OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A Liberal MP condemned a now-defeated bill to protect pregnant mothers from violence because it would “give legal protection to the fetus.”
On May 9, Liberal MP Rachel Bendayan told Parliament that voting for Bill C-311, which aimed to provide additional legal protections to pregnant mothers facing violence, would “reopen the abortion debate,” and therefore could not be supported.
“This bill appears to be designed to serve as a stepping stone towards reopening the abortion debate in Canada, with the goal of conferring rights on the fetus,” Bendayan argued.
“Let me be clear,” she continued. “Our government firmly believes that the right to abortion is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We will never compromise on that right.”
On June 14, Bendayan took to social media to once again condemn the pro-family proposition, accusing the bill aimed at protecting pregnant women as being an attempt to “give legal status to a fetus here in Canada.”
Later today, @ourcommons will vote on the Conservatives’ latest attempt to reopen the abortion debate in Canada.@PierrePoilievre‘s decision to fast track this bill shows where his priorities lie. pic.twitter.com/evpYZxs6P9
— Rachel Bendayan (@RachelBendayan) June 14, 2023
As a result of Liberal and New Democratic Party (NDP) opposition to the Conservative-led bill, C-311 was voted down later that day.
Bill C-311, the Violence Against Pregnant Women Act, was put forward by Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall in February 2023. It aimed to amend Canada’s Criminal Code to specifically protect pregnant women from violent “killers” who “intentionally sought to do harm.”
“I stand this evening on behalf of pregnant women who have been and are facing violence while living in fear of injury or loss of their child. I stand humbly advocating on behalf of those who no longer breathe or have their voice and on behalf of their families, who have lost loved ones whose lives were taken in targeted violent crimes,” Wagantall said.
“There are more than 80 cases in recent Canadian history of women who have been killed while pregnant. Each of these women was killed by men who knew they were pregnant,” added the conservative politician.
Wagantall at the time said her Violence Against Pregnant Women Act, proposed to add two “aggravating factors to the Criminal Code of Canada.”
“The crimes of knowingly assaulting a pregnant woman and causing physical or emotional harm to a pregnant woman will require judges to consider them as aggravating circumstances during the sentencing process,” she noted in the bill’s press release.
Wagantall has said that any sentences given to those who have been “tried and found guilty of attacking pregnant women” should be proportionate to the “crimes committed.”
“Canada needs the Violence Against Pregnant Women Act to ensure that criminals who attack or kill a pregnant woman can be sentenced appropriately by our courts,” she added.
Fully titled An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (violence against pregnant women), C-311 reads: “Paragraph 718.2(a) of the Criminal Code is amended by adding the following after subparagraph (ii.1).
(ii.2) evidence that the offender, in committing the offence, abused a person whom the offender knew to be pregnant, and
(ii.3) evidence that the offence caused physical or emotional harm to a pregnant victim.”
Wagantall’s bill even had the support of pro-abortion Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre.
This is not the first time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has made their pro-abortion stance widely known.
On May 13, while thousands of pro-life Canadians gathered in Ottawa for Canada’s 26th National March for Life, Trudeau’s Liberal caucus released a video fawning over the deadly practice of abortion.
The day prior, Trudeau pledged millions in additional funding for pro-abortion initiatives across the country.
Just before Christmas, Trudeau’s pro-abortion government reaffirmed it remains committed to stripping pro-life organizations of their charitable tax status, a move that has been blasted by Canada’s top pro-life group, Campaign Life Coalition.