By Hilary White
OTTAWA, August 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canada’s most enthusiastic abortion advocate has endorsed the “alternate” bill a group of pro-abortion MPs has offered to replace the government’s Unborn Victims of Crime Bill, C-484.
C-484, which would make it a separate crime to injure or kill a foetus during an attack on the mother, passed second reading in the House of Commons in March. In May, pro-abortion Liberal MP Brent St. Denis introduced C-543 as an alternative, saying the government bill would result in the law identifying an unborn child as a person with rights. C-543 would amend the criminal code to allow for the possibility of harsher penalties for those who attack “a person who he or she knew, or ought to have known, was pregnant.”
Joyce Arthur, one of Canada’s foremost abortion activists, issued a media release on Monday on behalf of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, saying that the counter-bill, C-543, is the preferred choice of abortion advocates who want to maintain the status quo.
Arthur wrote, “The only reason to prefer Bill C-484 is to recognize the fetus itself as a victim, but this makes the fetus a separate legal person, in direct conflict with the rights of the pregnant woman. The problem of establishing legal personhood for the fetus, and its vast potential for harm to women, has already been discussed in our previous statements against Bill C-484.”
While supporters of Bill C-484 have pointed out that the bill includes very specific wording indicating that the legislation will have no affect whatsoever on abortion in Canada, opponents, including Joyce Arthur say they are not convinced. With C-543 on the table, says Arthur, “The only remaining reason to support C-484 is to give personhood to fetuses, with all that this entails.”
The wording of Bill C-484 explicitly protects abortion and makes plain that prosecutions for the death of a child as a result of violent attacks on the mother would only be pursued when the woman has chosen to carry the child to term.
“For greater clarity,” reads the bill, the legislation will not apply in respect of “conduct relating to the lawful termination of the pregnancy of the mother of the child to which the mother has consented.”
In June, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Rona Ambrose said the bill was urgently needed since there is a loophole in the current law that allows an assailant to escape prosecution if a wanted unborn child dies as a result of a violent attack.
When C-484 passed second reading, its sponsor, Ken Epp, said that since 72 percent of Canadians supported the bill, he would continue to work for its passage into law. Mr. Epp said, “Canadian women who choose to give birth when they are pregnant should not have to stand alone to protect the child within that they are eagerly awaiting.”
Last October, a national poll found that even among Canadians who support abortion at any stage in the pregnancy, 55 per cent are in favour of “legislation making it a separate crime to injure or kill a foetus during an attack on the mother” – which is the intent of bill C-484.
The polls show that support among Canadian voters cuts across party lines, with 77 percent of Conservatives, 71 percent of Liberals, 71 percent of Bloc, and 66 percent of NDP expressing support for the bill.
The timing of Arthur’s media release may be in response to the growing support in the House of Commons for C-484. In June it was revealed that although Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion opposed the bill, at least 27 members of his caucus are supportive.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Canadian Unborn Victims of Violent Crime Bill Passes Second Reading
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08030510.html
Pro-Abortion Liberal Introduces Bill to Counter Unborn Victims of Crime Bill
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051510.html
Canada’s Liberal Party Leader Vows to Block Unborn Victims of Crime Bill
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08060603.html