Canada Lawmaker Behind Unborn Victims Bill Upset at Government’s Alternative
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 26, 2008
Ottawa, Canada (LifeNews.com) — The member of the Canadian Parliament who is behind the unborn victims bill that protects pregnant women and unborn children is upset the Conservative government is putting forward an alternative. That bill would just increase the penalty for attacking a pregnant mom but would not punish a criminal for killing the baby.
Conservative Party MP Ken Epp is the sponsor of Bill C-484 that mirrors the two-victim laws in the United States and 36 states.
Abortion advocates have attacked the bill by erroneously claiming it would adversely affect abortion. Seeking to get around the abortion debate, the government is sponsoring a measure that merely tacks on an additional penalty for attacking a pregnant woman.
This is known, in the United States, as a pro-abortion version of authentic bills that protect and provide justice for both mother and her unborn child when both are killed or injured in an assault.
Epp isn’t happy about the news — and reportedly learned about it in the media — and wrote an article in the National Post newspaper expressing his opposition to the government’s decision.
He said the government bill just affirms the wrong notion that his legislation is an abortion bill when it only targets crime.
"Those actively campaigning against the Bill are clearly of the view that everyday Canadians are so lacking in intelligence that if opponents constantly raise points that are not true but sound compelling they will successfully scare people into opposing the Bill," he wrote.
"C-484 is crystal clear. It applies only when the pregnant woman is the victim of a crime," Epp added.
"If someone attacks her and takes that away from her, she has lost something very real. To her and her family, it matters deeply," he said.
Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General Rob Nicholson told reporters on Monday that the bill "is consistent with our crime-fighting agenda" and doesn’t "re-open" the debate over abortion.
"Let me be clear, our government will not reopen the debate on abortion," he said.
According to the Canwest News Service, Nicholson said the bill will "leave no room for the introduction of fetal rights."
Nicholson said Epp’s bill has been subject to "misinterpretation" but would not elaborate about the new bill beyond it being a sentence enhancement measure.
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