Martin and Harper Debate Abortion as Canada Elections Approach 
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by Maria Vitale Gallagher
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
January 20, 2006
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) — Political debate is raging in Canada over the volatile issue of abortion. Prime Minister Paul Martin, a Catholic who supports legal abortion, says conservative political leaders plan to put a legal end to abortion in Canada.
But Conservative leader Stephen Harper says he himself would oppose any attempt to introduce legislation regarding abortions.
“The Conservative government won’t be initiating or supporting abortion legislation, and I’ll use whatever influence I have in Parliament to be sure that such a matter doesn’t come to a vote,” Harper said in published reports. “I will use whatever influence I have to keep that off of the agenda, and I don’t see any likelihood of that in the next Parliament,” Harper added.
Harper also noted that a Tory majority could only exercise limited power in Ottawa because of a Liberal-dominated Senate and a bureaucracy appointed by the Liberal government.
Meanwhile, notorious abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler has been quoted as saying, “I don’t trust the Conservative party and I don’t think women in Canada or people who love women in this country should trust the Conservative party as far as abortion rights are concerned.”
Morgentaler predicts that a Tory government would eventually make abortion more difficult to obtain. If Conservatives win a majority Jan. 23, Morgentaler believes that pro-lifers could set the national agenda.
“There are many people in the higher echelons of the Conservative party who are terribly anti-choice,” Morgentaler said in published reports.
Morgentaler also said in published reports that he would like to see “a commitment from all the parties that they will not touch the abortion issue and that they will not re-criminalize abortion.”
Morgentaler has been performing abortions for more than 30 years. He made his comments after testifying in a class-action lawsuit designed to get Quebec to reimburse women who have had abortions in private clinics or special women’s centers. Morgentaler told the Quebec Superior Court it would be “criminal” for the provincial government to refuse to reimburse women who had abortions in private clinics.
Meanwhile, dozens of candidates from both the Liberal and Conservative parties have signed a pledge of support to back legislation that would ban abortions. Some 18 Conservative MPs, 24 Tory candidates, 10 Liberal MPs, and two Liberal candidates agreed to protect human life from conception.
Mary Ellen Douglas, president of the pro-life group Campaign Life, has said her organization would like to end taxpayer funding of abortion and stop the dangerous abortion drug RU-486 that has killed four women in the U.S. and injured almost 700.
Related web sites:
Campaign Life Coalition – https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com
