OTTAWA, May 18, 2001 (LSN.ca) – The recent case of Regina McKnight of South Carolina, who was found guilty Wednesday of killing her unborn child by abusing crack cocaine during pregnancy, highlights the increasing difference in attitude toward the unborn in the U.S. and Canada. After 15 minutes of deliberations Knight was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Explaining the Canadian situation, Dr. Margaret Somerville of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law told the National Post, “The Criminal Code in Canada says you don’t become a human being until you are delivered from the body of your mother”. “Under our law, no child exists until it’s born. How can you abuse a non-existent child? You can have an abortion the day before you give birth in Canada.” Somerville, a frequent “ethics” commentator, exposed her own pro-abortion views as she criticized US laws protecting the lives of the unborn. “They’re very busy with these laws, and sometimes they’re very self-righteous about them. Most of us would agree, whatever we think about the fetus, that the right way to go about this is to make sure that women have access to treatment and support they need.” Trying not to sound too obviously pro-abortion, Somerville adds, “My own view is that when you see a woman who you know for sure is going to give birth to that kid and you know that they are just destroying it before it’s had any chance, some limitation on the woman’s freedom could be justified.”
A 1996 case of a Canadian mother sniffing glue while pregnant, went to the Supreme Court where it was ruled that she could not be detained for drug abuse treatment in order to protect her unborn child.
For more see the National Post at: https://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20010518/567090.html