Justin Trudeau is rightly called out by the National Post editors for being out of step with the law and public opinion, but Mr. Harper or Mr. Mulcair should not receive a free pass either.
As leader of the NDP Thomas Mulcair has essentially taken the same position as Justin Trudeau — he has promised to whip any vote affecting the legality of abortion — only he isn’t so outspokenly arrogant about it. The Prime Minister meanwhile is not innocent of taking a dictatorial approach to abortion either. Sure, he has not gone to the same lengths as Trudeau and Mulcair, but one only needs to ask Mark Warawa what happens when a member of parliament makes even a benign attempt at generating a discussion on pre-born human rights in the House of Common.
These three party leaders, indeed all our elected law makers, need to rethink abortion. Canada is only one of three countries in the world that does not afford any protections to children before birth. The reality that abortion can legally be committed for any reason (even the “systemic elimination of female fetuses” as the Post editors point out) makes it an injustice that is inexcusable for any party leader to ignore.