HULL, Jan 28 (LSN) A February 1-2 meeting hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs is being co-hosted by Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD), a front group for, or intimate relation of, Planned Parenthood (PP Ottawa funds ACPD directly and also shares the same address and suite number in Ottawa). The purpose of the meeting is to "identify possible priority issues for Canada to pursue" at the Cairo+5 Conference (5-year follow up to the International Conference on Population and Development) also known as the June 1999 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Population and Development. Pro-life commentators note that such openly preferential treatment for one side of such a controversial issue is nothing short of astounding.
Conference participants were provided with two documents to examine in preparation for the meetings: one was the government's discussion paper, the other was a summary compiled by ACPD of the feedback from recent cross-Canada forums. If one was to go by these forums, he would think that almost all Canadians support sex education, abortion, globalism, population control, radical environmentalism, female "empowerment," and greater government intervention to combat economic and social "inequalities."
Here are some of the "priorities" which, according to ACPD, most Canadians want to push globally:
- Provision of abortion must be included in strategies to combat maternal mortality. - Sex education must be provided to children as young as 13 years old. - RU-486 as a proven safe contraceptive alternative. - Canada should reconcile international and domestic policy by subordinating the latter to its international commitments. - Canada should honour its 0.7% commitment to overseas development assistance. - Women who have been raped should have access to abortion. - Contraception should be covered through provincial drug plans or provided free of charge.
The ACPD report also indicates that Health Canada is preparing a document called the National Framework on Sexual and Reproductive Health which is expected to be released soon.
The government's report is also very controversial:
- "Canada remains committed to meeting the goals set out in Cairo." - The report claims that a consensus was achieved at Cairo. - At one point it singles out "unsafe abortions" as a cause of maternal morbidity and mortality that needs to be combated. - Canada supports "universal access to family planning services." - Canada supports "the provision of reproductive health services and education for adolescents on the prevention of unwanted pregnancies." No mention is made of how young a child qualifies under the government's definition of "adolescent." - Canada supports "ensuring women's autonomy" and their ability "to control their own fertility." - No discrimination should exist, including on the basis of "sexual orientation," in programs designed to help people make informed choices about their "sexual and reproductive health." - Canada advocates funding of "population growth issues" by way of "indirect support to UN agencies such as UNFPA, WHO and UNICEF and international NGO's such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation." - Canada wants "reproductive health education programs in all levels of education." No mention was made to limit it to those of "adolescent" age and above.
For more on the Cairo +5 conference see the LifeSite story: