BILL C-484
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (injuring or causing the death of an unborn child while committing an offence)
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
SHORT TITLE
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Unborn Victims of Crime Act.
R.S., c. C-46
CRIMINAL CODE
2. Section 238 of the Criminal Code is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
Saving
(3) This section does not apply to a person to whom section 238.1 applies.
3. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 238:
Causing the death of an unborn child while committing an offence
238.1 (1) Every person who, directly or indirectly, causes the death of a child during birth or at any stage of development before birth while committing or attempting to commit an offence against the mother of the child, who the person knows or ought to know is pregnant,
(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of 10 years if the person
(i) means to cause the child’s death, or
(ii) means to cause injury to the child or mother that the person knows is likely to cause the child’s death, and is reckless as to whether death ensues or not;
(b) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life if paragraph (a) does not apply but the person shows wanton or reckless disregard for the life or safety of the child; or
(c) is, in any other case,
(i) guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or
(ii) guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to impris- onment for a term not exceeding 18 months.
Reduced offence
(2) An offence that would otherwise be an offence under paragraph (1)(a) may be reduced to an offence under paragraph (1)(b) if the person who committed the offence did so in the heat of passion caused by sudden provocation within the meaning of section 232.
Attempt to cause the death of an unborn child while committing an offence
(3) Every person who attempts by any means to commit an offence under paragraph (1)(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.
Injuring an unborn child while committing an offence
(4) Every person who, directly or indirectly, causes injury to a child during birth or at any stage of development before birth while committing or attempting to commit an offence against the mother, who the person knows or ought to know is pregnant,
(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years; or
(b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months.
Exclusion of defence
(5) It is not a defence to a charge under this section that the child is not a human being.
Separate offence
(6) An offence referred to in this section committed against a child is not included in any offence committed against the mother of the child.
Termination of pregnancy and acts in good faith excluded
(7) For greater certainty, this section does not apply in respect of
(a) conduct relating to the lawful termination of the pregnancy of the mother of the child to which the mother has consented;
(b) an act or omission that a person acting in good faith considers necessary to preserve the life of the mother of the child or the life of the child; or
(c) any act or omission by the mother of the child.
4. Section 743.6 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1.2):
Power of court to delay parole
743.6 (1.3) Notwithstanding section 120 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, where an offender receives a sentence of imprisonment, including a sentence of impris- onment for life, on conviction for an offence under paragraph 238.1(1)(a), the court shall order that the portion of the sentence that must be served before the offender may be released on full parole is one half of the sentence or ten years, whichever is less, unless the court is satisfied, having regard to the circumstances of the commission of the offence and the character and circumstances of the offender, that the expression of society’s denunciation of the offence and the objectives of specific and general deterrence would be adequately served by a period of parole ineligibility determined in accordance with the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.
Published under authority of the Speaker