Women gathering outside Status of Women Committee after motion to move “in camera”
Yesterday afternoon, CFUW joined dozens of other pro-choice organizations at the Status of Women Committee in hopes of witnessing the committee officially condemn Motion 312. Instead a motion to move the Committee “in camera” was passed minutes after the meeting began, which meant that all public members were forced to leave the room. A private vote on the motion to condemn M-312 was then held, which we were told did not pass.
CFUW finds it very disheartening that the majority of Status of Women Committee members were unwilling to send a strong message of support for women’s right to choose. CFUW has been a strong supporter of women’s rights to choose since the 1970′s, when our membership collectively adopted its first policy urging the Government of Canada to remove the sections pertaining to abortion from the Criminal Code. We hope that this is not an indication of how Committee members will vote on Stephen Woodworth’s anti-choice Motion in the Fall.
If you have not done so already, please contact your local Member of Parliament and ask that they vote against Motion 312. For more resources to take action (template letters, petitions), go to the website for the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada: http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/m312.html
