This post is not about gay marriage or capital punishment

The following email exchange is NOT about gay marriage or capital punishment.  Thought I should state that up front.  I've learned that sometimes it can seem like that's what I'm writing about, so I want to avoid any possible confusion from the get-go.  You'll see what I mean.

Yesterday, I posted an update after the weekly newspaper Embassy ran an article headlined "Oda says no abortion, contraceptives support." 

I wondered whether this meant the government's position on supporting maternal health was evolving, or becoming more clear.

To find out, I emailed Minister Oda's office. Here's what I sent to her press secretary, Jessica Fletcher:

Hi Jessica, I am hoping you can help clarify the minister's position on maternal health.

You may know that I posted on the CBC Politics blog excerpts of the interviews As It Happens has done on the issue of maternal health, including Minister Oda's interview.

I just read the Embassy article on the same issue.  The headline says, "Oda says no abortion, contraceptives support."

It seems like the government's position has evolved since the As It Happens interview.

Couple questions:

- Will the government decrease its funding or support  -- or shift its funding or support away from -- any current government supported initiatives that promote contraception or safe abortion?

- Given that the existing position of the UK government explicitly supports safe abortion (including funding the training of medical professionals who can perform the procedure,) would the government back a G8 plan on maternal health that included support from our other partners for safe abortion and contraception?

- Put another way, will this government insist that any G8 plan to address maternal health exclude support for safe abortion or contraception?

Thanks for your help

Neil

Just 30 minutes later, I received this response:

Neil,

This has nothing to do with abortion, gay marriage or capital punishment.

This is about saving lives of vulnerable children and mothers in the developing world.

Saving lives of mothers and children should not be a political football.

Far too many lives have already been lost for want of relatively simple health care necessities such as clean water, inoculations and better nutrition, as well as trained health workers to care for women and deliver babies.

In June, under the Presidency of Canada, G-8 Leaders will be discussing the importance to combat maternal and infant mortality around the world.

Decisions will be made based on one clear objective, saving lives of vulnerable children and mothers in the developing world.

Jessica Fletcher

I was a bit confused by this for several reasons. So I wrote back:

Hi Jessica, thanks for this.  Just to be clear I did not ask about gay marriage or capital punishment. I hope I didn't leave this impression.

I believe your response is identical to the statement the prime minister's office issued last week which I read previously and it does not address my questions.

Are you in a position to answer questions I sent or is the answer still up in the air. Ie. the government might decrease support for initiatives that promote contraception or safe abortion?

Or, it is in fact quite possible that the government would back a G8 plan on maternal health that included support from our other partners for safe abortion and contraception?

I have re-pasted the original questions below. 

(And then I re-pasted the questions.)

Jessica responded with:

You have my response.

This initiative is not about abortion.

This is about saving the lives of expecting mothers and vulnerable children in the developing world.

JF

I took one last stab at a clarification:

Hi Jessica, just so I am clear: Canada's position going into the G8 talks is that the initiative on maternal health does not include the issue of safe access to abortion.

Is that right?

Neil

And Jessica took one last stab at answering me:

The initiative on maternal and child health is about saving lives of expecting mothers and vulnerable children in the developing world.

JF

And that's where we left it.  Not sure that really clarified anything about where access to contraceptives and safe abortions fit into the government's initiative on maternal health.  And just to be clear, when I say that, I don't mean gay marriage or capital punishment.