So with time in between classes, I decided to look up what there is recently in the news about abortion. Just today, an article was in the Globe and Mail about Stephen Harper promising not to reopen the abortion debate if he is re-elected. "He said then that he would not introduce legislation amending the abortion law but that Conservative MPs had a right to their own beliefs, leaving the door open for private member's bills." His spokesperson, Kory Teneycke, adds to this: "We can't prevent private member's bills from reaching the floor...But the government would not support them."
http://www.thestar.com/article/5086
The Toronto Star goes into more detail on this matter, including the fact that Harper wants the bill proposed by Ken Epp, The Unborn Victims of Crime Act to be rewritten. What this entails, I am not sure, but it is important to note that while Harper says he does not wish to pass anything affecting the abortion laws, he wants this one rewritten but not scrapped all together. For those who don't know, a basic summary of this bill is that it is intended to protect the unborn in crimes, so that those who murder a pregnant woman are charged with 2 counts of murder. When I read up on this, it seems that both counts of murder would be served together so I don't understand what the point of this is. There is a clause that states it would not affect abortion laws, but once the "unborn" is considered a person who can be murdered, how can the abortion laws stand?
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/ca
The National Post has a lot less optimistic view on this as it's article on this topic is called "Abortion ban in Tory plan." In this article, Gilles Duceppe states that he believes the Conservatives will try to criminalize abortion on the basis of Epp's bill. In this full article, only one line is given to state Harper's stance: "During an Ottawa news conference yesterday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his government has no plans to reopen the abortion debate or change Canada's abortion laws."
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