Harper comments on abortion (last f'in night)

[Hux]

Said this last night....that's right, the man who may soon lead the country. unbelievable.

Newman: On the issue of abortion, will you pledge that there will be no legislation on abortion, there will never be a free vote in Parliament on that issue?

Harper: Never is a long time. What I’m saying is I have no desire to see that issue debated in the near future. We’re saying very clear in our platform we’re not going to support or initiate abortion legislation, and frankly, I don’t want this Parliament to have an abortion debate.

Newman: So to be clear, you support a woman’s right to choose?

Harper: I’ve always said my views on the abortion issue are complex, I don’t fall into any of the neat polar extremes on this issue.

Newman: Explain them then if they are complex.

Harper: No, I don’t need to because I’m not proceeding with an abortion agenda.

full article:

T R A N S C R I P T

‘Myviews on abortion are complex’

Global National

Excerpts of Kevin Newman’s interview with Stephen Harper outside the Conservative leader’s boyhood home in Toronto, on Global National last

night.

Newman: Pierre Trudeau was asked once ... when you dream do you dream in English or do you dream in French, and it was a question that got to the soul of his image. When you think of yourself, do you mostly belong here or in Alberta?

Harper: It’s a combination, often when I dream, the dreams are actually set on this street. Those are the most powerful memories. I can tell you — you know how it is when you are a boy — I can tell you which pavement ... you know every crack.... You know your world is small, but you know it in detail when you are a kid.

Newman: But as a man are you mostly a Calgarian or mostly a Torontonian.

Harper: I’ve been out in Alberta for a while; I married an Alberta girl; my kids are born in Alberta. But obviously running to be prime minister, spending so much time running around the country, you start to think of yourself as representing the country as a whole. I love Alberta, I’ve never made any secret of it. I had a great childhood growing up in Toronto but I, ah, I do love Alberta.

Newman: You say you are who you are but some people say you’re kind of different this campaign, you’re a little more approachable, more relaxed. Are you for real this time?

Harper: I think there’s some urban legends. There was sort of a myth that I never shook hands, but I’ve run four national campaigns in the last four years and generally done well in most of them and you don’t do well unless you are a good campaigner.

Newman: What about the issue of same-sex [marriage], I think people are wondering about. You promised to take that to a vote to Parliament. If someone is born gay in Canada, why should they expect to have less access to the institutions of the country and sanctions?

Harper: This is an emotional subject. Some people see it as a rights issue; I see it as an issue of marriage, as an issue of preserving an important traditional institution and I don’t think that has to inhibit anyone’s choices or their benefits or rights and I don’t see it as a rights issue and I guess that’s the big divide. And I think we’ve got to preserve our traditional institutions.

Newman: On the issue of abortion, will you pledge that there will be no legislation on abortion, there will never be a free vote in Parliament on that issue?

Harper: Never is a long time. What I’m saying is I have no desire to see that issue debated in the near future. We’re saying very clear in our platform we’re not going to support or initiate abortion legislation, and frankly, I don’t want this Parliament to have an abortion debate. Newman: So to be clear, you support a woman’s right to choose?

Harper: I’ve always said my views on the abortion issue are complex, I don’t fall into any of the neat polar extremes on this issue.

Newman: Explain them then if they are complex.

Harper: No, I don’t need to because I’m not proceeding with an abortion agenda.

[SevenSeasJim]

It's too bad the Liberals have let Harper get where he is.

[ollie]

Newman: Explain them then if they are complex.

Harper: No, I don’t need to because I’m not proceeding with an abortion agenda.

I hope Peter Mansbridge brings this one up tonight. Harper will be on CBC tonight at 10pm in a "town hall" format. Should be good!

[Alexis]

the whole abortion thing is a big issue with me and supporting the cons if i choose to. i don't want things changed from where they stand right now.

hearing the words "near future" is not a good thing in my eyes, please define near future.

but down the line he says "i don't need to define it because we're not going there" i completely see his point. and if he ISN'T going to go there, there really is no point in going into it. it's a moot issue.

thanks for posting this huxy. this was something that i've been concerned about and now i don't feel that concerned anymore.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Bear in mind though that no politician is in any circumstance ever bound to abide by what he or she says or promises on the campaign trail.

[ollie]

but down the line he says "i don't need to define it because we're not going there" i completely see his point. and if he ISN'T going to go there, there really is no point in going into it. it's a moot issue.

I see his point from a political point of view. Why open a can of worms if he doesn't have to? Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. But I still think it's legitimate to ask our leaders and future leaders their opinions on hot button issues and expect them to answer.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Especially when so much rhetoric is geared around social-conservative issues. As soon as you start talking about families, these litmus test flags are going to go off.

[Birdy]

*cough* dalton mcguinty.

i love coughing in names.

[Hux]

He supports free votes, so - while he squirms on his views a backbencher can introduce a private members bill (which he has no power/control over) that will be up for a free vote, so it could very well happen.

How fucking hard is it to say "I believe in a woman's right to choose"?

[bradm]

The only free vote I've heard Harper talk about is the one on same-sex marriage. If a private member's bill were introduced under Harper (by any member, on any issue, except same-sex marriage, presumably), has Harper said it'd be free, or would it subject to the traditional party unity?

Aloha,

Brad

[d_rawk]

The trick for Harper is that he doesn't need to bring it forward, so he wouldn't have to have been lying. One of the many whackos in his caucus won't be able to help themselves from bringing it forward as a private member's bill. And ta-da, it's on the agenda.

This blurb is a tad dated (2004), but I don't think that Harper's position has changed since that time on this issue:

During Canada's federal election campaign, Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper repeatedly stated that if elected, his government would not table abortion legislation and would not hold a referendum on abortion. He said it's up to the provinces to decide how abortion services are administered. However, he also said he would allow free votes in Parliament on abortion-related private member bills.

In response to criticism over the free vote issue, Harper said, "I will not be making free votes and private member's legislation more difficult than it is already." He indicated that a bill restricting abortion would have almost no chance of passing. Although it's true that private members' bills are extremely difficult to pass (hundreds are introduced each year), a few certainly can be passed with enough support. In the most recent Parliament (37th, 2nd Session), four private members' bills received royal assent, and several others were passed by the House of Commons. One of them was Svend Robinson's bill to include sexual orientation in Canada's hate crime legislation.

Harper said his vote on any private member's bill to restrict abortion "would depend on the specifics of the legislation." When asked how he would respond if one of his MPs brought forward a bill to cut funding for abortion, Harper said, "I would oppose that. I think health-care money should go to the provinces for them to decide how to run a health care system."

Harper's insistence on free votes was likely a sop to the anti-abortion movement. Party leaders have the authority to require their MPs to vote along party lines, not according to their own conscience. Perhaps Harper's personal views on abortion also had something to do with his preference for free votes. When asked by the media whether he was pro-choice or pro-life, he said, "I've tended to avoid those kinds of labels because my own views tend to not be on either pole of that issue." He also said, "I wouldn't say I like abortion, but I think abortion is a reality that is with us." This probably means Harper would like to stop abortion if he could, but believes he can't—at least right now. Indeed, Harper was careful to specify that abortion legislation would not be tabled in his government's first term.

edit: oops, Hux beat me to it.

Edited January 19, 2006 by Guest

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

One of the many whackos in his caucus won't be able to help themselves from bringing it forward as a private member's bill.

. I'm reminded of a someone I used to know who's doctor had evidently told him to lay off the dairy, and I watched bemused at dinner one night as his hand kept creeping towards the cheese tray and his eyes flicking back and forth lest anyone notice until something snapped and he grabbed a big chunk of brie and stuffed it in his mouth, with the wildest interplay of emotions playing across his face.

I'm sure there's a connection in there somewhere.

[Alexis]

He supports free votes, so - while he squirms on his views a backbencher can introduce a private members bill (which he has no power/control over) that will be up for a free vote, so it could very well happen.

How fucking hard is it to say "I believe in a woman's right to choose"?

ok seriuosly, ya can't have it both ways. either harper is the devil and anything he personally feels will be introduced and everyone will do as he wishes and the country will go to hell in his handbasket

OR

one of his cronies will do his dirty work for him and it's a free vote and members can decide what they want.

oh yes, let's add this into the mix....because they're evil conservatives they won't EVER think of listening to their consituents, they'll just do as they please and praise jesus the lord will have came.

my god i almost think the libs should want all this to happen, because then when an election is called, and people march in the streets, the party will ceast to exist or hold as much political water as the communist party does.

edit to add: the party i mention in that last paragraph beng the cons.

Edited January 19, 2006 by Guest

[djmelbatoast]

I think the overwhelming majority would smile and take it, just like in the States. Poor, ignorant people don't feel as marginalized when they are in the magority. Mob rule, praise the Lord and his noodly appendage! Arrgghh!!

[ggrtrhhrtgg]

wow, its amazing how people are accusing the Liberals of being dishonest because of a scandal that was initiated by the fact that there was a possibility of our country breaking up. Back room politics to save a separation crisis--how fucking awful.

Meanwhile, you have a "conservative" party being about as dishonest and indirect as you can possibly be in politics because they are afraid to stand by their policies because they are afraid of losing a vote!!!

excuse me??

FREEDOM--AKA LIBERAL

[d_rawk]

Morgentaler warns against Tory government

Fearing that a Stephen Harper-led government will turn back the clock on women's rights, pre-eminent abortion rights activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler made a blunt appeal to Canadians on Friday: Don't vote Conservative.

"Our rights that have been fought for and won with so much sacrifice over the years are now being threatened," Morgentaler told a news conference in Toronto.

"I want them to know when they go to the ballot box that they have to remember that they cannot vote Conservative if they're concerned about the health and welfare and dignity of women."

While Harper has repeatedly promised that, if elected, he will not criminalize abortion, Morgentaler and other abortion rights activists said Friday there are other measures the Conservative leader could implement to restrict women's access to the procedure.

Those include the introduction of a private member's bill pushing for anti-abortion legislation, and stacking the Supreme Court with socially conservative judges, they said.

Well. This should be interesting.