Conservative Rod Bruinooge Heads Secret Anti-Abortion Group

While Parliament was prorogued in December, there was a group working behind the scenes to draft legislation that would make abortion a crime.

This group, headed by Winnipeg MP Rod Bruinooge, was attempting to fulfill this Conservative priority that came out during their last convention.

The abortion issue is a contentious one at best, but is not as black and white as those on both sides of the issue believe. It is also not confined to Conservative MPs though they clearly have the most members who are anti-choice.

First off the arguments from the so-called pro-life groups, are supposedly based on the Bible, but that's not true. The Bible clearly states that life begins at birth, and prior to that only a woman can decide the fate of her unborn. People like Cheryl Gallant will pull out "Thou shalt not kill', and yet she is very pro-war, so again that it not a legitimate argument.

What they don't understand is that pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion. It just means that only the woman can decide whether to carry the fetus to full term or terminate her pregnancy, within reason (not late term unless a threat to the mother). If pro-lifers want to work to offer her more choices, that's fine; but it can't be arbitrary.

Canada had decided two decades ago that this was the way it should be, yet the Conservatives are determined that they will reverse those decisions come hell or high water. By mandating that life begins at conception, abortion would then have the legal definition of murder.

Prudently, Stephen Harper put an end to the abortion debate, because while he tells his followers that abortion is wrong, it's all about keeping his job, and he knew that opening this up now, would be political suicide. If he ever got a majority though, it would be a different matter.

Abortion debate must wait
The Winnipeg Sun
By PAUL RUTHERFORD
December 31, 2008

The year 2009 is already shaping up as hot one in Ottawa.

Nobody can deny we all feel more engaged in federal politics thanks to December's turn of events. Now, on the eve of the new year, comments by Winnipeg Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge threaten to resurrect the divisive and explosive abortion issue. He and others are vowing to rekindle the issue and bring "more value" to the lives of unborn children.

"Very few Canadians appreciate the fact that essentially until a child takes its first breath, it has less value than a kidney," Bruinooge told The Canadian Press this week. (how ridiculous)

Bruinooge chairs a secretive pro-life all-party Parliamentary caucus determined to get abortion on to the political agenda.

This after Conservatives voted at their Winnipeg convention to bring in proposals which would see criminal charges against suspects who kill or injure a fetus during a crime -- that bill died when October's election was called.

Bruinooge says Canadians need to be better educated about Canada's position on abortion which he says puts Canada in a "class of its own." Pro-choice advocates say they are ready to fight if the Conservatives do take the risky step of opening the abortion can of worms.

So both sides seem to be taking their respective corners, prepping for a major bout. But it's likely a lot of talk resulting in little action.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants no part of this debate -- and this time Harper is doing exactly what we need. With a minority government in place and the economy the major issue everyone should care about, we need to forget about a debate on abortion.

"It's working well," says Joyce Arthur of the Abortion Rights Coaltion of Canada, referring to the now 20-year-old Supreme Court decision.

Maybe. But there are millions of Canadians re-energized by Bruinooge's call to arms.

This issue can't lay dormant forever, but in 2009 there's way too much on our plates. Nice try but it's a bad idea.

Ironically, Conservative oppose social programs, and have a very poor record on helping the poor. They want these fetuses brought to full term but then just wash their hands of them. Get killed in war, starve to death. They don't care. Just don't raise their taxes.