Woodworth on Personhood

Commentary by Jane Richard, President of KW Right to Life

Under tight police security November 14, 2013 at the University of Waterloo Stephen Woodworth MP Kitchener Centre spoke about; “The importance of the legal principle which requires recognition of the equal worth and dignity of every human being and the implication of Parliament’s abandonment of that principle in defeating Motion 312.”

His initiative to investigate the outdated Personhood Law Section 223 (1) in relation to current medical scientific research and evidence was supported by 93 members of parliament.

Section 223(1) of the Canadian Criminal Code states: A child becomes a human being within the meaning of this Act when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother, whether or not:  a) it has breathed; b) it has independent circulation; c) the navel string is severed

MP Stephen Woodworth talked about the following points:

Denial of human equality is the greatest threat to democracy in Canada today.

Categories of being human are never closed to tyranny and we should never accept any law that says someone you know to be a human being is not a human being.

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. It is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Is there anything more important?

Is abortion more important than the principle of human equality?

How do we resolve rights between kinds of people?

The state is not in a position to make that decision.

Statistics Canada records 491 born alive abortion victims. No one was prosecuted. People are even purporting that children should be allowed to be euthanized up to age three years as they have not reached the stage of self awareness.

Stephen Woodworth resolved that the Parliament of Canada affirm that every Canadian law must be interpreted in a manner that recognizes in law the equal worth and dignity of everyone who is in fact a human being. All options should be reviewed in the light of science and medicine when there is reasonable doubt.

In Canada, the Right to Life movement is concerned with the rights of the child and the rights of the mother in the abortion issue along with euthanasia. We recognize the ideology of the denial of personhood must be expounded to justify the killing.  As does the history of eugenics based on race, gender and even consciousness. The last 100 years are rife with examples.

Abortion, the current denial of personhood plays a particular role in today’s society for all the same reasons that eugenics did in the past. The difference is that a mother destroys her own child for the sake of expediency.  Cold comfort for her and those involved in abortion.