By Mike Archer. The University of the Fraser Valley is being included as a “partner” in what appears to be an on campus anti-abortion campaign by a Christian organization calling itself “Your Pregnancy Options.”
Cover Photo: Screengrab from YPO website
The campaign was launched this week with a press release (see below) directed at students “… who are facing big questions about pregnancy and sexual health … who are overwhelmed by unexpected pregnancies or sexual health concerns.”
The advertising, which was approved by UFV, is intended for display in women’s washrooms at UFV.
Like it does on its website, the organization repeats the claim that it provides “truthful” and “accurate” information. Your Pregnancy Options website says that it is operated by The Fraser Valley Crisis Pregnancy Society, a Christian organization which states, “We do not offer, recommend or refer for abortions or abortifacients, but we are committed to offering accurate information about abortion procedures and risks.”
Today Media has asked Your Pregnancy Options, as well as UFV President and Vice-Chancellor Marc Evered, about the legality of a post-secondary educational institution embarking on such a partnership. So far, the issue seems to be being managed through public relations.
A spokesperson representing Your Pregnancy Options told Today that the organization does not refuse to discuss abortion. If the young woman chooses to have an abortion after her counselling, she is told that those at YPO will pray for her.
Abortion is an incredibly divisive topic in Canada but has been legal for years. As for a post secondary educational institution taking sides in such a debate, we’re not so sure. The public funding UFV receives would seem to carry with it a commitment to, at the very least, provide both sides of an issue especially when it comes to private, personal, medical discussions with its students about their intimate sex lives, their personal health, or their religious beliefs?
When the anit-abortion group’s beliefs which are being urged on the targeted young woman are described “truthful” and “accurate”, only represent one side of an issue on which Canadians have diametrically opposing views, is it not incumbent on a university to insist both points of view be represented rather than partner itself with one belief?
Can the University of the Fraser Valley retain its accreditation as a real post secondary institution if it “partners” with religious, anti-abortion groups? It may be reflecting local beliefs and political views, but, as an institution is it not supposed to rise above such narrow views?
What Do You Think?
Please tell us what you think … should a post secondary education like UFV be partnering with a religious anti-abortion crusade and helping to provide access to vulnerable members of the student body without also offering the other side of the abortion story? Can a university be allowed to take sides on such an incredibly divisive issue in society and continue to receive public funding?
Use the comments box below or send us an email at editor@abbotsfordtoday.ca.
—–
Campaign Launch First Email:
YPO’s Innovative Campaign Connects With UFV Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Abbotsford, BC) For students thinking about sexuality, Your Pregnancy Options in Abbotsford (YPO) has partnered with the University of the Fraser Valley to launch a fresh and relevant campaign to reach young people who are facing big questions about pregnancy and sexual health. Along with giving accurate information, YPO’s friendly staff genuinely care about clients and walk alongside them through difficult decisions. As their website affirms, “Some decisions you don’t have to make alone.”
YPO’s innovative campaign directs students to a mobile friendly webpage that uses questions to give truthful information to both men and women. If students have further questions based on their digital feedback, YPO welcomes visits, emails, or phone calls, all of which are kept completely confidential. In order to meet people where they’re at, YPO hopes their digital outreach at UFV will make them more accessible to those who are overwhelmed by unexpected pregnancies or sexual health concerns.
Rooted firmly in their regard for the sanctity of human life, YPO is committed to providing free pregnancy tests, peer counselling, community referrals, and supplies to support youth, women, and men. They are also currently developing their limited medical services project which will allow them to offer medical services such as pregnancy confirmation and STI testing.
YPO’s staff are “some of the nicest people you’ll meet in Abbotsford!” says Executive Director, Anita Manderson. Seeing clients come through the door and walk through a decision making process with YPO’s personable and professional staff is one of the most rewarding facets of her work. Manderson adds, “We see what each clients’ needs are and serve those needs on an individual basis. We are eager to meet and serve anyone in the community who needs us.”
Manderson and her remarkable staff are just one facet of what makes YPO a vital part of the Abbotsford community.
——-
Campaign Launch Revised Email:
YPO’s Innovative Campaign Connects With UFV Students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Abbotsford, BC) For students thinking about sexuality, Your Pregnancy Options in Abbotsford (YPO) has purchased an advertising campaign at the University of the Fraser Valley to offer a fresh and relevant message of support to young people who are facing big questions about pregnancy and sexual health. Along with giving accurate information, YPO’s friendly staff genuinely care about clients and walk alongside them through difficult decisions. As their website affirms, “Some decisions you don’t have to make alone.”
YPO’s innovative campaign directs students to a mobile friendly webpage that uses questions to give truthful information to both men and women. If students have further questions based on their digital feedback, YPO welcomes visits, emails, or phone calls, all of which are kept completely confidential. In order to meet people where they’re at, YPO hopes their digital outreach at UFV will make them more accessible to those who are overwhelmed by unexpected pregnancies or sexual health concerns.
Rooted firmly in their regard for the sanctity of human life, YPO is committed to providing free pregnancy tests, peer counselling, community referrals, and supplies to support youth, women, and men. They are also currently developing their limited medical services project which will allow them to offer medical services such as pregnancy confirmation and STI testing.
YPO’s staff are “some of the nicest people you’ll meet in Abbotsford!” says Executive Director, Anita Manderson. Seeing clients come through the door and walk through a decision making process with YPO’s personable and professional staff is one of the most rewarding facets of her work. Manderson adds, “We see what each clients’ needs are and serve those needs on an individual basis. We are eager to meet and serve anyone in the community who needs us.”
Manderson and her remarkable staff are just one facet of what makes YPO a vital part of the Abbotsford community.
If you or someone you know could benefit from YPO’s services, they can be reached at 301 – 32920 Ventura Ave., Abbotsford, BC V2S 6J3, by phone (604) 853-9161 or info@yourpregnancyoptions.ca.
Find us on Facebook! (https://www.facebook.com/yourpregnancyoptions)
Meg Coughlan Hernandez Says:
Barf.
This doesn’t belong in a publicly funded institution. Offer all options or go to TWU.
From Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Today-Media/447088788677534?ref=hl
A free exchange of ideas. Check.
Dialogue. Check.
Free speech. Priceless.
University students deserve to hear all sides.
The university is not spending any tax dollars.
In fact this group is paying the university to present their ideas.
Benefits for you and you and you.
Remember, the University is funded by all taxpayers – even those who hold a pro-life position.
You don’t hear the pro-lifers whining about the University supporting a pro-death, pro-abortion position.
Why stir a cold pot?
Thanks Karli, I think that, rather than stirring a cold pot (I didn’t pay for the ads, I’m just reporting on them and asked what people think) the issue bears discussing because, I can’t imagine that UFV would permit an ad campaign from a pro-abortion organization wanting to get in the women’s washrooms in order to council young women to get an abortion. I think the outcry in the community would be deafening.
What do you think?
Mike
I think the word is counsel.
Hey I think they need an editor at Pitt Meadows Today. Can you start Tuesday?
You will rarely hear pro-life anti-death groups protesting the freedom of speech accorded to the pro-abortion groups.
No outcry here.
They believe in free and open dialogue/speech.
It’s the other side who is unwilling to show pictures of what happens during and after an abortion.
Help! Help! I’m being oppressed!
I’m going to quote today’s xkcd comic because it seems appropriate, just think Constitution Act or something instead of 1st Amendment.
“Public Service Announcement: The right to free speech means the government can’t arrest you for what you say.
It doesn’t mean that anyone else has to listen to your bullshit, or host you while you share it.
The 1st Amendment doesn’t shield you from criticism or consequences.
If you’re yelled at, boycotted, have your show cancelled, or get banned from an internet community, your free speech rights aren’t being violated.
It’s just that the people listening think you’re an asshole.
And they’re showing you the door.
I can’t remember where I heard this, but someone once said that defending a position by citing free speech is sort of the ultimate concession; you’re saying that the most compelling thing you can say for your position is that it’s not literally illegal to express.”
That’s from xkcd.com if you’re interested. They have t-shirts and excellent posters.
This is just wrong! The Canadian Supreme Court ruled that we were a secular country and that there must be a separation of church and state ( which includes public education). It’s bad enough that UFV is looked upon as a joke of an university by many without religious zealots coming on campus and spreading their invisible sky daddy’s message
Sorry Kevin. Wrong again.
The Constitution Act of 1982 states”
PART I
CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law:
No separation of church and state – back to class.
Part 2 says:
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association.
QED
Karli – someone with your understanding of the law and the Charter should be a little less condescending.
Excerpt from Jeremy Patrick’s paper CHURCH, STATE, AND CHARTER:CANADA’S HIDDEN ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE
The theory that the Charter contains a “hidden” establishment clause is
premised on two arguments.
First, that a close examination of church and state cases decided under the Charter’s religious freedom guarantee appear strikingly similar in result and reasoning to those decided under the American Constitution’s Establishment Clause.
Second, that an analysis of the cases and legal commentary show that neutrality is increasingly viewed as the only legitimate and appropriate relationship between government and religion. If these two arguments are valid, the separation of church and state is the reality of and a requirement for Canadian democracy.
Government neutrality in religious affairs is a recurring concern. For example, three judges of the Supreme Court of Canada recently wrote that:
[I]t is no longer the state’s place to give active support to anyone particular religion . . . The state must respect a variety of faiths whose values are not always easily reconciled. . . . As a general rule, the state refrains from acting in matters relating to religion. It is limited to setting up a social and legal frame work in which beliefs are respected and members of the various denominations are able to associate freely in order to exercise their freedom of worship . . . In this context, the principle of neutrality must be taken into account in assessing the duty of public entities, such as municipalities, to actively help religious groups.
Jeremy Patrick
University of Southern Queensland School of Law
Tulsa Journal of Comparative & International Law, Vol.14 No.1, 2006
If you’d like to go ” back to class “ I would suggest reading the Jeremy’s paper at the link below.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1121938
Ahh Kali, the problem with condescendence is that it comes back to bite you.
It’s quite true that the 1982 constitution mentions no separation of church and state and that unlike the US, canada doesn’t have a secular constitution…
But I didn’t mention the 1982 constitution did I?
I was referring to the pronouncement of the Canadian Supreme Court vis a vis the “Lord’s day act” and it’s implications on what religion meant in every day life.
The Court stated that “a truly free society is one which can accommodate a wide variety of beliefs.” In other words, freedom of religion is the accommodation of religious beliefs and not state support of particular religious practices through legislation or other means. Public education being one of them.
It might not be stated in the 1982 document but it is part of the Canadian conscience as stated by the highest court in the land.
The court did state that favouritism of one particular god (Christian in this case) violates constitutional rights of Canadians since not all believe in this deity. Hence this is why Canada is a secular country and not a theocracy.
Class dismissed.
Sobe Daya Says: First I’d like to see a program for guys, maybe teach them how to put a condom on correctly. It does take two and the guy has the option to walk away. Second, while I can’t imagine what a woman facing an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy has to go through, I believe that this is a one sided program and it saddens me that UFV would support that. UFV is no place for this.
From Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Today-Media/447088788677534?ref=hl
Sobe Daya Says:
What are you proposing if the woman chooses an abortion Karli? Pray for her? This is not a cold pot, this is a pot you have no business being in!
From Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Today-Media/447088788677534?ref=hl
Why the snark Sobe?
Why are you presumptious, about my perspectives, beliefs and actions?
Sobe Daya Says:
Sobe Daya Karli, I don’t know who you are, what your beliefs are, what your family life is like etc. And here lies the problem when one puts that type of advertising in women’s bathrooms. You catch a woman at her most vulnerable, when she’s in trouble and does not know where to go. There are women from a lot of different cultures who go to UFV. Any woman can get pregnant, and for some, the consequences if they do, are dire. Showing them exactly how an abortion is preformed is cruel, this has to be the hardest decision for a woman to have to make anyway, women fought hard for this free choice, you or anyone who tries to talk a woman out of an abortion, does not have to live with the consequences. You just feel good because you have ‘saved a life’. However, you don’t have a clue how that life is going to turn out. Will they be shunned, will they live in poverty with no chance of a better life, will they feel unwanted … the decision of whether to have a baby or have an abortion is and has to remain a very private one. Sure, there should be information on both options and information on adoption as well, but ultimately the choice HAS to lie with the woman in question and we as a society should merely support her in whatever she decides without judgement or horrible images. While I’ve never had to make this difficult decision, I believe that any woman who does will live with whatever decision she makes for the rest of her life! So no, I don’t know you, from the feedback you’ve given here I have a feeling I don’t care to know you. But when I sit on the toilet at UFV and have to see that propaganda, you can bet I’ll be ticked off. It has no business being there.
From Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Today-Media/447088788677534?ref=hl
Considering this is simply a business transaction between two organisations, calling it a “partnership”, which implies an ongoing working relationship between the two groups, seems pretty misleading to me.
From what I’ve seen of the ads in the washrooms they are actually pretty varied and subjects range from ads from summer work, to HPV vaccinations to birth control and now a counselling service for those who might need it (although to be honest, if it’s the ad I think it is, it’s really not that clear that is what is being offered!).
If a pro-choice group offering counselling wanted to pay to advertise in the UFV washrooms, I feel pretty confident UFV wouldn’t refuse the business.
And yes, having just re-read YPO’s press release, I’d argue that them calling it a partnership is misleading too.
Just to be clear. The original email promotional blast, which is in the story above, says that, “Your Pregnancy Options in Abbotsford (YPO) has partnered with the University of the Fraser Valley …”
When Abbotsford Today asked the UFV Chancellor and YPO if that was appropriate, YPO changed their press release and the UFV said nothing.
As far as the oft touted statement that UFV is a secular institution, I guess it is time to prove it by offering equal space, in UFV’s women’s bathrooms, for the pro-abortion groups to speak to vulnerable young women about there bodies, their medical options and their spirituality, instead of limiting access to vulnerable women to the anti-abortion lobby.
What do you think?
And as I said, if a pro-choice group wants to advertise, I’m confident UFV would say yes and happily take their money.
Your comment regarding intent implies that UFV has made a decision to exclude certain groups and until you can find me a pro-choice group that has been told they can’t advertise in the washrooms I am not convinced that would be the case.
Oops, that should read “your comment regarding limiting access”
On Chilliwack Today Johnny Says:
I would rather both sides of abortion be heard. The university shouldn’t bar a good resource from the campus just because they’re anti-abortion and they shouldn’t bar pro-abortion groups either.
http://www.chilliwacktoday.ca/category/news-chilliwack/