Canada Should Protect Pregnant Women, Unborn From Violence Poll Says

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 24, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Canada Should Protect Pregnant Women, Unborn From Violence Poll Says

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 24
, 2008

Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) — The Canadian Parliament should approve a bill that offers protection and justice for pregnant women and their unborn children when they are victims of violence. That’s the results of a new poll from Vancouver-based Angus Reid Strategies, which found 68 percent of Canadians support such a bill.

The survey finds Canadians strongly support the concept that criminals should be held accountable for killing and injuring both mother and child when they violently attack a pregnant woman.

The new survey finds 68 percent support the Unborn Victims of Crime Act and just 13 percent against it. Another 18 percent of those polled aren’t sure their position on the legislation.

Those results are consistent with the firm’s previous poll, in March, showing 44 percent of Canadians strongly support the bill while 26 percent moderately support it. Just 19 percent of Canadians opposed the bill in the prior poll.

As with the previous poll, support for the unborn victims bill came in across all provinces.

Residents of the Atlantic provinces (80 percent), Alberta (77 percent), Manitoba and Saskatchewan (74 percent), and Ontario (72 percent) most strongly support the measure.

However, Canadians living in British Columbia (68 percent) and Quebec (54 percent) support the bill as well.

No province showed higher opposition to the bill than the 24 percent of Quebec residents who oppose it. The next closest was British Columbia at 13 percent opposition.

Breaking down the new survey further, 68 percent of both men and women support the bill with just 10 percent of women opposing it and 16 percent of men. Older Canadians were more likely to support the measure but 62 percent of those 18-34 back it as well.

Higher income residents were more likely to support the unborn victims bill while those with university degrees were less likely, though they still support it by a three to one margin.

Earlier this month, Conservative MP Ken Epp stepped up efforts to defend his private member’s bill after Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion recently attacked it.

He accused opponents of the bill of running a "massive misinformation campaign" designed to make it look like an abortion bill that would place new limits on abortion.

"To those of you actively campaigning against this bill, I say this: Please stop frightening Canadians about the effect of the bill based on your misreading of it," Epp said.

Epp was joined by several French-speaking supporters of the bill, including family members of victims who say that they didn’t receive adequate justice after the attacks since the baby was not considered a victim.

ACTION: Use this web site to contact your member of parliament and express support for the bill.

Related web sites:
MP Ken Epp – https://www.kenepp.com

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