Booklet on missing provincial data briefs politicians 'in the hopes they'll do something'
By Nathan Rumohr
KELOWNA
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For more than 20 years Ted Gerk has been exposing B.C.'s abortion lies while the provincial government and other powers censor him along the way.
"It's a fundamental principle, to debate all issues in society," said the 52-year-old Kelowna resident. "But to do this you have to have all the information."
For more than 20 years Ted Gerk has been exposing B.C.'s abortion lies while the provincial government and other powers censor him along the way.
"It's a fundamental principle, to debate all issues in society," said the 52-year-old Kelowna resident. "But to do this you have to have all the information."
He has released a research booklet called B.C.'s Missing Abortion Data which details the province's abortion censorship and makes recommendations about what the government should do regarding this. The book was distributed to every politician in the province, media outlets, and members of the public.
"This booklet is something that briefs the government with information on abortion stats in the hopes they will do something about it," Gerk said. "As much as politicians are tired of the abortion debate they can't shut it down."
He believes proper abortion information would allow society to see the errors of its way. But with the government cracking down on his freedom of information requests, Gerk has instead brought his statistics and complaints back to the government.
Gerk said information on abortion in B.C. has been progressively covered up by dubious means. He started broadcasting abortion stats in the 1990s, releasing his information mostly through the Internet. He had success and in 1999 started Life Internet, a group of websites that released abortion statistics.
"We got a million hits a year, and I identified there was a real need for this type of thing."
Gerk also exposed abortion corruption. He discovered information about the early '90s meetings that took place between a coalition known as the Abortion Services Working Groups and the NDP government of the time.
The Working Groups, cobbled together from disparate abortion supporters, brought a wish list to the government detailing many things they wanted the NDP to do that would help stifle the abortion debate.
Gerk said he was unable to find out who was a part of this group despite several freedom of information requests. However, pro-life activist Gordon Watson found out that former B.C. attorney general Colin Gabelmann may have attended meetings.
During the '90s the NDP passed two laws to silence pro-life voices. In 1995 there was the Access to Abortion Services Act, commonly known as the "bubble-zone law," which restricted protest against abortion outside abortion clinics.
Then in 2001, as one of their last acts in government, the NDP passed Bill 21, an amendment to the B.C. Freedom of Information Act, which disallowed public release of information on abortion.
Some believe Bill 21 gained steam from Gerk's work exposing abortion statistics. While investigating the death of a woman from abortion complications he discovered 15 babies had survived abortions between 1995 and 1998 at Vancouver General Hospital.
"What is wrong with me knowing this information, except that it's a public relations issue for them?" Gerk asked. "If abortion is just a medical procedure then what's the problem? On any other medical issue citizens have a right to information collected by their government."
Gerk isn't alone in wondering why abortion information is hidden by state mandate. In 2001, a day after the NDP tabled Bill 21, David Loukidelis, then B.C.'s information and privacy commissioner, wrote a letter to deputy premier Joy MacPhail stating the bill wasn't needed.
"In no case has information been ordered disclosed that would identify or otherwise jeopardize abortion service providers, patients, or other persons who are in any way associated with abortion services," Loukidelis wrote. This opinion was shared by 2010 commissioner Paul Fraser, and Elizabeth Denham, commissioner in 2011.
Loukidelis also stated in his 2001 letter that the government had worked with his office on several bills, but not Bill 21.
Gerk started his pro-life activism at the age of 23. He became director of Kelowna Right to Life at 28, a position he held until 1999.
More information can be found about abortion censorship at stopabortioncensorship.wordpress.com.
nrumohr@rcav.org
