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MP aims to reopen abortion debate
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Date Posted on this Site
December 29, 2008
Publication
Toronto Star
Publication Date
December 29, 2008
Published Content
Chinta Puxley
The Canadian Press
The new chair of a secretive pro-life parliamentary caucus pledges to rekindle the abortion debate and bring "more value" to the lives of unborn children.
Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he's not interested in reopening the divisive issue, Winnipeg South MP Rod Bruinooge told The Canadian Press people need to be better educated about Canada's abortion stance, which he says puts the country in a "class of its own."
"Very few Canadians appreciate the fact that essentially until a child takes its first breath, it has less value than a kidney," Bruinooge said.
"In Canada you can't remove your kidney and put it on eBay and auction it off. That is illegal. Whereas you actually can end a beating heart of an unborn child the second before it's delivered. Most Canadians would agree that is truly a poor bioethical position for our country to be in."
Pro-choice advocates say Canadian doctors only perform such later-term procedures if there's a serious threat to the health of the mother or if it's virtually certain the baby wouldn't survive past birth.
As Canada marks 20 years since the Supreme Court struck down Criminal Code restrictions on abortion, some advocates are worried the Conservatives will reopen the debate. But they say they are ready to fight for a woman's right to choose once again if necessary.
At the party's convention recently in Winnipeg, Conservative delegates voted to resurrect a proposal to create a specific criminal charge for instances in which a fetus is killed or injured during commission of a crime against a pregnant woman. Such a bill died when the federal election was called.
Critics argue such a law would reopen the abortion debate by recognizing fetal rights.
"I think the debate is ongoing," Bruinooge said. "We need to have a starting point of debating whether or not abortion should be legal right up until the moment of birth."
Bruinooge wouldn't say how many MPs are formally part of the pro-life caucus, but said there are supporters from every party.
Joyce Arthur, co-ordinator of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, said it's not surprising that the pro-life movement is feeling "energized lately." The majority of the Conservative caucus are "publicly anti-choice," she said, and many are lobbying intently against a woman's right to choose.
"It's something that the Conservative Party is out of touch with because Canadians don't want to go back to the abortion debate," Arthur said.
"People are happy with the status quo. It's working well."
Erin Leigh, acting executive director of Canadians for Choice, said the pro- life caucus has for years been working behind the scenes to resurrect the abortion debate.
But she said the "silent majority" of Canadians are pro-choice and realize it's important for women to have a safe, accessible alternative to pregnancy.
My Response Letter
Abortion advocates Joyce Arthur and Erin Leigh are dead wrong when they say "Canadians don't want to go back to the abortion debate" and the "silent majority" are pro-choice. Far from it. A June 2008 Angus Reid poll found that almost 50 percent of Canadians - including me - want abortion to be subject to greater restrictions. Obviously, we need a comprehensive debate about abortion. Thank you, Rod Bruinooge!
Jason Gennaro
Was my response published?
Yes