Who is doing the Deceiving? Advertising Standards Canada Needs to Look in the Mirror
“Even though the standards council decision was made against LifeCanada, it applies to all organizations employing the same messages, a spokeswoman for the council said.” – Edmonton Journal, June 25 2008
Edmonton ProLife is the most recent victim of Advertising Standards Canada’s bullying. The pro-life group may now be forced to take down poster ads because the ASC has ruled them “deceptive.” What is so deceiving about them? They state that abortion is legal at any stage of a woman’s pregnancy. “The human heart begins to beat at 22 days. Canada’s government allows women the right to stop it for the next 258 days,” states one of the ads.
But wait a minute – are there limits on when a woman can have an abortion in Canada? No. Edmonton ProLife and Life Canada (which has run similar ads across the country) are 100 per cent correct in their advertising. Section 223 of Canada’s Criminal Code unequivocally states that “A child becomes a human being within the meaning of this Act when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother…” As a result, abortion is legal throughout the entire duration of a woman’s pregnancy.
So who is being deceptive? “While the posters are technically correct in saying there is no law forbidding late-term abortions in Canada, they are misleading because they incorrectly imply that such procedures can be had on demand, said Lianne McTavish, a University of Alberta professor who has been fighting the ads” according to the Edmonton Journal. But if she is right, then why does data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information reveal that there were many abortions that occurred after 20 weeks gestation? And some of these abortions were even performed after 33 weeks gestation.
Apparently the pro-abortionists want it both ways. They want the freedom to have abortions at any time in a pregnancy and without restrictions, but they also forbid anybody to publicly state this fact. If they were really pro-choice, they should allow the facts to be public so that an informed choice can be made. The truth is that they are not pro-choice. The only choice that can be publicly advertised is abortion.
Action Item: We must speak out publicly in support of these ads – write a letter to the editor of your local paper to set the record straight. If we don’t stand up for our freedoms, who will? Also, contact Advertising Standards Canada to voice your concern about their decision.
Advertising Standards Canada
350 Bloor Street, Suite 402
Toronto, ON M4W 1H5
Tel: (416) 961-6311
Fax: (416) 961-7904
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.adstandards.com/
