It's fair to say one plan ought not to be blamed for not being what it's not, but to suggest that maternal health is not related to the provision of condoms seems a bit implausible. Don't fund abortion -- well, that's consistent with Conservative policy. But no condoms? No family planning?
http://tinyurl.com/y9y3emp
The Conservative government has offered an explanation for why it will exclude contraception from its initiative to improve the health of mothers in poor countries: Birth control doesn't fit with saving lives.
In no uncertain terms, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon yesterday ruled out any kind of family-planning programs being included in Canada's "signature" initiative at June's G8 summit - a strategy to improve the health of mothers and young children in poor countries.
"It does not deal in any way, shape or form with family planning. Indeed, the purpose of this is to be able to save lives," Mr. Cannon told the Foreign Affairs committee.
Though Stephen Harper's government has suggested before that its maternal-health initiative would leave out family planning, Mr. Cannon's statements distressed those who had hoped for some flexibility.
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Many organizations opposed to abortion still see family planning as a key method to reducing childbirth deaths - a key goal of Mr. Harper's initiative. Teen mothers and those who become pregnant quickly after previous births are at much higher risk.
Dorothy Shaw, an assistant dean of medicine at the University of British Columbia and spokeswoman for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, said Canadian coalitions that include conservative faith-based organizations agree that family planning to time and space pregnancies is key to saving lives.
3 comments:
I'll say this again.....abortion is no ones business. Not the government, not the individual, not religions. If it is against God's...the one and only...law, then God will deal with it when the person passes on. Very simple but people are in the habit of sticking their noses into mundane rather than taking on the fact, over population is the problem and I am NOT saying abortion should be used to control it either. Over population is the problem for everything.....pollution, the poor, the uneducated and the jobless.
I think the government is taking an irresponsible position.
A woman's health is directly impacted by her ability to make decisions about reproduction.
Ignatieff has been slow on stuff like this - just as he was slow on the government cuts to CAP grant funding, and had events overtake him, so he missed any chance to comment.
Maybe he'll comment on the government's cutting of all climate change research...? Probably not. I haven't seen any Liberal reaction at all to the constant program cuts being made by the Conservatives to progressive, scientific and educational groups and institutions.
I cannot believe the Harper government's position on this. It is beyond archaic.
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