OTTAWA — Focusing on legislation that promotes adoption would do “greater good” to help pregnant women than restricting access to abortion, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says in a new letter.
His office outlined the leader’s position in correspondence sent to an anti-abortion supporter, who wrote the leader in early September calling on him to ban the procedure, suggesting Poilievre has changed his stance from being a “pro-lifer” over his 20 year career as a member of Parliament.
Campaign Life Coalition, the anti-abortion organization which shared the exchange with the National Post, points to how Poilievre voted against gay marriage in 2005, but, by 2020, said he felt it had been a success.
“While my government will not introduce or pass a law banning abortions, there are many other ways to support women who want to bring a child into the world. I do not believe that abortion should be the only option available to women faced with an unexpected pregnancy,” Poilievre’s letter from Sept. 11 reads.
“We can ease the challenges of putting a child up for adoption by supporting women through all nine months of pregnancy … I believe focusing on bills that promote adoption and help pregnant women through crises would do greater good.”
Asked how a Poilievre government would make adoption easier, spokesman Sebastian Skamski did not provide details but instead slammed how the Liberals voted against a private member’s bill proposed by Saskatchewan MP Rosemarie Falk, which sought to create a 15-week employment insurance benefit for adoptive parents.
The Liberals ultimately introduced their own measure, which Falk herself told the House of Commons back in April provided “cause for cautious optimism.”
Poilievre had supported her proposal and released a video where he reflected on his own adoption back in 1979, calling it the “the greatest gift I’ve ever been given.”
Since even before becoming leader, abortion has been among the thorny social issues Poilievre has had to navigate which dogged previous leaders before him.
When Poilievre considered running for the Conservative leadership the first time in 2020, he said any future government of his would not reopen the issue, but would maintain free votes for MPs on matters of conscience.
Poilievre also confirmed during the party’s 2022 leadership race that he considers himself to be “pro-choice.”
During that race, a leaked draft of a yet-to-be-made public U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade thrust the issue into the spotlight, which Poilievre responded to by saying that a future government of his would not introduce or pass any laws restricting abortion.
His wife, Anaida Poilievre, who is also campaigning for him, said during a French-language interview aired last December that the couple was “pro-choice.”
The Liberals still point to the voting record and statements made by Poilievre’s MPs, as the party has long been home to a well-mobilized social conservative wing, who believe the country must restrict access to abortion.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have long attacked the Conservatives for having such views, including after a report last week that Saskatchewan MP Jeremy Patzer visited a U.S. church with anti-abortion views.
Poilievre’s office was also quick to distance itself from statements made by Alberta backbench MP Arnold Viersen, who appeared on a Liberal MP’s podcast to say he hopes for the day abortion is “unthinkable,” and if given the chance again would vote down gay marriage.
The Liberals also attacked a private member’s bill proposed by Saskatchewan MP Cathy Wagantall that was defeated last year and proposed to make it an aggravating offence for someone to knowingly harm a pregnant women — a measure that proponents of abortion access warned opened the door for legislating more protections to a fetus, though Conservatives argued the bill didn’t even mention abortion.
In his September letter to the anti-abortion supporter, Poilievre said those who oppose the procedure have a home with the Conservatives.
“Pro-life Canadians are welcome in our party. The Conservative Party of Canada is a big tent with a strong tradition of free votes of conscience, and I intend to maintain this status quo,” it read.
The letter also added that Conservatives oppose the Liberals’ pledge to strip crisis pregnancy centres of their charitable status. Advocates of abortion access say many of them spread false and misleading information about the procedure.
Poilievre pledged to “stand up” to government attacks on “organizations that help pregnant women.”
Skamski said as the country’s possible next prime minister, “no laws or rules will be passed that restrict women’s reproductive choices. Period.”
“Common sense Conservatives support the value of adoption and supporting parents who provide a loving home to adopted children,” he said. “Mr. Poilievre understands the power of adoption firsthand, having been born to a 16-year-old mother and adopted by two school teachers as a child.”
He added that Canadians can expect a future Poilievre-led government to be one that “minds its own business,” including when it comes to personal decisions about “their bodies.”
Campaign Life Coalition President Jeff Gunnarson said in an interview he was “disappointed” by Poilievre’s position on abortion, but said he felt his stance on adoption “useful.”
The group came out against Poilievre during the 2022 leadership, which he won with almost 70 per cent of the votes. The coalition instead asked supporters to vote for Ontario MP Leslyn Lewis, who was the only one of the five candidates to promise restrictions on abortion. She finished a distant third.
RightNow, another anti-abortion group, had encouraged the same. It also criticized the party for disqualifying a social conservative candidate during the nomination race for the safe Conservative riding of Oxford last year, which was ultimately won by Arpan Khanna, now an MP who served as Poilievre’s former national outreach coordinator.
Gunnarson questions whether Poilievre would make promoting adoption a high priority should he form the next government and whether he would consider dedicating money to the issue.
Despite supporters disappointment with Poilievre, Gunnarson said many social conservatives are likely to still cast a ballot for the party on election day.
“If you don’t promote (abortion) and you don’t increase access and you don’t put more money towards it, that’s a positive,” he said.
“The bar is so low in Canada, that’s considered a good thing.”
Poilievre’s office did not answer when asked directly what the leader would do about the current federal funding going to sexual health centres and services which promote education and access to abortion, as well as similar services offered overseas.
National Post
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