Mike Pence to Justin Trudeau: ‘The Democrats support infanticide’

Earlier this week, the CBC reported that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau planned to sneak in the subject of abortion bans being signed into US law during his meeting with Vice President Mike Pence in Ottawa this Thursday. He did, and Pence reportedly responded by regurgitating false claims about pro-choice advocates.

CNN reports that while speaking alongside Trudeau during their meeting this Thursday, Pence said that he’s “very proud to be part of a pro-life administration,” and added that “the Democratic party in our country, and leaders around the country” support “late-term abortion, even infanticide.”

“But those are debates within the US, and I know that Canada will deal with those issues in a manner the people of Canada determine most appropriate,” he added. “For President Trump, for me, for our administration, we’ll always stand for the right to life.”

Pence’s words are a slightly more sanitized version of a lie President Trump told during a rally last month, where he said Democrats are “aggressively pushing extreme late-term abortion, allowing children to be ripped from their mother’s womb.”

As CNN points out, “late term abortions,” or abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy, account for less than 1.3% of all US abortions. The claim that pro-choice advocates support killing a baby after it’s left the womb are outright false.

Trudeau planned to bring the subject up in response to the growing number of US states signing into law the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and Georgia, have all signed bills into law that ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as 6 weeks into a pregnancy. Alabama passed a law making it illegal for doctors to perform the procedure altogether.

Pence planned to push for the “quick ratification” of the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during their meeting.

Abortion has been legal in Canada since 1988, but the country’s liberal party is accusing conservatives of wanting to bring the debate back to the forefront.

“It’s a shame that we increasingly see conservative governments and conservative politicians taking away rights that have been hard-fought over many, many years by generations of women and male allies,” Trudeau said before the Thursday meeting.

Featured image: screen grab via CityNews Toronto/ABC News

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.