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LIBERALS RAM THROUGH VOTING ON 60 AMENDMENTS TO CANADIAN BILL C-13

Motion 13 Passed, Motion 17 Defeated

OTTAWA, March 26, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - During a chaotic 4 hour session from 3 to 7 p.m. today Canada's Liberal government rammed through voting on all 60 remaining proposed amendments to its deeply flawed Assisted Human Reproduction Act Bill C-13.

Liberal Paul Szabo's Motion 13, which attempts to ensure that the bill would in fact ban all forms of cloning, passed by a narrow 11 vote margin. Alliance MP Jason Kenney's Motion 17, which would have banned all destructive embryo experimentation, was defeated. This critical motion defeat leaves the bill still allowing the killing of embryonic humans for research purposes.

Campaign Life Coalition national coordinator Mary Ellen Douglas stated that the organization will sadly have to work to defeat the bill since the amendment voting results have still left it fatally flawed. The word is that most pro-life MPs feel the same despite their valiant efforts that made the voting far less of a cakewalk than the Prime Minster's office has expected. MPs from different parties has special praise for the leading efforts of pro-life MP Paul Szabo who managed to get three of his amendments passed.

Health Minister Anne McLellan distributed what many considered a very biased critique of each amendment to all Liberal Members of Parliament prior to the voting. The analysis stated that every one of the 14 pro-life supported Group 2 amendments was "unnecessary".

The possibility of any restriction on abortions was obviously a factor for the government on Motion 17. McLellan's critique stated Motion 17 'Would prohibit all embryo research and could have the effect of prohibiting abortion in Canada up until the 56th day of a pregnancy (due to the definition of the embryo in Bill C-13). The phrase "harvest an embryo" is unclear and could be interpreted as including an embryo inside a woman's body (i.e., an in vivo embryo).

S. 10(2) provides a framework to tightly regulate research involving the in vitro human embryo. A complete prohibition on embryo research would deny progress toward treatments for debilitating diseases, and would prevent research to ensure that AHR treatments are a safe and healthy option. This motion is unnecessary."

Third reading and final voting on the bill is expected next week on the third or fourth of April.

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