Re-posted from ChristianGovernance.ca.

Last fall, in the lead-up to the House of Commons vote on Stephen Woodworth’s Motion-312 (asking the House to examine the evidence as to the definition of personhood—(when does human life begin?)— prolifers across the country wrote letters to their MPs, asking them to support the motion. In that historic vote, all eyes were on the House. The PM and his Justice Minister had clearly stated their opposition to the motion. The pressure was on all MPs and especially cabinet ministers to support the status quo—that is, don’t discuss the 100,000 babies killed by abortion in Canada each year. The Opposition were reliably name-calling and exuding outrage that any MP should have the temerity to raise the question.

In the event, when it came to a vote, 24 cabinet ministers (including the PM and the Justice Minister) voted against the motion and it was defeated. Ten brave cabinet ministers (among a total of 86 Conservative MPs and four Liberals) voted in favour of the motion. While the defeat was a disappointment, prolifers rallied to show their support for the “courage and conviction” of MPs who voted for the motion, especially the vulnerable cabinet ministers who are subject to the whim of the PMO. One MP was singled out for special appreciation: that was Rona Ambrose, Minister responsible for Status of Women.

There were several reasons for cheering her vote:

• She had not identified herself previously as a prolifer. Her willingness to support M-312 gave some of us hope that a prolife awareness had been awakened within her.
• As Status of Women Minister, she was walking in a very sensitive role. Many radical feminists take the position that unfettered access to abortion at any time and for any reason is a hard-won right of all Canadian women and central to their equality and dignity. To have someone from inside the department hinting that the unborn person may have rights worthy of discussion was a breath of fresh air to many of us and a cause of consternation to many of them.
• She was attacked mercilessly by the Opposition, who were calling for her head. We prolifers wanted the Prime Minister to know that we supported Rona Ambrose for her courageous vote, even if it did not come from a deeply-held conviction about the value of all human life. We did not want to see the PM deliver Ms. Ambrose’s head on a platter to the angry rabble besieging his office.

We and many other prolifers wrote to Ms. Ambrose, thanking her for her stand. We wrote to the PM, telling him how much we appreciated Ms. Ambrose’s courageous vote. We posted our gratitude on FB and websites and generally poured out our appreciation in as many ways as possible.

That was then. Setting the matter straight on January 29, 2013, Rona Ambrose expressed her current opinion that abortion should be: “safe, legal and rare.”  Aside from the tiresome dishonesty of that worn quote (attributed to Hillary Clinton, for whom Ms. Ambrose expressed “admiration,”) one wonders what may have happened in Ms. Ambrose’s world since her historic vote in favour of a “personhood review?”

That Hillary’s smug cliché is oxymoronic and disingenuous cannot be denied. How can a procedure that kills a baby be considered “safe?” And how does something that’s legal and endorsed by both mass media and powerful politicians ever become “rare?” However, the significance of Ms. Ambrose’s deliberate spouting of radical feminist rhetoric probably points to something deeper. The PM has been, and continues to be, vocal in his support for the abortion status quo. His displeasure with those in his caucus who continue—bravely—to raise the question in one form or another is obvious. His sensitivity to the vitriolic accusations directed against his Status of Women Minister can easily be imagined. It does not stretch my understanding of partisan discipline to guess that sometime, somehow, in the intervening months between Rona Ambrose’s vote on M-312 and the anniversary just past marking 25 years since the Morgentaler decision, Rona may have received a phone call, a nudge, a whispered reminder that she is a cabinet minister in the “Harper Government” (as the PM likes to call it) and that good girls don’t make trouble for the PM.

Perhaps Ms. Ambrose has been pondering the consequences of her vote for M-312…that is the “unintended consequences” of seeing her coveted cabinet post given to somebody less likely to draw fire from her erstwhile and unwaveringly pro-abort Opposition critics. After all, it would be kind of sad to go back to the base salary of a backbencher. I mean, $157, 731 doesn’t sound too bad but cabinet ministers get an additional $75,516 per year plus a car allowance and a few more perks. I’m not saying that Rona was told to shut up or that she changed her convictions out of a materialistic concern for her career…but it has happened before.

But let’s say that the PM did nothing of the sort and that Rona has simply developed an “inclusive” view on moral issues. She’s concerned about sex-selective abortion (we’re told) because that hints at discrimination against women but she wants all women to be free to choose but we should talk about personhood but we can’t legislate morality but abortions should be rare but the ones we have should be legal and safe (except for the baby) but…oh well, it’s kind of hard to explain.

I guess I just want to say that I was disappointed when I read that Ms. Ambrose, the cherished heroine of M-312, had shape-shifted to fit the self-serving policies of our status quo Prime Minister. Status of Women has again become a bastion of political correctness, another casualty in the ongoing conflict between principles and pragmatism. We must look for new heroes and new heroines. Status (quo) of Women has bowed to the demands of hardened militants. Sitting on the fence has always been awkward. For Rona Ambrose, it appears to have become impossible. She just picked the wrong side to land on. In this struggle to defend innocent human life, those on the front lines need convictions, not opinions, and they have to be willing to pay the price when their words are misunderstood. There is still room for Ms. Ambrose in our trenches but she can’t have it both ways. Babies are either dead or alive, not both.

The Christian Heritage Party of Canada remains the only federal party committed to protecting innocent human life from conception to natural death. We endorse and support the sincere efforts of every MP seeking to raise awareness on sanctity-of-life issues. We invite those bold and courageous MPs and all prolife Canadians to join CHP Canada and help us bring our consistent prolife message and policies to every home in this nation through our political efforts.