CLC Blog

SASKATCHEWAN, July 27, 2021 (Campaign Life Coalition) – Abortion activists who claim to be “pro-choice” have ironically claimed “victory” over a Canadian university’s decision to restrict the choice of medical students by prohibiting them from doing a practicum placement at a pro-life pregnancy care facility.  

The University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine decided last week that Saskatoon Pregnancy Options Centre “will not be included as a placement site option going forward,” a July 20 letter signed by top brass at the College stated. The decision came after pro-abortion student activists campaigned to have the College reverse its original decision allowing students to be placed at the pregnancy centre. 

The pro-abortion group Action Canada crowed about the news on Twitter earlier this week. 

“A victory! @USaskMedDean has decided to end student placements at an anti-choice crisis pregnancy centre. Congratulations to the students at the forefront of this fight,” the organization tweeted.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada also chimed in, thanking those who campaigned the university to limit the choice of placement options to students. 

“Thanks to the Gender Engagement in Medicine group for your work, and to the former students who spoke up about their negative experiences interning at the CPC,” the abortion group stated on Twitter. 

The irony of “pro-choice” groups celebrating the restriction of students’ choices, however, was not missed by the Canadian Physicians for Life. 

“It is sadly the height of irony that those professing to be ‘pro-choice’ are gloating about reducing the choices for others,” the pro-life physicians’ group stated on Twitter. 

“This restricting of optional student experiences is detrimental to the profession & to the patients served by it. Medical students should be able to have a diversity of placement options,” the physicians’ group added. 

It is sadly the height of irony that those professing to be "pro-choice" are gloating about reducing the choices for others. https://t.co/IFWYZ2vnnA

— CdnPhysiciansforLife (@CdnLifeDocs) July 27, 2021

While the Saskatoon Pregnancy Options Centre (SPOC) states on its website that it does not use the term “pro-life” to describe its work, it makes it clear that it will “not help arrange for abortions.”

“We are pro-woman, pro-family and pro-information. We believe good choices depend on access to accurate information and compassionate support. Informed consent is a right and we offer information in an objective and pressure-free environment,” the Pregnancy Centre states on its website. 

“We understand that the decision to have or not have an abortion is complicated, stressful and life-changing. We respect the autonomy of our clients and we value and care for them regardless of their decision. We believe that every pregnant woman should have the support and resources to safely carry her pregnancy to term. While we do not help arrange for abortions, we do not obstruct our clients’ decision to have one,” the Centre adds. 

The Centre also states that “all those who work and volunteer at SPOC profess a belief in Jesus Christ.”

Corporate media reported on the matter in a biased way that largely sided with the College’s decision. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Image:  Screengrab from Saskatoon Pregnancy Options Center's website)

Global News used its piece to peddle misleading information on crisis pregnancy centres (CPCs), highlighting an inaccurate 2016 study by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada that claimed that, in the words of the Global News report that “CPCs in Canada provide false medical information about a debunked theory known as post-abortion stress.” Personal testimonials, however, from hundreds of post-abortion women featured on the Silent No More Awareness Campaign Canada website reveal that aborting a child is impossible to completely repress, resulting in spiritual and emotional pain that, if left to fester, can lead to depression, guilt, anger, and a pattern of destructive behaviors. 

CBC used its piece to peddle misinformation from a medical student who said that the Pregnancy Options Centre, in the words of the CBC report, “intentionally spread misinformation about abortions to fear and intimidate women.” 

“For example, the centre offers post-abortion counselling to help deal with what it calls ‘post-abortion stress syndrome’ — a term that has been discredited by major psychiatric associations, and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,” the CBC report stated. The CBC report, however, blatantly ignores the lived experiences and testimonies of countless women who have aborted their children and have lived to bitterly regret it. 

Campaign Life Coalition joins the Canadian Physicians for Life in decrying the College’s decision to ban students from choosing to do a practicum placement at a life-affirming pregnancy centre. The College should be ashamed of itself that in this country’s free and democratic society, it caved in to pressure from pro-abortion special interest groups. Women who are training to be life-affirming medical professionals have now had their choice of placement stripped away from them. This decision is entirely unjust.  

To prevent this kind of travesty from happening in the future, Campaign Life Coalition would like to see pro-life doctors, nurses, and medical professionals run for leadership positions in the medical colleges they belong to and in the other regulatory bodies that govern these sorts of sweeping decisions. Once they are in these positions, they will be able to exert their influence. 

For too long, pro-lifers have left the governance of influential institutions in the hands of those who have little respect for life, for God, and for God’s laws. As people who choose life, we have to start adopting an attitude of being the salt and light that Jesus calls us to be, even if it means the personal sacrifice of running for leadership positions in these institutions.

Action item:

Contact the dean of the U of Saskatchewan College of Medicine to express your respectful disapproval of the decision to ban students from doing a placement at a pregnancy care centre. 

Dean, Dr. Preston Smith
Ph: 306-966-6149
Email: Executive Assistant Alyson Rees: [email protected]
Twitter: @USaskMedDean

Image credit of main image: Shutterstock.com