IN THE NEWS ~ Harper's Tory MPs divided over abortion

But in a surprise, the vote revealed the deep split among Tory MPs over the issue. Eighty-seven of the 163 Tory MPs supported the motion.

And although Prime Minister Stephen Harper had made it clear he opposed the motion even as critics accused him of having a hidden agenda to

re-criminalize abortion, many of his cabinet ministers did not take his cue by voting with him.

Eight ministers and two ministers of state voted in favour of Woodworth's motion. They included: Immigration Minister Jason Kenney;

Government House Leader Peter Van Loan; Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose; Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz; International Trade Minister Ed Fast; Revenue Minister Gail Shea; Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue; and International Cooperation Minister Julian Fantino.

Harper was in the Commons on Wednesday and voted against the motion.

It came amid a political uproar over whether the motion by Woodworth was part of a plan Harper's government to reopen a national debate on abortion. The

government denied that charge as a ridiculous assertion and said that MPs were merely being given their right to put forward their own motions and to vote on

them.

A clear majority of B.C. Conservative MPs, including two ministers, voted in favour of the motion.

Fast and Alice Wong, minister of state for seniors, voted for the motion. Heritage Minister James Moore and Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan

voted against it.

In total 13 of 21 B.C. Tory MPs supported Ontario MP Stephen Woodworth's motion to establish a committee to study when life begins.

All nine B.C. New Democrats voted against the motion, as did Liberals Hedy Fry and Joyce Murray. New Democrats Peter Julian and Fin Donnelly, who

opposed Motion 312, missed the vote because they were flying to B.C. to attend a meeting Thursday on the re-drawing of electoral boundaries.

The other B.C. Tories taking an anti-abortion stand were Ron Cannan, Nina Grewal, Dick Harris, Russ Hiebert, Randy Kamp, James Lunney, Colin Mayes,

Mark Strahl, Mark Warawa, John Weston, and Bob Zimmer.

B.C. Tory backbenchers who opposed the motion were Dan Albas, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Cathy McLeod, Andrew Saxton, David Wilks and Wai Young.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair said that Harper has been giving contradictory "signals" - publicly promising Canadian voters in the last election

that an abortion law would not be part of the government agenda, while privately telling his own MPs in caucus that they can pursue that agenda on

their own.

"Mr. Harper can't have it both ways," said Mulcair. "It's a fundamental question of womens' rights."

Most MPs in the 35-member Liberal caucus voted against the motion. Four were in support of it.

On the NDP benches, all the MPs who voted were opposed to the motion.

Ever since Woodworth introduced the motion last spring, it was deemed highly unlikely that MPs would approve it.

But it created sharp debate in the Commons and prompted various Tory MPs to regularly come forward with petitions of support from their own

constituents.

There has not been an abortion law in Canada since the 1980s, and efforts by the Mulroney government in the early 1990s to legislate a new law

ended in failure.

Woodworth, an Ontario lawyer, denied that his motion was about criminalizing abortion. Instead, he took issue with how the Criminal Code

defines that someone becomes a human being when they are born. Woodworth said that law is outdated and his motion proposed a special parliamentary committee to study whether a human being exists before birth.

"I think a child is a human being before the moment of complete birth," he said Wednesday. "The question before us is: Do we want a

Canada where anyone who is a human being will be denied their inherent worth and dignity?"

Woodworth pointed to historical instances where peoples' equality was stripped because they were not deemed human beings: African-Americans in the

19th century, women in the early 20th century, and mentally-challenged individuals in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

He said the defeat of his motion will not stop him from continuing to work on the cause.

"As long as I draw a breath I hope I will always advocate for the fact that every human being is equal and that every human being has an inherent

worth and dignity. And that government cannot be allowed, with a false definition of a human being, to take away that worth and dignity."

In the Commons, New Democrat MP Niki Ashton blasted Harper for allowing Tory MPs to "reopen the abortion debate" despite his own promises.

"New Democrats are the only party united that will stand up to vote for women's equality because this is not a matter of conscience. It is a matter

of rights."

Gordon O'Connor, the chief government whip, spoke against the motion during one of the parliamentary debates, arguing that opening up the abortion

debate "will lead to increased conflict as an attempt is made to turn back the clock."

On Wednesday, he told reporters that Harper was not breaking his promise.

"The concept is the government will not initiate legislation relating to abortion, will not support legislation relating to abortion. This

is a private members motion."

Moreover, he said there's nothing wrong with letting MPs vote however they want on private motions that don't come from the government itself.

"This is a democracy," he said. "There's no hidden agenda."

However, the long-term political consequences of the vote could endure, said experts.

The issue gives the opposition parties fodder for their own base and could reinforce the left-right split, said Christopher Cochrane, an assistant

professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

One of the long-standing accusations that the NDP and Liberals have levelled at the Conservatives is that they've had a hidden social agenda,

Cochrane said.

"The fact that this motion was introduced by a Conservative member and the fact that it's also received some support does provide a sort of

reinforcement of a suspicion I think that a lot of people on the left harbour - that the Conservatives are actually looking to reopen an issue that had been

seemingly settled or at least not on the radar for quite some time," Cochrane said.

With files from Peter O'Neil, Vancouver Sun

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