Maternity Leave for Abortionists

Every expectant mother is extremely grateful for policies instituted by our Canadian government to allow them to take leave from work with pay so that they can attend to the critical upbringing of their baby. When they see pictures of women carrying babies on their backs while working in the fields, they can only say that they are blessed to be living in Canada.

However, I am concerned about apparent duplicity in our legal system, laws grafted in that appear to fly under the public radar. I thought maternity benefits were targeted towards mothers who brought their baby into the world and were committed to caring for them. Apparently not!

Canada’s employment insurance guidelines reveal that a woman who aborts her child after 19 weeks gestation is eligible to receive 17 weeks of maternity leave, the same as a mother who gives birth. For an abortion occurring before 19 weeks gestation, the woman can collect sick leave for the same length of time. You can read it for yourself at our government site: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/ipg/017.shtml.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation first identified this anomaly in federal policy in 2008. John Williamson, CTF’s executive director, alluding back to the Maternity Benefits Act of 1961, stated that the purpose behind the Act was to “allow parents bonding time with their newborn child.” This begs a critical question: “Why are Canadian tax payers paying maternity benefits to a mother who has aborted her child and will never experience bonding time?”

This Benefit package challenges the very essence of the Act’s creation and the conscience of everyone who believes that abortion is morally wrong. By the way, just a reminder lest we forget: making abortion legal doesn’t make it moral or normal. Unfortunately, within our culture, the longer the law remains, the more the next generation interprets abortion as morally right.

This is why the pro-life voice will never go away. First, it is offensive to many that tax dollars are being spent to help people eliminate the next generation. Dr. Shumiatcher explained during the Joe Borowski Trial for Life in Regina that "we are accountable, not only to those generations who will succeed us, but to those who may never be allowed to succeed us." We will live to regret the deaths of 110,000 Canadians annually.

Secondly, it is an offense against motherhood. Motherhood ought to be highly esteemed. Abortion is not a maternal act. To place motherhood alongside the abortionist in the Maternity Act is callous at best. To define that the process of abortion and the process of child-bearing and rearing is of relatively equal value to the Canadian government severely undermines the value of the child and mother alike.

Any loss of child – through miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion – is a travesty. I have seen the great pain associated with the loss of motherhood. However, in many cases, abortion stands apart. It is a violent act against the life of the unborn that results in loss of life.

Under Canadian regulations on employment insurance (EI), abortion is considered an “illness” which makes a woman eligible for tax-funded benefits. The tax department interprets abortion as a stillbirth because a pregnancy termination after 20 weeks is not considered an abortion according to present Canadian law and may be a result of serious medical complications.

I understand that some do not agree with my point of view. I understand that there can be many complications from an abortion. Every woman has a right to proper medical care and recovery. I believe it would be best that post-abortive care be removed from Maternity and placed under Medical.