OTTAWA, September 28, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The abortion lobby’s demands for Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose’s resignation because she voted in favour of MP Stephen Woodworth’s Motion 312 has created a massive outpouring of support.
Campaign Life Coalition Youth and the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform have launched a Facebook page and a video campaign that have resulted in a huge number of messages of support for Ambrose.
“It’s been awesome!” said Alissa Golob, head of Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) Youth, to LifeSiteNews. “In less than 24 hours the Support Rona Ambrose Facebook page got over a thousand likes and the numbers continue to grow. We also have an events page where people are posting videos stating their support for Rona.”
She encouraged pro-lifers to show their support for Ms. Ambrose by making a short YouTube video using an “iPhone, digital camera, or any other recording device, even as short as ten seconds, saying that you support her and her vote for Motion 312.” They made a sample video that readers can use as a template.
“Upload it to YouTube and send us the link at [email protected] and to Rona Ambrose at [email protected] to let her know that Canadian women support her vote!”
Minister Ambrose said she supported Motion 312 because of her concerns about sex-selective abortion in Canada.
“I have repeatedly raised concerns about discrimination of girls by sex selection abortion: no law needed, but we need awareness!” Ambrose wrote in a Tweet following the vote.
Ambrose also defended the Conservative government’s record on women’s issues, pointing to more than 500 projects dealing with everything from violence against women to empowerment of women in society.
“It is interesting that this is the first question that I have received on the Status of Women file this year. In fact, I think this is the first question I have received since last year as well,” Ambrose said during Question Period.
“Do you know why that is, Mr. Speaker? It is because this government has an incredible track record of standing up for Canadian women and girls. We have increased the funding to the status of women to its highest point in Canadian history. So far, in just a couple of years, we have funded over 550 projects from coast to coast to coast to tackle violence against women and empower women and girls, and we will continue to do just that.”
NDP Status of Women critic Niki Ashton responded that she was shocked that Ambrose supported the motion and called for her resignation.
“Shocked that [the minister] of status of women supported clawing back women’s rights,” tweeted Ashton after the vote Wednesday night. “Time for a new minister.”
Alexa Conradi, president of the Quebec Federation of Women, said in a statement that Ambrose was irresponsible to want a committee formed to consider a definition of human life, which she inferred was not looking after the “interests of women.”
“The role of the office of the Minister for the Status of Women is to look after the interests of women,” Conradi wrote. “By voting for this committee, which has no other goal but to reopen the debate on abortion, she is shirking her responsibility.”
The executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, Joyce Arthur, called Ambrose’s vote for Motion 312 “a shocking failure.”
“It’s her job to represent the interests of women, to defend women’s rights, promote women’s equality. We feel she’s betrayed the women of this country,” Arthur said. “[She] seems to think the status of women is a little bit below that of a fertilized egg. Frankly, we’re insulted. We’re going to go after her and her resignation.”
However, Andrea Mrozek, manager of research and communications at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, and founder of the pro-life blog ProWomanProLife, praised Rona Ambrose “for recognizing that Canadians can ask questions about when life begins.”
“ProWomanProLife recognizes that women across Canada have many different views on abortion, which are probably neither firmly in the pro-life nor the pro-choice camp,” wrote Mrozek. “However, since M-312 called only for discussion, voting in favour of it is a vote for debate and democracy, and that can only be a good thing.”
“Minister Ambrose is to be commended for having an open mind,” she wrote.