Anti-Choice Private Member Bills and Motions Introduced in Canada Since 1987
Updated June 19, 2023
At least 48 anti-choice private member bills or motions have been introduced in Canada’s Parliament since 1987 and are listed below. They have all failed to pass. The list does not include government bills of which there has been just one: Bill C-43, introduced in November 1989 by the Mulroney Conservative government to re-criminalize abortion except where the doctor deems an abortion necessary to preserve the woman’s life or health. That bill was defeated in the Senate by a tie vote on January 31, 1991.
| Number | Date Introduced | MP / Senator | Description |
| M-37 | June 2, 1987 (voted on) | Gus Mitges, Progressive Conservative MP | Motion to amend Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to include “unborn persons.” Defeated 89-62. |
| S-16 | 1988 | Stanley Haidasz, Liberal Senator | A bill to amend the Criminal Code to protect the “unborn child.” |
| C-268 | 1989 | Don Boudria, Liberal MP | Bill to amend Canada Health Act to allow federal government to penalize any province that paid for abortions deemed not necessary to preserve the life of the woman. |
| C-277 | 1989 | Don Boudria, Liberal MP | Bill to amend Section 293 of the Criminal Code and repeal Sections 223, 238, and 287 to ban abortion in all cases except to save the woman’s life. |
| C-266 | 1989 | Ralph Ferguson, Liberal MP | Bill to define a foetus as a person and prohibit abortion with a couple of exceptions including when “medically authorized to save the life of the pregnant woman.” |
| C-261 | 1989 | John Nunziata, Liberal MP | Bill to amend Section 287 of Criminal Code to ban abortion in all cases, but permitting medical treatment necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman. |
| C-275 | 1989 | Tom Wappel, Liberal MP | Bill to redefine “human being” to include an “embryo” and a “foetus”, so as to define abortion as homicide. |
| S-7 | 1989 | Stanley Haidasz, Liberal Senator | Reintroduction of bill to amend the Criminal Code to protect the “unborn child” (S-16). |
| C-214 | 1991 | Tom Wappel, Liberal MP | Reintroduction of Bill to redefine “human being” to include an “embryo” and a “foetus”, so as to define abortion as homicide. (C-275) |
| C-220 | 1991 | Don Boudria, Liberal MP | Bill to criminalize abortion provision: “Every person who directly or indirectly requires a physician, nurse, staff member or employee of a hospital or other health care facility to perform or participate directly or indirectly in an abortion procedure is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.” |
| C-221 | 1991 | Don Boudria, Liberal MP | Reintroduction of Bill to amend Section 293 of the Criminal Code and repeal Sections 223, 238, and 287 to ban abortion in all cases except to save woman’s life. (C-277) |
| C-222 | 1991 | Don Boudria, Liberal MP | Reintroduction of Bill to amend Canada Health Act to allow federal government to penalize any province that paid for abortions deemed not necessary to preserve the life of the woman. (C-268) |
| C-302 | 1991 | Ralph Ferguson, Liberal MP | Reintroduction of Bill to define a foetus as a person, which would prohibit abortion with a couple of exceptions including when “medically authorized to save the life of the pregnant woman.” (C-266) |
| C-253 | May 27, 1994 | Don Boudria, Liberal MP | Reintroduction of Bill to criminalize abortion provision. (C-220) |
| C-208 | Feb. 1996 | Tom Wappel, Liberal MP | Reintroduction of Bill to redefine “human being” to include an “embryo” and a “foetus”, so as to define abortion as homicide. (C-275) |
| M-91 | March 14, 1996 | Garry Breitkreuz, Reform MP | Motion calling for binding national referendum on government funding for “medically unnecessary” abortions. |
| C-? | March 1997 | Keith Martin, Reform MP | Bill to charge pregnant women who abuse alcohol, drugs etc. with criminal endangerment of fetus. Guilty women would be sentenced to treatment centre. |
| S-7 | Nov. 19, 1997 | Stanley Haidasz, Liberal Senator | Bill to prevent “coercion in medical procedures that offend a person’s religion or belief that human life is inviolable.” |
| M-268 | Nov. 20, 1997 | Garry Breitkreuz, Reform MP | Reintroduction of Motion calling for binding national referendum on government funding for “medically unnecessary” abortions. (M-91) |
| M-? | February 1998 | Stanley Haidasz, Liberal Senator | Motion to set up a Special Joint Committee on the Unborn “to examine and report upon the feasibility of legislation in the area of fetal rights in order to provide some protection to the unborn child.” |
| S-16 | May 1998 | Stanley Haidasz, Liberal Senator | Bill to amend Criminal Code to give full protection to “unborn children.” |
| C-461 | Dec. 2, 1998 | Maurice Vellacott, Reform MP | Bill to prohibit healthcare providers from being forced to participate against their will in procedures such as abortion or euthanasia. (Similar to Haidasz’s conscience clause Bill S-7, 1997). |
| M-360 | 1999 | Garry Breitkreuz, Reform MP | Motion to enact law to define a human being as a “human fetus or embryo from the moment of conception, whether in the womb of the mother or not and whether conceived naturally or otherwise.” |
| C-515 | June 2, 1999 | Jim Pankiw, Reform MP | Bill to “provide for a referendum to determine whether Canadians wish medically unnecessary abortions to be insured services under the Canada Health Act and to amend the Referendum Act.” If a majority said No to funding, government would have to financially penalize provinces that continued to pay for abortion. |
| C-207 | Oct. 1999 | Maurice Vellacott, Reform MP | Re-introduction of conscience clause Bill C-461 (Dec 1998) and Bill S-7 (Nov 1997). |
| S-11 | Nov. 1999 | Raymond Perrault, Liberal Senator | Re-introduction of Haidasz’s conscience clause Bill (S-7, Nov 19/97). |
| C-422 | Dec. 1999 | Maurice Vellacott, Reform MP | Re-introduction of conscience clause Bill C-461 (Dec 1998) and Bill S-7 (Nov 1997). |
| M-228 | Feb. 2, 2001 | Garry Breitkreuz, Reform MP | Reintroduction of Motion to enact law to define a human being as fetus or embryo from the moment of conception (C-360). |
| C-246 | Feb. 2, 2001 | Maurice Vellacott, Reform MP | Re-introduction of conscience clause Bill C-461 (Dec 1998) and Bill S-7 (Nov 1997). |
| M-392 | April 18, 2002 | Garry Breitkreuz, Alliance MP | Motion asking Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to examine current definition of “human being” in the Criminal Code to see if law needs to be amended to provide protection to fetuses and to designate a fetus/embryo as a human being. |
| M-523 | June 17, 2002 | Garry Breitkreuz, Alliance MP | Motion asking Standing Committee on Health to evaluate whether abortions are “medically necessary,” and to compare health risks for women undergoing abortions to women carrying their babies to full term. |
| C-246 | Oct. 30, 2002 | Maurice Vellacott, Reform MP | Re-introduction of conscience clause Bill C-461 (Dec 1998) and Bill S-7 (Nov 1997). |
| C-452 | May 1, 2002 | Jim Pankiw, Reform MP | Reintroduction of bill (C-515) to allow a referendum on tax funding of “medically unnecessary” abortions. |
| M-83 | March, 2003 | Garry Breitkreuz, Alliance MP | Motion asking Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to examine whether abortions are “medically necessary,” and to compare health risks for women undergoing abortions compared to women carrying their babies to full term. Voted on Oct 1, 2003, defeated 139-66. |
| M-482 | Oct. 23, 2003 | Garry Breitkreuz, Alliance MP | Motion asking Parliament for a Woman’s Right to Know Act, to “guarantee women are fully informed of all the risks before deciding to abort their baby,” and to provide penalties for physicians who perform an abortion without woman’s informed consent. |
| M-560 | March 10, 2004 | Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative MP | Motion asking Parliament to create new Criminal Code offence for the “murder of an unborn child” when a third party murders a pregnant woman. |
| M-70 | Oct. 5, 2004 | Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative MP | Reintroduction of bill for “Woman’s Right to Know Act” (M-482). |
| C-291 | May 17, 2006 | Leon Benoit, Conservative MP | A bill to amend the Criminal Code to make “injuring or causing the death of a child before or during its birth while committing an offence” a separate offence. |
| C-338 | June 21, 2006 | Paul Steckle, Liberal MP | Bill to criminalize abortions after 20 weeks gestation. (ARCC response) |
| C-338 | October 2007 | Paul Steckle, Liberal MP | Reintroduction of bill to criminalize abortions after 20 weeks gestation. (ARCC response) |
| C-484 | Nov. 21, 2007 | Ken Epp, Conservative MP | Bill to protect fetuses from third-party attacks: “Unborn Victims of Crime Act.” (similar to M-560 of March 2004 and C-291 of May 2004). Passed 2nd reading on vote of 147-132, but died on order paper in Sept 2008 when election was called. (ARCC response) |
| C-537 | April 16, 2008 | Maurice Vellacott, Conservative MP | Bill to prevent coercion of medical personnel. Conscience clause protection similar to his previous bills C-246, C-422, C-207, and C-461. (ARCC response) |
| C-510 | April 16, 2010 | Rod Bruinooge, Conservative MP | Bill to make it a crime to coerce or attempt to coerce a woman to have an abortion, also called “Roxanne’s law”. (ARCC response). Defeated Dec 15, 2010, by a vote of 178 to 97. |
| M-312 | March 13, 2012 | Stephen Woodworth, Conservative MP | Motion to have Parliamentary committee examine if Criminal Code definition of “human beings” should include fetuses, and to look at medical evidence, legal impact and consequences. (ARCC response) Motion 312 was defeated Sep 26, 2012, by a vote of 203-91. |
| M-408 | Sept. 27, 2012 | Mark Warawa, Conservative MP | Motion to “condemn discrimination against females occurring through sex-selective pregnancy termination.” (Response by ARCC’s ED) |
| C-225 | Feb. 23, 2016 | Cathay Wagantall, Conservative MP | Bill to protect fetuses from third-party attacks: “Protection of Pregnant Women and Their Preborn Children Act (Cassie and Molly’s Law).” (similar to C-484 of Nov 2007, M-560 of March 2004, and C-291 of May 2004). Contains an “aggravating circumstances” clause. (ARCC response). Bill C-225 was defeated Oct 19, 2016, by a vote of 209-76. |
| C-233 | Feb 26, 2020 | Cathay Wagantall, Conservative MP | Bill to amend the Criminal Code (sex-selective abortion), to criminalize sex selective abortion if that is the only reason for an abortion, and sentence providers to up to five years in jail. ARCC’s response. Bill C-233 was defeated on June 2, 2021 by a vote of 248 to 82. |
| C-311 | Jan 31, 2023 | Cathay Wagantall, Conservative MP | Bill to amend the Criminal Code (Paragraph 718.2(a)) to create an “aggravating circumstance” clause to allow for greater penalties when a pregnant person is attacked. ARCC’s response. Bill C-311 was defeated on June 14, 2023 by a vote of 205 to 113. (Note: All Conservatives voted in favour including 14 of 15 pro-choice Conservative MPs. Six MPs were absent, include one pro-choice MP.) |
Sources:
The Interim. Pro-life parliamentarians and their bills and motions. May 2011, pp 10-11.
http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/media/release-jun-4-04.shtml
http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/action/nodebate.html (francais: http://www.arcc-cdac.ca/fr/backrounders/nesontplus-debattre.html)
http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/shared/skins/default/pdf/abortionbriefingbook.pdf
http://www.consciencelaws.org/laws-proposed/Canada/PLCanada03.html
http://www.consciencelaws.org/laws-proposed/Canada/PLCanada02.html
