Harper Conservatives told to vote against bill that would add penalties for those found coercing a woman into getting an abortion.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will vote against a private member’s bill promoted by one of his own MPs that would add new Criminal Code penalties for those who coerce women to have an abortion. A senior government official also says that while the prime minister will not “whip” or demand Conservative MPs vote as he votes, it will be “very strongly recommended” that Conservatives vote to defeat the bill.
I’m not convinced myself that this bill is, legally speaking, all that necessary. But it’s not like it would do much harm even to those who are staunchly pro-choice. After all, it’s not because you’re in favour of abortion on demand that you sympathize with boyfriends or family members who pressure a woman into having an abortion she doesn’t want. Right? No reasonable person is in favour of coercing women into abortion. So why not let MPs vote as they wish?








I think that Harper is simply afraid of opening up the debate, as he has stated often before that he is strongly opposed to. This bill would open up a can of worms, because what would constitute “force”? Just as the bill that Ken Epp put forward, that one would have opened up the question of the humanity of the unborn. This bill could open up the abortion debate in some way, and Harper is being super careful not to go into that.
No abortion law, says Harper.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100521/harper-abortion-law-100521/20100521?hub=Canada
And we’re supposed to believe him on this? Yah, like fixed election dates, transparency, accountability, Senate appointments. . . . The man never met a promise he couldn’t break.
He is letting the MPs vote as they wish. That’s what “will not ‘whip’ or demand Conservative MPs vote as he votes” means , right? Full disclosure (for those who have not read my bio lately), I am a Conservative staffer for a pro-life MP.
On the question of why pro-lifers generally support the Conservative government (see the last comment here https://www.prowomanprolife.org/2010/05/19/we-are-not-over-reacting/), it is true that Harper’s Conservatives are not all that pro-lifers wish they were. But the “no new abortion law” position does exclude the co-existence of pro-life and pro-abortion positions within the same party. What makes the Conservatives the best option for pro-lifers – or the least bad option – is the possibility for pro-life MPs (and by extension the large swath of pro-life Canadians) to have their voice heard and their position considered politically. But it doesn’t mean that they should always get their way. That’s what democracy is all about, isn’t it?
There is a difference between welcoming the pro-life position and passing new abortion laws. By reflecting the spectrum of abortion positions that exist within the Canadian population, the Conservative government is the best home for pro-lifers. Because the Bloc Quebecois or NDP caucuses unanimously condemn the pro-life position doesn’t mean that there are no pro-life voters in Bloc or NDP constituencies. It just means that their voices are not heard. Ignoring the existence of pro-life voices in their constituencies was the downfall of Ignatieff’s Liberals on the infamous “abortion motion.” The critical mass of pro-life MPs on the government side of the House makes it impossible to ignore the way Michael Ignatieff ignored his pro-life MPs. At the political level, pro-lifers shouldn’t expect a democratically elected government to reflect anything but the mushy-middle-of-the-road view shared by most Canadians. But they are within their rights to expect their voices to be heard. Harper’s Conservatives are the only ones listening.
Harper will ‘strongly recommend’ that MPs oppose any abortion-related bills. When Big Daddy ‘strongly recommends’, Con MPs obey.
And to Veronique: Pro-lifers have been strung along by the Cons forever. Remember Harper’s promise to reopen the marriage debate? Until he decided that wasn’t a good idea and shelved it. He and his ministers have been hinting at reopening the abortion debate — 3 or 4 private member’s bills, the maternal health initiative, various dog-whistles to his ‘base’ — until now when he decided the issue is too hot.
Harper needs your votes — and money — to stay in power and he’ll say anything to get them.
Don’t you think it’s time to send him a message? Or are you OK with being patsies for life?