- Mr. Harper - Canada is No Iran

Submitted: 8:56am, 21 Feb.'10 - cbc.ca
Catholic Register takes on Ignatieff, Neil Morrison, February 18, 2010
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/02/catholic-register-takes-on-ignatieff.html, Tab 21

It seems to me that what Michael Ignatieff asked was whether Stephen Harper intends to withdraw support for family planning. If so, it appears to be an abandonment of Canada's current position, as well as opposed to that of Britain and the G-8 generally.

I have been unable to confirm for myself (see below) that "It is astonishing and sad that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is advocating that Canada fund overseas abortions . . . 'sad to see Ignatieff making such a negative proposal.'" (as attributed to Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins by the Catholic Register)

Canada is a secular society. When I ran as the Liberal candidate in '04 I made it clear that for me abortion is a matter of personal conscience. This is, of course, based, in part, on my strong belief in the necessity of separation of State and Church, basing Government polices on the realities and not ideology, and probably most important, acknowledging that there may be many, many people in Canada, and around the world, that simply don't subscribe to one particular system of religious beliefs - i.e. Canada is a tolerant, moderate, multi-faceted nation (of course, that's what separation of State and Church is all about).

We are not Iran. Canada's political system is not a facade of Democratic process with the Executive being made up of religious extremists who wield the real power and make policy.

If abortion is not made available then women, especially young women, can find themselves in the hands of illegal butchers. It is my understanding that that is the point that Ignatieff was making; that is the point that the G8 countries are making; and, this is the point that the UK Department for International Development: "Unsafe abortion accounts for 13% of all maternal deaths and the hospitalisation of a further five million women every year due to serious health complications".

Dr. Dorothy Shaw, the Canadian G8/G20 spokesperson for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. She is a key advisor to the G8 on the issue of maternal health.
"Obviously access to safe abortions is part of assuring maternal health. . . ."

Ignatieff
(http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/women+health+initiative+must+include+abortion+Ignatieff/2514470/story.html)

"If you're going to invest in women, you've got to invest in the full gamut of reproductive health services," he said, winning applause from an audience of Liberal MPs and representatives of about 50 non-government aid, rights and humanitarian organizations.


"This is the last place to start playing politics here and ideology here. Women are entitled to the full gamut of reproductive health services and that includes termination of pregnancy and contraception."


At a news conference later in the day, Ignatieff cited former U.S. government policy under the Bush administration which withheld federal funds from international agencies that supported abortion.

"We don't want us to go that way," he said. "We want to make sure that women have access to all the contraceptive methods available to control their fertility because we don't want to have women dying because of botched procedures, we don't want to have women dying in misery. We want women to care for themselves better and then look after their kids better . . . let's keep the ideology out of this and move forward."


"We've had a pro-choice consensus in this area for a couple of generations and we want to hold it."

***
Dr. Dorothy Shaw, the Canadian G8/G20 spokesperson for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. She is a key advisor to the G8 on the issue of maternal health.
"Obviously access to safe abortions is part of assuring maternal health. But it's a bit reckless to make this the sole focus of the conversation since it has the potential to derail the entire initiative. . . . "

***
DFID (UK Department for International Development)

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/News-Stories/2009/Policy-on-safe-and-unsafe-abortion/

14 October 2009
International Development Minister, Mike Foster, said:
"Every year a devastating number of women die because of unsafe abortion. If we ignore this issue, the stark reality is that millions more women will suffer, and back street practices will continue to increase the pressure for treatment on already overburdened health services.
"Better access to family planning information and contraception is of vital importance in eliminating unsafe abortion but the truth is that it is not always enough. That is why the Department for International Development will continue to support the prevention of unsafe abortion as part of broader efforts to improve sexual and reproductive health."

DFID's policy
DFID supports safe abortion on two grounds. First, it is a right. Women have the right to reproductive health choices. Second, it is necessary. 20% of pregnancies globally end in induced abortion; unsafe abortion accounts for 13% of all maternal deaths and the hospitalisation of a further five million women every year due to serious health complications. This preventable mortality and ill-health due to unsafe abortion is seriously undermining countries’ ability to achieve the fifth Millennium Development Goal (to improve maternal health) and places a high burden on already over-stretched health systems. But DFID does not support abortion as a method of family planning.
In countries where it is legal, DFID will support programmes that make safe abortion more accessible. In countries where it is illegal and mortality and morbidity is high, DFID will make the consequences of unsafe abortion more widely understood, and will consider supporting processes of legal and policy reform.