The Canadian Labour Congress has criticized the Canadian government for not including abortion in its maternal health initiative because the labour union buys the “full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health care rights” line pushed by pro-abortion groups from the Guttmacher Institute to the World Health Organization to the Obama administration, who all say abortion and condoms are necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of drastically reducing maternal and infant deaths. CLC says:
At the upcoming Summits in Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress calls upon Prime Minster Stephen Harper to lead the G8 in showing accountability and leadership on achieving past commitments, including the Millennium Development Goals, the ILO Decent Work Agenda and its Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183). In order to reach its full potential, the maternal and child health initiative must include comprehensive sexual health and reproductive health rights, including universal access to contraception, family planning services, options counselling, and access to safe, legal abortion, while similarly promoting social and economic equality for all through the provision of quality public services.
The Canadian Labour Congress goes on to recommend that “the Government of Canada to demonstrate leadership and accountability by”:
- Promoting sexual and reproductive health rights, including the rights of women to access safe and legal abortion, as part of its maternal and child health care initiative.
That is, of all the things the government could do to demonstrate its commitment to reducing maternal and infant deaths, it should promote the killing of the unborn in utero, which is ironic considering that CLC says that “maternity protection has been a core issue” for a key influence of the Canadian Labour Congress, the United Nations-affiliated International Labour Organization. But abortion does not protect maternity; abortion ends maternity, is at odds with it. Furthermore, the ILO’s 2000 Maternity Protection Convention states, “Medical benefits shall be provided for the woman and her child…[and] shall include prenatal, childbirth and postnatal care, as well as hospitalization care when necessary.” No mention of abortion there, and its inclusion in a statement promoting abortion is strange, to say the least. Furthermore, it is odd because providing basic medical care is what the federal government’s maternal and infant health initiative is all about.
It is simply unbecoming, ideological and a waste of resources to repeatedly bring up abortion in the context of helping vulnerable women and children in the developing world.
