Unborn Victims: Resolution P-207

November 28, 2008

At the Conservative Policy Convention held November 13th-15th in Winnipeg, a policy resolution was passed which indicates the party’s intent to pursue its move in the last parliament to make it a crime to harm a fetus during an attack on a pregnant woman.

Resolution P-207 echoes the Unborn Victims of Crime Act - Bill C48, a private members bill in the last parliament. Bill- C484 proposed to amend the Criminal Code by making it an offense to:

"injure, cause the death of or attempt to cause the death of a child before or during its birth while committing or attempting to commit an offense against the mother”.

Bill C-484 was criticized as a way to create a separate legal status for a fetus.

In Canada, a fetus does not have rights separate from a woman and this legal separation of individual rights is the premise on which woman's right to choose is built. To dissolve this separation of rights threatened to erode a women's right to an abortion. As a result CFSH was strongly opposed to bill C-484. (To view CFSH position statement on bill c-484 click here).

It is not yet known how the policy resolution will translate into the introduction of legislation. The Canadian Federation for Sexual Health and our partners in reproductive health will be monitoring this issue and will collaborate with other partners to advocate for the protection of sexual and reproductive rights in Canada.