Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll finds 70 percent of Canadians support an unborn victims bill pending the nation's parliament. They strongly support the concept the bill puts forward that criminals should be held accountable for killing and injuring both mother and child when they violently attack a pregnant woman.

The Vancouver-based Angus Reid Strategies conducted the poll and found just 19 percent of the people in Canada oppose the measure.

The survey found 44 percent of Canadians strongly support the bill while 26 percent moderately support it. Another 11 percent are undecided.

Residents of the Atlantic provinces were most likely (82%) to support the bill along with those living in Alberta (79%) and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (79%).

Canadian citizens in Quebec and (63%) and British Columbia (64%) were less likely to support the bill but still felt Parliament should approved it.

Although pro-abortion groups have attacked the bill saying it would only serve to stop abortions, just 24 percent buy their argument that it is a veiled attempt to prohibit abortions. The rest understand it's a measure to protect women and children.

Not surprisingly, 74 percent of women and 66 percent of men support the bill.

Conservative Party supporters were more likely to back it with the support of 79 percent while the proportion's support is lower among New Democratic Party (NDP) voters (70%), Liberals (67%), Greens (61%) and Bloc Québécois supporters (55%).

Only 17 percent of Conservative Party supporters think the Unborn Victims of Crime Act is really about re-criminalizing abortion in Canada, while the number increases among respondents who would vote for the NDP (22%), the Liberals (25%), the Greens (34%) and the Bloc (37%).

The Unborn Victims of Crime Act has been approved by the House of Commons but heads to committee for further discussion and examination.