Motion 312

On February 6, 2012, MP Stephen Woodworth filed Motion 312 requesting that Parliament form a special committee to review Canada’s legislative definition of a “human being”. This is a really important discussion which has implications on a number of fronts.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) provides some excellent resources on this issue on their webpage: http://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/human. The CABC is an affiliate member of the EFC.

Also of interest as you think about this issue, especially as it relates to abortion, is a CBC timeline of significant milestones in the abortion debate from 1892-2009 – http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/01/13/f-abortion-timeline.html.

Is it time that we have a serious and reasonable debate in Canada about these issues? How can we engage positively and effectively in such a debate?

For stats and other information on abortion in Canada, see http://www.abortionincanada.ca/stats/annual_abortion_rates.html. It may surprise you to read that the total number of reported abortions performed in Canada between 1974 and 2010 is over 3 million! And, I think it is fair to say that many Canadians – from across the political, religious and economic spectrum – are not satisfied with the current legislation on this issue.

It certainly seems like a good time to decide what being “human” really means.

– Dr. Lois Mitchell, CABC Dir. of Public Witness & Social Concern
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