Dear Justin Trudeau,
"First, people may disagree with Judeo-Christian ethics on abortion. But Christian thinking, historically and theologically, is unabashedly pro-life. Second, the “good reasons” land decisively on not supporting abortion as a Christian conviction."
Brian Norton has written this very detailed free booklet BEING HUMAN Abortion and the Church to explain the historical context (including copious references) of abortion from the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christian Churches.
Norton felt called to write and publish this booklet after a friend asked his opinion on a blog written by a theologically liberal pastor. This was the pastor's conclusion about abortion:
"This is not to say there are not exceptions about the ethics of abortion by various theologically liberal or progressive individuals. In fact, there are a number of mainline Protestant denominations which are permissive about abortion, including the United Church of Canada, the United Church of Christ, and the Episcopal Church (USA)."
The audience for the booklet:
"A booklet designed for Jesus followers who are “pro-choice” or “undecided” on abortion, or uncertain about the Christian legacy and beliefs on abortion"
A quote from Peter Kreeft on abortion:
"Our contemporary West has moved decidedly away from baseline moral absolutes (inherent with Judeo-Christian belief) to postmodern moral relativism. Christian ethicist Peter Kreeft observes that this worldview says that “only some humans are persons, for those who are given rights by others (that is, by those in power).” Consequentially, Kreeft laments, “‘Hard pro-choice’ denies the sanctity or inviolability of all humans; ‘soft pro-choice’ denies the humanity of the fetus.”"
From a pregnancy care centre on how they accompany women on their journey through an unexpected pregnancy -- the Christian virtue of love on full display from these centres:
“If a client of our centre obtains an abortion, we love her. If she carries to term, we love her. If she releases a child in an adoption, we love her. If she grieves after the abortion, with zero judgment we will mourn with her. If she is in need during parenting, we will care for her. If she struggles after the adoption, we will support her.”
On POST-ABORTION STRESS:
"From a 2023 study, women who experience pressure from partners, family members, employers, or healthcare providers, “reported more negative emotions; more disruption of daily life, work, or relationships.”76 (David Reardon and Tessa Longbons, “Effects of Pressure to Abort on Women’s Emotional Responses and Mental Health,” abstract, Cureus 15(1), (January 31, 2023): e34456, doi:10.7759/cureus.34456.
Women who experience negative emotions convey the following reactions: sadness, guilt or shame, emotional numbing, depression, nightmares, thoughts of self-harm, and alcohol or drug abuse.77" (Priscilla Coleman, “Abortion and mental health: Quantitative synthesis and analysis of research published 1995-2009,” British Journal of Psychiatry 199(3), (September 2011): 180-86; and D.M. Fergusson, J.L. Horwood, and Joseph Broden, “Abortion and mental health disorders,” British Journal of Psychiatry 193(6), (December 2008): 444-451; and Natalie Mota, Margaret Burnett, and Jitender Sareen, “Associations between abortion, mental disorders, and suicidal behaviour in a nationally representative sample,” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 55(4) (April 2010): 239-247.)
Finally, Christian organizations that do adhere to Christian beliefs about abortion:
"If you wish to know about Christian international ministries which embrace a consistent life ethic, here are some examples: Caritas Internationalis, Catholic Climate Covenant, Evangelical Environment Network, Heartbeat International, International Orthodox Christian Charities, MaterCare International, Missionaries of Charity, Samaritan’s Purse International, The Salvation Army International, World Evangelical Alliance, and World Vision International"
When someone gets an abortion, because they say they can't afford to have a child, then proceeds to make money from that abortion, I have a problem with this. This is what Rachel Cairns did.
Cairns tells her story via her podcast and website about her abortion in particular, and all things "reproductive rights" in general. She also has a one man stage show talking about said abortion.
Cairns also interviews Joyce Arthur on her podcast, repeating Arthur's pro-abortion talking points as if they are somehow credible, especially when it comes to Arthur's vitriol and hatred for pregnancy care centres. In other words, Cairns buys into the dissemination of misinformation and fabrications about these centres.
Finally, Cairns has this to say when someone asked her if she was going to have somebody on the podcast from the other side, as in, a pro-life person:
”Should we even bother arguing with them? Should we even give them airtime? Or feed the narrative that abortion is up for debate?"
The irony here is clear. Cairns quotes Stephanie Gray Connor extensively on her podcast. But she clearly has no intention of debating someone like Gray Connor. “Not up for debate” to Cairns really means "I don't want to look like a fool if I debate her, because I would lose". It's difficult trying to defend the killing of a child in the womb, especially in a debate. So no. The pro-abortions do not want a debate on abortion.
So how much money has Cairns made from the abortion she had because she couldn't afford to have a child? So far she has pulled in $106,000 from the federal and provincial arts councils. This does not include dollars from the Toronto arts council (which hasn't been reported yet, but we know she got a grant because her website says so).
Ontario Arts council:
2022 Cairns, Rachel, Toronto, $14,500
2020 Cairns, Rachel, Toronto, $9,000
Canada Council for the Arts: $82,500
Total of $106,000
Choice quotes from Rachel Cairns:
"I also didn’t decide to get pregnant, so in that sense, this was fairly straightforward: just-a-ball-of-cells kind of abortion. A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question: to be or not to be a parent."
"There was a parasite inside my body"