In spite of all the promises never to reopen the abortion debate, (including
the most recent one, when Harper pledged not to touch the issue even if he wins majority,) the opposition parties still insist that Stephen Harper is not pro-abortion enough:
Opposition parties, the Bloc included, have spent the last number of elections attempting to paint Harper as a closet pro-life activist ready to restrict abortion or perhaps outlaw it altogether as soon as a Conservative majority would enable it. (The power of the mainstream media is such that many pro-life Canadians actually believed it.) That game plan was successful with Harper’s predecessor Stockwell Day, who was in fact pro-life, and the game plan has never changed since then.
However, given Harper’s pro-abortion political moves, the strategy at this point seems loony to any objective observer. Nevertheless, Liberal House leader David McGuinty opined in response to Harper’s CBC interview, “I don’t think Mr. Harper can be trusted on significant issues like abortion.”
NDP leader Jack Layton also stoked the conspiracy theory fires saying of Harper: “He was very careful in the way he chose his words there. And I wouldn’t derive a lot of comfort if I were concerned about what he might do,” on abortion.
So, once again, Harper has distanced himself from the pro-life movement for nothing. But there is still an important message in what he said:
I say to people, if you want to diminish the number of abortions, you've got to change hearts and not laws.
Bingo! Obviously, the tide can't be turned without the women themselves turning their backs on abortion. And, let's not forget - Harper is a politician. For him the main motivator is public support. Unless there is a strong public support for the unborn, no politician will dare to touch the issue with a ten-foot pole. Especially - not the one whose quest for majority means winning no less than 60% of the seats, available to Federalist candidates.
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