Jeff Durham, who says he is "pro-choice," poses with MP Cathay Wagantall, who identifies as "pro-life."

The bill seeks to create new offences for charging those who injure or cause the death of a “preborn child” — at any stage of development — while committing a criminal act against a woman they know is pregnant.

It would also codify pregnancy as an aggravating factor in sentencing, something one imagines any good judge would already consider.

Yet, it does not seek to change the Criminal Code’s definition of personhood.

Criminal intent

“Not being considered a human being under the Criminal Code does not mean that a preborn child does not deserve protection under the law,” the bill states.

The punishments for killing or injuring a fetus in an attack would hinge on criminal intent. If the fetus dies and the intent is equivalent to that of murder, the maximum sentence would be life in prison with a minimum term of 10 years.

In a case in which both the woman and fetus die, a judge would be allowed to impose two life sentences that could be served consecutively instead of concurrently.

Wagantall believes the law would deter violence against pregnant women. While aggravated assault carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, a person who attacks a pregnant woman and deliberately kills the fetus could, if her bill became law, face life behind bars.

"It’s a woman’s choice to have an abortion in Canada, and it’s a legal right." — MP Cathay Wagantall

Opponents, however, have said such steps are not about protecting women at all. They argue that the long game is really about restricting abortion rights by first assigning legal recognition to fetuses.

“It’s a woman’s choice to have an abortion in Canada, and it’s a legal right,” Wagantall says.

Since the new offences would apply only when a criminal act is being committed against a pregnant woman, the MP argues that abortion is, by definition, excluded.

“I wanted to do something of significance that would really make a difference in the lives of Canadians and, in this case, specifically, Canadian women,” she says.

But it’s an uphill climb, not just because private member’s bills don’t often become laws.

Wagantall will have to make her case before a mostly pro-choice Parliament, where the Liberal MPs who form a majority in the House of Commons have all pledged to uphold abortion rights at every turn.

She’ll have to convince them this isn’t a clandestine attempt to open another debate entirely.

And some just plain don’t believe her.