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OTTAWA
– Conservative MP and co-chair of the Parliamentary
Pro-Life Caucus Maurice Vellacott expressed great sadness
at the brutal slaying of a pregnant Edmonton woman and
decried the injustice made evident by this case. Liana
White’s husband, Michael White, has been charged
with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to
a body for leaving it in a ditch. But he is not facing
any charges in the death of their unborn child.
Comparing
this case to the Peterson case in California, Vellacott
said, “If White faces a murder charge against his
wife, Liana, he should also face a murder charge in respect
to his child, just like Scott Peterson was indicted for
two murders: that of his wife, Laci, and son, Connor.”
The decomposed bodies of Laci and her unborn son, Connor,
were found on the shore of San Francisco Bay in April
2003. In November 2004, Scott Peterson was found guilty
of murder in the first degree of Laci and murder in the
second degree of Connor.
But
in Canada, children do not receive the protection of the
law until they have been fully born alive. This is because
the Criminal Code defines “homicide” as the
act of causing the “death of a human being”
and it defines “human being” as a child who
has “completely proceeded, in a living state, from
the body of its mother.”
“I
do not believe the Canadian public supports this archaic
form of ‘justice,’” Vellacott said. In
fact, in the Peterson case, a public opinion poll in the
US released by Fox News showed that 84% of respondents
supported a double murder charge against Scott Peterson.
“We
cannot continue to exclude vulnerable children from the
law’s protection,” said Vellacott. “In
the fall, I plan to work with colleagues in the House
to introduce a Private Member’s Bill to protect unborn
victims of violence.”
Vellacott
continued, “This brutal crime highlights the need
to address not only the inadequacy of our current criminal
justice system, but also the huge social problem of violence
against pregnant women.” According to a March 2002
report by the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement
of Women, “abuse often begins or worsens during pregnancy,
when a woman is most vulnerable, and most dependent on
her partner’s support.”
Referring
to another report published by the Canadian Perinatal
Surveillance System in February 2004, Vellacott pointed
out that women abused during pregnancy are four times
more likely than other abused women to experience more
serious violence, including being beaten up, choked, threatened
with a gun/knife, or sexually assaulted. “We don't
know at this point whether the motive for Liana’s
murder had anything to do with the fact that she was pregnant,”
Vellacott said, “but it is certainly something we
cannot ignore.” He referred to one study published
in the Journal of the American Medical Association in
March 2001 which concluded that “a pregnant or recently
pregnant woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide
than to die of any other cause.”
“This
was a tragic and violent crime,” Vellacott concluded,
“and my heart goes out to Liana’s family, especially
her surviving 3-year old daughter. If there is any good
that can come out of all of this, maybe it is that it
has helped to shed some light on the social and criminal
injustices that exist in Canada today. Maybe it will move
us to action, to take the necessary steps to bring about
greater protection for Canadian women and their children.”
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For
additional comment from PPLC co-chair Maurice Vellacott
call 613-992-1966 or 613-297-2294 or 306-975-4725
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