HALIFAX—Prime Minister Stephen Harper said other G8 countries are free to pay for abortions in developing nations, but Canadians want their humanitarian aid dollars to focus on less controversial ways of promoting maternal health.

“Canadians want to see their foreign aid money used for things that will help save the lives of women and children in ways that unite the Canadian people rather than divide them,” Harper told the House of Commons in Ottawa Tuesday.

“We understand that other governments, that other taxpayers, may do something different,” Harper said. “We want to make sure our funds are used to save the lives of women and children and are used on the many, many things that are available to us that frankly do not divide the Canadian population.”

It was the strongest statement yet from the Conservative government on its refusal to fund access to safe abortion procedures as part of its signature G8 project on child and maternal health—especially on the reason why – and was delivered as G8 development ministers or their designates sat around a Halifax table carefully avoiding the issue.

“The word abortion never came up once, although there was a bit of talk . . . that each country has to recognize the political difficulties each would have in its own country,” said Liberal MP Glen Pearson (London North Centre), who as the opposition critic for international co-operation was invited to sit in on the working sessions.

Pearson said potential challenges raised were the rise and fall in public support for foreign aid in G8 populations and differing approaches to health care – especially when it comes to measuring results – rather than abortion.

“That could be veiled and (abortion) could be in there, but it was never overt, it was never said,” Pearson added. “But the idea that we do have to be flexible to other countries with their various needs was obviously there, because they all have different protocols. So part of what was said was ‘Look, we all have our different ways of approaching things, but how do we then end up with what we say we are looking for at the G8?”

That cautious sidestepping continued in public.

International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda held a news conference and brought along Rajiv Shah, chief administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, to insist Canada and the U.S. agree on a definition of family planning that advocates control over the timing of childbearing – which includes the use of contraceptives but does not specifically address abortion – and that the U.S. will support Canada’s initiative.

But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out strongly during a Canadian visit last month about the need for governments to put their personal ideologies aside when it comes to helping women in developing countries obtain safe abortions, and Shah said she was “absolutely” speaking on behalf of the administration of President Barack Obama.

“We know that when we have effective family planning programs we reduce the numbers of both unwanted pregnancies and abortions that are in play, that when people use unsafe abortions, that is technically a cause of maternal mortality,” said Shah, noting the Obama administration quickly rescinded a Bush-era policy to cut down support for abortion-related aid.

Still, when asked whether the U.S. was at odds with the Canadian position, Shah said “No, not at all” on his way out of the news conference.

Adding to the confusion was the suggestion by Oda that there was nothing new in all the recent rhetoric over abortion.

“Canada has never funded a procedure that included abortion,” Oda said, even though the federal government has in fact given funds to the pro-choice International Planned Parenthood Federation since the mid-1980s, an organization that is still waiting to hear whether a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency that expired last December will be renewed.

“Canada will honour its current commitments with all organizations to undertake all the activities it has,” Oda said when asked whether groups historically funded by the agency that do include abortion as one of their services would be affected.

Scott Cantin, a spokesman for the development agency, said only that “CIDA does not fund any project specifically aimed at increasing the availability of abortion. In keeping with existing international agreements, the Government of Canada does not promote abortion as a means of family planning, either domestically or internationally.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Pearson said despite the vague wording of discussions at the official sessions Tuesday, his background conversations with delegates – including CIDA experts – at the coffee shop and on the sidelines of the summit involved a lot of questions about the details.

“This is a political announcement,” Pearson said.

Read more about: