It should have been an easy win for the Liberals.
Instead it backfired.
Now Ignatieff is threatening three pro-life MP's who voted their consciences: Dan McTeague, Paul Szabo and John McKay. God bless them. You can tell they are really pro-life by the way they vote pro-life even in the face of possible disciplinary measures.
John McKay is the Liberal Party's point guy on outreach to the Christian community, especially evangelicals.
What measure does it send to Evangelicals when one of their own has their knuckles rapped for voting against abortion?
It says that Liberals want their votes, but won't respect them in return. Perhaps they've given on them.
The Conservatives voted not to re-open the abortion debate. It's the Liberals who are desperate to bring up this wedge issue. Now, in one sense, this is not good for pro-lifers: we *do* want to re-open the abortion debate.
Or do we?
I get a little tired of my issue-- fetal rights-- being framed exclusively through the optics of the act of abortion. Yes, it's a horrible injustice to the abortion.
The problem is that it's a word with different meanings to different people. It means what it means because of the attitude towards the unborn child.
Perhaps instead of a debate on abortion, we should be having a debate on the unborn child.
I know that some people will say that in essence, it's the same thing.
Well, not quite.
For some, the debate on abortion is about women's autonomy.
We don't have to disagree with the principle of women's autonomy.
But the vast majority of those who support abortion in the name of women's autonomy do not agree with the notion that the fetus is an equal human being.
That's what's at stake here. The status of the unborn child.
That's the debate Canada needs to have.
I think the Liberal Party has taken the abortion issue as far as it will go. I don't think this issue is a winner for them. Even if the motion had passed: so what? They support abortion. Big deal. What does that mean?
Nothing!
We know the Conservatives don't want to pay for abortions. So?
It's just not an issue that they can derive a lot of political capital from.
But the Conservatives are playing the Liberals like a fiddle, even though they are supposedly the big bad scary misogynists. In the progressive-minded elites, it should be a no-brainer: Harper should be out on his butt because of this issue.
It's time these people learn to understand the rest of the country.
In other news: I'm ridiculously busy. I just blogged this on the run. I think it'll be this way for about the next three weeks or so. I just started working out at the gym and other stuff has come up in my life so please be patient!
