ProWomanProLife

This was announced about ten minutes ago.

The federal government will introduce new legislation that will punish criminals who commit violence against pregnant women, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday. Nicholson said the bill will “leave no room for the introduction of fetal rights.” The bill is aimed at protecting women from violence, he said.

…

Opponents to the bill, called the Unborn Victims of Crime Act, raised concerns that the bill would reopen the debate on abortion in Canada.

“Let me be clear, our government will not reopen the debate on abortion,” Nicholson said Monday.

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Update: The Globe has an article on the same topic here. A small note on style–if “unborn victims” gets quotation marks, then I’d ask also that “abortion rights” be consistently referred to with quotation marks. The “right to abortion” is much more imaginary (and never confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada) than those “unborn victims”–who we can view via a thing called “the ultrasound.”

…that I agree with Stéphane Dion. But he’s right about this:

Stéphane Dion has challenged the prime minister to clarify his view on abortion, threatening to reignite the debate as Canada careens towards an election.

[...]

“I think all Canadians have the right to know what the party leader thinks,” he said. “I gave my opinion. I want to hear the opinion of Stephen Harper.”

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And Andrea is staying true to form: and disagreeing with Dion. He only wants to know Harper’s stance on abortion now because he’s bought into the misinformation on Bill C-484, which expressly excludes abortion. Voting in favour of Bill C-484 is not a vote against abortion, much as Joyce Arthur would have us believe. If I thought that–I’d blog about it more often. In any event, all we’d get from Harper at this stage would be Ye Olde “I support a woman’s right to choose” too, and given the circumstances, I wouldn’t expect any different. Now if Dion weren’t asking, and if Harper were to clarify under different circumstances…that’s a different story. Then, yes, I’d like to know his stance on abortion. As it stands, I’d prefer Dion clarify his position, on, oh say, the environment. Or finances. Or just about any existing policy debate… where to begin…

A new take on the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons draft policy: perhaps whoever wrote that need not be too concerned about ensuring doctors don’t reference their religion or conscience–at the leadership level, those are already missing. Today the papers report that the Canadian Medical Association voted to condemn Bill C-484.

the Canadian Medical Association voted yesterday to oppose Bill C-484, “and any legislation that would result in compromising access for women to the medical services required to terminate a pregnancy.”

Now I’m joking, of course, most doctors are concerned only about patient welfare, and they have a conscience and they thankfully use it and all that jazz. But now might just be the time for doctors to be concerned about their leadership. I would hazard to say it is all the same people who are writing pro-abortion editorials for the Canadian Medical Association Journal, who are creating anti-conscience policies, and who are voting against Bill C-484. Doctors–if you don’t agree with this and want to continue practicing, in spite of the doctor shortage and your overflowing waiting rooms, I’d take some time to write some letters and understand the politics of this. I personally have been waiting for one appointment for seven months–a day or two more won’t kill me. (I’m pretty sure.)