In the last fifteen years, only three pieces of legislation to recognize the worth of pre-born children in law have been introduced in Parliament. One woman introduced all three bills: Cathay Wagantall. For a decade, she has championed the pre-born in Parliament.
Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Cathay Wagantall was first elected in 2015 to represent the riding of Yorkton-Melville, a rural riding along the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border. The riding’s previous MP, Garry Breikreuz, was well-known as a pro-life MP. He sponsored at least ten motions in Parliament to defund abortion, recognize pre-born children as human beings in law, evaluate whether abortion was ever “medically necessary,” require fully informed consent for an abortion, and protect pre-born victims of crime.
Cathay Wagantall immediately picked up the pro-life mantle.
After each election, there is a lottery to determine which MPs get to introduce the first private members’ bills. (Since there are over 300 MPs and only so much time in Parliament, not all MPs have time to introduce a private member’s bill before the next election. The higher your name on the list, the more likely you will have time to introduce your own bill before the next election.) MP Wagantall’s name was in the first 30 drawn, so she had to pick a topic for her private member’s bill… and quick.
As a brand new MP, she had some ideas for a private member’s bill, but she was also open to suggestions and working alongside other pro-life organizations. She also was quick to show her collaborative character, working alongside other pro-life parliamentarians and organizations. That’s something that We Need a Law is incredibly thankful for. Former WNAL staff member Mike Schouten recalls well the initial conversations: “It was between Christmas and New Year’s in 2015 – a time when everything is supposedly quiet on the political front – when MP Wagantall first contacted me to express a desire to put forward a private member’s bill to protect pre-born victims of crime. What I recall most vividly was her sincerity and resoluteness. She understood that this was going to be challenging, but she was also sure of God’s strength that would carry her.”
After many meetings, MP Wagantall settled on Cassie and Molly’s Law for the name of her first private member’s bill. A few years earlier, a 31-year-old woman – Cassandra Kaake – was murdered in Windsor, Ontario. She was seven months pregnant with her daughter Molly. Although the perpetrator was eventually sentenced to life in prison for murdering Cassie, Molly’s father, Jeff Durham, lamented that there was no justice for Molly. Since the Criminal Code only recognized the humanity of children after they are born, the offender was only charged with one count of murder.
Bill C-225, Cassie and Molly’s Law, aimed to change that. The proposal made it “an offence to cause injury or death to a preborn child while committing or attempting to commit an offence against a pregnant woman and to add pregnancy as an aggravating circumstance for the purpose of sentencing.” In other words, if a murderer killed both a pregnant woman and her pre-born child, he would be charged with two offences. Her bill, Bill C-225, didn’t directly touch the issue of abortion. But it did recognize a pre-born child as a victim of violent crime.
Speaking to her bill in Parliament, MP Wagantall stated,
Families are the foundation of our country. The Criminal Code is missing a crucial component to protect Canadian women and their families. The increased penalties under Cassie and Molly’s law create a legal mechanism that will enhance the safety of Canadian women and recognize the safety of their families. This approach is specific and robust. It is a common-sense approach designed to fill a gap in the Criminal Code that renders women and their preborn children vulnerable.
I truly believe that all of my colleagues want to do what they believe is compassionate and just. We should not turn a blind eye to the brutal violation of Cassie’s choice to continue her pregnancy. We should not turn a blind eye to Molly’s death.
Unfortunately, the bill was defeated by a vote of 209-76.
Despite the setback, MP Wagantall forged ahead. As she grew in experience, she understood well the need to work within the party system, but she was never willing to put her dedication to the party before her principles. Therefore, it was only fitting that after the 2019 election, when she was once again picked as one of the first MPs to introduce a private members’ bill, she used the opportunity to advance pre-born human rights. This time, she set the issue of sex-selective abortion squarely in her sights.
A series of articles in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found evidence of sex-selective abortion here in Canada. Some immigrant communities place a higher value on sons than they do daughters. The devaluing of daughters means that some families abort pre-born daughters simply because they don’t want a daughter; they want a son. This is a blatant example of discrimination based on sex. It should be impermissible in Canada, and most Canadians oppose sex-selective abortion.
And so, MP Wagantall introduced Bill C-233, the Sex-selective Abortion Act, in early 2020. This was the first time the issue of sex-selective abortion had come before Parliament. MP Mark Warawa introduced a motion to condemn the practice in 2012, but the motion was deemed non-votable. During the debate on her bill, Wagantall rose in the House to argue,
Sex-selection abortion is wrong, it is a discriminatory practice on the basis of sex and it takes place in our country because we have no law against it. As members of Parliament, we have been sent here to represent the Canadians’ concerns and their needs. That is why it is an honour and privilege to rise today to represent the 84% of Canadians who would like to see this Parliament enact a Criminal Code prohibition of sex-selective abortion.
I am speaking this evening on behalf of pro-choice and pro-life Canadians, religious and non-religious, those on the left, right and centre of the political spectrum; new Canadians, the young, the elderly and those in the medical profession across our country seeking support for a framework from the federal government to make sex selection in utero illegal. I am standing today in response to all seven Supreme Court justices who agreed that the state had some interest in protecting the fetus and expected a new law to be created to fill the gap left by their decision in the 1988 Morgentaler case.
The sex-selective abortion act would create protections for unborn baby girls whose lives are ended simply because they are girls.
Although Wagantall garnered the support of her Conservative colleagues, Members of Parliament from other parties refused to correct this lethal sex-based discrimination. The bill was defeated by a vote of 248-82.
But MP Wagantall was not done. After the 2021 election, in the third private members’ lottery in a row, she again won a top spot. In 2023, she introduced her third private member’s bill, Bill C-311. This was a simplified version of Cassie and Molly’s Law that she introduced a few years prior. It would have made assaulting and harming a pregnant woman an “aggravating circumstance” for sentencing, though it would not make injury or death to her preborn child a separate crime. Again, while this bill didn’t directly touch on the issue of abortion, it aimed to give greater recognition to the worth of a pre-born child.
Again, it was defeated (though it received 37 more votes than Cassie and Molly’s Law did).
Championing our pre-born neighbours, when most politicians view them as nothing more than a political liability, takes a toll. As Cathay continued to do what is right, the challenges became greater, sometimes even personal. After winning four elections and spending eleven years in Parliament championing the rights of the pre-born, Cathay Wagantall decided that it was time to end her political career. As she enjoys her retirement years, we want to thank her for her service to her country and her tireless advocacy for the voiceless. She truly was a pro-life champion. Her collaborative spirit helped her navigate three private members’ bills through the House of Commons during her time as a Member of Parliament.
But that must not be the end of the story. We will never win justice for the pre-born if our pleading with the government ends with the retirement of a courageous MP. We need to continue petitioning for laws to protect pre-born children. And find another MP to champion the lives of pre-born children.
For now, join us in thanking MP Cathay Wagantall for her years of service to the pro-life cause.