Stance on abortion
May has recently made controversial statements on the issue of
abortion. Although Green Party policy is officially
pro-choice, while speaking to the
Sisters of St. Joseph during the London by-election, May stated that she personally sees the issue as a "moral dilemma" and not "clear-cut black-and-white". May, who is a
Christian, further stated her personal views, "I'm against abortion. I don't think a woman has a frivolous right to choose". In the past, May reported, she has "talked women out of having abortions". She further stated, "I would never have an abortion myself, not in a million years. I can't imagine the circumstances that would ever induce me to it". However, on the other side of the issue, May believes that they must be legal and available, because "If we make them illegal, women will die".
[12] Following reports of May's statements, prominent Canadian
feminist Judy Rebick announced that she was withdrawing her previous support of May and the Green Party due to May's questioning "the most important victory of the women's movement of my generation".
[13]
Responding to Judy Rebick’s open letter, Elizabeth May explicitly reaffirmed that she supported a woman's right to access a safe and legal abortion and that “I never said a woman's right to choose trivialized anything. Not ever.” To clarify the misunderstanding around the Green Party’s recently approved Pro-Choice/Pro-Life position, Elizabeth May further wrote “Some feminist scholars have pointed out that the slogan 'right to choose' focuses on too narrow a context. What are a woman's real rights in society? Where are our economic rights? While a woman must have the right to terminate a pregnancy, what of the larger context? What about the on-going struggle to create a truly equal relationship of sexual equality that might (would) help avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place? What about the responsibility of both sexual partners to avoid unwanted pregnancy (and while on the topic, to avoid sexually transmitted diseases that would be reduced through use of condoms)? I believe that respectful dialogue is possible even around such an emotionally charged issue as this. Not every opponent of legal abortions is unthinking. Neither is every supporter of legal abortion unwilling to acknowledge the moral complexity of the issue. Some common ground could be found, I believe, when the discussion shifts to a broader context”.
