Jason Kenney Responds To Questions Over Abortion Access In Alberta After Roe V. Wade Leak
He accused the opposition of trying to create a political controversy.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney was asked to condemn the potential overturning of Roe V. Wade in the U.S. and "reaffirm" the commitment to a women's right to choose during an assembly session.
During the session on Tuesday, May 3, the leader of the opposition Rachel Notley of the NDP posed the question to Kenney following a leak of a Supreme Court draft which suggests the landmark ruling that protects the right to choose an abortion in the U.S. will be thrown out.
"I'm hoping the premier can stand today and reaffirm, to those concerned Albertans, our commitment to a women's right to choose. Will he join me in condemning this attack on reproductive rights?" Notley asked.
However, Kenney said the decision to overturn Roe V. Wade is a matter for the "American legal and political system".
"There has been no change with respect to that policy in Alberta and none has been proposed," he added.
Notley pushed further, but Kenney stopped short of a commitment that the United Conservative Party government would never reduce access to abortion in the province.
"Individuals can have individual views about that, but what the leader is trying to do is invent a political controversy that does not and has not existed in Alberta politics," Kenney responded.
Kenney has been linked to anti-abortion views in the past. In an interview with CNN as a university student, Kenney was labelled as an "anti-abortion activist".
More recently in 2018, before being elected as Premier, Kenney said he "won’t be bringing forward any legislative measures on abortion".
