OP-ED: Life, limits, and the Alberta majority

Richard Dur writes, "A new Research Co. poll tells the tale: only 37% of Albertans say abortion should always be legal."

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By Richard Dur

“Settled debate”? Not in Alberta.

Alberta is a land of long roads and empty skies. The silence stretches far, but it is not empty. It carries a heartbeat, a conscience — and sooner or later, that conscience speaks. Out here, there is no hiding the truth.

A new Research Co. poll tells the tale: only 37% of Albertans say abortion should always be legal. More - 43% - say only in certain cases. Add the 9% who would outlaw it entirely, and you get the majority. That’s not fringe. That’s Alberta.

This isn’t theory, it’s this week’s polling. The numbers are fresh, and they show Albertans are far from settled on abortion.

And when it comes to money, the split is starker still. Just 30% want taxpayer dollars covering abortion whenever requested — even when there is no medical reason. The rest say: save our tax dollars for saving lives - the cancer ward, the ICU - not for ending them. Fund care, not killing.

For decades, elites chanted the mantra: “The debate is settled.” It was never persuasion, only propaganda. They hoped if they said it often enough, you’d believe it. But the poll exposes what Albertans have long understood: the debate was never closed.

Ottawa may clap for abortion on demand. Quebec may cheer for abortion on the taxpayer’s dime. But Alberta answers no. No to abortion without limits. No to funding without reason. Yes to boundaries. Yes to conscience. Yes to life.

Because true compassion does not deny the cost — it stands with women in their struggle while protecting the children they carry. It means protecting both mother and child, not pitting one against the other. It means honoring both lives, not pretending one must be erased for the other to flourish. And it means refusing to fund the lie that abortion is healthcare.

And the movement is not just alive, it is growing stronger. In the last year alone, Prolife Alberta raised over half a million dollars — not from government grants, unlike the abortion industry and those pushing the pro-abortion agenda, but from ordinary Albertans.
From moms and dads. From grandparents. From young people.

They give not out of obligation, but out of conviction. And together their gifts become more than money — they become a movement, built brick by brick, dollar by dollar. A movement with thousands of active supporters today. And millions more across Alberta who quietly share the conviction that life deserves protection.

It is time for this government - and for the many MLAs who call themselves pro-life - to prove it. To stop hiding behind “consensus” — when the real consensus is right in front of them, waiting to be led. To stop pretending Ottawa sets Alberta’s conscience.

Albertans don’t want abortion on demand. Albertans don’t want abortion funded on demand. Albertans want limits, compassion for women, and protection for children.

Surely a province that can stand up to Ottawa on pipelines, taxes, and sovereignty can stand up to Ottawa on life — because without life, nothing else we fight for matters.

The question isn’t whether the debate will be reopened. It was never closed. The only question is: What side of the battle for life will you be on?

Because if there is one thing worse than evil itself, it is standing by and letting it happen.

Richard Dur is the volunteer Executive Director of Prolife Alberta and an award-winning political consultant with experience on campaigns across Canada.