Ontario Conservative leadership candidate Doug Ford wants to know why girls as young as 12 in Canada can procure abortions without asking their parents for permission.
Ford, who is favored to win the contest and then be poised to become the next Ontario premier, noted Monday that teens need parental consent to go on a school field trip but not to end a pregnancy.
Ford made the observation during an interview with the pro-life online journal Right Now.
“You know, most procedures in this province require a minor to have the consent of a parent. I can’t think of a more life-changing procedure for a young woman than an abortion,” Ford told Right Now, in response to a question about abortion accessibility in Ontario.
“I think that this is an important discussion to have and I would welcome any member who wanted to bring it forward in the Legislature to do so,” said Ford, a parent of four daughters.
During a campaign appearance in London, Ontario, Ford continued to criticize the abortion policy.
“My friends, you have to give a note to your kids when they’re 12 and 13 years old to go on a field trip. You have to approve even getting their tonsils out,” Ford noted.
“I don’t know too many parents that would approve any of their kids going on a field trip without their knowledge. I don’t see anyone ever approving an operation on their children when they’re 12- and 13-years-old without approval,” he told the crowd, referring to abortion.
“I don’t know why politicians are afraid to talk about this,” Ford stated.
Ford, like his brother, the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, isn’t afraid of controversy — which any mention of the abortion issue in Canada is always labeled by liberal politicians and the mainstream media.
Ford’s remarks annoyed members of the Ontario Liberal government. Member of the Provincial Parliament Deb Matthews told the provincial legislature Monday that Ford is raising “divisive social conservative issues.”
She described as a child accessing an abortion as “a woman” who “can talk about it” with her physician.