Pro-Life, Pro-Choice Group Rally Over Fetus Death Bill

Nova Scotia, Canada (AHN) - A federal bill permitting the filing of homicide charges on the attacker of a pregnant woman who causes the death of her fetus is dividing Canadians.

House Bill C-484 has become a debate between pro-life groups and pro-choice groups. Advocates from both side aired their sentiments Thursday through demonstrations in front of the Nova Scotia legislature.

Susan LeForte from the Halifax Coalition for Choice said the bill removed the woman's right to control her body. "They're taking away women's rights in a backdoor way. So, if a woman has an abortion, what's stopping the one who performs the abortion and the woman herself to be subject to criminal charges?" LeForte asked Metro Halifax.

Ellen Chesal of the Campaign Life Coalition said the bill must take other economic realities in Canada, more than just focus on a woman's decision to continue with her pregnancy or not. She pointed out the Trudeau government disapproved an abortion law 39 years ago. "We are here to challenge the government because it is our tax dollars that are paying for these abortions, and with the shortage of workers and schools closing, abortion is killing our future," Chesal explained to Metro Halifax.

Canada has no legal restrictions on abortion. Laws and access to pregnancy terminations vary by province. Annually over 110,000 fetuses are aborted in Canada, or 30 abortions to every 100 live births.

In 1969, the Trudeau administration made abortion a criminal offense punishable by life imprisonment, but permitted exceptions if the procedure is done in a hospital and approved by a three-doctor therapeutic abortion committee. In 1988, the Canadian Supreme court ruled the exception violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, but failed to clearly define if fetuses have a right to life, leading to the current lack of criminal regulation of abortion in the country.