The PM’s response has been praised by people on social media
An interaction between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a People’s Party of Canada (PPC) supporter over the issue of abortion has gone viral on social media. According to the Independent, Mr. Trudeau’s confrontation with the supporter was captured during his visit to the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
The video shared on Reddit by user @NoahFromCanada shows Mr Trudeau stopping to speak with a young man who tells him he supported the PPC as “they’re mostly Christian and I’m against the vaccine mandate”, before telling the PM that he was also against abortion.
”OK, OK, do you think that women have the right to choose what happens to their own bodies?” Mr Trudeau asks him. ”Personally, no,” the young man replies. When the PM asked if he personally should choose what happens to a woman’s body, the man says women who ”sleep around shouldn’t be allowed to abort the baby.”
Watch the video here:
PPC Supporter tries to argue with Trudeau at UofM campus this morning.
by u/NoahFromCanada in Winnipeg
Mr Trudeau then asks the man whether women who have been raped should be allowed an abortion.
“Sure, that’s where it gets complicated,” the man replies to which Mr Trudeau says, ”No, it doesn’t get complicated. It’s a yes or no. It’s an all-too-common example. Women get raped all the time and it’s something we have to take seriously … Should a woman who was raped be able to get an abortion?” The man says he’s still ”50/50” on whether sexual assault victims should be allowed an abortion.
”Sounds like you need to do a little more thinking, and, and a little more praying on it as well,” Mr Trudeau says while ending the conversation.
The PM’s response has been praised by people on social media and many appreciated him for standing up for women’s rights. One user wrote, ”Trudeau really does this well. Here he is firm, clear, and respectful as he challenges this young man who wants a debate on abortion rights.”
Another wrote, ”This type of conversation between government and young people should be happening all the time. Great to see.” A third added, ”Trudeau was excellent in how he responded. Also, it’s so sad that young man buys into those beliefs that he really could not provide any coherent or rational answer to Mr. Trudeau. Trudeau says ‘you need to do some more thinking & praying.”
Last year, the Canadian PM slammed the US Supreme Court’s decision to throw out the right to abortion in the United States. “The news coming out of the United States is horrific,” he said in a Twitter message. “No government, politician, or man should tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body.”
Notably, abortions in Canada are legal at all stages of pregnancy and are funded by the government health care system.