Pro-life Canadians could be forgiven for thinking that a combination between the Liberal Party and the Communist Party of Canada had recently co-opted the Canadian Alliance.

First, on August 28, the Globe and Mail reported that Alliance MP Keith Martin was advocating for-profit surrogacy.

Three days later, former Alliance leader Preston Manning was quoted in the National Post supporting experimentation on human embryos as the lesser of two evils.” Martin has always been known for holding libertine views on moral issues, so nobody should feign surprise at his view, but what on earth is Manning thinking? I expect that Christians around the country are still vainly scouring orthodox religious documents to find justification for a “lesser of two evils” ethic.

U.S. President George Bush was being raked over the coals just days earlier for his decision on federal funding because it accepted a long-condemned ethic of utilizing the results of an evil act.

Manning has gone one step further into the moral abyss, adopting a view that President Bush explicitly rejected – a utilitarian approach to excess embryos, conceived for in vitro procedures.

Manning’s view is more troubling a) because of his Christian profession and b) because he is the Alliance’s science and tech critic, making this issue part of his portfolio. The National Post notes that “given Manning’s stature among religious conservatives, his views could be an important influence on the direction of debate on stem cell research in Canada.”

Yes and no. People looking for an excuse to avoid controversy on this issue will use Manning’s statement as an excuse for adopting a similar view, but those who aren’t prepared to compromise on their life ethic will not be convinced otherwise.

What pro-lifers will be looking for are responses to Manning’s comments from some of his pro-life colleagues.

I have been told that the recent problems in the Alliance haven’t had a negative impact on the party’s willingness to assert its principles on controversial issues. We’ll see!

A positive aspect of Manning’s recent comments on reproductive technology was his demand that the government move quickly to ban human cloning. He also “stressed there are alternatives to the use of human embryonic stem cells, such as cells from animals and human adults,” he said in the National Post.

Pro-lifers need to use this open door as an opportunity to educate their MPs on the superior benefits of adult stem cells. Campaign Life Coalition can provide you with excellent material to present to your MP. Call them in Ottawa at (613) 729-0379 or email at clclobby@cyberus.ca .

There doesn’t seem to be much stomach for the idea of commercial surrogacy on Parliament Hill at the moment, but if MPs are willing to speak openly about it, especially from unexpected corners such as the Canadian Alliance, their activism could eventually wear down the opposition, especially opposition from pro-life, pro-family quarters.

As LifeSite Daily News noted in its August 28 report on Martin’s comments, “the legal complexity of commercial surrogacy was highlighted in a court battle yesterday when a California couple who hired a British woman to have a baby for them backed out of the contract when they found she was carrying twins. The couple had wanted any multiple embryos ‘selectively terminated,’ but the woman claimed that the abortion clause in her contract had expired after 12 weeks gestation.”

Surrogacy, for-profit or otherwise, is a practice that should not be supported.

As CLC national director Karen Murawsky said, having children is not a right. If a couple wants children and find that they can’t have them, this is an opportunity to draw closer to God and grow in faith, seeking His grace and His will in the face of such a situation. The Bible is clear that God is the one who opens and closes wombs. He can also provide children through adoption and other means.

Other than the reprotech issue, federal politics hasn’t provided much news over the summer regarding family and life issues.