On behalf of all Quebec women, the Official Opposition is delighted with the Minister of Justice's decision to finally withdraw the section on abortion from the draft constitution, which, according to Official Opposition critic for the status of women Brigitte B. Garceau and her colleague André A. Garceau, created a dangerous legal loophole. Garceau, and her colleague André A. Morin, Justice Critic.
The two Liberal MPs fought hard against the Minister's stubbornness throughout the general consultations on the bill. Today, they said they were proud and relieved to have won this battle for women's rights, which were threatened by an irresponsible piece of legislation.
After spending an enormous amount of time in parliamentary committee on an issue that had, in fact, already been settled, the Minister was forced to face up to the fact that he was swimming against the tide. The Official Opposition spokespersons on the status of women and justice had called for a working session at the end of the consultations to make the Minister see reason on section 29.
The Caquist government's decision to introduce the right to abortion into the constitution would have marked a historic step backwards in the history of women's rights. If the government had done things properly, it would have consulted before introducing this bill and heard the concerns of women's groups, thus avoiding today's embarrassing setback, say Ms. Garceau and Mr. Morin. Instead, the Minister unnecessarily alarmed women's groups, without taking into account their misgivings already expressed to the former Minister responsible for the Status of Women in 2023, only to reluctantly back down today in the face of immense pressure applied against him, notably from the two candidates for the leadership of his own party.
