I just walked by a pro-choice demonstration at the University of Toronto and they provided some important facts I wanted to remind you of:

1. Only 15.9% of all general hospitals in Canada offer accessible abortion services.

2. Angus McLaren and Arlene Tigar McLaren estimate that between 4000 and 6000 Canadian women died from illegal abortions from 1926 to 1947 (McLaren 1986) and different sources have estimated that prior to 1969 there had been at least 120,000 illegal abortions performed every year (Childbirth by Choice Trust, 1998).

3. In Canadian medical schools, more class time is dedicated to the study of Viagra than to abortion procedures, pregnancy options counselling, and abortion law and policy combined.

4. Less than 2% of women choose adoption when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.

5. Every year, over 80,000 women die from complications during or after unsafe abortions. (The highest fatality rates are in Africa and Asia.)

6. In the US, death rates due to abortion fell by 85% in the five years following legalization. (Tietze, 1981)

These stats come from Canadians for Choice, Prochoice, and a CBC News backgrounder.