Stephen Harper's much-vaunted maternal health initiative that was meant to galvanize next month's G8 summit is now causing some queasiness -- among Canadians and internationally.
A new poll suggests that a majority of Canadians opposes the Prime Minister's refusal to fund safer abortions in developing countries, even as international concern grows about the state of his G8 maternal health initiative.
The Canadian Press-Harris Decima poll found that 58 per cent of respondents oppose Harper's exclusion of abortion funding in his drive to improve maternal and child health in poor countries.
And there has been significant movement in the numbers (bold is mine).
That's up from about 46 per cent in March, when a similar question about aid for abortion access was asked. The increase suggests people are taking their time to think through the complex pros and cons before making up their minds, said Megan Tam, vice-president at Harris-Decima.
"It appears that the general sentiment of most Canadians is to have a maternal health policy that includes funding for abortion," she said.
The poll of 1000 people was conducted by telephone between May 6 and May 9. It has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
The survey found that opposition to the government's stand was about the same for both men and women, but was stronger in Atlantic Canada and British Columbia than other regions of the country.
Only 30 per cent of respondents said they would support the government's decision, down from about 48 per cent in March.
A gain of 12 per cent in opposition to Stevie the Misogynist and a loss of 18 per cent in approval.
Canada is a PRO-CHOICE country.
5 comments:
I hope the other G8 countries will either set up their own G7 maternal health initiative that includes the right to abortions, or that the other G8 countries will agree to make up the difference in funding abortions that Canada won't fund. Call the latter solution the face saving solution. I just hope that the other G8 countries won't agree to Harper's proposal.
So, Nancy Ruth still thinks we should STFU? Well, now I see why. If this becomes an election issue--and it SHOULD--her party would LOSE!
Yeah...it's a "settled issue" all right. It's hereby settled that Harpo is out of step with this country, and must therefore GO.
It would be interesting to see if the same question was asked in the two polls. In a poll (as progressive bloggers point out) the question has a huge impact on the answer.
As an afterthought, if the abortion question was the only one in an election, by this poll the CPC would gain a majority.
I think Stevie will end up having to grit his teeth and give into including abortion.
With the ever "divine" (as Antonia Z put it) timing of the release of Marci McDonald's book and an election more than likely this fall, plus, it's not helpful for the Harpercon's credibility having his own MPs showing up at a fetus festival, let alone the likes of Delmastro speaking.
Steve is going to have a helluva time trying to convince the electorate that the Christian Right will not govern, or have any kind of influence for that matter as it is.
Plus, Steve is on shaky ground on the international stage as it is for a variety of reasons like climate change and torturegate. He is already being chided for not wanting to include abortion.
For those reasons I mentioned above, it would be political suicide for him not to include abortions.
Remember, GW Bush didn't look too good on the world stage for not including abortions in his aid packages.
Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice for our own bodies.
It's just another sideshow.
Post a Comment