For immediate release
Ottawa, ON – Tabitha Ewert, Legal Counsel for We Need a Law, will join MP Cathay Wagantall for a press conference this morning at 10:00AM (EDT) in advance of the first hour of debate for Wagantall’s Bill C-233, the Sex Selective Abortion Act. This act would prohibit sex selective abortion, making a strong statement about Canada’s commitment to ending sex-based discrimination from the earliest stages.
“Sex selective abortion is the practice of ending a child’s life after discovering the sex of the baby. It disproportionately targets girls and has been an international problem for decades,” said Ms. Ewert. “It is unacceptable for even one girl to be targeted because of her sex. The Canadian Medical Association Journal has published articles showing that this does in fact happen in Canada, meaning we need Parliament to act.”
Ewert is excited to see this bill come to the floor in Parliament. “It has been over a decade since Parliament had a reasoned debate about abortion restrictions, and MP Wagantall is to be commended for finding a place of common ground between pro-choice and pro-life Canadians,” she says. “Polls consistently show that this is one aspect of abortion we as Canadians can agree on: it is wrong to abort a girl simply because she is a girl. We need to give our medical professionals a tool to say no to performing these types of abortions.”
We Need a Law, a grassroots campaign that advocates for legal protections for pre-born children, has been advocating against sex selective abortion for several years. “We are honoured to stand alongside Ms. Wagantall as she works to protect pre-born girls from being targeted based on their sex,” said Ewert. “We are looking forward to seeing all Parliamentarians support this bill and put their commitment to equality of the sexes into action.”
The Sex Selective Abortion Act is scheduled to have its first hour of debate this Wednesday, April 14.
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For further comment or interviews, please contact Tabitha Ewert at (604) 220-1258 // info@test.weneedalaw.ca