NDP plan motion to push back against anti-abortion 'creep' from Conservatives

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh arrives to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 23, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)

OTTAWA -

The NDP is taking aim at the Conservatives on abortion by putting forward a motion to call out what it calls a "creep" of legislation, petitions and threats aimed at reducing access to abortion.

Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will use its next opposition day to force the House of Commons to debate and vote on a motion calling for urgent action to improve abortion access.

Singh claimed that anti-choice Conservative MPs are "often calling the shots" in the Official Opposition, and that leader Pierre Poilievre has "let his MPs bring in anti-choice laws, anti-choice motions."

"There is a real threat from the Conservatives," he said, speaking to the media at a news conference in Montreal.

The NDP in its press release cited several examples of what it called "anti-choice" moves from the Tories, including a petition presented earlier this year by a Conservative MP that claimed more than 98 per cent of abortions "are for reasons of social or personal convenience."

Poilievre said at the time he disagreed with the petition.

He has previously called himself "pro-choice" and said he would not pass laws that restrict reproductive choices if he is elected.

A statement issued by his spokesman Thursday reiterated that.

"When Canadians elect Pierre Poilievre as prime minister, no laws or rules will be passed that restrict women’s reproductive choices. Period," Sebastian Skamski said.

Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall introduced a private member's bill last year to encourage judges to consider a victim's pregnancy as an aggravating factor in sentencing.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada urged MPs to vote against the bill on the grounds that it promoted fetal rights, even though the bill's text didn't mention fetal rights.

Liberal ministers called the bill an effort to reopen the abortion debate in Canada.

Wagantall, who has been clear that she opposes abortion, said Bill C-311 had nothing to do with abortion.

At the time, a spokesperson for Poilievre said he planned to vote in favour of the bill.

Singh also called out the governing Liberals on Thursday, saying they haven't done enough to improve abortion access in Canada.

"This vote is very important, but it's also important that the vote on this motion is about not just the Conservative threat, but the lack of action of the Liberals," said Singh, adding that access to abortion in Canada is "getting worse, not better."

In question period, Women and Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien disputed that, citing the government's sexual and reproductive health fund.

"While Conservative MPs try to limit a woman's right to choose, we'll continue to work hard at opening every possible door," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.