OTTAWA, March 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “This is a victory for Canadian women and children, for victims’ families, and indeed for all Canadians,” said MP Ken Epp, reacting to today’s vote in the House of Commons on his Private Members Bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Act.
Members of Parliament voted 147 to 132 in support of allowing the Bill to proceed to Committee Stage. “Since 72% of Canadians support this legislation, I will continue to work hard to persuade my Parliamentary Colleagues that I have no sinister motives, and that they should support the Bill at further stages,” 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.”
“I want to thank my Colleagues in the House today for doing the right thing, for standing up for pregnant women and the babies they want to protect from violence,” said Mr. Epp. “It is so encouraging to see the outpouring of support from thousands of Canadians right across the country who have urged their MPs to support this legislation, who have signed petitions, and who have spoken out in defense of pregnant women who have chosen life for their children.”
Mr. Epp continued, “In the midst of their grief, I hope Mary Talbot and Aydin Cocelli and others who have lost loved ones to this type of crime, can experience some measure of consolation today, knowing that many, many Canadians are united with them in the quest for justice for unborn victims of crime. Although justice will never be served for the crimes committed against their own family members, there is real hope today that other families in future will be spared the injustice of being told that the child they loved and wanted to live never even existed in the eyes of the law.”
Mr. Epp concluded, “I look forward to continuing to work with these families, with my Colleagues in the House from all parties, and with Canadians to move this cause forward in the weeks and months ahead.”