Juno News - The state of Canada’s pro-life movement (feat. Alissa Golob)

00:00:00.000 A good amount of pro-life activism takes place in Canada during the month of May, including

00:00:05.800 the National March for Life in downtown Ottawa, as well as other regional marches at legislators

00:00:13.520 across the country.

00:00:14.780 Canada has no abortion laws.

00:00:18.620 However, the majority of Canadians are pro-choice, and Parliament is so pro-abortion that they

00:00:25.320 aren't even willing to pass legislation to protect pre-born girls from sex-selective

00:00:31.000 abortion, a misogynist and barbaric practice that the majority of Canadians, including many

00:00:37.560 who support a general woman's right to abortion, say should be outlawed.

00:00:43.140 The current political climate in Canada, which is heavily influenced by partisan ideology

00:00:48.500 and optics game, has led some to wonder if the pro-life movement and social conservatives

00:00:54.680 should instead shift their focus onto helping families and promoting families, rather than

00:01:01.340 try to restrict or outlaw abortion.

00:01:04.100 To discuss the current state of the pro-life movement in Canada and what it should do moving

00:01:10.400 forward, I am joined by Alyssa Golub, the co-founder of RightNow.

00:01:16.780 RightNow is an organization that helps nominate and elect pro-life politicians across the country

00:01:22.380 by mobilizing people and training volunteers to make effective campaigns.

00:01:27.540 Well, Alyssa, thank you so much for joining me today.

00:01:30.120 Thanks for having me.

00:01:31.380 So how about we just get started with, you know, an easy question.

00:01:35.660 Why are you a pro-life activist?

00:01:37.740 And, you know, what got you interested in this particular domain of policy?

00:01:42.520 Well, when I was young, about 13 years old, I saw abortion victim photography.

00:01:46.980 And I think that was the beginning of my path towards the pro-life movement.

00:01:50.980 I was always pro-life, grew up in a pro-life family.

00:01:53.900 But it wasn't until I actually saw what abortion did to an unborn child that it actually started

00:01:58.280 to make me think more about the issue.

00:02:00.180 And then throughout high school and university, I became came into contact with more women

00:02:05.300 who had experiences with abortion.

00:02:06.920 And so that only further, you know, solidified my pro-life position, because not only did

00:02:12.560 I see what abortion did to an unborn child, but I also saw what it did to women.

00:02:16.080 And so that was kind of the beginning of my path into the pro-life movement and working

00:02:20.140 full-time.

00:02:22.000 Nice, nice.

00:02:22.800 So last year, it was actually pretty significant for the pro-life movement because this landmark

00:02:28.180 case in the U.S., Roe v. Wade, was overturned.

00:02:31.660 And this was a huge win for a pre-born child, for life, for justice.

00:02:35.840 Has this had any impacts on the Canadian pro-life movement?

00:02:39.800 Because a lot of times the U.S. ends up impacting Canada.

00:02:44.600 Yeah, I think that any pro-life victory anywhere in the world is a pro-life victory for people,

00:02:50.080 you know, in Canada and elsewhere because it's saving lives.

00:02:54.000 And that's ultimately what we're trying to do is save human life.

00:02:58.280 And so I think that, you know, we definitely take encouragement from it.

00:03:02.240 But I think the American system is very different than the Canadian system.

00:03:06.420 So we definitely can't replicate exactly what they do.

00:03:09.260 We have to adapt it to, you know, how the Canadian political system works and simultaneously

00:03:13.980 changing hearts and minds along with that.

00:03:16.880 Yes.

00:03:17.480 And you touched on hearts and minds, which kind of leads into my next questions.

00:03:21.160 Right now, polling shows that the majority of Canadians are pro-choice.

00:03:26.260 And even though the majority of Canadians don't like sex-selective abortion, there is no political

00:03:31.580 will to change it because the political culture, even if there's a good bill like Kathy Wagenthal's 0.99

00:03:38.780 to ban sex-selective abortion, it's a lot easier for political operatives to say this is

00:03:43.640 an anti-women bill and kind of push these narratives that being pro-life means being anti-women and so forth. 0.89

00:03:51.100 So, I mean, what we've seen in the last two years and the debate in Canada is supposedly being closed.

00:03:58.600 Is it even possible, you think, in our climate to propose and implement pro-life policies?

00:04:05.760 Well, those polls that say that the majority of Canadians are pro-choice, all they really ask Canadians is,

00:04:10.940 are you pro-life or pro-choice? And the majority of Canadians, you know, do say they're pro-choice,

00:04:15.440 but they also have exceptions. So when you actually dig into what they believe,

00:04:19.540 polls repeatedly show that the majority of Canadians in every province, including Atlantic,

00:04:24.440 Canada, and Quebec, want restrictions on abortions. They don't agree with late-term abortion.

00:04:29.560 Over 70% of Canadians disagree with sex-selective abortion. In fact, a one persuasion poll showed

00:04:35.120 that 61% of those who voted for the Bloc Quebec Croix would be more likely to vote for a party that

00:04:42.200 would legally restrict sex-selective abortion. So I don't think you can point to any other political

00:04:48.100 issue in Canada, whether that be the carbon tax or guns or environmental issues or whatever,

00:04:53.000 that has that much support with Canadians all across the country, especially in key ridings and

00:04:57.840 key provinces that the Conservatives need to win. So this is a winnable electoral issue. We do need

00:05:04.620 political leaders to take this on, but we do, it is also up to Canadians to elect politicians that will

00:05:10.780 represent them in the House of Commons. And that's ultimately what right now does, is that we get

00:05:15.860 pro-lifers involved in the nomination and the election process so that they can elect politicians,

00:05:20.580 so that we have a majority in the House of Commons, so that when these bills are put forward,

00:05:24.260 we have enough MPs to vote for them and actually pass laws and start saving lives.

00:05:29.800 Yeah, so essentially you're saying that in order for the political class, if we want to say,

00:05:36.040 to be able to relate to Canadians, we need to kind of change who is in the House of Commons,

00:05:41.320 because right now there's a lot more pro-abortion MPs than Ender. Even if the bill does make sense,

00:05:47.540 they would much rather virtue signal and say, look, I voted against men wanting to restrict

00:05:52.200 abortion rights or something like that. Yeah, I mean, right now it was created in 2016,

00:05:56.980 and then there were around 40 pro-life MPs in each election, federal election that we've been

00:06:03.840 involved in. We've been able to increase the number of pro-life MPs, even under Erin O'Toole,

00:06:08.580 who was an unpopular leader among a lot of conservatives, especially social conservatives.

00:06:14.260 So we have been able to increase the number of pro-life MPs, and we'll continue to do that

00:06:18.240 until we have that majority. So currently, over 60% of the conservative caucus is pro-life and votes

00:06:24.120 that way. And so we need to increase that, you know, all over the House of Commons that we can

00:06:28.100 actually pass these bills. Right. We saw though recently, Gerrit Van Dorlen, who's somebody that

00:06:35.460 I used to work with when I was in politics, he was dequeued out of nowhere for, you know,

00:06:43.200 for what some people say, because he was pro-life. Do you think there may be attempts to stop your

00:06:53.020 movement with the idea that, hey, if the conservatives are going to form government, we don't want

00:06:57.580 there to be a narrative that it's going to allow for backbenchers to limit abortion. Are you at all

00:07:02.560 concerned about that? Not at all. And, you know, the current candidate who won that nomination race

00:07:10.180 is pro-life as well. He's vocally pro-life. So I don't necessarily think it was specifically because

00:07:14.900 Gerrit was pro-life. I think it was because he wasn't, you know, the leader of the opposition's

00:07:20.280 official choice. So they just helicoptered a person in that riding because there was the

00:07:25.160 candidate of choice, and they basically rigged the nomination in that person's favor, despite the

00:07:29.680 fact that Gerrit currently is still a conservative staffer. So apparently he's good enough to serve

00:07:34.280 the conservative party in a staffer form, but not to actually run in the nomination. So I think that

00:07:39.920 created a lot of division within the conservative movement, especially in that riding. The president

00:07:45.260 and the vice president of the EDA quit. There's over 3,000, you know, people who bought nominations,

00:07:52.240 who bought memberships to vote for Gerrit in the nomination, who are very disturbed about what

00:07:56.680 happened. It made national headlines. So the fact is, if OLO and if the leader and if those in the

00:08:02.200 office of the leader of the opposition continue to DQ candidates, it's only going to make them lose the

00:08:07.400 election. It's going to make the conservative movement more divisive, and it's not going to

00:08:12.140 help them in any way. So we'll just continue to do what we do, and it's up to them whether or not

00:08:15.620 they want to win or lose the next election. I guess that's a good point, too, in the sense that

00:08:20.140 if you don't need conservatives, you get less vote. And then that's also a loss for the pro-life

00:08:24.840 cause, because then you get more pro-abortion liberals in power or NDPers. So there are many reasons

00:08:32.860 why women get abortions, and, you know, this includes financial factors. There are people

00:08:37.000 who say, oh, well, I can't miss out on my career right now. There's also a lot of problems with the

00:08:42.200 foster care system. And is there any, like, social or economic reforms that you think could maybe

00:08:49.800 address these factors and, you know, help reduce abortion rates without, you know, some of these more

00:08:55.500 controversial abortion bans? Yeah, I think incentivizing large families like they do in 1.00

00:09:02.800 Hungary decreases the abortion numbers. Helping women who want to have careers as well as children

00:09:09.200 also helps, like, flex time, longer maternity leave, that kind of thing, different child

00:09:14.680 care options. And also, you know, currently there are more crisis pregnancy centers in Canada than

00:09:20.580 abortion clinics. So there are centers all across Canada that are helping women who are facing these

00:09:26.580 unplanned pregnancies get the care that they need, whether they're in abusive situations, find, you

00:09:31.940 know, comfort and shelter, whether they need financial help, whether, you know, they need baby

00:09:36.840 clothes or formula or anything. And, you know, currently there's a shortage of formula. So, you know,

00:09:41.500 they're constantly trying to recruit and bring that to mothers in need. So that is a very positive

00:09:46.360 side in Canada, because regardless of whether abortion is completely illegal or it's completely

00:09:51.180 illegal, there'll always be the pro-life movement there to help women in crisis pregnancies. And, 0.96

00:09:56.580 you know, there'll always be laws that we can do to help bring these women more comfort and, 1.00

00:10:04.240 you know, help them make that decision to keep life, regardless of, you know, what's happening in

00:10:08.840 the political arena. That's a good point. And I think, you know, a misconception that some people

00:10:13.620 have is that, oh, pro-lifers only care about birth. Once the baby's born, it's done. But,

00:10:18.580 you know, these crisis pregnancy centers do so much. There's so many religious organizations that

00:10:24.000 are there for new mothers. And oftentimes women only find out about these centers after they've 1.00

00:10:29.480 had their abortion and then they regret about it and stuff like that. So I definitely agree that

00:10:33.340 that needs to be promoted more and supported. But on the issue of pregnancy care centers,

00:10:40.620 the liberal government is more pulling their charity status. What impacts would such a move

00:10:47.180 have on both the services being offered by the centers, but also the women who rely on them?

00:10:54.360 Well, it just goes to show you that the liberal party is not pro-choice.

00:10:58.000 They are completely pro-abortion because when anybody has a different view on abortion from them,

00:11:03.740 they take away their funding, they persecute them, they kick them out of different committees.

00:11:08.460 So they don't even allow them in their party. So that is not having choice. That's not having

00:11:13.280 freedom. That's being forced to believe one specific way or forced to choose one specific

00:11:18.320 thing. And so I think, you know, if the liberal party does follow through on that electoral promise

00:11:23.600 that it will be a big negative for them, I don't think it's a winning issue. I think a lot of pro-choice

00:11:30.100 people see the value of having crisis pregnancy centers and centers that help women who are going

00:11:35.880 through crisis pregnancies. So, you know, I challenge the liberal party to do that because

00:11:40.680 even if they do take away the charitable status of these organizations, to me, there is a plus side

00:11:47.140 because when you have charitable status, you can only have a certain amount of your yearly activities

00:11:52.120 be political. So if they take away your charitable status, that means that anything that these

00:11:57.360 organizations want to do can be political. So they can be more politically active in challenging

00:12:02.680 the liberals when they take away their funding, which I think is a great thing because donors are

00:12:07.320 only going to contribute more if their charitable tax status is taken from them. And then they'll also

00:12:12.540 be more motivated to be politically active. So I definitely challenge the liberal party to

00:12:16.600 actually follow through on that promise and see what happens.

00:12:20.240 Yeah, well, I guess in a sense it would likely cause just a backlash in general of support. We've seen

00:12:25.100 that several times where there's either a person or an organization that's canceled in some way,

00:12:30.580 and then we just see a complete backlash and a financial support there.

00:12:37.060 There was a poll that showed that younger people are more pro-life than older people.

00:12:43.060 This is quite surprising in a sense because the legacy media might have you believe that the,

00:12:48.180 you know, liberal TikTok generation would be more pro-abortion. I guess two questions. Why do you

00:12:54.340 think younger people are pro-life? And does this give you hope that, you know, the term pro-life

00:12:58.980 generation is true and the next generation may actually be the one that may end up changing how

00:13:04.980 abortion looks like in Canada? 0.91

00:13:06.500 Yeah, I think it's really hard to push the lie that abortion doesn't kill a baby when we have the

00:13:11.460 technology that we do. It's so easy to see an ultrasound, to hear the heartbeat at such an early

00:13:16.340 age of development. You know, I myself have had two children and, you know, right away they

00:13:21.380 they have you listen to the heartbeat. So it's very difficult to say that's just a blob of tissue

00:13:26.820 and it has a beating heart right away. So I think that absolutely has something to do with it. I also

00:13:32.100 think that laws shape culture in a very positive way. So when you have Canada being the only democratic

00:13:38.500 country in the entire world with no laws on abortion, and you see different countries across

00:13:43.860 the world restricting abortion, banning sex selective abortion, overturning Roe v. Wade,

00:13:48.820 I think that also has an impact on the younger generation that no abortion on demand for any

00:13:53.860 reason up until birth is not a good thing. So even though that's happening here in Canada,

00:13:58.980 young people are still seeing what's happening in other parts of the world, which is promising.

00:14:03.060 And I also think that, you know, there's a lot of work that goes into the pro-life movement in Canada,

00:14:07.780 focusing on changing hearts and minds in the street and the schools using social media.

00:14:13.460 I know a lot of pro-life organizations have huge TikTok and social media followings,

00:14:17.700 over a million subscribers and things like that. So I think that reaching young people where they

00:14:22.340 are is also very important and something that currently the pro-life movement is doing well.

00:14:26.340 And it only helps when you have technology on your side and biology on your side as well.

00:14:32.260 Right. There might be people watching this who are more,

00:14:35.460 let's say libertarian on the issue and say, oh, well, I don't like

00:14:39.780 abortion, but I still think it should be a woman's choice or maybe they're very pro-abortion.

00:14:44.820 I guess what would you have to say to those who haven't bought into the pro-life cause,

00:14:50.340 pro-life movement or just simply outright disagree with it?

00:14:53.860 Well, I mean, even libertarians agree that there should be laws that don't harm other people.

00:14:57.780 I mean, I don't think a libertarian would agree that I could kill my one-year-old just because

00:15:01.860 I didn't want to nurse them anymore, or I could toss away my two-year-old in the dumpster because

00:15:07.300 my husband lost his job and I don't have any money anymore. So they do even understand that

00:15:11.460 there should be acts of non-violence with regards to the law. So that should just apply to children, 0.89

00:15:17.460 you know, six months, eight months earlier than my eight-month-old or nine-month-old or one-year-old,

00:15:24.260 somebody who's in the womb. And so I think that, you know, it's very easy for libertarians to be

00:15:29.300 pro-life. And if abortion was solely about a woman's body, you know, she'd be aborting herself. 1.00

00:15:34.020 There wouldn't be another child that was being terminated. So as a woman, when I was pregnant

00:15:40.740 with my son, I did not have 20 fingers, 20 toes. My biology was different than his. So there is a

00:15:47.300 separate unique human life in the womb. That's a biological fact. And it's up to us to ensure that all

00:15:53.060 human beings have human rights. And that's ultimately what we plan on doing. And, you know,

00:15:57.940 if you disagree with some abortion, like late-term abortion or sex-selective abortion, you know, if

00:16:02.660 that's not a woman's choice, then why is it a woman's choice a little bit earlier on? And so I

00:16:07.780 challenge them to have that, you know, logical debate and to look more into the pro-life movement

00:16:13.700 and what we're trying to do and how we help women and how we're trying to implement human rights and go

00:16:18.180 from there. Yeah. Well, Alyssa, thank you so much for joining me. I think this was a good

00:16:22.580 conversation, one that's needed and wish you the best of luck with you and right now and the work

00:16:28.980 that you do. Thank you so much for having me on and for talking about this issue. And we'll talk to

00:16:33.860 you soon. If you enjoyed this interview, please consider supporting us by visiting donate.tnc.newstoday

00:16:41.780 to make a donation. For TrueNorth, I'm Yigigate Norte.

Juno News - June 11, 2023

The state of Canada’s pro-life movement (feat. Alissa Golob)

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