In Canada, abortion, at any time during a pregnancy was made a felony in 1841. The legal prohibition of abortion was included in the Canadian Criminal Code when it was passed in 1892. There were several slight rewordings of the code provisions prohibiting abortion in 1906, 1927 and again in 1954. However, from 1969 to 1982, dramatic changes took place. A great betrayal of the Christian principles upon which Canada was founded took place. The Liberals, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, passed an Omnibus Bill in 1969 legalizing abortion under certain conditions. Again under Trudeau, another negative milestone was reached when the Liberal government passed the Charter of Rights in 1982. This constitutional change led to the Supreme Court of Canada removing all protection from the unborn and allowed abortion on demand, up to, during, and after the birth of the child. This study is about those who knew what was happening and who fought to stop it.
About the Author: Gwendolyn Landolt graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada and was called to the British Columbia Bar. She has had an extensive legal career in private practice, as a Crown prosecutor and as a lawyer with the federal government where she specialized in immigration and aboriginal affairs. Mrs. Landolt has written extensively on Canadian constitutional issues, in particular the Canadian Charter of Rights and has participated in more than thirty cases, mostly before the Supreme Court of Canada. Mrs. Landolt is the founder and first president of Right to Life in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. She is one of the founders of Campaign Life Canada where she served as legal counsel. She also served as legal counsel for Toronto Right to Life. She was founder of Canadian Advocates for Human life (Pro-Life lawyer association); and was a member of the executive of the National Alliance for Life for five years and was National President from 1975 to 1978. Mrs. Landolt is one of the founders and is currently National Vice President of REAL Women of Canada, a national women's organization founded in 1983. The organization is committed to the protection of the traditional family and human life, both in Canada and internationally. REAL Women is an NGO in SPECIAL consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations where she has participated on many conferences around the world. Patrick Redmond received a BA in African History from Loyola College, Montreal, then an MA in Swahili from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and a PhD in African History from the University of London, England. Afterwards he taught history and archaeology at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, WI, for a year, then at the Abdullahi Bayero Campus of the University of Zaria in Kano, Nigeria for three years. In 1976, he returned to Canada and joined IBM, where he worked for 31 years. He became involved in the pro-life movement, particularly with York South Right to Life, of which he was president for many years. He joined Campaign Life and other pro-life and family groups. He ran for the Family Coalition Party in two elections and one by-election, promoting pro-life and family causes. He has published numerous articles, as well as the following books: Irish Life in Rural Quebec - A History of Frampton, 1977 The Politics of Power in Songea Ngoni Society 1860-1962, 1985 From Adam and Eve to the Present - A Human Journey, 2012