(The following article is from the June 1-15,  2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

Statement from the Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada

The Communist Party of Canada condemns the Harper Conservative government for its latest attack on women's reproductive freedoms, which shows that the so-called "pro-life" forces are accomplices in the deaths of women and children around the world. The escalating offensive by the anti-choice movement in Canada raises fears that women here may soon face legislation to restrict reproductive rights, or even attempts to eliminate access to abortion altogether.

     Despite the fact that most Canadians support women's right to choose, the Harper Tories have decided to exclude from Canada's G8 maternal/child health package any funding for reproductive health care that includes safe abortion services. This policy, based on undemocratically imposing the religious views of a small minority, will have a deadly impact on women and children around the world.

     Until now, Canada has acted through the United Nations to help provide a full range of reproductive health services, including safe abortion where legal, and has consistently funded such services. For example, Canada was among the 179 governments at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development which committed to providing universal access to a full range of safe and reliable family planning methods by 2015.

     In developing countries, up to 20 million women decide to resort to illegal abortions every year, resulting in an estimated 70,000 deaths. Millions of these women never receive medical treatment for the resulting complications. Over 200,000 children lose their mothers every year from unsafe abortion-related deaths, and the lifespan of the surviving children in such families is shortened. In countries where mass rape is used as a sexual weapon, lack of access to safe abortion services compounds the trauma imposed on women and girls, further reducing their chances to regain a normal life.

    Harper's new policy means that to receive funding from Canada, aid agencies and healthcare clinics in developing countries will have to separate their programs, creating costly administrative barriers. Groups which forfeit Canadian funding may lose much of their ability to provide other basic healthcare. Far from improving the health of women and children, the government's policy shift will cost countless lives.

    The Communist Party of Canada demands that as part of the G8 initiative to improve maternal/child health, the Tories immediately pledge to fund the full range of reproductive healthcare for women, including safe abortion where legal, and quality post-abortion care for women injured from illegal, unsafe abortion.

     We also condemn the growing campaign to introduce legislation to restrict reproductive freedoms in Canada. Women's right to choose is a fundamental human right, not subject to any so-called "compromises".

     This campaign includes attempts to silence pro-choice voices (such as Conservative Senator Nancy Ruth's "advice" that pro-choice activists should "shut the f... up"), the statement by Cardinal Marc Ouellet calling abortion a "moral crime" even in cases of rape, and the bussing of students to inflate attendance at anti-choice rallies. The most dangerous, fundamentalist forces, which until now have largely been kept in the background, are today increasingly visible and powerful within the Conservative Party.

     If the Tories win a majority in the next election, these far-right forces would seize the opportunity to press for a sweeping rollback of equality gains such as pay equity and the right to abortion. There is an urgent and immediate need to mobilize Canadians who oppose this "social conservative" agenda. We urge full support for actions by pro-choice organizations, and also for steps to begin rebuilding a cross-Canada women's movement which can unite the big majority of women who support equality.

     A Tory majority would also accelerate Harper's attack on a much broader range of human rights, civil liberties and democratic freedoms. The full agenda of Harper and his supporters is very clear: the forced imposition of bigoted, fundamentalist social views, the corporate drive to privatize public services and quash labour rights, and a widening campaign to criminalize political dissent. The Communist Party of Canada pledges to continue its efforts to help build a massive mobilization of Canadians to drive the Tories out of office, and to decisively defeat the right wing forces in the next election.