Canada has zero pro-choice Conservative MPs, watchdog says

Abortion rights group places remaining 15 Conservatives on list of anti-choice MPs after vote on ‘fetal rights’ bill

Tracey Lindeman in Ottawa
Thu 3 Aug 2023

A vote on a controversial bill meant to expand “fetal rights” in Canada has left the country without a single pro-choice Conservative MP, according to an abortion watchdog organization.

This week, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC) placed the last remaining 15 Conservatives on its list of anti-choice MPs after they voted in support of Bill C-311, dubbed the Violence Against Pregnant Women Act.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/03/canada-abortion-rights-pregnancy

The state of reproductive rights in Canada

It’s been one year since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the United States. In this piece, we look at abortion rights in Canada, accessibility issues and the future of abortion protection across the country.

by Stephen Wentzell
June 22, 2023

On June 24, 2022, the world watched in horror as the clock turned back decades in the U.S. in real-time as the Supreme Court overturned the Constitutional right to abortion access.

The move returned the right to abortion to the state level, overruling two landmark cases — Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992).

While the criminalization of reproductive rights in the U.S. has been a cause for concern north of the border, experts like Martha Paynter, author of Abortion to Abolition: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada, have sought to dispel misconceptions about abortion access in our country.

Continued: https://rabble.ca/health/the-state-of-reproductive-rights-in-canada/

Canada – Conservative bill defeated amid concerns it would promote fetal rights

By Staff The Canadian Press
Posted June 14, 2023

A controversial Conservative private member’s bill intended to make violence against pregnant women an aggravating factor during court sentencing was roundly defeated in the House of Commons, as other parties said they feared it would reopen the debate on abortion.

The bill was supported by nearly all members of the Conservative party, including Leader Pierre Poilievre who declared himself to be “pro-choice” during his leadership campaign.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada had urged MPs to vote against the bill on the grounds that it promotes fetal rights, even though there is no mention of fetal rights in the text of the bill itself.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/9769739/conservatives-violence-against-pregnant-women-fetal-rights/

14.06.2023

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

Campaign Life Coalition

Cathay Wagantall

Pierre Poilievre

violence against women

Canada – Conservative MP’s bill on violence against pregnant women revives abortion debate

Activist groups believe bill could lend itself to a legal argument for fetal rights

Laura Osman · The Canadian Press
Posted: May 09, 2023

A private member's bill from a Conservative backbench MP is stirring up debate over abortion in Canada, even though the proposed legislation does not mention it once.

Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall's bill would encourage judges to consider physical or emotional harm to a pregnant victim as an aggravating factor during sentencing.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/private-members-bill-violence-against-women-abortion-rights-1.6837875

09.05.2023

News

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

aggravating circumstance clause

Bill C-311

Campaign Life Coalition

violence against pregnant women

Canada

Human Rights

Law

House of Commons defeats bill to ban sex-selective abortion, but two thirds of Conservatives vote in favour

Brian Platt · Postmedia News
June 3, 2021

OTTAWA — A private member’s bill from a Conservative MP to ban sex-selection abortions was voted down in the House of Commons on Wednesday by a margin of 248 to 82, but about two thirds of the Conservative caucus voted in favour of it.

Conservative leader Erin O’Toole voted against the bill, but 81 of 119 Conservative MPs voted in favour. The only other “yes” vote was from independent MP Derek Sloan, the former Conservative leadership candidate who was ejected from the caucus in January.

Continued: https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/news/house-of-commons-defeats-bill-to-ban-sex-selective-abortion-but-two-thirds-of-conservatives-vote-in-favour-100595484/

Tory MP’s bill to ban sex-selective abortion is the stinking albatross Erin O’Toole was warned about

Konrad Yakabuski, Globe & Mail
PUBLISHED APRIL 14, 2021

Like
clockwork, the Tory-stalking species known as the stinking albatross returns to
Canada each election season after wintering in warmer climes where the culture
wars occur year-round.

Conservative
Leader Erin O’Toole was hounded this week by journalists seeking his reaction
to a private member’s bill tabled by one of his MPs that would ban
sex-selective abortions. It did not go well, to the delight of Liberal
strategists and horror of Tory ones who fear Mr. O’Toole may have to campaign
with the same smelly bird around his neck that made Andrew Scheer’s 2019
election campaign such a stinker.

Continued: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-tory-mps-bill-to-ban-sex-selective-abortion-is-the-stinking-albatross/

Canada – Without new abortion laws, there’s no way to seek justice for fetal homicide victims: Robyn Urback

Without new abortion laws, there's no way to seek justice for fetal homicide victims: Robyn Urback
A man was sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife — but not the full-term fetus she was carrying

Robyn Urback · CBC News
Posted: May 06, 2019

It feels heinously unjust that Nicholas Baig will serve a "life" sentence in prison, with no chance of parole for 17 years, for murdering one person — not two. The Pickering, Ont., man killed his pregnant wife, Arianna Goberdhan, in April 2017.

Baig was physically and verbally abusive, a pathetic little man who said he wanted to be rid of his wife, yet couldn't tolerate her absence. About a month after they separated, when Goberdhan went to their home one evening, Baig stabbed her 17 times, killing her and her full-term fetus.

Continued: https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/arianna-goberdhan-fetus-homicide-1.5122096