March 8, 2001

The Alberta Liberal Party's campaign position on abortion funding is based on a factual error, says Susan McNeely, spokesman for Campaign Life Coalition Alberta.

In answering CLC Alberta's 2001 Alberta Election questionnaire, the Alberta Liberals said that "the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 1989 that all abortions are medically necessary and must be fully funded by provincial health plans; otherwise the province would be in contravention of the Canada Health Act."

"This is simply not true", says McNeely. "The Supreme Court of Canada has never ruled that abortion is a medically necessary procedure that must be funded by provincial health plans. While that court did strike down Section 251 of the Criminal Code in 1988, inviting federal politicians to pass a new law to replace it, the Supreme Court of Canada has never required provinces to fund abortions."

Campaign Life Coalition Alberta is qualifying candidates on the life issues in the current provincial election. In answer to the CLC Alberta questionnaire, the Liberal Party issued a response on behalf of all its candidates, even though the response contains this serious factual error.

"At best, the Alberta Liberals seemed very confused", says McNeely. "At worst, this seems to be a cowardly attempt on their part to avoid taking a stand on this important issue."

MEDIA CONTACT:
Susan McNeely - Campaign Life Coalition Alberta, 780-473-5008

Results of the Campaign Life Coalition Alberta Candidates questionnaire for the 2001 Alberta election can be viewed at http://www.lifesite.net/elections/provincial/alberta/results.html.