Media Release
December 12, 2007

Strong majority of Albertans support fetal protection bill: Poll

Over 70% of Albertans would support Bill C-484 introduced last week by Alberta MP Ken Epp, according to a recent Environics poll. The Private Members' Bill would amend the Criminal Code making it a separate crime to injure or kill a fetus during an attack on the mother.

At present, Canadian law does not recognize the fetus as a separate person until the baby is born alive. Five pregnant Canadian women, including Albertans Liana White and Olivia Talbot, have been murdered along with their unborn children in the last three years.

The Environics poll, commissioned by LifeCanada, asked 2,047 Canadians about support for a fetal protection law and found that 75% of women and 79% of young people aged 18 to 30 supported such a law. Among Albertans, 71% said they supported such a law compared to 72% of Canadians.

"We welcome Bill C-484," said Joanne Byfield, Interim Executive Director of Alberta Pro-Life Alliance Association. "It acknowledges what most Canadians believe about these horrific crimes: two people have been murdered and the families grieve both the mom and the baby. It is cruel for the law to ignore that reality."

The poll conducted in late September and early October also found that two-thirds of Albertans support legal protection for human life before birth; 67% supported informed consent laws on abortion; and 73% said that abortion should not be tax-funded or should only be funded in medical emergencies or in cases of rape and incest.

"How much longer will our federal and provincial governments ignore the will of the voters?" asked Byfield. "Every human being, whether you call it an embryo, fetus, baby, wanted or unwanted, has an inalienable right to life. Bill C-484 acknowledges that right, one that has been ignored by our laws and our courts for many years."

Byfield said there is a message in the results for the provincial government too. "Albertans are pretty clear in this poll that they don't want to pay for over 10,000 abortions every year as they do now. They think that health funding should be for treatments and services that improve health and prolong life."

For more information, contact Joanne Byfield at 421-7747 or 445-0344.