OTTAWA, Ontario, March 31, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth hinted in the House of Commons this afternoon that he will be asking MPs from all parties to consent to his “equal-worth-and-dignity” motion tabled last year.
Motion 476 requests: “That the House of Commons affirm that every Canadian law must be interpreted in a manner that recognizes in law the equal worth and dignity of everyone who is in fact a human being.”
According to parliamentary rules, Woodworth cannot move the motion to debate since he used up his one chance this parliamentary session in 2012 with his unsuccessful Motion 312, which sought to establish a special committee to examine the humanity of the unborn child.
“The final option for a parliamentary procedure is that he can stand up — and he’ll likely do this in the next week or two — and say: ‘I’d like unanimous consent from across every member within this house to vote in favor of M-476,” a spokesperson from Woodworth’s office told LifeSiteNews.
If the House of Commons gives unanimous consent, the motion can move to a vote without debate.
Motion 312’s defeat led Woodworth to travel the country last year promoting respect for the “equal worth and dignity” of the unborn.
He said the Motion 476 is needed to bring “clarity to the undefined Charter terms ‘everyone’ and ‘every individual’ by insisting that those terms apply equally to all whose inherent nature reveals them to be human beings, excluding no human being.”
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Pro-abortion critics have slammed the motion — as they did M-312 — as a backdoor attempt to reopen debate on the legality of abortion.
But Woodworth is undaunted.
“Laws which falsely condemn as non-human anyone who is in fact a human being are savage and inhumane in their denial of the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of the victims of such laws,” he told the House today during Member’s Statement period.
“That is why I have introduced Motion 476 calling on the House to affirm that every Canadian law must be interpreted in a manner which recognizes the equal worth and dignity of everyone who is in fact a human being.”
While Woodworth expects the House to be divided when he makes his request for unanimous consent, he believes that raising the issue has its own merits.
“It’s just an opportunity to bring more information to people about what he is trying to do with the human equality motion,” the spokesperson said.
Woodworth told the House today he expects everyone to support his motion.
“If even one Member of this House refuses to consent to this essential principle of democratic governance it will be a dark and dangerous day for Canada,” he said.