Sask. Party caught in path of abortion storm
Try as they might, some political storms are just too big for politicians to escape.
The abortion debate is one such tornado.
Or so the Saskatchewan Party government is now finding out in the wake of the category-five news that the U.S. Supreme Court is about to overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing Americans abortion access. It's ripping apart that country's social fabric.
But why does it matter here? Because the same pro-life advocates who pushed Republicans to appoint U.S. conservative justices like Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, who are now overturning that country's half-century-old abortion rights law, are eagerly exercising their influence on conservative federal and provincial parties here. Like any twister, they know no borders.
They already have been influential here. They are a big reason why Scott Moe is now premier.
The 2018 Saskatchewan Party leadership turned when votes for Ken Cheveldayoff went to Moe instead of early front-runner Alanna Koch — the only candidate who refused to fill out a survey from the anti-abortion group Rightnow. Cheveldayoff — who said in his survey results he “supports anything that protects the unborn child” — received the highest marks. Moe was next highest.
Slightly more than a year after that, Yorkton MLA and then-rural and remote health minister Greg Ottenbreit — who then oversaw rural women's access to abortion procedures that were available only in Regina and Saskatoon — stirred up a dust devil by giving greetings to the Saskatchewan Pro-life Association annual convention. That meeting discussed borrowing from American sister organizations to get more pro-life politicians elected. Ottenbreit said in his greeting it would be “gratifying to see the law changed” and he would “work within his professional capacity to do so.”
In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court news Tuesday, the Sask. Party sent out Status of Women Minister Laura Ross to face the storm alone: “I have never, ever wavered from that opinion,” Ross told the Leader-post's Jeremy Simes. “I'm pro-choice and so that is my stance that women have the right to choose.”
However, Ross acknowledged “not everyone has the same opinion on issues or concerns”
— a significant understatement for her caucus that in 2017 at least contemplated requiring women under 18 years to receive parental consent to get an abortion. That would have been illegal under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Before she could elaborate further for TV cameras in the rotunda, Ross was sucked up by the whirlwind of Moe's communications staff and swept away to the chamber for Moe's executive council budget spending estimates — a debate in which she didn't participate. As for Moe? Also too busy to talk Tuesday, reporters were told.
Alas, after years of playing abortion storm chaser, Moe and the Sask. Party are too close to get out of the path of this most recent twister.
Asked in Wednesday's question period by NDP justice critic Nicole Sarauer to reaffirm his government's commitment to women's rights to an abortion, Moe repeated his position that the government would simply continue to follow the federal law.
Talking to reporters later, Moe insisted his personal pro-life views don't matter and that Saskatchewan women struggling with access to abortion should talk to their MLA.
Sarauer called Moe's statement “offensive,” questioning how a woman struggling with such a personal matter would possibly feel comfortable going to an unfamiliar Sask. Party caucus member who may be far more interested in hearing from pro-life groups.
And pro-life groups will eagerly continue to talk to local politicians because they are winning little battles on the ground.
In Alberta, Ontario and B.C., surgical abortion can be performed as late as 24 weeks. It's only 12 weeks in Saskatoon and just shy of 19 weeks in Regina. Moreover, a referral from another doctor is needed for an abortion in Saskatoon.
So, contrary to Moe's assertion, politicians' personal views of politicians do seem to matter here when it comes to abortion policy implementation.
What also matters in this debate is the storm we are seeing down south.