MANITOBA JUDGE URGES LEGISLATURE TO PROTECT UNBORN FROM SUBSTANCE-ABUSING MOTHERS

EDMONTON, January 17, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Manitoba judge this week called on her province to legislate protection for unborn children from their substance-abusing mothers.  “In light of the evidence at this inquest, the time may have come for legislators in this province to tackle this difficult issue in order to assist family service agencies to protect unborn children,” wrote Judge Linda M. Giesbrecht of the Provincial Court of Manitoba in a 234-page ruling on the case of Patrick Redhead, a native foster child who killed himself in 1999 near Dugald, Man.  “The evidence strongly suggests that Martina Redhead [the boy’s mother] is a chronic and severe alcoholic,” Giesbrecht added. “There is no question that this maternal history of alcohol consumption has had a profound impact on most if not all of her children.” At the least, she said, governments could look forward to many years of costly compensations suits if they fail to pass legislation.  Canadian courts have held for the most part that a fetus is not a “person” (not having emerged alive from the womb) and therefore not entitled to protection from the actions of his or her mother during pregnancy. In the 1997 Supreme Court ruling in Winnipeg Child Services v. G.(D.F.), the case of a glue-sniffing native mother, a judge who ordered her into treatment was overruled by the high court—which also left it to elected legislatures and Parliament to write a law protecting the fetus.  “We applaud this ruling”, stated Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition. “Finally a Judge has the wisdom and fortitude to acknowledge the existence and vulnerability of a child in the womb.”“We hope that this wakes up the Chretien government to finally enact legislation and not leave it up to the Courts,” Mr. Hughes continued.  Campaign Life Coalition praises the statement by Dennis Schellenberg, director of child welfare services in Manitoba who said, “the government is committed to doing what it takes to improve the child welfare system”.  Campaign Life Coalition encourages the Manitoba government to draft the legislation.  Covered in the Edmonton Journal, Friday, January 17, 2003, page G8   To read about the Supreme Court ruling leaving it open to legislatures to protect the unborn see:  https://www.culturalrenewal.ca/lex/lex-13.htm