Canada pays for emergency contraception and abortion care in Afghanistan

Elizabeth Payne reported in today's Ottawa Citizen on my posting that revealed that CIDA/DFATD is funding emergency contraception in Afghanistan through IPPF.

What she didn't say, is that my ATIP also revealed that we are funding "safe abortion care".

The first thing that's worrisome about the Citizen article, is that NDP international development critic  Hélène Laverdière thinks that the emergency contraception used (Postinor-2) is not abortion.

“It’s not abortion, it is contraception". 

In fact the information provided by the manufacturer says that:

"Postinor-2 is not intended as a regular method of contraception." 

That's because, emergency contraception is an abortifacient if the egg has already been fertilized (i.e it prevents implantation in the uterus, killing the embryo). Wishful thinking, doesn't make it true.

Then Ms. Laverdière says:

"I don’t see why if it is a choice for Canadian women, it cannot be a choice offered to Afghan women.”

Now this is really out there. Shouldn't Ms. Laverdière, in her role as international development critic, know that abortion (including emergency contraception) is illegal in Afghanistan?

As I noted in that blog posting, the Population Research Institute says that:

"The current Afghanistan abortion law mandates a seven-year prison term and a monetary fine for each abortion performed. The only exception requires the written opinion of physicians, and a judicial review. According to strict and clear guidelines promulgated by the Ministry of Justice, this same law would apply to anyone who has prescribed “morning-after pills” or “emergency contraception” in Afghanistan, or even to anyone carrying these devices in the country."

And finally this from DFATD in the Citizen article:

"Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Amy Mills, quoting the World Health Organization. “WHO confirms that: ‘Levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive pills are not effective once the process of implantation has begun, and they will not cause abortion,’ ” she wrote in an email, adding, “DFATD funds are not used to fund abortion.”

I beg to differ. Canada is funding emergency contraception and abortion care in Afghanistan.

Abortion by any other name...

Thomas Mulcair and Nycole Turmel's "reproductive medicine" kills babies

Hon. Thomas Mulcair (Leader of the Opposition, NDP):  

[Translation]

    In developing countries, 800 women die every day from causes related to pregnancy, childbirth and unsafe abortions. Funding for reproductive medicine is key to putting an end to this tragedy. Nevertheless, the Conservatives refuse to give funding to groups that provide safe and legal medical procedures, even when those procedures are required because of war rape.

    Why are the Conservatives refusing to fund these basic health care services for women, when they know that 800 women are dying every day?

[English]

[Expand]

Hon. John Baird (Minister of Foreign Affairs, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, it is important, and the Prime Minister deserves a significant amount of praise for the leadership he has demonstrated. We have got many other countries off the bench and into the game, providing a substantial amount of funding to support these mothers and support their young babies. Canadians can be very proud of our leadership initiatives.

 

Ms. Nycole Turmel (Hull—Aylmer, NDP):  

    Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' ideological stubbornness is appalling. They refuse to contribute to the United Nations Population Fund because the fund supports family planning and reproductive health, which are topics that make their anti-choice friends unhappy. However, 800 women die every day in developing countries as a result of pregnancies, deliveries or botched abortions.

    Why do the Conservatives refuse to fund these groups that provide safe and legal treatment, particularly in the case of rape?

[English]

[Expand]

Hon. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights, CPC):  

    Mr. Speaker, Canadians believe in achieving results, not just in rhetoric, like what the New Democrats are talking about.

    Let me say what I just said. At this time, the Prime Minister is in Toronto with other world leaders talking about women's, newborns' and children's health.That initiative has saved the lives of over 1.3 million children and newborns as well as more than 60,000 young mothers. If that is not a result, then I do not know what is.

Big abortion sticks their big nose into Canada's business

"The National Abortion Federation has presented a business case to the P.E.I. government with the aim to bring abortion services to P.E.I. 

Federation president Vicki Saporta says the plan would be cost-neutral for the province and that three doctors are willing to travel to P.E.I to perform the procedure."

Here's a thought. This Vicki Saporta seems to be very American to me. So why is she sticking her big nose into Canada's affairs? 

In fact in her recent statement she says she is "President of the National Abortion Federation and the National Abortion Federation Canada". How convenient. Just lump us both countries together into one big abortion pot.

Tell me Vicky, are these doctors offering to do these abortions for free? Or are you and they in this because big abortion is big money?

Just wondering.

Pro-abortion "Knowledge Centre" for the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Summit

Check out these links. They are for the Canadian Network of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. These are the groups identified on the website that goes with the summit being held in Toronto right now (May 28-May 30, 2014).

At least three of these groups are of particular concern: International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD).

We already know that IPPF is a strong abortion supporter around the world and works tirelessly to make abortion legal everywhere around the globe. I have also written extensively on Canada's funding to IPPF.

Below are some quotes from the ACPD and UNFPA websites.

ACPD raises contradictions in Canada’s refusal to fund abortion service abroad in recently released Lancet article

Posted on May 12, 2014 

“Accountability in Canada’s Muskoka Initiative questioned” 

"Is the Canadian Prime Minster’s billion dollar initiative for maternal, newborn, and child health failing to meet the standards it has urged on the rest of the world? Paul C Webster investigates. 

It was a message that pleased many global health advocates; Harper’s conservative Christian power base liked the emphasis on mothers and children as well. To reassure some of its most ardently Christian supporters, the Harper government had previously terminated Canadian development support for abortion services, a move that not only contradicted domestic Canadian law but also the laws of most countries where Canada funds maternal health programmes, according to Sandeep Prasad, executive director, Action Canada for Population and Development." (emphasis added)

(Not true. In Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mali, Sudan, and Tanzania, abortion is illegal.)

Embassy article: “Ghosts of abortion debate haunt maternal, child health summit”

"Sandeep EuroNGOs 2013ACPD featured in Embassy article by Kristen Shane on Canada’s upcoming Summit on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.  

“The same concerns about a lack of funding for safe abortions and sexual and reproductive health that bubbled up four years ago when Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared maternal, child and new-born health his main development priority threaten to boil over again as Canada and the world look to recalibrate their commitments later this month in Toronto." 

Does UNFPA promote abortion?

"No. Guided by paragraph 8.25 of the Cairo Programme of Action, UNFPA does not support or promote abortion as a method of family planning. It accords the highest priority and support to voluntary family planning to prevent unwanted pregnancies so as to eliminate recourse to abortion. UNFPA supports governments to strengthen their national health systems to deal effectively with complications of unsafe abortions, thereby saving women’s lives (every year, an estimated 13 per cent of maternal deaths result from  unsafe abortions). 

How does emergency contraception work? 

According to the World Health Organization, emergency contraceptives prevent unintended pregnancies. Since they do not terminate pregnancy, their use is not a form of abortion. Women have the right to information and services on emergency contraception just as with all other safe and effective methods of family planning. (emphasis added)

(Except that emergency contraception is abortion.)

Memo to Justin Trudeau: personal and public beliefs are inseparable

John Pacheco supports Bishop Christian Riesbeck's comments regarding Justin Trudeau. So do I.

"Bishop Christian Riesbeck said that if the Liberal leader refused a meeting and continued to practise his Catholic faith in the form of receiving communion, it would be unseemly. 

“It’s the fact that he considers himself to be a devout Catholic but then adheres to, or advocates for, abortion,” said Riesbeck. “That is scandalous,” he said, as opposition to abortion has been a clear and unchanging teaching of the church. Riesbeck is also not convinced by the argument that the Liberal Party is the party of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and will support women’s rights. “You know, if you look at Article 7 in the charter, it says that everyone has a right to life. It’s enshrined right there,” said Riesbeck. “Article 2 also speaks of freedom of conscience and religion. He seems to have undermined those values that all Canadians hold dear.” Riesbeck said that if Trudeau wanted to make things right, he would have to reverse course. “Ultimately, he would have to make a public retraction of his views,” he said."

Trudeau said this:

"My role is to stand up and defend all Canadians and my role in terms of that is separate from any personal religious views." 

I always get real fidgety when I hear a politician say this. A man or woman who tells me they are able to separate their personal beliefs from their public beliefs, means I instantly don't trust them. Conscience, values, morals, beliefs, whatever you want to call them, can't be separated from your personal and public life. They're a package deal. They go together and are intertwined in everything a person does, says, thinks and believes.

Trudeau should rethink this whole Liberal party pro-choice manifesto thing. It's not helpful to Liberals, or to pro-life Canadians. And it's not helpful to him as a leader, or as a Catholic.