OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s shutting of parliament means that his planned legislation to strip pro-life pregnancy centres of charity status is now terminated, which was welcomed as “excellent news” by Canada’s top pro-life and pro-family group.
“Trudeau’s announcement to resign and prorogue Parliament means that all government bills and unfinished business are effectively terminated,” wrote Campaign Life Coalition’s (CLC) Director of Communications Pete Baklinski on X Tuesday.
“This means that Trudeau’s planned legislation to attack pro-life pregnancy centres by stripping them of their charitable status if they refused to go along with his abortion politics has died on the list of upcoming business. Please spread this excellent news.”
Trudeau announced on Monday morning that he plans to step down as Liberal Party leader once a new leader has been chosen. He was approved by Governor General Mary Simon to prorogue parliament until March 24. This means, for the time being, he is still serving as PM, however, all parliamentary business has been stopped.
Canadian politicos rejoiced at the news, however, many observed that he should have resigned and called an election at the same time.
The Liberal Party will now hold a leadership race to choose a new head, who will by default become Canada’s next prime minister.
The legislation promised by the Liberal government of Trudeau that would have seen pro-life pregnancy centers stripped of their charitable tax status was recently tabled by Canadian Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien.
The bill, according to the finance department, would have required “registered charities that provide services, advice, or information in respect of the prevention, preservation, or termination of pregnancy [i.e., destroying the unborn]” to disclose that they “do not provide specific services, including abortions or birth control.”
The government claimed that “under this legislation, a registered charity that provides reproductive health services would need to disclose if, at a minimum, it does not provide the contact information” for an abortion vendor and a birth control vendor.
As it stands, most pro-life charities that help women already state they do not offer or refer for abortions, with CLC’s President Jeff Gunnarson noting to LifeSiteNews last year that Trudeau’s new rules will place these groups under “unfair scrutiny and perpetuates misinformation from abortion-activist organizations, which falsely claim that they aren’t transparent.”
Other troublesome bills, such as Trudeau’s “Online Harms Act,” also died due to parliament being suspended.
For years, Trudeau has professed his support for abortion despite having been baptized Catholic. Since taking office in 2015, his Liberal government has put forward various pro-abortion policies.