Keith Martin (Lib. Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca) equates abortion to life:
“Why on Earth is the government not giving these women and children the option to choose life that we have in our country.”
Martin also says that being pro-life requires supporting abortion:
“When it comes to being pro-life, does it not mean enabling women and men to have full access to an array of family planning options, including the ability to access safe abortions in those countries where it is legal, the ability to access condoms, the ability to access the education and knowledge they need to protect themselves?”
Maria Minna (Lib., Beaches—East York) suggests being pro-abortion is a prerequisite for being the minister of international co-operation:
“The current CIDA minister then said, “We have chosen to focus the world’s lenses on saving the lives of mothers and children,” but not birth control. Does the minister really think she is doing her job? How can a development minister of Canada say that she is saving lives by denying contraception and birth control when she knows full well, if she bothered to visit any other developing countries and looked at any of the programs, that she is doing exactly the opposite? As a former minister of CIDA, I suggest that the minister resign from her job because she is not looking out for the people she is supposed to be representing and protecting in this country.”
Raymonde Folco (Lib., Laval Les Îles) explains why women in the developing world should have access to abortion:
“The first principle is that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Those rights are intrinsic rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are followed by the right to food, clothing, water and sanitation, equality, the right to reproductive choice, education for women and the girl child, the right not to be sexually abused, the right to feel safe from trafficking, and much more.”
Irene Mathyssen (NDP, London-Fanshawe) says that opposition to abortion is ideological, but presumably support for it is not:
“What is more troubling is that they are supposed to lead. They are supposed to use the best evidence they can find to make intelligence, reliable decisions for Canada. They are not entitled to make ideological, irrational decisions that can only be categorized as completely devoid of any real concern for women and their children.”
Johanne Deschamps (BQ, Laurentides-Labelle) implies that clean water and food are bad things:
“(Prime Minister Stephen Harper) is taking advantage of his position as host (of the G8 summit) to get the countries behind certain aspects of the maternal health program that can have an immediate impact, such as access to drinking water, immunization, nutrition and training for health care workers.”
