Pro-life Americans are watching Canada closely. When National Right to Life News asked for a perspective on the Motion 312 vote, our campaign director, Mike Schouten submitted an opinion column. We thank them for publishing! September 27, 2012 Unborn Children Debate in Canada’s Parliament “huge step forward in the ongoing debate regarding the status of children in the womb” By Mike Schouten Campaign Director, WeNeedaLaw.ca Editor’s note. As Margaret Somerville explained in a piece we ran earlier this week, Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth’ s “Motion 312” would have “set up a parliamentary committee to examine the definition of when a child becomes a ‘human being’ within the homicide provisions of Canada’s Criminal Code.” Unbelievably, currently it is at the moment of complete birth! Although the motion failed yesterday, as anticipated, Mr. Schouten believes that this did not signal “the end of a conversation. Rather, it should be seen as a huge step forward in the ongoing debate regarding the status of children in the womb.” Canadians can be thankful to Conservative Member of Parliament, Mr. Stephen Woodworth for courageously putting Motion 312 on the table. It was Mr. Woodworth’s goal with his motion that a Parliamentary committee would be formed to study the Criminal Code definition of ‘human being’ as found in Section 223 (1). That portion of the Criminal Code states that a child becomes a ‘human being’ only at the moment of complete birth. As a result of this law, preborn children receive no legal protection under the homicide offences, or any other offences against ‘persons.’ The MP from Kitchener Center in southern Ontario is to be applauded for his work over the past nine months. He singlehandedly brought the issue of pre-born human rights into the spot light in a Canadian culture that has been so incredibly resistant to discuss anything that could even remotely be associated with abortion. Canada has been void of any legal protections for children in the womb since the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the Criminal Code’s abortion provisions in the 1988 R. V. Morgentaler decision.