Stéphane Replies

Well. It seems like Stéphane Dion finally got around to his inbox. Back in February, we at Birth Pangs wrote to him demanding that he whip the Liberal vote on the second reading of the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill. As we all know, he did not. In fact, he did not even show up to vote against it himself.

Later, though, he made a statement at a press conference that the Liberals would not let C-484 pass.

And today, we got a reply to our email of February restating that position.

Dear Sir/Madame,

We would like to thank you for your recent letter regarding the Private Member’s Bill C-484 presented by Conservative member Ken Epp.

Members of Parliament have the right to put forward a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Commons. However, our concern with Mr. Epp’s bill, a concern shared by many lawyers, health professionals and women’s rights organizations, is that it would undermine a woman’s right to choose and could ultimately be a threat to a woman’s ability to access safe abortion services. We are committed to the Liberal Party of Canada, under Stéphane Dion's leadership, standing firm against the idea of reopening the debate surrounding a woman’s right to choose. Passage of this bill will reopen the debate and threaten the rights of women – we will not allow that to happen.

Mr. Epp’s bill has been sent to the Justice committee and would only become law after receiving a majority vote in favour on its third reading in the House of Commons. Mr. Dion intends to work to ensure the bill is defeated at that time.

Thank you for taking the time to share your views on this important issue.

Sincerely,

The Office of Honourable Stéphane Dion, P.C., M.P.
Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

Good. The women of Canada are going to hold you to that, M. Dion.

(First published at Birth Pangs.)

C-484: Is the Fat Lady Warming up Her Pipes?

We at Birth Pangs have not yet been terribly impressed with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's commitment to women's rights.

But if he stands by the promise he made today at a press conference, we'll change our tune.

Stephane Dion vowed today that Liberals will block passage of a Tory bill that some fear might re-open the dormant abortion debate.

"I want to give my word to all the women of Canada that the Liberal Party of Canada is against to reopen woman's right to decide as a debate," the Liberal leader pledged.

. . .

Although the bill specifically exempts abortion, pro-choice advocates fear it would give legal status to the fetus and would, thus, be a step towards recriminalizing abortion.

Dion indicated that he shares the view that the bill would reopen the abortion debate and vowed: "We will not allow that to happen."

He is, of course, referring to Ken Epp's private member's bill, C-484, aka The Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill.

We would like to think that M. Dion is taking this stand for the right reasons. But, given the Liberal penchant for power, we wonder if he read the story about how UK MP Harriet (Hardwoman) Harman whipped the recent vote there to block moves to lower the time limit for abortion.

According to one account, women Labour MPs formed a ‘human corridor’ to channel their colleagues into the ‘No’ lobby. One Labour MP claimed to have heard one of Ms Harman’s team shout: ‘Vote against us and the sisterhood will never let you forget it.’

Rest assured, M. Dion, the Canadian sisterhood will never let you forget it either.

h/t to choice joyce at BnR

(First published at Birth Pangs.)