75-Minute Debate (9 November 2023)

From Hansard (9 November 2023)

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Access to Reproductive Health Care and Abortion

The Assembly was debating the following motion moved by Vicki Mowat (NDP - Saskatoon Fairview):

That the Assembly supports the rights of all Saskatchewan people to access reproductive health care, including abortion; and further, That the Assembly opposes the implementation of measures to require parental consent for minors accessing abortion services.

Mr. B. McLeod: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I rise today as someone who has spent his life in Saskatchewan from birth till when the good Lord would call me home. And you know, I remember a time when the NDP was in government and they closed so many schools and 52 hospitals. It was the closure time of government. And not only that, the Plains centre, a facility that really should still be there, they shuttered access to health care and education for rural citizens.

To the member, and I want to make sure I get this right here. To the member from Douglas Park . . . Oh, Elphinstone. Okay, sorry. Where does it have to go? Saskatoon Fairview. Does the NDP regret this decision? Sorry. Saskatoon Fairview.

Ms. Mowat: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague already answered this question, so I’m not sure why we’re back in this debate again. I know the members opposite want to talk about things that happened when I was 10 years old, but let’s talk about what’s happening today, Mr. Speaker.

After 16 years that they have been in government, Mr. Speaker, facilities across this province shuttered under this government, Mr. Speaker. Our phones, our emails ringing off the hook because of this government’s decisions, their inability to recruit health care workers, their inability to retain health care workers that is closing facilities across this province today, Mr. Speaker, under their watch.