Paul Martin has to be one of the most pitiable prime ministers in Canadian history. Unlike his lackluster predecessor, Jean Chretien, he appears to be a serious Catholic, yet he flouts the universal and constant teaching of the Catholic Church, by proclaiming his implacable resolve as prime minister to uphold a woman's alleged "right to choose" to kill her baby in the womb.

During the disgraceful nationally televised shouting match that passed for a leadership debate during this year's election campaign, Martin tried to pin down Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper on the abortion issue. Martin charged: "You would take away a woman's right to choose."

Would that the allegation ere true. As it is, Harper responded: "No, I would not. I absolutely would not."

Harper subsequently qualified that statement, pledging that while his government would not introduce any legislation on abortion, he would allow a free vote in the Commons on a private member's bill dealing with abortion, so called "gay marriage" or any other sensitive social issue.

For Martin, even that was too much. He promised he would "strongly advise" his backbenchers not to thwart party policy by introducing private members' bills on abortion.

That did not sit well with Tom Wappel, a Catholic and pro-life Liberal MP. "I don't think too much should be made of the prime minister's comment," he said, inasmuch as private members' bills have never been subject to party discipline.

Let us hope Wappel is right. As soon as possible in the new Parliament, he should introduce a bill banning at least partial-birth abortion so as to put to the test his trust that Martin will respect the right of all MPs to vote as their conscience dictates on sensitive social issues.

Throughout the election campaign, Harper did his best to dodge questions on the abortion issue. Asked about his personal views on the subject, he would say no more than that they fell "somewhere in between the two extremes."

Martin demanded a more explicit answer: "I think it would be very good if Mr. Harper declared himself personally on a woman's right to choose," he taunted. "Is he in favour, or not? I have already stated my position."

Indeed, Martin had already said: "I'm a legislator. I believe that women should have the right to choose." Likewise, in announcing last summer that he was now in favour of "gay marriage", he explained: "I am a practicing Catholic and I have responsibilities as a legislator and those responsibilities must take in a wider perspective."

That stance is absurd. It makes about as much moral sense as the behaviour of the man who prays in church on Sunday and preys on his fellow man the rest of the week.

If Martin believes, as Catholics must, that abortion is a crime that can never be justified, then he has a duty as a legislator and as a rational person also to affirm that a woman manifestly does not have the right to choose death for her baby by procuring an abortion.

Pope John Paul II underlined this point in his brilliant encyclical, Evangelium vitae: The Gospel of Life. Having noted that doctors and nurses share in the responsibility for the crime of abortion, "when they place at the service of death skills which were acquired for promoting life," he warned: "But responsibility likewise falls on the legislators who have promoted and approved abortion laws."

Tom Wappel, Paul Szabo, Paul Steckle and Dan McTeague are all talented MPs. They have all deserved a place in the cabinet. Instead, they have spent their political careers languishing on the back benches, because they have all chosen to uphold their pro-life Christian convictions.

In sorry contrast, Paul Martin has repudiated the laws of God and betrayed the Catholic Church for the purpose of gaining political power and worldly fame. How pathetic.

Meanwhile, Harper equivocates on abortion for fear that no party can win a national election with an avowedly pro-life leader. That Harper harbours such an impression reflects the lamentable failure of most opinion leaders in Canada, lay and clerical, to uphold the sanctity of human life.

Let us pray for our country. And let us pray for Martin and Harper: that they will come to recognize that it is their duty as legislators to affirm the truth that every child has an inalienable, God-given, right to life.