Carolyn Bennett says there are whispers in the corridors of a major women’s reproductive-health conference in Washington, condemning Canada for not funding abortion as part of its G8 maternal-health initiative.
“Lots of buzz ... huge disappointment (with) Canada,” said the Liberal MP and health critic. Ms. Bennett is also a medical doctor.
Ms. Bennett attended the three-day conference, Women Deliver, in which major players from around the world, including many from developing countries, are looking at maternal-health issues in advance of the G8 summit.
A critic of the Harper’s government decision not to fund abortion as part of their initiative, Ms. Bennett said that delegates yesterday were asking her, “What’s happening to your country?”
Ms. Bennett said that Susan Cohen, head of government affairs at the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit organization in the U.S. that promotes reproductive health, referred to Canada as an “evidence-free zone.”
By this, Ms. Bennett said she meant that Canadian policy is no longer based on evidence but “just ideology/opinion.”
Says Ms. Bennett: “When abortion is illegal the stigma is so much greater.”
B.C. MP Keith Martin is also attending the conference.
Although International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda and Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose are expected to attend, there is no way that Canada will change its position on abortion funding.
Last week in London and Paris, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pitched his plan to his French and British counterparts. They endorsed it without any mention of abortion.
The issue has been highly controversial here with the opposition accusing the government of putting ideology and anti-abortion views ahead of improving women’s reproductive health.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, gave Canada a bit of a boost Monday in her video-taped opening remarks to the conference:
“We commend the Canadian government for focusing attention on this issue by offering a flagship initiative on maternal and child health at the upcoming G8 meeting.”
That’s a bit of a switch from last March, when she was in Canada and said the initiative should include access to abortion.
The conference ends Wednesday.
(Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
