MPs to debate private member’s bill to ban sex selection abortions

OTTAWA (CCN) — Saskatchewan Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall’s private member’s bill to make abortions done on the basis of a baby’s sex illegal in Canada will be up for debate and second reading in the House of Commons Wednesday, April 14.

The proposed bill was first introduced in the House of Commons in February 2020, before the pandemic shut down Parliament for several weeks.

Wagantall’s legislative assistant Tristan McLaughlin told Canadian Catholic News that although MPs can take part in debates from home via the Internet, Wagantall plans to be in the Commons to present the bill in person to show its importance to her.

Bill C-233, the Sex Selective Abortion Act, has the backing of most pro-life organizations in Canada who have been asking Canadians to sign an online petition in support of the bill (petitions.ourcommons.ca). The petition received more than 10,000 signatures by the time it closed April 10.

The bill would ban all abortions that are based on the predicted sex of the fetus. It’s a practice common is societies that value male children over females.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has said he will vote against the bill. 

In an interview after Wagantall first introduced her proposed bill, she said she believes most Canadians would support such restrictions on abortion.

“If just one girl is aborted simply because of her sex, parliamentarians must act,” Wagantall said.

“Thankfully, Canadians of nearly all beliefs are united on this issue, with 84 per cent stating that sex-selective abortion should be illegal.”

Campaign Life Coalition campaigns manager David Cooke on the coalition’s website called on supporters to back Wagantall’s effort.

“Banning sex-selective abortion should be a no-brainer for our government,” he wrote.

The petition states: “Whereas: Sex-selective abortion is legal, as Canada has no legal restrictions on abortion; Sex-selective abortion is antithetical to our commitment to equality between men and women; A 2019 DART & Maru/Blue poll, conducted for the National Post, showed that 84% of Canadians believe it should be illegal to have an abortion if the family does not want the child to be a certain sex; International organizations including the World Health Organization, United Nations Women, and United Nations Children’s Fund have identified unequal sex ratios at birth as a growing problem internationally; and Canada’s health care profession recognizes sex selection as a problem. We, the undersigned, Citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to pass a Criminal Code prohibition of sex-selective abortion.”

In an interview after Wagantall first introduced her proposed bill, she told the Canadian Catholic News that she believes most Canadians would support the restrictions on abortion that she proposes.

“If just one girl is aborted simply because of her sex, parliamentarians must act,” Wagantall told the Canadian Catholic News at the time.

“Thankfully, Canadians of nearly all beliefs are united on this issue, with eighty-four per cent stating that sex-selective abortion should be illegal. This is reasonable common ground that every member of parliament must thoughtfully consider,” she said, after citing a poll that ran in the National Post newspaper as indicative of Canadians being in favour of some form of legal regulations surrounding abortion in the country as opposed to the situation as it is now in which Canada has, in essence, no laws at all when it comes to abortion.

In a posting on the Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) website, CLC Campaigns Manager David Cooke called on CLC supporters to back Wagantall’s effort in the House.

“We are finally getting close to a vote on this life-saving Bill, which means we need your help once again,” he wrote on the CLC website.

“This E-Petition will be officially presented in Parliament and could help exert considerable pressure on MPs,” Cooke said. “Banning sex-selective abortion should be a no-brainer for our government.”