NEWS RELEASE

May 24, 2002                                                                                                                   For Immediate Release

BREITKREUZ EXPOSES “MORAL INCOHERENCE” OF THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT

Liberals, NDP and Bloc gang up to defeat Breitkreuz’s motion to review the laws protecting unborn children.

 

Ottawa – Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, is much dismayed following the defeat of his most recent motion to have the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights study the adequacy of legal protection for unborn children.  “My heart is heavy this morning.  It’s surely a blow for democracy to have the wishes of my constituents dashed like this on the floor of the House of Commons, but what I’m most sad about is that more than 100,000 babies will die this year without even the tiniest amount of concern from this Liberal government,” lamented Breitkreuz.  “It’s a sad, sad day when a government is so afraid of the truth that they would stifle a full and open debate of this issue in an attempt to hide their complete and utter disregard for human life.  Well, I won’t let them get away with it,” said the determined Saskatchewan MP.

 

“Last summer, an independent survey revealed that 75 percent of my constituents thought the law should be amended so that the definition of a human being includes unborn children,” reported Breitkreuz.  “I introduced motion M-392 as a direct result of this strong message from my constituents.  Since my motion was selected in the Private Member’s Business lottery just one month ago, I have received literally thousands of letters, e-mails and faxes from citizens telling me what they thought about the substance of my Motion.  We are receiving hundreds of responses each day.  So far we have only had time to tabulate the results from 3,511 responses.  3,450 respondents or 98% said they are not satisfied with the current definition of a human being in the Criminal Code,” Breitkreuz told the House.  Paul Macklin, speaking on behalf of the Liberal government, responded: “We have reached a delicate balance in Canada.  The majority of Canadians are satisfied.”  Breitkreuz commented, “The government says that the majority of Canadians want a law protecting two-week-old embryos but not a law protecting a healthy 8-month-old baby living inside a healthy mother’s womb.  I wonder if they can produce the polls that are telling them that?”

 

Breitkreuz used the twenty minutes he had to provide several examples of the complete moral incoherence of the government when it comes to defending the rights of unborn children.  The most glaring came from Health Minister, Anne McLellan.  Here is an excerpt from Breitkreuz’s speech: 

 

On May 10th the National Post reported that the Health Minister had this to say about the fate of so-called “surplus embryos” at Canadian fertility clinics.  ‘Do you know what happens to them?’ she asked reporters.  ‘They go in the garbage.  So the donor can choose to have them thrown out, which is quite clearly their right, or they can also choose to let those surplus embryos be used for the purposes of medical research,’ she said.”  Talk about a slippery slope.  What does the Minister think happens to the more than 100,000 aborted fetuses every year?  That’s right Madam Minister – they are thrown in the garbage!  Most Canadians believe it’s time to end this “moral incoherence”.  In fact, it’s 14 years overdue.  It’s time to have a House of Commons’ Committee review the current definition of a human being and that’s all my motion is asking.

 

Despite all the evidence presented during the one hour of debate and support from three other MPs: Larry Spencer, Jason Kenney and Paul Szabo, Breitkreuz’s motion was refused the unanimous consent necessary to extend the debate by a jeering click of Liberal, NDP and Bloc Members of Parliament.  The PC’s couldn’t even be bothered to show up for the debate.  “The debate is not over as the government claims because the status quo is simply unacceptable.  I will find other ways and means to bring the issue back to the floor of the House of Commons,” vowed Breitkreuz.

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