OTTAWA — Parliament has voted down a bill that would have made it a crime to coerce a woman into having an abortion.
Bill C-510, also known as Roxanne’s Law, was introduced by Winnipeg Conservative Rod Bruinooge, but he couldn’t even count on the support of his own party to pass the bill. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and much of his front bench of cabinet ministers voted against the bill.
“The prime minister has always said he wouldn’t support a bill that reopens the abortion debate,” Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall said.
The bill was defeated with 178 votes against to 97 for it.
While Harper and many Conservatives voted against the bill, ten Liberals supported it.
“I’m disappointed that the Conservatives message here is somewhat contradictory,” said Liberal MP Dan McTeague.
Roxanne’s Law was named for Roxanne Fernando, a young Winnipeg woman who was killed after refusing demands from her boyfriend to have an abortion. The woman’s brutally beaten body was discovered in a snow filled ditch outside of Winnipeg in February 2007.
Not all Conservatives saw this as a law and order issue they needed to support.
“I just think it’s legally unnecessary,” Heritage Minister James Moore said. “Those protections already exist in the criminal code. That was the justice minister’s assessment and I agree with him.”
Bruinooge said the bill received more votes than expected: He had been predicting only 75 votes in favour.
The NDP and Bloc Quebecois caucus were unanimously against the bill. An NDP news release denounced the bill as one that “risks criminalizing abortion.”
Bruinooge denied his bill was aimed at outlawing abortion.
“The focus of this bill was always pregnant women facing domestic abuse,” Bruinooge said.
Despite losing the vote Bruinooge said he will continue to work on this issue.
