This is good news. Front page headline in the Globe and Mail–Ottawa refuses to fund abortion in G8 plan. And Margaret Wente may be right, that this will change nothing on the ground in the developing world and that this is a North American ideological battle. But it’s an important battle, because women’s health does not include abortion, not here and not abroad. It’s important because abortion shouldn’t be publicly funded. It’s important because North American ideologues who always think abortion is part of everything shouldn’t win the day. It’s important because the current Canadian government’s position on this IS the tolerant, compromising one. Of all the things that can be worked on and improved in the developing world does anyone–anyone!–really think “access to abortion” is the main item?
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This past weekend, Michael Coren spoke in Halifax at a pro-life fundraising dinner and he spoke of this G8 abortion debacle as well. It was wonderful to hear such an intelligent man giving good reasons for why abortion is not part of health care, that it is not even in the mindset of people in the Third World.
His suggestion for fighting the abortion debate is to push for defunding of abortion. After all, it is elective surgery and people have to pay for other elective surgeries, why not this one?
Katherine MacDonald seemed to be saying there that the money WILL be used towards abortions, even if indirectly, because that’s the bread and butter of ‘family-planning’.
I do think though that just by Canada making this statement, they are letting the other G8 members see Canada can’t be taken for granted on this issue. They’re also paving a path for politicians and other nations to be brave enough to say the same thing without being labeled extremists.
Eventually, people will realize that aborting children in developing countries just to send the women back out into life threatening conditions is no solution.
CBC’s news story on this also suggested that Canada was going against the G8 consensus, but then only listed Great Britain and the USA as countries that were opposed to this measure. What about the other 5 countries? Where do they stand?
Officially, through their documents, the UN still says that that reproductive health rights do not include access to abortion. There are numerous countries fighting hard to keep abortion out of those rights. Oh, that Canada would also take a stand internationally against abortion!
A coworker of mine recently said “So they’re only going to hand out condoms and birth control pills in the Third World. That’s just silly. 90% of family planning is abortion.”
Apparently she can’t see that if enough birth control pills and condoms were handed out, family planning would no longer have to BE 90% of abortion in the Third World.
It amazes me that so many people think abortion should be considered a normal part of family planning. As far as I’m concerned, abortion is what happens when someone FORGOT to do family planning to begin with – or didn’t have access to contraceptives.