MPS equate late abortion, murder
Harper downplays backbench call for RCMP probe
Prime Minister Stephen Harper insists the abortion debate in Canada remains closed, even after three of his backbench MPs sought to reopen it with an appeal to the RCMP to investigate late-term abortions as possible homicides.
“I think all members of this House, whether they agree with it or not, understand that abortion is legal in Canada and this government, myself included, have made it very clear that the government does not intend to change the law in this regard,” he said during question period Thursday.
Harper’s comments came hours after a letter to RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson dated Jan. 23, 2013, was made public. Signed by Saskatchewan MP Maurice Vellacott, Albertat MP Leon Benoit and Ontario MP Wladyslaw Lizon, the letter suggests not all caucus members indeed understand.
The letter cites an anti-abortion blog dubbed Run with Life that argues there were 491 abortions performed between 2000-2009 in Canada after 20 weeks gestation that resulted in live births. According to the blog, the data was extrapolated from Statistics Canada figures.
“According to the Criminal Code, a child is considered to be a human being and a person after proceeding fully from the mother’s womb,” the letter states. “Therefore, based on Section 223(2) of the Criminal Code, there should be 491 homicide investigations or prosecutions in connection with these deaths.”
The MPs argue the “incidents appear to be homicides,” and thus require a “thorough police investigation.”
The RCMP confirmed it received the letter but made no further comment.
Meanwhile, the opposition immediately seized on the letter, calling it yet another attempt by the Conservatives to reopen the debate.
“What strikes me again and again, we’re in 2013 and I’m back here talking about what? The most closed file ever I’ve seen that I keep talking about which is abortion and the right of women to choose. So it’s just another attack,” NDP justice critic Françoise Boivin said Thursday.
“The prime minister can get up as much as he wants and tell us that it’s not the government’s plan to reopen this file but each time he says this, a few minutes later, a few days later, there’s an element of his caucus that will get up to do the exact opposite and call this all back into question.”
Liberal Leader Bob Rae said he believes Harper is true to his word about not reopening the debate but is nonetheless concerned about the actions taken by members of his caucus. While it’s one thing for a member of the public to write such a letter to the RCMP, he argued it’s quite another for an elected official.
“I don’t think the application of the criminal law in Canada should be subject to political pressure of any kind whatsoever from any source whatsoever and I regret the fact that members are doing this because I think it creates a sense that … somehow this determination is a political determination,” he said.
Vellacott, the chief author of the letter, said in an interview that while it’s true he’s a “a prolife guy for sure,” this particular issue is one of criminal justice and that most Canadians would agree that a child born alive deserves the full protection of the law.
What’s not entirely clear, however, is what exactly is meant by a child born alive following a so-called “attempted” abortion.
University of Ottawa associate law professor Carissima Mathen said she would be “extremely surprised if what they’re talking about would actually qualify as a crime under Canadian law.”
While it’s true a fetus born alive is indeed a human being under the law, she argued there is “no duty to rescue” in criminal law. While it would be one thing to take deliberate actions to end a life, she argued it’s more a professional or ethical issue rather than a legal one not to sustain it.