鈥淚鈥檝e gone the extra mile to make absolutely sure that it鈥檚 very precise and targeted to a woman who has chosen to carry her child to term.鈥�
鈥� MP Cathay Wagantall
Rookie Yorkton-Melville MP Cathay Wagantall has taken her first foray into federal law-making with the introduction of her private member鈥檚 bill 鈥淐assie and Molly鈥檚 Law.鈥�
Officially, Bill C-225, the Protection of Pregnant Women and Their Preborn Children Act, seeks to amend the Criminal Code and create two new offences for causing injury or death to an unborn child while committing or attempting to commit an offence against a pregnant woman.
The informal name of the law is a tribute to Cassandra Kaake, who, in 2014, while seven months pregnant with a daughter she had named Molly, was bludgeoned to death in her Windsor home. Matthew Brush, 26, was charged with Cassie鈥檚 murder, but under Canadian law an unborn child is not legally considered a human being, so no charge could be laid for Molly鈥檚 death.
Cassie鈥檚 and Molly鈥檚 deaths were a flashpoint for Wagantall to resurrect legislation introduced in 2007 by Alberta MP Ken Epp, which was enjoying multi-party support before it died on the order paper when the 2008 election was called.
Wagantall, who is pro-life, knew the bill would be highly controversial as a potential back door to re-igniting the abortion debate and proactively sought to craft the bill accordingly.
鈥淚鈥檝e gone the extra mile to make absolutely sure that it鈥檚 very precise and targeted to a woman who has chosen to carry her child to term,鈥� Wagantall said. 鈥淔irst of all, there has to be a criminal offence against the woman and the person who commits that offence has to know that she鈥檚 pregnant.鈥�
The two new offences created are causing the death of a preborn child while committing an offence and injuring a preborn child while committing an offence. The bill, if enacted, would also codify pregnancy as an aggravating circumstance in sentencing.
For the purposes of the new section of the Code, 鈥減reborn child鈥� is defined as 鈥渁 child at any stage of development that has not yet become a human being within the meaning of section 223.鈥� That section provides protection for women seeking abortions by defining the point a child becomes a human being as 鈥渨hen it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother.鈥�
Wagantall dismisses the 鈥渟lippery slope鈥� argument that the bill could set a precedent that could be against abortion seekers and providers. 聽
鈥淭he truth of the matter is our Criminal Code has all kinds of laws to protect property, to protect animals, charges when a dead body is mutilated in some way, these are offences in our Criminal Code that don鈥檛 apply to human beings, so then the argument is, if this is a person who wants to have a child and family is important in our criminal law, it should cover all aspects of the family.
鈥淸The new offences are] not standalone, they only apply in this narrow window, when a woman is attacked while she鈥檚 pregnant and it causes harm or death to the baby.鈥�
Jeff Durham, Cassie鈥檚 partner and Molly鈥檚 father, started a national campaign called 鈥淢olly Matters鈥� which advocates for the kinds of reform Wagantall鈥檚 bill entails.
鈥淲ithout a shadow of a doubt, neither Cassie nor any pregnant victim of homicide would want their children ignored,鈥� he said.
Durham, who is pro-choice as was Cassie, also had concerns about the possible erosion of a woman鈥檚 right to choose, but told Yorkton This Week he is satisfied C-225 accomplishes its goal without compromising a woman鈥檚 right to seek an abortion.
鈥淛eff鈥檚 argument is all of a woman鈥檚 choices need to be protected,鈥� Wagantall said. 鈥淚n this case, Cassie chose to have her child so our criminal law can鈥檛 be choosing to support one direction and not another.鈥�
Wagantall said she feels honoured to be bringing forward legislation on behalf of Jeff, Cassie and Molly that fills what she believes is a significant gap in the Criminal Code.
Private member鈥檚 bills, particularly from members of non-governing parties rarely become law, but Wagantall is optimistic C-225 may be one that transcends party lines.
鈥淗opefully, the support will be there,鈥� she said.
