Here follows the motion that Mr. Stephen Woodworth introduced in the House of Commons:

That a special committee of the House be appointed and directed to review the declaration in Subsection 223(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada which states that a child becomes a human being only at the moment of complete birth and to answer the questions hereinafter set forth;

That the membership of the special committee consist of twelve members which shall include seven members from the government party, four members from the Official Opposition and one member from the Liberal Party, provided that the Chair shall be from the government party; that the members to serve on the said committee be appointed by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs and the membership report of the special committee be presented to the House no later than 20 sitting days after the adoption of this motion;

That substitutions to the membership of the special committee be allowed, if required, in the manner provided by Standing Order 114(2);

That the special committee have all the powers of a Standing Committee as provided in the Standing Orders; and

That the special committee present its final report to the House of Commons within 10 months after the adoption of this motion with answers to the following questions,

• what medical evidence exists to demonstrate that a child is or is not a human being before the moment of complete birth?,

• is the preponderance of medical evidence consistent with the declaration in Subsection 223(1) that a child is only a human being at the moment of complete birth?,

• what are the legal impact and consequences of Subsection 223(1) on the fundamental human rights of a child before the moment of complete birth?,

• what are the options available to Parliament in the exercise of its legislative authority in accordance with the Constitution and decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada to affirm, amend, or replace Subsection 223(1)?

Send Mr. Woodworth a note of encouragement: He can be reached @stephen.woodworth@parl.gc.ca. The pro-choice movement has been attacking Stephen in both the traditional and new media. He needs to be thanked for standing up for the rights of children in the womb.

Petition and SimpleMail: Member of Parliament Mr. Stephen Woodworth has filed a motion with the House of Commons. This motion calls for a committee to be created with the mandate to review Subsection 223(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada which states that a child becomes a human being only at the moment of complete birth.

Parliament is supposed to be responsible for studying these heavy issues. As long as some human beings (so defined medically, socially, morally) are not called human beings in law, then Parliament must either give a justification for that legal reality or change the law. Our current government would rather ignore this very important issue.

Please help us in asking our elected representatives to do their duty and to support Mr. Woodworth’s motion. First, please print off the attached petition and get many more people to sign it before bringing it to your MP (see tips below). If you haven’t printed off the other petition requesting abortion legislation, please do so at the same time and collect signatures for both.  Second, please make use of this SimpleMail letter to contact your MP, the Justice Minister, and the Prime Minister in just a few minutes.

This discussion is happening already, in the media, on university campuses, in homes and churches. It’s time that Parliament has the discussion too.

In addition to using SimpleMail, we also encourage you to visit Letters4Life.ca.

This campaign, which is being managed by a number of teenage pro-lifers is another excellent tool to get the attention of Prime Minister Harper asking him to speak out against abortion.

Letters4Life has prepared letters you can use and also a unique method of tracking how many have been sent using a ‘Letter Tracker’.

So, once you’ve sent your SimpleMail, go ahead and visit their letter tracking site to add your letter to the over 20,000 sent so far!

Note: Please consider getting signatures for both petitions at the same time. MPs can bring both to Parliament.

Petition Tips:

– Signature, city, and province are all that is required.

– Any age can sign the petition.

– Bigger is not always better. Longer petitions can be split into smaller ones (a few pages each) which will allow a sympathetic MP to present the petition in the House of Commons many times.

– Make it most effective by asking to meet with your MP to discuss the issue. If your MP doesn’t want to change the status-quo on abortion, ask them to explain their views. Ask them at what point an unborn child should get legal protection. And ask them what difference there is between a born child and an unborn one that leads to the unborn having no legal protection.

– This petition will remain relevant for a long time. Please keep at it and continue to drop off copies at your MP’s office.

– If your MP is hostile to the cause, you may send the petitions to any other MP instead. Either way, ask the MP to let you know when it is read in the House of Commons.

After the failed attempt by, then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, to enact abortion legislation, every government has vowed not to re-open the debate. Over the years there have been a number of brave MP’s, who acting on their own, have introduced private member’s bills or motions addressing the abortion issue. The brave and courageous actions of Mr. Woodworth have once again thrust the discussion surrounding pre-born human rights into the arena where it belongs, the House of Commons.

Mr. Woodworth said, when introducing his motion, “A respectful dialogue to update a 400 year old definition of human being, with the aid of twenty-first century information, will benefit everyone.  Whatever view one has about other issues, does it make medical sense to say that a child is not a human being until the moment of complete birth?”

weneedaLAW.ca answers that question with a resounding, NO! It makes NO sense whatsoever that a child is not a human until it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother.

In December 2011 Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre, went public with his intentions of introducing a motion that would require a study into the definition of a human being. In February of this year he introduced Motion 312 and the first hour of debate in the House of Commons was conducted on April 26th.

Motion 312, if passed, would establish a Parliamentary Committee to study Canada’s 400 year old definition of a human being. Mr. Woodworth said, “Canada’s 400 year old definition of human being says children are not human beings until the moment of complete birth”. He went on to say, “I’ve concluded that modern medical science will inform us that children are in reality human beings at some point before the moment of complete birth. Canadians need to know there’s no human rights for children before complete birth.”