Bill C-484 (Unborn Victims of Violence Act) aims 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. Voluntary abortion or any act or omission by the mother are exempted in the legislation". The sponsor of the bill, MP Ken Epp, claims that the bill's intention is to recognize 'unborn' children as crime victims when they are injured or killed during the commission of an offence against their mothers.
CFSH strongly supports initiatives and programs that protect women from violence and particularly recognizes the detrimental effects on the woman and her family of the involuntary loss of a fetus. However, the bill presents no evidence that it will increase women's protection against violence, whether pregnant or not, nor that it will act as a deterrent to offenders in any way.
In fact, instead of creating effective solutions to combat violence against women, the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health is concerned that the bill's underlying intention is to create a separate legal status for a fetus. In Canada, a fetus does not have rights separate from a woman. This legal separation of individual rights is the premise on which woman's right to choose is built, and to dissolve this separation of rights strategically chips away at a women's right to an abortion. Therefore, CFSH strongly opposes this projected piece of legislation.
The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada has put together an open letter petition, which CFSH has signed on to.
