The encounter with Mr. Turner was an unusual one. While many voters contacted our campaign office just to vent, Mr. Turner’s email went beyond simple belligerence. He wanted to vent, but he also wanted to dialogue. He had questions and he was willing to listen to our answers. What an opportunity!

Dear Mr. Turner,

On the one hand you say you are open-minded, and on the other hand you end your letter with a threat, so I really don’t know what to think. Still, since you asked some questions, I will answer. I pray you are indeed open-minded enough to read them.
While people often bring up many side issues, the main issue in the abortion debate is this ¬– is the unborn a human being? If it is, then it should be protected as all others human beings are. So with that thought in mind let’s look at your questions.

1. “How many people has YOUR religion killed in the past?”

The short answer to this is, who cares? I could tell you that atheism (Hitler, Stalin and Mao) has killed more people in this past century than all religious wars ever fought, but that has nothing to do with whether abortion is the killing of a human being or not.

2. “How many trees have you destroyed printing this hate mail?”

I think you will agree people are more important than trees. So if the unborn are precious human beings then cutting down a few trees and printing a brochure in order to save the unborn is clearly the right thing to do.

3. “How many of YOUR dollars go to support unwanted children that are born every year by mothers that have no interest in having them?”

I could be the biggest miser and jerk in the world, and that still wouldn’t affect whether the unborn are human or not. Look at it this way: if a mother told you she wanted to kill her two year old because she didn’t want him, are you only allowed to stop her if you are willing to adopt the two-year-old? Of course not. Killing the two year old is wrong regardless of how charitable or uncharitable you are. And the same is true for the unborn - if they are human beings, like two-year-old children, then the unborn should be protected whether they are wanted or not.

4. “A fetus in scientific terms are nothing more than parasites living off of a host.”

This is hardly a scientific description of a fetus. If you want to call the fetus a parasite because it lives off of its mother, why not say the same thing about a one-year-old who breastfeeds? It too is living off of its “host.” This is not a parasite/host relationship, but rather a mother/child relationship.

5. “If I am not mistaken in Canada people have the Freedom of Choice, the choice to practice/follow a religion being one of them, In your religion it (abortion) may be frowned on but in others it may not.”

People have many freedoms in Canada, and many choices. But there are also many choices they are not permitted: to drive drunk, to carry knives on planes, to smoke in most restaurants. And they are also not permitted to kill other Canadians. So again the question comes down to this: are the unborn human beings? If they are, then they deserve the same protection all Canadians get, no matter what their religion.

6. “If this is all your party thinks about...that is a truly lame and pathetic basis for your party’s campaign.”

This is not “all our party thinks about.” We also have positions on healthcare, gay marriage, gun control, election financing, the environment and more (see www.CHP.ca for more details).
However, if the unborn are human beings ¬– and I think our brochure shows clearly that they are¬ – then the fact that 100,000 of them are being killed is a huge issue. That is a population bigger than St. Albert being killed each year! No wonder we give it our highest priority.

In His service,
Ed Spronk

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2004 issue.