The March for Life 2011
OTTAWA - With 15,000 participants making this year's March for Life the largest ever, the Conservative government has been put on notice that the abortion debate is back on.
People came in droves to Ottawa May 12 to make sure Parliamentarians get the message. Organizers estimate that more than 15,000 people filled the lawn on Parliament Hill, eclipsing last year's record of 12,500.
"I've got a newsflash for you, Mr. Prime Minister," said former Liberal MP Pat O'Brien, who acted as MC at the rally on Parliament Hill. "The debate is on."
O'Brien noted how Prime Minister Stephen Harper had promised not to re-open the abortion debate during the recent election campaign, even if he won a majority. O'Brien told the crowd their support for the members of the Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus is critical for ensuring the issue gets brought to the floor of the House of Commons.
"The Supreme Court said the debate belongs in Parliament" in the 1988 Morgentaler decision, said Don Hutchinson, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada's director of the Centre for Faith and Public Life. The court struck down the law as it existed as inconsistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but it did not say Parliament could not restrict abortion.
"Neither Parliament nor the Supreme Court has ever declared a right to abortion," he said.
Each one of the 304 Members of Parliament has the right to bring this debate forward, he said.
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