Unborn Victims of Crime Act seen as wedge to make termination of pregnancy a crime
Staking out a rare political position on federal matters, the Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists yesterday denounced Bill C-484, the “Unborn Victims of Crime Act,” as a backdoor attempt to recriminalize abortion.
Gaétan Barrette, president of the 8,000-member federation, criticized Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion for not having voted against the private member’s bill at its second reading on March 5.
“We were astounded to learn that the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada did not find it advisable to take an official stand on this matter and allowed party members a free vote,” Barrette told reporters.
“Some Liberal Party members therefore voted in favour of the bill, while others, including Mr. Dion, were absent.”
Barrette described Bill C-484, tabled by Alberta Conservative MP Ken Epp, as “clearly a manoeuvre to go in the direction of recriminalizing abortion.”
The bill, according to its wording, would make “it an offence 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 offence against the mother.”
The bill also proposes a minimum prison term of 10 years.
Barrette expressed concern that were the bill to become law, anti-abortion groups would quickly take advantage of it to take a case to the Supreme Court to make abortion illegal again.
“This bill is the first step to giving rights to the fetus and those groups are very happy about that.”
On Jan. 28, 1988, the Supreme Court struck down Section 251 of the Criminal Code that made abortion illegal, ruling that a woman and her fetus are considered a single physical person.
Jean-François Del Torchio, Dion’s media attaché, said the Liberal Party is against Bill C-484, but he couldn’t confirm whether members plan to vote against it during its third and final reading. Both the New Democratic Party and Bloc Québécois are against it.
He recalled that the night the bill passed its second reading, Dion held a reception for women’s groups , and the issue did come up. “Mr. Dion said that although some Liberals voted for the bill, that’s not the position of the party at all,” Del Torchio added.
Barrette said the federation decided to take a stance to protect its members against potential lawsuits and criminal prosecutions should abortion one day become illegal again.
The federation has launched a petition on its website (http://www.fmsq.org) as well as form letters to be sent to MPs to urge them to vote against the bill.
Luc Gagnon, president of Campagne Québec-Vie, accused Barrette of overstepping the bounds of his role as president of a medical organization.
“It’s completely scandalous because Bill C-484 is a judicial and political question, and I don’t see how the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec can get involved in this matter,” Gagnon said. “The federation is playing politics here. Has the federation consulted its members on this issue?”
Barrette conceded that some medical specialists are against abortion, but it’s the federation that has taken a position – not individual doctors.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=eacf6bb9-bfea-4e1d-a75b-87c3fd4bd2ed
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