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Position Paper: Abortion Should Be Illegal In Canada
Ashely M. Piereder
Society: Challenge and Change, Jacob Hespeler Secondary School
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Currently, there are absolutely no laws regulating abortion in Canada. This is highly due to the
opposing views and extreme opinions on the morality of the procedure. As of now, a woman can be in
labour at the hospital and ask for an abortion (Gibb). A woman can have an abortion at any time she wants
throughout the pregnancy; because of the belief that she has “the right” to do what she may with her body.
However, what is overlooked is that fact that it is no longer just her body that is affected by this decision.
Firstly, abortion takes advantage of the defenceless, vulnerable, and those without a voice. Secondly,
abortion is not a right in the legal sense, or in the ethical sense. Lastly, abortion is an unjustified “opt-out”
decision that is not in the mother’s authority to take. The highly opportunistic procedure of abortion should
be illegal in Canada.
In Canadian law, we are prevented from using many drugs, as well as drinking alcohol before we
are a certain age. Many “pro-choicers” argue that the government can’t dictate what we do with our bodies.
However in fact they already do. These laws have actually improved our society, by helping to prevent
alcoholism in adolescence, along with drinking and driving incidents, and addiction. They argue that
abortion is the right of the mother, yet nowhere in Canadian law does it specify that it is a human right
(Gibb). It is neither a legal right, nor an ethical right. Slavery was legal for hundreds of years, and only in
1865 was it abolished in the United States (Today in History). Society looks back on this institution and
feels shame for treating human life so inhumanly. How is legal abortion any different? The justification that
abortion is legal in many countries does not make it ethical. Among other things, slavery illustrates that
legality does not always equate morality. Abortion is neither a right nor is it a moral statute in law, in the
same way slavery never was. In conclusion, legal abortion is an unethical institution justified by the myth
that it is a human right, and therefore should be abolished in Canadian society.
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Through law everyone has the right to a lawyer, they have a right to a trial and a defence for any
crimes they have been accused of (Gibb). In Canada, everyone also has the right to healthcare, because
Canadian society feels such that nobody should be left sick and helpless. Yet in our most defenceless and
dependant state of our existence, we are denied all these rights, even the right to our life. Abortion takes
advantage of the defenceless and the dependant. When a woman is pregnant, there is no longer just one
growing and living being, but two. This other human is not an appendage of the mother, not a kidney or an
appendix that can be removed and discarded without moral consequence. This other human being is a
distinct and self-directed individual, with their own heartbeat, blood type, genetic makeup and brain activity,
not the mother’s. Many people argue that abortion should remain legal, on grounds that it is the woman’s
body that will be affected by the pregnancy. In Canada, attempted suicide and prostitution are both legal,
and both of these actions are the individual person doing what they choose with their body. Abortion is not
comparable to these actions, because abortion is a choice made by one individual that detrimentally affects
another. Although the preborn is dependent on the mother, this does not mean the mother has the right or
the authority to end its existence. Abortion is the opportunistic behaviour that kills a living breathing
individual because it is perceived inconvenient. Therefore, Canadian law should deem abortion illegal.
Abortion terminates life. If an organism similar to a zygote or embryo was found on a different
planet, this discovery would be considered life. Yet when a human being is in the early stages of
development, we are merely considered a cluster of cells, or even a parasite. Human life is precious yet
when it begins unexpectedly or from bad circumstances, it is simply expendable. No birth control method is
100% accurate other than abstinence (Holms), yet when some type of method is used, and a woman is
pregnant she acts as though this should have never happened. Therefore, the possibility of pregnancy
must be understood and the potential responsibility accepted rather than considered an inconvenience to
be dealt with if necessary. Secondly, a woman has one decision to make when it comes to pregnancy. This
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decision is whether or not to have sex. As mentioned above, not birth control method is 100% guaranteed,
so there is always that possibility. There is no second choice for the woman because it no longer affects
only the woman, there is another involved. Lastly, a heated subject in the justification of legal abortion is
whether or not victims of rape should have to carry the baby to term. Of course in cases of rape, it was not
the woman’s choice. Her decision was taken away from her in the cruelest and most disturbing way, but
this does not mean the child’s choice to live should be taken also. The baby is not at fault for this heinous
act, but is innocent and should be treated as such. A closed adoption is a viable option for those women
who feel the baby would serve as a reminder of the trauma, and allows for both parties to move on from the
experience- alive. Abortion is not the best option. It never can be, because it takes advantage of those
without a voice, killing innocent life. For these reasons, abortion should be made illegal in Canada.
This topic is highly sensitive to religious communities and institutions. Since Canadian legislature
attempts to keep law and religion separate, and doing so without offending these institutions, it is a highly
controversial topic. Because of this, the government has nearly hit political dead-lock because there is no
possible legislation that results with all parties satisfied. However, a sensitive situation does not justify
neglect. The facts are that abortion is not a right, legally or ethically. Abortion is the opportunistic behaviour
ending in the termination of an individual living being. Finally, a pregnant woman has one choice, not two,
because the second choice no longer affects only her body, but the existing life of another. The social
acceptance of abortion around the world does not justify it as morally acceptable. Therefore, the highly
opportunistic and unjust act of abortion should be illegal in Canada.
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Works Cited
Gibb, R. (2012). Society: Challenge and Change, Constitutional and International Law: Lecture.
Jacob Hespeler Secondary School.
Holms, M. (2011). Sex and Fertility. Retrieved October 17, 2012, from Woman to Woman website:
http://www.womentowomen.com/sexualityandfertility/choosingbirthcontrol.aspx
House Passes the 13th Amendment. Retrieved October 19, 2012, from This Day in History website:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/house-passes-the-13th-amendment