Abortion wasn’t a top of mind issue for most voters during the recent Alberta election campaign.
But that doesn’t mean abortion wasn’t top of mind for organizations dedicated to ending abortion rights for women. They worked hard to nominate and elect United Conservative Party candidates with strong pro-life credentials.
Now that Jason Kenney and the UCP are in power the pro-lifers have high hopes they will soon be rewarded for their efforts. They are especially pleased with the appointment of a prominent pro-lifer as education minister.
Given what is happening south of the border, where Alabama has banned abortion even in cases of rape and incest, and seven other states have imposed restrictions that make it almost impossible for a woman to obtain an abortion, it would be wise to pay close attention to the growing political influence of pro-lifers in Canada.
They have certainly made their mark in Doug Ford’s government caucus. And they intend to do the same with Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives during the upcoming federal election campaign.
Kenney’s UCP handily won the Alberta election because they promised to restore the province to its prosperous glory days. Nothing else seemed to matter for most voters as long as he kept that promise.
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But behind the scenes Kenney had a lot of help from anti-abortion activists who see him and his party as the best route to restricting and eventually banning abortion.
Key to those efforts was the Wilberforce Project — formerly Alberta Pro-Life — and RightNow, a national anti-abortion group based in Ottawa that posted an organizer in Alberta to ensure pro-life candidates were nominated and elected.
The Wilberforce Project is named after William Wilberforce, an 18th century British MP, devout evangelical Christian and prominent activist in the anti-slavery movement.
But equating slavery and abortion is nothing but muddled algebra. Because denying women the right to opt for abortion is itself a form of slavery in that women would have no choice but to continue a pregnancy even though they don’t want to. Even though they may have been raped, abused, or unable to obtain contraception.
Wilberforce’s and RightNow’s slogan — Protecting Girls, Women and the Preborn — is also a head scratcher. Who are they protecting girls and women from? Can’t they be trusted to know their own minds and bodies? Nobody is forcing them to have abortions. But Wilberforce certainly has no qualms about forcing them not to have an abortion.
Wilberforce was so confident of their efforts to recruit pro-life candidates that two months before the Alberta election Cameron Wilson, its political action director, declared: “if the UCP wins the upcoming election we will have the most pro-life legislature in decades, maybe ever.”
Now that the UCP MLAs hold 63 out of 87 seats in the legislature, Wilson refuses to say how many are pro-lifers.
Kenney is certainly one of them. A staunch Catholic and anti-abortionist, he has said that he does not intend to open the abortion debate or change or introduce any laws regarding abortion.
But he doesn’t need to legislate to make access to abortion in Alberta more difficult. After all, the provinces deliver health care services and abortion is provided under the health care umbrella.
Kenney certainly showed his colours when he was leader of the opposition. During passage of a bill put forward by the NDP government that declared a 50 metre protest-free zone outside abortion clinics Kenney and his entire caucus walked out of the legislature every time it came up for discussion.
When an NDP member proposed a motion to improve access to abortion for rural and northern women, the Wilberforce Project campaigned against it. The motion was never debated and eventually disappeared when the legislature was dissolved before the election. Wilberforce declared victory.
Kenney’s caucus has decidedly fewer women — 23 per cent — than former premier Rachel Notley’s caucus at 48 per cent.
Will that make a difference when the pro-lifers start to push Kenney to fulfil their agenda? Or will the abortion issue split the ranks and force Kenney to choose a side?
One thing is for sure: elected pro-lifers are not about to give up on their mission to end abortion rights.
