August 24, 2020
We Need a Law extends hearty congratulations to Erin O’Toole on his successful bid to become leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. While O’Toole has made it clear that he does not intend to introduce abortion legislation, he is equally clear that he will not squash debate from his party members.
During the leadership campaign Mr. O’Toole said that freedom for MPs on conscience issues is a fundamental part of the Conservative party.
“Mr. O’Toole needs to ensure that the Conservative Party makes room for and respects the pro-lifers that assisted in getting him elected as leader,” said Tabitha Ewert, spokesperson for We Need a Law. “As the results show, pro-lifers who supported both Leslyn Lewis and Derek Sloan were very influential in getting Mr. O’Toole the support needed to win.”
“Canada is the only democracy in the world with no abortion law, and while we don’t expect Mr. O’Toole to champion protections for pre-born children, we will be looking to him to allow vigorous debate on how Canada can get in line with our international counterparts when it comes to sensible abortion policy,” continued Ewert.
During the leadership race Dr. Leslyn Lewis, who delivered the victory to O’Toole, modeled how politicians should be speaking about pro-life policy. She put forward four policies all in line with the Conservative party policy and with popular opinion: banning the misogynistic practice of sex-selective abortion (like current private member’s bill C-233 from MP Cathay Wagantall), protecting women from coerced abortions, increasing support for pregnancy care centres, and ending funding for international abortions.
“Mr. O’Toole needs to find ways in which these four policies can be moved forward under his leadership and he has an immediate opportunity to do so with Bill C-233, the Sex Selection Abortion Act, a private member’s bill introduced by his colleague Cathay Wagantall,” said Ewert. “With no legal framework around abortion, Canada is silently condoning the practice of aborting girls solely because they are girls. This is something we should be ashamed of, not something that Mr. O’Toole can continue to ignore,” said Ewert.
We Need a Law looks forward to working with Members of Parliament and grassroots supporters to ensure legislation that advances pre-born human rights is introduced and debated at the earliest opportunity.
“It is time for Canada to get in line with our international counterparts by regulating abortion and protecting fetal interests at some stage of pregnancy. We are the only country in the world with no restrictions on abortion, and that needs to change,” concluded Ms. Ewert.
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Tabitha Ewert (PDT) at 1-866-410-9625 // [email protected]