Pro-life victories multiplying as more youth join movement

Young people seem to love life

A political cartoon by Jim Hubar poking fun at the decline
in pro-choice support.

The numbers don't lie and the number of people who want to talk about abortion is growing by the second. The March for Life in Ottawa drew almost 20,000 people, 5000 more than 2011, and campus pro-life clubs are expanding at record rates.

John Van Maren from The Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reform recently wrote two blogs talking about pro-life's youth infusion:

Change public opinion, and you’ll change public policy.
This has been the mantra of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and its affiliates for years. And with the youth activated like it never has been before, that is swiftly becoming a reality.

Van Maren's post The Sky is Falling on Abortion "Rights" looked at how the pro-life movement in the U.S., which like Canada is becoming dominated by youth:

I realize that it is dangerous to look across the border to our Southern neighbors when making comparisons, because Canadians pride themselves on being, first and foremost, not Americans. But when we see Canadian youth rising up to take on Canada’s perceived abortion consensus, a quick look to the United States tells us just how effective that will be.

While American commentators such as David Frum have urged Republicans to give up on the abortion fight and let it sink into irrelevance, nothing could be further from the truth. Each year seems to bring more pro-life legislation than the last, and pro-“choice” activists are beginning to notice, with one Planned Parenthood director noting worriedly that “the sky is falling on Roe v. Wade.” Last year brought 92 pieces of pro-life legislation across the US.

It was this phenomenon that compelled the head of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) Nancy Keenan to announce last week that she would be leaving her post as president of the organization. The reason? According to the Washington Post, she is “leaving out of concern for the future of the pro-choice movement—and thinks she could be holding it back.”

People carry a large banner during the National March for Life
in Ottawa, Ontario, May 10. An estimated record crowd of nearly 20,000
turned out for the annual event despite cool, cloudy weather.
Art Babych / CNS.

Van Maren also mentioned Canada's desire for an abortion debate in his post Sorry, We Started Debating Without You:

Abortion activists such as Joyce Arthur trumpeted that Conservative MP Gordon Connor’s statement “society has moved on” had dealt a stunning blow to the pro-life movement. Almost everybody who writes for the National Post, conversely, came out in shockingly emphatic columns calling for a re-examination of the gruesome status quo.

The thing is, while abortion movement and the politicians have been calling out in their echo chamber, desperately trying to suggest that we all go home and please be quiet, pro-lifers have been mobilizing. An article in the Toronto Star yesterday highlights the activism groups CCBR has been starting across the country, as well as the ever-increasing influence of the National Campus Life Network and the burgeoning Campaign Life Coalition Youth.

Shockingly, it turns out that increasing amounts of young people aren’t buying the philosophically inept and scientifically bankrupt worldview of an outdated pro-“choice” movement. Even desperate attempts to gain support by donning genitalia costumes, stripping naked in front of displays, and wearing funny hats, hasn’t really resonated beyond giving hard-working pro-life activists comic relief. An angry Facebook group called “Death to the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform” ended up rapidly filling with debates about abortion.

I can tell you from my experience at the B.C. March for Life in Victoria that youth were everywhere and extremely vocal about defending life. The youth were also very knowledgeable about the horrors of abortion, which shouldn't surprise anyone because the truth isn't that hard to understand.