Paul Tuns:
The NDP launched an online petition calling for “abortion services” to be made “accessible to every Canadian,” suggesting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government was insufficiently pro-abortion.
The petition stated, “Many Canadians seeking abortion services can’t access them – this must change,” claiming, “in Canada many individuals seeking abortion services can’t access them,” with “only one hospital in six offers abortion.” The NDP complained, “some provinces refuse to cover the cost of surgical abortion outside hospitals” and “lack of access is even worse for people in rural areas and the North.”
The NDP argued, “everyone deserves safe, accessible abortion and reproductive healthcare services – no matter where they live or how much money they make.” The party stated, “It’s not enough for elected officials to say that they won’t reopen the abortion debate – we need leaders to take action to improve access to services.”
The petition called on signers to “join Jagmeet Singh and the NDP in demanding Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government to implement a national plan to expand abortion and reproductive health care access to all parts of Canada without barriers.”
The petition was launched the week of the National March for Life, the same week that the Trudeau Liberals repeatedly tweeted their support of abortion and released a video declaring the party’s support for prenatal infanticide.
The previous week, the NDP released a list of “10 years of Justin Trudeau, 10 broken promises,” which charged the Liberal government with promising to “make reproductive health care more accessible,” and yet “only one in six hospitals provides abortion and those living in rural areas, especially on reserve, are forced to travel to access the care they need.”
Last year, the NDP also launched an online petition declaring it “time for action on reproductive justice.” In that petition, the NDP vowed, “Jagmeet and Canada’s NDP will continue to fight for reproductive justice in every community” and to “enforce the Canada Health Act to prevent provinces from putting up barriers to accessing abortion, and we’ll work to improve access to services in rural, remote, and northern communities. We’ll cover contraception and the abortion pill as part of pharmacare, and make sure no one has to struggle to afford their birth control.”
Matthew Wojciechowski, vice president of Campaign Life Coalition told The Interim it is “laughable that the NDP thinks the Liberals are not pro-abortion enough.” He also said that “it is rich that the NDP has elsewhere launched petitions against private health care while criticizing provinces for not funding private abortuaries.”
Wojciechowski said that he is “unsure what the NDP is specifically calling for beyond the tens of millions of dollars the Liberal government is giving pro-abortion NGOs to help promote killing preborn children in the womb.” He said the federal government has consistently spoken in favour of abortion and makes it easier for women to obtain an abortion in Canada since Trudeau was first elected prime minister in 2015.
The NDP does not state in its petition or website what it would like to see as part of a national plan to expand abortion.
