Jeff Jedras at A BCer in Toronto helpfully copies and pastes from behind the subscription wall at Embassy Magazine.
CIDA Minister Bev Oda says the government's child and maternal health strategy will not address unsafe abortions in developing countries or support access to family planning and contraceptives. Rather, she said that to ensure the aid agency remains effective, "it's the lives of mothers and babies that we are focused on."
But with nearly 15 per cent of all maternal deaths being attributed to such abortions, and up to 40 per cent of maternal deaths preventable with access to family planning and contraception, experts and critics say support for these areas is essential.
On Jan. 28, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that rallying support for maternal and child health would be a major focus of Canada's G8 presidency. In developing countries, more than 500,000 women die each year in pregnancy and 9 million children die before the age of five.
(snip)
When asked about support for contraceptives and family planning in an interview last week, Ms. Oda said: "In order to maintain our focus, again our focus is on maternal and child health and mortality rates.
"We want to make sure that mothers, pregnant women, are healthy and can have safe births, and that the birthing process is made safer because if you look at the number of births during the actual birthing process, that's where a number of maternal deaths happen," she added.
"We also want to make sure when babies are born, they are born as healthy as possible so that they can live through their early age, up to the age of five, with as strong and good health as possible."
The fetus fetishists are crowing and claiming credit. They report further confirmation from ReformaTory Shelly Glover. (Go read if you want to read Glover repeat word for word what Oda said.)
When Canadian foreign policy was developed by grown-ups, it was considered a good idea to listen to experts and people on the ground.
Now, our foreign policy is dictated by Christofascists and misogynists.
I'm no kind of politico or wanna-be political advisor. But if the so-far pretty useless opposition parties don't RIDE THIS HORSEY HARD, they're total fucking idiots and I'm gonna think about emigrating.
BONUS TRACK: Go read Antonia. She's PISSED.
MORE BONUS: Go read Joyce Arthur. She's PISSED too. (And, if you're a blogger, her piece has a ton of juicy links.)
AND EVEN MORE: Oh. Look. A poll on whether maternal health includes access to safe abortion.
10 comments:
Where are you thinking of emigrating to? If you think of somewhere fools don't rule, please let me know, cause I'm commin' too!
Of COURSE these theocrats won't include Family planning or abortion in their funding. They're fundies. I'm spitting mad - mostly b/c of their stupidity, but also because of their blatant "in-our-faces" Hypocrisy! (Harpocracy?! Harpochristy?!) ?!?!??!!!!!!!!!!!!
dont send your money to Ottawa this tax season. Send it straight to the missionary fund of the Alliance Church, cause that's where its going anyways...
CanNurse: Dunno. Another galaxy maybe?
What I love about this ploy is that Harpo goes on record as being for Motherhood -- for them's as been paying NO attention for the past 4 years -- but without angering his Christofascist base. And we're NOT supposed to notice????????!!!1!!?
Harpo has dissed the women and people of Canada one time too many with this one, I think.
Dog-gammed-sh*t-for-brains-morally-bankrupt-wannabe-*pope*-SH.
I don't get it.
Do they think that they are going to get away with not alerting Canadians to their impending theocracy?
I dont' get it either, Antonia. They must be 'thinking' (those are sarcasm quotes) that Canadians don't care about this like Canadians don't care about prorogation.
The ReformaTories are clearly spinning out of control.
And Soutras's hissy fit today. We got 'em on the run!
A pity I can't find a rhyme for Soutras, or I'd put him on my wank-list. It's in clerihews this week.
Any rhymes for "Oda"? I'm open...
I really wanted to be wrong about this when I floated the concern this was what the Conservatives intended.
A real vote getter with the theocratic base. And they're right on it with the fundraising on that basis.
And out of the other side of their mouth, they prate on about how good women have it here.
Heckuva job, Stevie.
Jack Layton, I'm sorry, but I think Harper is going to push for an election with a budget that tells the other parties to go non-confidence or sign over everything his way. Pundits and hopefuls have stated it would just be bad form for Harper to do that.
I have to ask, has he shown any shame at all to this point?
Stevie Spiteful is losing it. I don't imagine this will make him popular on the home front, where presumably contraceptives of some artificial type are being (ab)used.
Unless abstinence has become de rigueur.
;b
Yep, Niles, you called it.
I find solace in the fact that the rest of the G8 has (mostly) grown-ups for leaders. I think he'll have to modify his position, then throw up his hands to his base and say: 'The cheese-eating surrender monkeys ganged up on me'.
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