At a recent general council meeting of The Canadian Medical Association, (CMA), delegates called on the federal government to reject changes to the Criminal Code. A Member of Parliament wants to challenge the definitions of a 400-year-old law that says a child becomes a human being when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother.
In the 21st century, this position is scientifically and medically untenable. The preamble to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states, “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before, as well as after, birth. Canada is a signatory to this Convention.
The CMA has a policy of not aborting babies after 20 weeks gestation. To refuse to recognize the unborn as a human being until after birth is contradictory. It appears that the CMA’s position lines up with the radical feminist ideology. Dr. Genevieve Desbiens, mover of the motion, said, “This attempt to modify the definition of a human being could legally recognize the fetus, which would give the fetus rights.” She asked the delegates to recognize that women must retain their full and complete rights. Presumably, Dr. Desbiens means the right to kill their unborn children anytime during the pregnancy, right up to the moment of birth.
The Canadian public is exercising more restraint. Seventy-two per cent feel that there should be some sort of protection. Former Justice Bertha Wilson, in the Morgentaler decision, called for the informed judgement of the legislature, to receive guidance from all the relevant disciplines. A national debate on abortion needs to happen. It is time for the Prime Minister to face up to reality—unborn babies are human beings, not birds or cabbages.
Hildegard Krieg