Fearing the abortion debate

I'm not Roman Catholic, but I know these conspiracy theories about the real loyalties of Catholic leaders are bunk.

So should Michael Coren, as he's been a Roman Catholic more than once in the life-long pinball game that's been his religious pilgrimage.

In a column in yesterday's National Post, Barbara Kay writes:

Pundits Michael Coren of Ontario and Richard Martineau of Quebec don't normally coincide polemically. But they have lately converged on one issue.

Both have elected to gin up fears that Andrew Scheer's campaign promise not to introduce an abortion law might, in the (unlikely) event of a CPC majority, yield to his fervent pro-life convictions. And both have justified their scaremongering through guilt by association.

In a late-August Maclean's article, Coren brings his insider knowledge as a former Catholic to bear on his claim that Canadian women's continued right to unfettered abortion might be compromised by a Scheer government. Scheer, after all, believes abortion is a "grave sin." Therefore, "(c)an we believe Scheer when he says that, given the power to stop it, he simply won’t do so?" Maybe we shouldn"t believe him, Coren muses. Because even though Scheer has not himself labelled abortion as the "crime of murder," "he has certainly associated with people who do."

[Barbara Kay: Stop the Conspiracy Theories About Canadian Catholics in Government]

In the last 50 years, nearly every Canadian prime minister has been a Roman Catholic. (The two who weren't are Kim Campbell [Anglican] and Stephen Harper [Christian and Missionary Alliance]). So what were these past (and present) Prime Ministers' positions on abortion over the years?

• Pierre Trudeau (1968–79, 1980–84): While the younger Trudeau was personally pro-life, as Justice Minister in the Pearson government, he introduced the Criminal Law Amendment Act which, amongst other things, decriminalized abortions where a three-doctor committee agreed that the life or health of the mother was endangered by her pregnancy. (The term "health" was not defined.) This law passed after Trudeau became prime minister in 1968.
• Joe Clark (1979–80): Clark was a "Red Tory" who was a pro-choice Catholic. When the Conservative Party of Canada was formed from the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance in 2003, Clark (then the leader of the PCs) declined to join the new party and subsequently retired from politics. The socially conservative positions of the new CPC, including a more pro-life stance on abortion, were one of the reasons.
• John Turner (1984): Turner succeeded Pierre Trudeau as the leader of the Liberal Party, and consequently became Prime Minister for 79 nine days (the second-shortest tenure as PM, after Charles Tupper), until the Liberals lost the 1984 national election to the PCs. Parliament was not in session while Turner was PM. Though personally pro-life, Turner, as Trudeau's Justice Minister, re-introduced the Criminal Law Amendment Act in 1968 during the 28th Parliament. During the 1988 national election, Turner stated that abortion ought to be a decision between a woman and her doctor.
• Brian Mulroney (1984–93): R v. Morgentaler struck down section 251(4) of the Criminal Code, rendering abortion legal for any reason at any time, in 1988. The Mulroney government tried twice to re-criminalize abortion on demand. The first time, in the spring of 1988, failed to pass in the House of Commons. The second, in 1989, passed the Commons but was defeated in the Senate. In both cases, the bill was defeated both by progressives and feminists who believed it was too restrictive, and by social conservatives who believed it wasn't restrictive enough. While Mulroney personally opposed abortion on demand, his attempts to restrict abortion in Canada were regarded as compromised. No government has even tried again since.
• Jean Chrétien (1993–2003): Chrétien declared himself to be a Catholic and a supporter of abortion rights. During various election campaigns, he continually warned that a Conservative or Canadian Alliance government would restrict abortion rights.
• Paul Martin (2003–06): Martin, while personally opposed to abortion, campaigned in favour of abortion rights during the 2004 national election.
• Justin Trudeau (2015–present): The younger Trudeau, like his father, is personally opposed to abortion. However, as Liberal leader, he mandated that Liberal MPs must vote pro-choice on any abortion legislation. During the 2015 national election, potential Liberal candidates for Parliament could not be nominated. Applicants for Canada Summer Jobs funding in the summer of 2018 were required to attest that their mandate respected "reproductive rights"; after significant backlash, this wording was changed to a more compromised attestation for 2019.

In other words, Coren is historically myopic. What exactly is he afraid of? If Andrew Scheer is personally opposed to abortion, but as prime minister he would not introduce legislation to restrict it, how does he differ on this issue from every Liberal prime minister within my lifetime?

[I]t's hardly surprising that during the Conservative leadership contest, Scheer was eagerly interviewed by the pro-life group Right Now. He told them that while his party wouldn't officially reopen the issue, "I've always voted in favour of pro-life legislation. . . . I can assure you that I support the right of individual MPs to speak out and bring, introduce matters that are important to them."

[The Question to Ask About Andrew Scheer and Abortion]

There it is. It's not so much that Scheer is personally pro-life and may be compromised on abortion rights. Coren is concerned that as prime minister, Scheer would allow MPs to debate an issue, which, presumably, is no longer up for debate.

It is virtually taken for granted amongst abortion-rights advocates that abortion is a settled right in Canada. It isn't. R v. Morgentaler didn't establish abortion as a fundamental human right. The court said that the slow pace of the Therapeutic Abortion Committee's review process endangered the life and health of the mother. The court then gave Parliament the responsibility of drafting new legislation to replace section 251(4) of the Criminal Code. Justice Bertha Wilson (ironically, the only woman on the Supreme Court at the time) wrote it was a "perfectly valid legislative objective" to protect the rights of the unborn. Also, there was no consensus amongst the nine judges of the court; therefore, Morgentaler, unlike Roe v. Wade in the United States, sets no legal precedent in Canada.

Coren doesn't seem to want to re-open debate on an issue that was never closed to debate. A prime minister who refuses to actively address such an important social concern isn't necessarily the best choice for the office, but he's still, theoretically, showing greater concern for the unborn than any of his predecessors in the last 30 years. So, assuming Scheer and the Conservatives win next Monday's election, more power to 'em.