Has anyone heard of Bill C-484? Its a sneaky bugger. Basically the bill is using the high profile murder of several pregnant Canadian women last year to bolster the anti-choice movement. The bill aims to give the unborn legal protection from violence.
At first I found this very confusing. Of course I don’t think a fetus should be exposed to murderous violence. That’s obvious. But the reality is that in the 30+ states south of our border where this law exists it has most often been used to prosecute women who have sought out abortions. The law is not a genuine attempt to reduce or redress violence against women and the unborn. Its a way of eroding laws protecting a women’s right to choose.
You can find out more about the bill here and sign a petition protesting this bill here.
Digg
Facebook
del.icio.us
four comments
Scary stuff. Thanks for pointing us in the direction of the petition, Tuval.
Posted by C.K. Kelly Martin
February 13, 2008, 6:49 PM
Yes, these types of bills crop up from time to time in parliament, usually as private members' bills. Generally they get struck down but thanks, Tuval, for pointing out the continued need to be vigilant on these sneaky bills.
Posted by piKe
February 14, 2008, 9:46 AM
Thank for for posting this.
Posted by Less Lee
February 15, 2008, 9:43 AM
This legislation also does nothing to address the root cause of 'fetal homicide', i.e. violence against women. It fails to even address the fact that women who are pregnant and who have recently given birth are at greater risk of partner violence
than other women.
Also, if there was any doubt about this being a backdoor attempt to make abortion illegal in Canada, you just need to look at which organizations are supporting it - the most vocal supporters are, you guessed it, anti-choice!
Posted by Ladylike
February 19, 2008, 2:55 PM
Leave a comment
This blog post is older than 90 days old. All comments submitted regarding this post will be automatically held for review by the editors before posting. Your comment will not appear on the site until it has been approved.
Our comment policy
Shameless prides itself on the diversity of opinions expressed by our writers, and we encourage and appreciate different points of view. Our intention at Shameless is to foster community and to maintain a safe and positive blogging environment; we do not consider it our duty to give a voice to anybody with an opinion.
Discussion on this site is moderated. We will delete comments that:
(We get to decide what's discriminatory, hateful, attacking, or inflammatory).
In some cases, we will cap off comments on a discussion when we feel they are spiralling out of control and fostering an unwelcoming space for bloggers and readers. Comments will be closed by the Web Editor, unless the post is by the Web Editor, in which case the Editor in Chief will close them.
If your comments repeatedly make the same point, they may be deleted. This also applies to comments made by multiple members of the same organization.
Your comments should be about the topic of the post, not its writer—although we certainly encourage praise for our writers, if you want to say something nice.