Say #No2Niki and Motion 510

In Canada, the politics of abortion have involved a lot of meta-debate in recent years. We debate whether or not we should “reopen” the abortion debate. We debate whether party leaders can prevent MPs from “reopening” the debate. We debate whether or not the abortion debate is already open. Or already settled.

Clearly, there’s a debate already going on. If it wasn’t obvious enough already, NDP MP Niki Ashton introduced Motion 510 last week, which reads in full:

That, in the opinion of the House:

(a) a women’s right to choose abortion is a fundamental question of equality and human rights, both in Canada and around the world;

(b) the key priorities of the government during the upcoming international summit on child and maternal health on May 28-30, 2014 should include empowering women globally, promoting gender equality and supporting reproductive health care including the full range of family planning, sexual and reproductive health options;

and (c) the government should lift its policy of refusing to fund international programs that support a full range of family planning and reproductive health care options including abortion.

While it’s great that an NDP MP is now underscoring the point that the debate is clearly very open, the motion itself is terrible and needs to be defeated.

Now is the time to take action: