The following letter was sent to the media by Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre, Stephen Woodworth as he continues to work tirelessly towards the legal recognition of the equal worth and dignity of every human being.
March 6, 2013
Open Letter
Re: Motion 312 – 5 Months Later
As five months have passed since its defeat, it seems appropriate to examine the continuing effects of Motion 312. The most striking evidence of the significance of Motion 312 is the continuing false and misleading NDP messaging that Motion 312 was about abortion rather than its actual subject, subsection 223(1).
As you know, subsection 223(1) is the law by which the State designates certain individuals as non-human. Subsection 223(1) can only be tied to the abortion issue if we must designate children before complete birth as non-human in order to justify abortion. That is the fundamentally illogical basis of the NDP messaging.
I offer supporters two easy ways of pushing back against this NDP messaging. Both are simple logical exercises.
The first is to imagine a Canada in which a constitutional amendment is passed enshrining a right to abortion until the moment of complete birth. If the abortion issue were firmly and forever settled in this manner, could we possibly justify leaving in place a law through which the State designates someone as non human without regard to the real nature of that individual? Of course not! The obviously outrageous nature of a law through which the State designates someone as non-human without regard to the real nature of that individual will still be clear even if the abortion issue were settled.
A second way of demonstrating the same thing is to imagine a Canada in which a constitutional amendment is passed completely prohibiting abortion from the moment of conception. If the abortion issue were firmly and forever settled in this manner, could we possibly justify leaving in place a law through which the State designates any child or any other human being as a non-human without regard to the real nature of that individual? Of course not! The obviously outrageous nature of such a law remains clear even if the abortion issue were to be completely prohibited.
See Over…
*A French Message will follow/ Un message en français suivra*
2
When the United Nations promulgated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it included Article 6 which states “Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.” Clearly if a State can designate an individual as non-human, that State is refusing to recognize that individual as a person, in contradiction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We can be confident that most Canadians are well aware of the wrongness of Subsection 223(1). However, it remains for us to make clear the very grave significance for our children and grandchildren of abandoning legal recognition of the equal worth and dignity of every human being.
To do so, we must seize every opportunity to refute the false and misleading NDP messaging that Motion 312 was about abortion.
In contrast with the NDP approach, I am grateful that the policies of the Conservative Party of Canada, by protecting the independence of Private Members’ Business, have permitted me to raise this very grave issue.
Sincerely,
Stephen Woodworth
Member of Parliament
Kitchener Centre