Mr. Speaker, Canada's G8 and G20 maternal and child health strategy is of profound concern.
On April 28, 2010, I asked the Minister of International Cooperation to explain to the House why the government has decided to renege on its international commitments by refusing to include a complete range of maternal health services in its maternal and child health strategy.
All G8 partners, including the Americans and the British, have been very clear that access to safe abortions must be part of the maternal health initiative.
In his response, the parliamentary secretary followed the example of the minister and decided to use quotations from various organizations, creating the illusion that these organizations actually support this G8 initiative. The cherry-picking of quotations misled the House and the Canadian public.
On May 3, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women began its study on the G8 maternal and child health initiative. Over the course of our meetings, we heard from a number of reputable aid and maternal health organizations. These organizations that specialize in maternal health stated that access to legal, safe abortion must be included in a maternal health strategy.
I will give members an idea of the information that was presented at committee. We learned that with the adoption of the Maputo plan of action on sexual and reproductive health and rights in 2006, all African states now permit abortion under some circumstances.
However, despite this, the WHO shows that only 5 in every 100 abortions in Africa are carried out under safe conditions. So, despite political will among these nations, they have not been able to put the infrastructure in place to provide safe abortions.
Katherine McDonald, executive director of Action Canada for Population and Development, cautioned the committee, saying that if we are to restrict abortion from Canadian aid policies, we have to remember that in most of those countries where women get sexual and reproductive health care there is only a one-stop shop.
If abortion is legal, contraception fails and they go back to find out what their options are with respect to the possible termination of a pregnancy, the practical issue arises of what to do if that clinic is receiving Canadian aid. Do providers say no, that it must turn them away because they have Canadian aid pooled in their funding, or is it a situation where Canadian aid will not be available to that clinic at all?
We were also provided with some troubling statistics. Ainsley Jenicek, project manager of Fédération du Québec pour le planning des naissances, told the committee:
In reality, more than 220,000 children lose their mothers each year due to unsafe abortions. So it is a lot more likely that, without their mothers, those children will die.
Approximately 70,000 women die each year due to unsafe abortions.
Five million women are hospitalized because of complications resulting from unsafe abortion....
On May 11, the Minister of International Cooperation reported to the House that the Canadian Association of Midwives supported Canada's maternal and child health strategy. She led the House to believe that the exclusion of abortion was acceptable.
A letter from Gisela Becker, the president of CAM, stated:
...I would like to clarify our organization’s position and respond to [the] comments [of the minister] in the House of Commons on May 11th, 2010 that CAM supports the Canadian Government’s position on its MNCH strategy. CAM certainly [does] support [that position].... However, CAM believes that reproductive health care is an integral part of maternal health; this includes contraception, family planning and access to legal, safe abortion care as a fundamental right of women regardless of where they live.
This testimony shows that the government is risking women by refusing to provide safe, legal abortion. Does it think it can play political games with the lives of women?