Mr. Speaker, I would, in fact, question who is using smear tactics and political rhetoric in this debate.
Members on this side of the House support the government's initiative but say that it does not go far enough. There is no question that we are all committed to reducing the deaths of women from unsafe abortions. However, why is the government picking who can live and who can die? Why is it ignoring the 70,000 women who die each year from abortions? Why is it ignoring the motherless children who are left? The member opposite cited the number of deaths of children. Many of those children are motherless children without the nutrition and without the opportunity.
I want to quote Jill Wilkinson, president of Women Deliver, who said, “Women need access to family planning programs and modern contraceptives. And they need access to skilled care”, we agree, “before, during, and after childbirth, especially access to emergency obstetric care....Women also need access to safe abortion services when and where they are legal”.