$ ~ Sunday, July 30, 1989 - North Shore News

Legal board games hide
true issue in abortion

THE DAIGLE ABORTION MELODRAMA is making it
harder than ever for a thoughtful, caring majority of the
audience to know even where to BEGIN thinking.

Hard core Pro Life and Pro has said the federal law which
Choice fanatics naturally have no
such problem. But both are small
minorities and total victory for ei-
ther — abortions banned com-
pletely, or abortions on demand
with no questions asked — could
only mean democracy had badly
screwed up. So what are we look-
ing at in the broad middle ground
where democracy operates?

The Supreme Court of Canada

is unconstitutional. That means

new federal law is passed.
Meanwhile, Quebec's highiest
court now says Chantal Daigle

the right of her unborn fetus to

NEWS photo Cindy

(see column item).

Debt lesson

TUDENTS OFTEN need financial aid from the
government, but the B.C. government’s loan
remission program is not the way to go.

The point of education is to broaden the mind and
enhance earning potential. Once these objectives are
met and the degree or diploma completed, the former
student should pay his or her dues to society like the
rest of us.

‘The loans remission program forgives any amount
of a student’s ioan over $12,000, providing tite student
has completed studies within the normal program
length plus one year.

For instance, if a degree is finished in five years with
a $5,000 loan per year for a grand debt of $25,000, the
B.C. government will be happy to forgive $13,000 of
it.

That leaves the rest of us carrying the can. Students
with lesser debts will be repaying not only their loan,
but those of forgiven borrowers.

And those who thought they could never afford col-
lege or university will also be paying via taxes.

Where’s the equity in that?

This is not to say the government shouldn't help
students get through college or university.

But for equal access to education the government
should increase the number of scholarships and grants
in the first place, rather than indiscriminately lend
large sums to be forgiven at a later date.

earlier placed certain restrictions
on a woman’s right to an abortion

there are presently no longer any
such restrictions until or unless a

cannot have an abortion because

survive is greater than HER right

PRACTICE SCRUM...Capilano Rugby Club‘s carwash brigade gets
down to it today in preparation for the team’s August tour of Alberta

to control her body. Whatever you
may think of that argument, it’s
clearly in direct conflict with the
Supreme Court ruling which, pen-
ding any new !aw, leaves the deci-
sion to the woman.

Mlle. Daigte, a citizen of
Canada and a citizen of Quebec,
can of course go ahead with the
abortion outside Quebec. After-
wards, provided the Supreme
Court doesn’t reverse its own 1988
ruling by upholding the Quebec
judgement, she could presumably
live in freedom in any province ex-
cept her own. But if she ever set
foot in Quebec again, she would
face jail for contempt of court.
Under Confederation as inter-
preted by Meech Lake you can ap-
parently be a judicial refugee in
your own country!

Behind all these fascinating
board games for judges and law-
yers, however, lie questions of
deeper concern to the average de-
cent, non-fanatical Canadian. If a
fetus has rights, when do they
start? When, if ever, do they over-
ride the rights of the woman?
What about the QUALITY of life
for mother and child if the father,
as all too often, vanishes?

Is abortion a proper subject of
public policy at all — or essentially
a private maiter of personal
morality?

Despite Brian Mulroney’s brave
words about “‘legislation in the
fall?’ don’t hold your breath. A
national poll this month showed |
only 35 per cent of Canadians in
favor of a new abortion law, with
54 per cent saying none is needed
— leave it up to the woman and
her doctor. >

Parliament is equally divided.
Last year’s bid to win majority
support for ANY legislative option
ended in fiasco. Many MPs
recognize that laws in a democracy
need at least a reasonably solid

public consensus. Without it, they
may be widely and openly flouted
— thereby breeding contempt for
ALL laws.

Doctors and nurses who serve in

the front-line trenches of the abor-

tion war are unanimous on the one
point — no woman ever chooses
abortion happily. Some of their
real-life stories might teli MPs
much more about the TRUE abor-
tion issue than screams for
legislated morality.

* s*
TALLPIECES: Wouldn’t you like
a nice start to next week? If so, the
place to drive this Sunday is
Edgemont Village Chevron be-
tween 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., where
the carwash boys of Capilsro
Rugby Club are waiting to make
your car look like new. Donations,
smail or large, gratefully accepted
to help fund their Aug. 5-13 tour
of Calgary and Edmonton to put
those Albertans in their place ...
Only two weeks left to apply for
the brand new Cap College schol-
arship established by the North
Van Women’s Liberal Commission
— to be awarded to a worthy (not
necessarily top-marks) student in
financial need who wishes to take
one course in Women’s Studies
during the coming academic year.
Application forms from the Fi-
nancial Aid Office ae the College
must be submitted by Aug. 15 with
a short essay on “‘How Equality
Can Be Achieved in Our Socicty.’’
Call Gerda Dodson, 985-3745, or
Valerie Rosenthal, 985-6445 for
further info ... And 1988 was a
bumper year for UNICEF bran-

ches across Canada, whose fund-
raising efforts topped 1987 by over
11 per cent — that was the glad
news B.C. UNICEF chairman
Clandie Desmarais of West Van
brought back from the recent an-

nual meeting in Toronto. -
ett

WRIGHT OR WRONG: Educa-
tion comes from reading the fine
print. Experience comes from fail-
ing to.

WEST VAN’'S Claudie Desmarais
with UNICEF executive director
James Grant in Toronto.

. aan .
Photo submitted

THE SEASPAN Forester recently completed its 1,000th assignment. Owned by North Vancouver-based
Seaspan International Ltd., the 453-foot, self-loading, self-dumping vessel is the largest log barge in the
world, and has, since 1970, delivered 1,000 log cargoes along the B.C. coast. Seaspan is Canada’s largest tug

and barge company.

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