Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government will be funding more international abortion services, the minister for international development quietly announced Friday night.
On CBC radio’s “As It Happens,” Marie-Claude Bibeau said that Canada will increase the amount of money it provides to international abortion-related services in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order that cuts off U.S. funding for foreign abortion providers.
“Women’s rights is too important for us to make a compromise on that,” said Bibeau, who added that her Liberal government is enthusiastic about a Dutch-led initiative to fund international programs supporting women’s “reproductive health.”
“I think that restricting the access to abortion does not reduce abortion. It only increases the number of unsafe abortions and it endangers the lives of women,” Bibeau said.
Canada is joining a Dutch plan announced earlier in the week that is inviting pro-abortion countries to replace the $600 million in U.S. funding that will now be lost due to Trump’s decision.
“Yes, we will support the [Dutch] effort,” Bibeau said. “Will it be directly through the fund or indirectly, this is not clear yet. But, I assured my colleague, the Minister from the Netherlands, that we will increase our funding to sexual and reproductive health and rights. This is definitely a very important priority for our government.”
Bibeau refused to put a dollar value on the funding increase and insisted upon describing abortion as an issue of “sexual and reproductive health” that is essential to the “empowerment” of women.
Trudeau is a staunch supporter of Canada’s unrestricted abortion law and forbids any member of his Liberal Party caucus from espousing pro-life views. In order to seek election under the party banner candidates must sign a disclaimer that their position on abortion is “pro-choice.”
Notwithstanding, Canadians remain divided over the issue of abortion, with a majority opposed to taxpayer funds being used for that purpose.
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