantage of this laxity and have involved in murderous activities in praising the abortion. In the past 11 years of great experimentation without the law, it has been revealed that, although there is no law against abortion, doctors and women have exercised the right to abortion responsibly, without the need for any legal restrictions since their conscience do not allow them to do so (Marshall, 1988). Due to lack of the laws and regulation restricting abortion, Canadian citizens, especially doctors have had a share of difficulties in attempting to deliver accessible abortion services to women in part of the world that illegalizes abortion. Unfortunately, semi-skilled legislators who cannot support the improvement women’s access to safe and legal abortion currently govern some parts of Canada (Marshall, 1988). The access to medical and healthy abortion has also been hindered by bigger size of the country, least populated nation according to its size. This has made it difficult to the country to make available abortion services to Canadian women (Marshall, 1988). Furthermore, the government does not fund several abortions clinics thus forcing women to attend hospitals abortion services. Unfortunately, Canadian hospitals are not the easiest or most reassuring places to acquire an abortion (Marshall, 1988). A second problem resulting from the lack of anti-abortion law is anti-choice harassment and violence to Canadian women and doctors in other parts of the world. For example, three Canadian abortion specialists have been shot dead in the last 5 years, by American terrorist who is anti-abortion. Some of the Canadian citizens especially, women have been deported back to Canada for practicing abortion in cultures and nations that have strict laws limiting abortion. The country also had had poor territorial relationships with strong religious nations that discourage abortion such as the Islamic and catholic nations. This has led to the influx of anti- abortion terrorist and extremists in the country to fight abortion hence endangering the security and safety of Canadian citizens (Marshall, 1988). Just like other states, the Canada government outlawed abortion practice in the 19th century unless the life of the mother was at risk. The Canadian Congress forbade it entirely in the year 1869 under warning of life imprisonment for any doctor who aids abortion as well as the woman. Between the years 1926 to the year 1047, over 4000 to 60000 Canadian women died as a result of inferior, unlawful abortion practices. Additionally, by 1960s, it was approximated the country had a range of 35,000 to 120,000 number of abortions being executed per year. Currently, the Canadian legal abortion rate stands at 100,000 per year (Marshall, 1988). The suggestions to ease up Canadian abortion law were initiated in the 1960s. It resulted principally from medical specialists and legal associations, especially from womens and social integrity individuals, including the Humanist Fellowship of Montreal, whose leader at the period was Dr. Henry Mergenthaler (Marshall, 1988). In the year 1967, the Justice cabinet secretary of Canadian government offered a bill in the congress to relax Canadas abortion law. During this period, abortion would still be a crime, but women at risk could relate for special approval from a salutary abortion committee made of three doctors at a health facility, who had to decide whether continued stay with the pregnancy would put her life or health in danger. The Justice cabinet secretary flourished in liberalizing the Canadian abortion law, as well as the l homosexuality and the use of contraception, all of which were illegal until then (Marshall, 1988). In 1969, the bill was signed into law. The new law abortion law was viewed as an odd piece of work that gave the medical profession legal sanction for the status quo hence making it harder to prosecute any lone doctor that aided abortion. The new law was good for doctors, but was never too good for women and led to immediate and numerous issues (Browne & Sullivan, 2005). First, health facilities were not allowed to come up with Therapeutic Abortion Committees (TACs), so thus making the hospitals to lack the important committees even if they were the only facilities around (Coalition, 2002). Secondly, the Therapeutic Abortion Committees (TACs) regularly required 6 to 8 weeks’ time in order to process abortion application, and would impose quotas (Coalition, 2002). The third problem was that each Therapeutic Abortion Committee (TAC) understood the law in your own way. The law allowing abortion to protect the womans health, was a vague term that was interpreted conservatively by some Therapeutic Abortion Committees, while others interpreted it substantially, with the outcome of the test, some Therapeutic Abortion Committees permitted very few abortion practice, while other Therapeutic Abortion Committees simply authorized all application (Browne & Sullivan, 2005). The fourth problem is that, the Therapeutic Abortion Committees are overwhelmingly made of males, denoting that men have the authority to dictate the providence of females they have never even met or have no control over. The fifth problem brought by legalizing the abortion law was that, the anti-abortion crusader began taking over hospital management boards, and once in authority, they would disperse the Therapeutic Abortion Committees, and staff the with anti-choice doctors hence making admittance for abortion to be unfair to citizens. This also introduced economic discrimination, as the only women who were given good admittance to health and medical abortion were the educated, and upper-class women while the majority poor women who resided outside major centers, have essentially no admission to proper medical abortion practice at all (Browne & Sullivan, 2005). However, in January 28, 1988, the Supreme Court judgment delivered an amazing ruling on the Canadian abortion law. The court declared the Canadian abortion law unconstitutional, in its totality, and all Canadian women have the right to comprehensive procreative liberty. The court in its ruling fully accepted that the regulation was discriminating as it offered irrational hindrances to women pursuing abortions. The abortion law was declared to be a breach to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which warranties the right to liberty, life, and security of the citizens (Browne & Sullivan, 2005). The government of Canada should rethink in enacting abortion law that gives the right to life to all human beings whether unborn or young without discrimination of the foundation of age. The first and primary nature of humans should be the preservation of life. This often arises from self-protection and spreads to all humankind via the domestic unions and comprehension of a like nature. Abortion always kills innocent young human life and is in direct conflict to the most elementary principle of human instinct. It rejects the natural law of life and has leaves Canada as a country incapable of repopulating itself short of the aid of mass migration (Beckwith, 2007). According to most religious beliefs and teachings that most Canadian citizens subscribe to, abortion is not a simple personal decision but a severe crime against Almighty God and His creations. The anti-abortion fight has often been religious wars and primarily has been the Catholics and Muslims across the nation. This is due to the Church’s and Islamic teaching against abortion, which are clear and undisputable: the teachings view abortion is murder and there are no exemptions permissible, no negotiations conceivable when it comes to abortions (Beckwith, 2007). For people who argue that they request complete control of their own bodies, they should be aware that control over their bodies should comprise averting the danger of undesirable pregnancies through legal use of contraception or, through abstinence if they do not prefer the use of contraception as stated in some religious teachings. Through such controls, they would prevent abortion (Beckwith, 2007). According to most religious writings like the Bible and Koran, life is defined to begin at conception. Thus, abortion is similar to murder because it is the action of taking away human life. It is direct disobedience of the generally accepted knowledge of the sacredness of human life. No modern cultured society should allow one human being to deliberately detriment and take away the life of another human being without penalty, and thus abortion is no special (Beckwith, 2007). The government and other stakeholders in the fight for perpetual existence of human life should appreciate that abortion is a sin that propagates the evil. The abortion attitude rescinds the family by making it harder for new Canadians who endure outside the womb to find the family joined composed by the permanent union of marriage exclusively between a male and a female. Youngsters require families that would cherish them, protect their virtue and improve their characters. Essentially, all youngsters should find within their homes the confidence that allows them to recognize, adore and serve God in the world and be joyful with Him forever in the next (Vasu, 2006). Many Canadians taxpayers are opposed to abortion law. Thus, it is morally unacceptable the taxpayers dollars to fund abortion activities in Canada and abroad. Statistics has also shown that most of those who choose abortions in terminating pregnancies are often underage girls and young women with inadequate life knowledge to comprehend the consequences of their actions entirely. Many live in lifelong shame afterwards because abortion is frequently associated with intense psychological agony and stress (Vasu, 2006). References Beckwith, F. (2007). Defending life: A moral and legal case against abortion choice. New York: Cambridge University Press. Coalition, C. (2002). Abortion: A Briefing Book for Canadian Legislators. Retrieved 19 November from http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/shared/skins/default/pdf/abortionbriefingbook.pdf. Vasu, M. (2006). The liberal case against abortion. Mt. Laurel, N.J.: R.A.G.E. Media. Marshall, G. (January 01, 1988). Liberty, abortion and constitutional review in Canada. Public Law. , 199-211. BROWNE, A. L. I. S. T. E. R., & SULLIVAN, B. I. L. L. (January 01, 2005). Abortion in Canada. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 14, 3, 287-291. Read More