QUEBEC – Members of the Quebec National Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday calling on the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to respect free choice and access to abortion, to end its ambiguity on the issue and to stop cutting funding to women’s groups who favour abortion. Members agreed to transmit the motion to the Senate and House of Commons in Ottawa. Carole Poirier, Parti Québécois MNA for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in Montreal presented the motion after Cardinal Marc Ouellet called for re-criminalizing abortion.
I love it when people panic like that.
by 
Ya know, this abortion debate just might be opened after all….
Just read that again. It was unanimous? There wasn’t a single dissenting voice? Is that really the state of affairs in Quebec?
I knew the Quebecois valued abortion, but I had no idea.
“…respect free choice and access to abortion” You know, this reminds me of when a co-worker told me, “It’s okay if you’re pro-life, as long as you respect other people’s decision to have an abortion.” I thought that’s what being pro-choice was, silly me.
I don’t think the Harper government had any desire to have this discussion, but it sounds like they’re going to be forced to do so. At least it has people speaking more openly about the subject, and I for one think we should be, instead of secretly voicing our opinions in the polls.
Yes, unanimous. Every single democratically elected representative of the people endorsed this motion.
Know why? Living Quebecers vividly remember what having their lives run by god-botherers was like. And it was terrible. And they are not going back.
Unanimous. Chew on that, Stevie.
Yes Fern. And there are fewer and fewer ‘living’ Quebecois. The irony is palpable.
Living Quebecers vividly remember having their lives run by god-botherers? I didn’t realize that every living quebecer was born before 1960.
Really, most quebecers don’t remember having their lives run by the Catholic Church because by the time they were born, their parents had already either left the Church or never been in. What I “remember” about the influence of the Catholic Church in Quebec — and what most quebecers “remember” today — is what I have read or heard from teachers, the press and intellectuals. And I’m not even getting into the number of quebecers who are immigrants or children of immigrants. Their memory of Quebec society before the sixties is not exactly first-hand either.
Well, we could argue demographics in Quebec, but that still doesn’t get around the ‘unanimous’ bit, does it?
Fern, I may be wrong, but isn’t the Quebec National Assembly comprised of people from virtually the same set of ideals? It’s hardly a representation of the country as a whole, and I’m sure those who don’t share these ideals in Quebec itself are marginalized to the extent of being silenced.
I was thinking the same thing, Jennifer. You can’t get a unanimous consensus in this country, not even on an innocuous statement such as “puppies are cute”.
It sounds like the secular status quo in Quebec is doing the same sort of thing that the “God-botherers” were way back when.
I’m no expert on politics in Quebec, but sure seems to me they have deep political and social differences there just like everywhere else. But keep discounting that motion. You can bet Harper isn’t.
I’m quite sure there is a unanimous (or as close as it can come) pro-choice consensus in Quebec. The social stats are very different from the rest of Canada. There are pro-life voices in the catacombs, naturally, but not enough to vote in a representative.
I’m not sure unanimity in Quebec is a gauge of much for the moral status of abortion: what abortion is, what it does, what is a fetus, does it matter… That’s what this blog is all about and those who laugh off that concern have missed the whole point of the matter.
Oh, I understand the point of this blog.
The moral status of abortion is an individual matter matter. The legal status of abortion is a public matter for democratically elected legislators to determine. And a great majority of them — for more than twenty years — have decided to have nothing to do with the status quo. Leaving abortion outside the law works fine. Go read Margaret Wente today. Probably the first and last time I’ll ever agree with her.
Link to Peggy: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/relax-abortion-rights-are-safe/article1574728/
And that extra ‘matter’ up there is a typo.
“The moral status of abortion is an individual matter.”
So where do you stand, Fern? on the moral status of abortion.
For me, it’s fine. And I know what I’m talking about. Twice.
On another post here, I linked to Harper saying ‘no new abortion law’ today. I’m curious, what do pro-lifers think? Is he lying? And is that OK with you? And if you think he’s telling the truth, why do pro-lifers continue to let themselves be strung along by the Conservatives?
I think pro-lifers “let themselves be strung along by the Conservatives” because they believe they are ‘the lesser of the evils’. Most don’t know about, or don’t have enough faith in, CHP Canada, the 6th largest federal political party, and the only federal pro-life, pro-family one in Canada. You can check it out at http://www.chp.ca.