News

By Gudrun Schultz

EDMONTON, Alberta, December 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A woman who lost both her 19-year-old daughter and her daughter’s unborn son in a murder last month has started a petition for federal legislation that would see the person responsible charged with murder in the death of the child.

Under current federal law the unborn child is not considered a person until it has been born alive. There is no legal judgment against causing the death of the child through the murder of its mother.

Mary Talbot wants to bring pressure against politicians to make a decision on the issue as they prepare for the upcoming federal election.

“We need politicians who are able to take a stand on something serious like this,” Talbot said in an interview with the Edmonton Sun Monday.

She has several hundred signatures on the petition so far, and would like to see that number reach 10,000.

Conservative MP Peter Goldring of Edmonton East says he would support legislation that would bring in double murder charges in the killing of pregnant women.

“It’s a sad day in society when you can give the unborn fetus recognized insurance rights, but you’re reluctant to recognize them as human beings,” Goldring said, referring to Bill 45, the Maternal Tort Liability Act, passed by the Alberta legislature on December first of this year.

The Act granted a child the specific right to sue its mother for injuries suffered during an automobile accident prior to birth. This narrow window of rights granted to an unborn child has given defenders of the unborn increased motivation to continue pursuing full legal protection for all children prior to birth.

See Alberta Legilative Assembly page on Bill 45: Maternal Tort Liability Act (Oberle)
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=bills_bill&selectbill=045

To contact members about the bill
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_home