Abortion laws part of population decline, Letters, Oct. 13

I read with interest the letter by Dan Di Rocco from Markham, which postulates that Canada is underpopulated due to the availability of abortion. He states: “The lack of any law restricting abortion has helped depopulate Canada, relatively speaking, accounting for the lack of young people and a dangerously aging population.”

Since when has Canada’s population declined? He goes on to propose a solution to our purported problem: “One of the best ways is to increase immigration but another excellent way to guarantee a future is to permit children in the womb to see the light of day.”

While Canada, as a land mass, is underpopulated when compared to other land masses on this planet, the author totally fails to take into account that the planet is overpopulated. That is why people are starving. That is why children are born and soon perish of malnutrition or worse.

I find it incredibly callous for anyone to suggest that Canada should begin a policy of contributing heavily to the destruction of human life on this planet by increasing birth rates while decreasing the availability of financial assistance to impoverished nations to control their burgeoning and unsustainable population growth.

J. Brunins, Britt, Ont.

As a woman, I take great offence to Mr. Di Rocco’s assertion that abortion laws are the culprit of a declining population in Canada.

Women are not walking wombs whose sole purpose is to repopulate Canada. We are people, just like men, who have desires, goals and wants beyond having children. Women overwhelmingly use other methods to prevent pregnancy, such as birth control pills, IUD’s and condoms. Abortions are not something women take lightly, and are not used for birth control.

People in general are getting married later, having children later and therefore having fewer children. We should not put the blame on women and abortion laws, when society is changing and people are focusing on education and securing a career before marriage and children.

We should also be encouraging other countries to put women’s reproductive health and family planning at the forefront.

Lauren Saville, Toronto

Dan Di Rocco’s argument against access to abortion has a certain logic, but it appears to be based on the faulty and offensive hidden assumption that women have a duty to make babies for the good of society.

They have no such duty.

Laws against abortion generally oppress women.

If a stable or declining population is considered to be undesirable (and it is not clear that this is the case), then strategies to address the situation should not depend on the oppression of women.

Gregory Hill, Aurora