Canadian PM Trudeau Threatens to Confront Pence Over US Abortion Laws
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will confront VP over pro-life uprising
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned that he plans to confront US Vice President Mike Pence over America's recent anti-abortion laws.
Trudeau has said he will confront Pence Thursday about the recent raft of state pro-life legislation, which Canada's liberal PM described as a "backsliding of women's rights."
Mr. Trudeau was speaking in response to the recent pro-life uprising in the United States after several US states have enacted new laws to restrict abortions.
Most notable is in Georgia, where the "heartbeat bill" outlaws the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, and in Alabama, where abortion is now illegal in all cases except when the mother's life is at risk.
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According to Fox News, Trudeau intends to discuss the abortion restrictions with Pence, who is an outspoken pro-life advocate.
"Obviously, I’m very concerned with the situation around the backsliding of women’s rights that we are seeing from conservative movements here in Canada, in the United States and around the world,” Trudeau said according to Bloomberg News.
"I will have a broad conversation with the vice president -- of course that’ll come up, but we’re going to mostly focus around the ratification process on NAFTA and making sure that we get good jobs for Canadians.”
The recent moves by pro-life lawmakers sparked a major outcry from abortion advocates, some who are urging a boycott of states cracking down on abortions.
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High Court ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court this week made a move toward strengthening state powers to regulate abortion by upholding an Indiana law requiring clinics to bury or cremate fetal remains.
The measure was signed into law in 2016 by Pence, then the state’s governor.
Meanwhile, several Republican-dominated U.S. states including Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri have passed laws this year criminalizing most abortions.
The measures are seen as an attempt to prompt lawsuits that may lead to the Supreme Court overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal nationwide.
Trudeau and Pence could hardly have more different views on abortion.
In 2017, Pence became the first sitting vice president to address an annual anti-abortion march in Washington, celebrating Trump as “a president who I proudly say stands for the right to life.”
Trudeau heads into an election this fall against a rival Conservative Party that’s leading in polls.
Trudeau’s government describes itself as feminist, and Trudeau has said he firmly defends a woman’s right to choose whether to bring a child to term.
