Maternal health initiative will not include abortion
By Deborah Gyapong
Canadian Catholic News
OTTAWA (CCN) — Canada will not include abortion in its G8 maternal
health initiative, despite pressure from Opposition parties and foreign
governments.
“Canadians
want to see the foreign aid money used for things to help save the lives
of women and children in ways that unite the Canadian people,”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said April 27, in Question Period in response
to a question from Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff who accused the
government of reversing Canada’s 25-year-old “consensus”
on the issue.
“We
understand that other governments, other taxpayers may do something
different,” Harper said. “We want to make sure our funds
are used to save the lives of women and children and are used on the
many, many things that are available to us and, frankly, do not divide
the Canadian population.”
“The
reality is that for 25 years, this country has said, has spoken clearly
in defence of a woman’s right to choose, all right?” Ignatieff
told journalists after question period. “This government has turned
its back on that decision and in doing so, is now in the ridiculous
position of failing to defend overseas the rights that Canadian women
have here at home and that position, we think, is a step backward for
Canada, for women and for international maternal health.”
Ever since
Harper announced the initiative earlier this year, there have been questions
on whether it would include abortion, including mixed messages from
some cabinet ministers.
While hosting
a meeting of G8 development ministers in Halifax, Development Minister
Bev Oda said April 27 that “Canada’s contribution will not
include abortion.”
Oda said
other countries may identify their own priorities. During a recent meeting
of foreign ministers in Canada, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
and British Foreign Minister David Miliband said any initiative must
include abortion.
The Catholic
Organization for Life and Family (COLF) and the Catholic Civil Rights
League (CCRL) praised the Canadian government’s sticking to its
initial focus on maternal and child health. The government has faced
continued pressure from Opposition parties to include abortion in the
plan.
“I’m
glad that she was firm and that she was explicit that Canada’s
contribution to the initiative will not include abortion,” said
CCRL executive director Joanne McGarry.
“It’s
good to see that Minister Oda does not consider pregnancy as a disease,”
said COLF director Michele Boulva.
The initiative
will include a wide range of possible interventions, including training
health workers, nutrition and micro-nutrients, prevention of disease
such as malaria, diarrhea and HIV/AIDS, proper medication, immunization,
clean water and sanitation, Oda said.
The minister
said family planning, including contraception, may be part of the package.
She described family planning as “a woman’s ability to space
and limit her pregnancies.”
Oda’s
reference to family planning leaves a “question mark” over
the initiative in terms of Catholic teaching, McGarry said, noting family
planning can include natural methods as well as artificial contraception,
including abortifacients.
Boulva said
the initiative could include natural family planning methods that are
“more respectful of the ecology of the body and help couples to
control their sexuality instead of being controlled by their sexuality.”
“Obviously
no one expects women to have children every year,” she said.
Shannon Joseph, the former director of World Youth Alliance, an NGO
with consultative status at the United Nations, said it is good Oda
is separating maternal health from so-called reproductive “rights”
issues related to abortion.
Joseph said
many OECD countries have tied abortion, contraception and population
control with development. She recalled attending a meeting at the UN
where a conference presenter said they were having “low uptakes
on reproductive health services” in an African community until
they linked it with primary health care.
The goal
of the wealthy countries is to make making pregnancy rarer, not helping
women have safer pregnancies and deliveries, she said. “It’s
an easy solution to reduce rates of fertility to improve maternal health
stats.”
She said this “we know better” attitude does not respect
the developing countries at the table or the women in those countries.
ads
(200 x 150 Pixels) Horizontal
|
|