Trudeau says U.S. state abortion bans are ‘backsliding on women’s rights’
Posted May 16, 2019 11:44 am.
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is deeply disappointed in a “backsliding on women’s rights” happening in American states moving to ban abortion access.
Alabama’s legislature passed a law banning virtually all abortions in the state, as other southern and midwestern states make similar moves.
Trudeau told reporters in France today he regrets these U.S. developments.
He re-affirmed his own pro-choice stance and said Canada would remain unequivocal in its defence of a woman’s right to end a pregnancy.
He also called out Conservative politicians for supporting anti-abortion initiatives — something Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef is also doing today.
She has sent a letter to 12 Conservative MPs chastising them for marching in an anti-abortion rally on Parliament Hill last week — which she says shows their willingness to re-open the abortion debate in Canada.
Monsef is calling on Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to clearly re-affirm Canadian women’s right to reproductive health services and to work with the Liberal government to protect legal abortion services in Canada and across the world.
The Canadian Press
