UCP members walk out of abortion bill talks again
Alberta’s Opposition United Conservatives have walked out again during debate over providing more safety for women and staff at abortion clinics.
The United Conservative members did not speak to the bill at second reading and walked out en masse during two votes on the bill.
The caucus walked out on debate two weeks ago, and the party’s leader Jason Kenney has said they do not plan to participate.
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Kenney says there are already civil court orders to protect people from being harassed at abortion clinics, and says the bill is political game playing by Premier Rachel Notley’s government.
Notley says the United Conservative’s walkout is, in her words, “political cowardice,” and says it opens questions about the party’s hidden intentions.
Kenney is a long-standing abortion critic, but has said he would never legislate on it.