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Why Parliament Should Consider Law to Protect Late-Term Fetuses

Posted: 12/22/11 10:04 AM ET

A recent poll disclosed that 80 per cent of Canadians believe that Canadian law protects the fundamental human rights of children before birth in the later stages of gestation.

In fact, the opposite is true. Canadian law provides no human rights protection whatsoever for children before the moment of complete birth. This results from an unusual Canadian statute which defines a human being as a child who has completely proceeded in a living state from the mother's body, whether or not the child has breathed. This means that in Canada a child is legally considered to be sub-human while his or her little toe remains in the birth canal, even if he or she is breathing.

This law was first formulated prior to the 17th century, when an early version of it was recorded in Coke's Institutes of Law, a series of short studies evaluating the United States legal system. In those times, medical science and principles of human rights were not sufficiently advanced to challenge such a law.

The important question is whether this 400-year-old Canadian law is supported by 21st-century medical science and principles of human rights. Perhaps Canadians should at least examine this question. I propose that Parliament has a responsibility to lead that examination.

 
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
dannyboy551
Emperor Harper needs to be booted out of power
05:09 PM on 12/28/2011
Take your religious convictions, fold them until they are all sharp edges & then shove them where the sun don't shine.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
techhie
06:37 PM on 12/24/2011
This MP is an embarrassment. If only his knowledge of medicine was on a par with his ability to get himself elected to public office. The very notion that something growing in a woman's body, TOTALLY dependent on that body to survive and develop to the point it can survive outside it, is a child?? Nowhere does he acknowledge this organism is inside a woman's body. And he refuses to accept that any decision as to what to do with this organism is absolutely none of his business. Please introduce yourself to the 21st Century at the earliest opportunity, so that you can devote whatever talents you may possess, to creating laws that will benefit the community, and not take us back to the dark ages of women without rights.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Sandra MacKay
06:26 PM on 12/23/2011
Where is this poll?
Who conducted it?
With which kind of audience?
And why do you want to spend tax payer dollars on this law?
And, seriously, why do Conservatives spend so much time worrying about a fetus before it is even developed into human form and then once it's born, it's you're on your own kid!
12:38 PM on 12/23/2011
This govt has a responsibility to focus on fixing and improving our economy, it was the only thing according to Harper that the conservatives and the rest of Canadians were concerned with. I do not support one minute of debate on this topic in parliament until the budget is balanced and the economy is thriving. Anything else is a waste of our time and lie from Harper.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Skepticat
Supporting skeptical felines everywhere
07:11 AM on 12/23/2011
So - according to this MP we now need to consider a special law to redefine personhood during the seconds a little toe remains in a birth canal? No doubt this guy campaigned on this very issue - yeah right.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jack Hope
Occasionally quoted by Mainstream Media
06:53 PM on 12/22/2011
Is there any evidence, any evidence whatsoever that there are "discretionary" abortions occurring at this stage of the pregnancy? Is there any evidence that Doctors need this legal guidance to do there jobs in this area?

"The important question is whether this 400-year-old Canadian law is supported by 21st-century medical science and principles of human rights."

There is no evidence mentioned in this article, no sample of the medical science involved. If there was any such science to suggest that there was a problem that requires "Parliament's investigation" (ie Conservatives sticking their noses into Doctor/Patient relationships) perhaps you could share it with us?

Is there any evidence that this anything other than right wing Conservatives trying to dredge up long settled social issues to use as wedge issues in their never-ending politicking?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cwebster
predominantly exasperated
12:58 AM on 12/23/2011
I think the ONLY ones (less than 1% of all abortions) at this stage of pregnancy are for medical reasons.
06:51 PM on 12/22/2011
I propose a much SIMPLER solution. Considering the current advances in nano technology I suspect that it should be relatively easy to create a simple medical implant to control the release of sperm in the human male. Much like a simple valve that can be opened or closed with a simple encrypted signal. Here's the plan. Every male should be required by law to have the device implanted before the age of 6 effectively eliminating accidental pregnancies throughout their life. (At the onset of this programme all males over the age of 6 will be required to have the procedure performed on them as well.)

At any point during the males life they just need to petition the government for authorization to open their valve at a time when they wish to have a child. The petition will require the signature of the recipient of the viable semen donation and a doctor. Once the male receives Governmental approval they will then be able to rent a device that will broadcast an open valve signal to their implant within a 20 foot radius. (This is just a brief outline of the proposed semen control valve programme)

At the very least this will significantly decrease the number of "accidental" or "unexpected" pregnancies. While it will do nothing to stem the tide of STD's it will seriously decrease the need for abortions and will render an abortion debate virtually unnecessary as the focus will be on preventing the pregnancy.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cwebster
predominantly exasperated
12:59 AM on 12/23/2011
LOL!! I like the plan:)
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Skepticat
Supporting skeptical felines everywhere
05:01 PM on 12/22/2011
Canadians made it pretty clear over 35 years ago that reproduction-abortion issues were the decision of the women concerned and her doctor - and certainly NOT male politicians pandering to a handful of fundementalist zealots.
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CanadaStan
Cogito ergo spud, I think, therefore I yam
09:34 PM on 12/22/2011
Did they?
How did they do that?

Or did the Supreme Court have a hand in it?
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Skepticat
Supporting skeptical felines everywhere
07:01 AM on 12/23/2011
Back in the early 70's there were a series of abortion trials mostly in Quebec where juries repeatedly refused to convict, and a general growing popular opinion - some polls in the later 1970's had over 70% agreeing that the issue should be left to the woman and her doctor rather than politicians. Remember the demographics were changing in the 70's - the boomers were the largest voting block - the country had more than 2/3rd of the population living in urban-suburban and religious clout was waning - especially in Quebec. That combined with Charter issues in the early 1980's made promotion of anti abortion legislation a non starter. If re-imposing anti-abortion laws was likely to be a big vote getter don't ya think politicians would have promised to bring it back?
12:50 PM on 12/23/2011
do you only like the law when it is convenient for you Stan? Who else is supposed to decide on whether something should be legal or illegal? Who has the power to change something from being illegal to legal? I understand the far right is used to having everything spoon fed to them so here is your answer.
In its decision (Morgentaler et al. v. Her Majesty The Queen, [1988] 1 S.C.R. 30 at 37), the Court stated:

"The right to liberty... guarantees a degree of personal autonomy over important decisions intimately affecting his or her private life. ... The decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy is essentially a moral decision and in a free and democratic society, the conscience of the individual must be paramount to that of the state."
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cwebster
predominantly exasperated
03:51 PM on 12/22/2011
Why worry about passing laws that afect less than 1% of all abortions, and are usually to save women's lives?
Do you have a hidden agenda?
Trying to distract the populace from the sneaky things Parliament is up to with omnibus crime bills and gerrymandering???
01:50 PM on 12/22/2011
Here we go with this Conservative government...they are going to try and chip away at abortion rights in anyway they can....scary...just like the US...
12:41 PM on 12/22/2011
To make a better world, no fetus should be given human rights until that fetus can live on its own without the support of medical or artificial intervention. The world needs healthy, wanted and loved babies, not laws that deny women choice....
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CanadaStan
Cogito ergo spud, I think, therefore I yam
09:35 PM on 12/22/2011
Why not make the cut off when they are 18?
12:35 AM on 12/23/2011
There's no logical reason not to extend the age of legal abortion.

And miraclemaker2, if the world needs healthy, wanted and loved babies, perhaps the best method of going about it might NOT be ripping them limb from limb or chemically burning them?

Just a thought.
12:54 PM on 12/23/2011
it's just this kind of constructive criticism that is now the staple of evey debate with the theocons these days.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cwebster
predominantly exasperated
12:28 PM on 12/22/2011
I propose that Parliament keeps it's interfering nose out of women's lives.
12:14 PM on 12/22/2011
This would provoke better (and more informed) discussion if you were a little less vague on what kind of "human rights protection" you were talking about.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
okgranny
Egalitarian by birth
12:03 PM on 12/22/2011
Women just love elderly white males telling them what to do with their bodies. I smell a whiff of sexual abuse.
12:39 PM on 12/22/2011
Get over yourself. Someone has to raise the issue. If it was a woman columnist it would be okay I presume?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cwebster
predominantly exasperated
03:45 PM on 12/22/2011
No, it does not have to be raised. If it was a woman columnist, it would be just as offensive. This is a very private, very personal medical decision, and it is the business of no-one except the woman and her doctor.
12:57 PM on 12/23/2011
how about forced castration for anyone not making over 7ok a year?
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CanadaStan
Cogito ergo spud, I think, therefore I yam
09:36 PM on 12/22/2011
What does the baby think about it?
What do women think about it?

Are you sure all women are in favor of a law that allows a viable fetus to be killed?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Mike vdB
Get involved, always question, don't just exist.
11:27 PM on 12/22/2011
There you have it though...it is still the individual woman's choice. Plain and simple.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cwebster
predominantly exasperated
01:03 AM on 12/23/2011
If we are talking abortion...there is no baby.
Women think that men should ind their own business.

If you know of a Canadian doctor/hospital/clinic that will abort a viable foetus, please link us to proof.
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Jay from Ottawa
sovereignty sale, 1.3T OBO
10:42 AM on 12/22/2011
"This means that in Canada a child is legally considered to be sub-human"

I don't see a problem here, our country if FULL of sub-humans.

Humane,
1. Characterized by kindness, mercy, or compassion
2. Marked by an emphasis on humanistic values and concerns

I've met plenty of kids, teens, adults and seniors who seriously lacked all of the above that I've grown accustumed to living amongst many sub-human Canadians.