To Organizations: Please sign an
open statement opposing Bill C-484.
(This statement was drafted by a coalition of women's groups.)
To sign, please send an email with your organization's name (in both French and English if
applicable) to joyce@arcc-cdac.ca
Type "Signing open statement"
in the Subject line.
(Note: Individuals should the online
petition.)
Thank you!
List of Signatories
Statement
in opposition to Bill
C‑484, the "Unborn Victims of Crime Act"
Last March,
Bill C 484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Act, passed second reading in
the House of Commons. This bill seeks to amend the Criminal Code and to
create a separate offence for causing the injury or death of an “unborn
child” when a pregnant woman is the victim of a crime. This would mean
that the murderer of a pregnant woman could be accused of a second
murder, that of the foetus.
This amendment would not protect pregnant women, and would do nothing
to respond to violence against women. The Criminal Code already
recognizes that spousal violence is an aggravating factor in
sentencing. Judges already do recognize pregnancy as an aggravating
factor in sentencing. What is really at stake here is the legal
recognition of the fetus’ right to life and the possible
re-criminalization of abortion.
In Canadian law, only “human beings” have a right to life. Legally, a
child becomes a human being once it is born and has completely
proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother. In all
the cases in which the Supreme Court of Canada was required to discuss
the rights of the unborn, it ruled that the fetus is an integral part
of the mother and has no independent legal personhood until it is born.
Murder is the act of causing the death of a human being.
Recognizing the murder of a pregnant woman as a “double murder”, would
be tantamount to recognizing that the foetus is a human being.
The adoption of Bill C 484 would introduce a major change in our law,
since it would in effect recognize that a fetus has a “right to life”.
This would undoubtedly result in massive intrusions in the lives of
pregnant women, as has been the case in those states in the U.S. that
have adopted similar legislation. Some women have been criminally
charged, and have been imprisoned for having a stillborn baby after
refusing a caesarean, or for using drugs while pregnant.
Last January, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Morgentaler
decision that struck down the Criminal Code provisions that made
abortion a crime in Canada. This historic Supreme Court decision
recognized that women’s constitutional rights to security of the
person, autonomy and freedom include the right to end an unwanted
pregnancy without state interference.
We the undersigned demand that all federal political parties and all
members of Parliament:
- Oppose the adoption of Bill C-484
- Commit to protect women’s
reproductive rights, and ensure that quality public health care
abortion services are accessible in all regions of Canada and in
Québec.
- Take effective measures to
eliminate violence against women, in consultation with women’s groups
This
is a question that
goes to the heart of women’s equality, dignity and human rights.
List of
Signatories
Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada / Coalition pour le droit à
l’avortement au Canada (ARCC-CDAC)
Action Canada Population Development / Action Canada pour la population
et le développement (ACPD)
Action ontarienne contre la violence faite aux femmes
Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights / la Coalition
spéciale pour l'égalité des femmes et les droits
de la personne
L'Association générale étudiante du Cégep
du Vieux Montréal
Atira Women’s Resource Society / Société De la Ressource
Des Femmes D'Atira, Vancouver
BC Teachers' Federation, Vancouver
BC Teachers' Federation Feminist Caucus, Vancouver
BC/Yukon Society of Transition Houses
British Columbia Women's Hospital & Health Centre
CALACS francophone d’Ottawa
Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies / Associations
canadiennes des sociétées Elizabeth Fry
Canadian Federation for Sexual Health / Fédération
canadienne pour la santé sexuelle (CFSH)
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) / La
Fédération canadienne des syndicats d’infirmières
et infirmiers (FCSII)
Canadian Federation of University Women / Fédération
canadienne des femmes diplômées des universités
(CFUW)
Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action / L’Alliance
canadienne féministe pour l’action internationale (FAFIA/AFAI)
Canadian Labour Congress / Congrès du travail du Canada
Canadian Staff Union / Syndicat Canadien du Personnel
Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) / Syndicat des travailleurs et
travailleuses des postes (STTP)
Canadian Union of Public Employees / Syndicat canadien de la fonction
publique (CUPE)
Canadians for Choice / L’Association canadienne pour la liberté
de choix
Catholics for Free Choice Canada / Catholiques pour un Libre Choix
Canada
Centre de Santé des femmes de Montréal
Centre Novas, CALACS francophone de Prescott-Russell, Casselman ON
Le Centre Victoria pour femmes (Sudbury et Algoma)
Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Manitoba
La
Coalition Solidarité Santé, Québec
Colibri – Centre des femmes francophones du comté de Simcoe
College of Family Physicians of Canada
(CFPC) / Collège
des médecins de famille du Canada (CMFC)
Communications,
Energy, and Paper Workers Union of Canada (CEP) / Le Syndicat canadien
des communications, de l’énergie et du papier (SCEP)
CUPE Ontario Women's
Committee
Egale Canada / Égale
Canada
Everywoman's Health Centre, Vancouver BC
La Fédération des femmes du Québec
La Fédération du Québec pour le planning des
naissances (FQPN)
Federation of Medical Women of Canada / Fédération des
femmes médecins du Canada
Graduate Women's Studies Student's Association, York University
Halifax Coalition for
Choice
Hospital Employees’ Union, Vancouver
International Women's Rights Project - Canada Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria
Kitchen Table Collective / Le Collectif de Table de cuisine
Klinic Community Health Center, Winnipeg
Law Union of Ontario
Maison secours aux femmes de Montréal
Miss G__ Project, Ottawa Chapter
National Abortion Federation
National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) / L’Association
nationale Femmes et Droit (ANFD)
National Council of Women of Canada / Conseil national des femmes du
Canada
Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of
Women
Newfoundland and Labrador Feminist Coalition
North Shore Women's
Centre / Centre des Femmes de la Rive Nord, North Vancouver
Northern Society for Domestic Peace,
Smithers BC
Nova House, Selkirk MB
Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH)
Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics
Ontario Federation of Labour
Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation/ Fédération
des enseignantes-enseignants des écoles secondaires de l'Ontario
(OSSTF/FEESO)
Ontario Women’s Health Network / Réseau ontarien pour la
santé des femmes
Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women / Coalition d'Ottawa
contre la violence faite aux femmes
Pictou County Centre for Sexual Health, New Glasgow, NS
Planned Parenthood
Ottawa / Planning des
naissances d’Ottawa
Planned Parenthood Toronto
Powell River Transition House Society, Powell River BC
Prince Edward Island Advisory Council on the Status of Women / Conseil
consultatif sur la situation de la femme de
l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard
Pro-Choice Action Network, Vancouver
Pro-Choice New Brunswick
Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of
Saskatchewan, Regina
Public Service Alliance of Canada / Alliance de la Fonction publique du
Canada, Ottawa
Quesnel Women’s Resource Centre Collective, Quesnel BC
Quinte Labour Council, Ontario
L'R des centres de femmes du Québec (qui représente 102
centres de femmes partout dans la province)
Regroupement provincial des maisons d'hébergement et de
transition pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, Québec
Revelstoke Women's Shelter, Revelstoke BC
Sexual Health Access Alberta, Calgary
Sexual Health Centre for Cumberland County, Amherst NS
Sexuality Education Resource Centre Manitoba, Inc.
Sisyphe
South Fraser Women's Services Society, Surrey BC
Surrey Women’s Centre
University of Alberta Women's Centre, Edmonton
Vernon Women's Transition House, Vernon BC
Victoria Faulkner Women's Centre / Centre de Femmes Victoria Faulkner,
Whitehorse
Womanspace Resource Centre, Lethbridge AB
Women Elders in Action (WE*ACT), Vancouver
Women's Habitat, Toronto
Women's
Health Clinic, Winnipeg
Women's Legal Education and
Action Fund / Fonds d'action et d'education juridiques pour les femmes
(LEAF)
Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights
Yukon Status of Women Council, Whitehorse
YWCA Canada
YWCA Munroe House, Vancouver BC