Stéphane Replies

Well. It seems like Stéphane Dion finally got around to his inbox. Back in February, we at Birth Pangs wrote to him demanding that he whip the Liberal vote on the second reading of the Kicking Abortion's Ass Bill. As we all know, he did not. In fact, he did not even show up to vote against it himself.

Later, though, he made a statement at a press conference that the Liberals would not let C-484 pass.

And today, we got a reply to our email of February restating that position.

Dear Sir/Madame,

We would like to thank you for your recent letter regarding the Private Member’s Bill C-484 presented by Conservative member Ken Epp.

Members of Parliament have the right to put forward a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Commons. However, our concern with Mr. Epp’s bill, a concern shared by many lawyers, health professionals and women’s rights organizations, is that it would undermine a woman’s right to choose and could ultimately be a threat to a woman’s ability to access safe abortion services. We are committed to the Liberal Party of Canada, under Stéphane Dion's leadership, standing firm against the idea of reopening the debate surrounding a woman’s right to choose. Passage of this bill will reopen the debate and threaten the rights of women – we will not allow that to happen.

Mr. Epp’s bill has been sent to the Justice committee and would only become law after receiving a majority vote in favour on its third reading in the House of Commons. Mr. Dion intends to work to ensure the bill is defeated at that time.

Thank you for taking the time to share your views on this important issue.

Sincerely,

The Office of Honourable Stéphane Dion, P.C., M.P.
Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

Good. The women of Canada are going to hold you to that, M. Dion.

(First published at Birth Pangs.)