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The MPs are right about the fact that between 2000 and 2009, 491 aborted fetuses indeed exhibited “evidence of life” following their removal from the womb — be it a momentary heartbeat, a sudden gasp or, in rare cases, crying.

But, while the statistic may speak to one of the most uncomfortable grey areas of Canadian law, doctors say that it is too much to assume that this represents the killing of otherwise healthy babies that the MPs allege.

“It’s not 491 babies left screaming in bedpans, trust me,” said a veteran obstetrician who preferred to remain anonymous.

The criminal code states that it is a homicide when someone causes a child to die after birth by causing an injury during or before the birth. The MPs would seem to be suggesting that since these were “live” births, it was something in the abortion procedure, or lack of care afterward, that caused life to end. “These are vulnerable, innocent children that homicide has been perpetrated on,” Mr. Vellacott said on Thursday. “The individuals who have perpetrated the breach of the criminal code should be charged and brought to justice.”

First unearthed by Ottawa blogger Patricia Maloney last October, the 491 figure is contained in federal cause-of-death statistics, which attributed the number to any aborted fetus that is “born alive and subsequently dies.”

Even a fetus that has “absolutely no chance of survival” — say, because it is aborted too early in the pregnancy, or because of severe developmental or genetic problems — may be deemed as “live-born” if it exhibits a heartbeat or signs of motion, Dr. Douglas Black, president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said in an interview conducted before the MPs’ letter was released. “Then they are subsequently allowed to pass away, depending on what the circumstances are, sometimes in their mom’s arms,” he said.