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House Hansard - 284

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 16, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 284 - Feb/16/24
Ms. Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West—Nepean, Lib.)
  • Feb/16/24 11:16:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in 2010, I was working in Africa when one of my colleagues turned to me and said that Canadian women are hypocrites. I was stunned. She went on to say that she had studied at McGill, and she knew Canadian women had reproductive rights, but it was not good enough for African women. I was mortified, and I decided right then that I was going to run for office and to change that policy. Not always in this place do we get to come full circle, but three weeks ago, I was in Kinshasa, where I toured a safe abortion clinic funded by Canada. DRC has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, 10%, because of unsafe abortions. Our commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights is not ideology. It literally saves lives.
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