Roxanne’s Law Defeated

Update: A list of how each MP voted is at the bottom of this article. You are encouraged to follow-up with your MP with either a thank-you note or a question of how they can justify voting agaist it.

Just minutes ago, Bill C-510, which proposed to make it a crime to coerce a woman to have an abortion, was defeated in the House of Commons by a vote of 97 to 178. The bill was introduced by MP Rod Bruinooge and named after Roxanne Fernando (on right), who was killed by her boyfriend because she refused to abort her child.

The vote means that this bill has died and won’t be proceeding to committee for futher study.

Most members of the opposition parties, along with many Conservatives, voted against it. Prime Minister Harper and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson also voted against it.

This news will come as a disappointment to many as the bill was a common-sense measure that should have had the support of both pro-life and pro-choice MP’s alike. But once again our government gave a clear signal that it wants to continue to be the only country in the Western world that prefers to close its eyes, plug its ears, and clamps its mouth when it comes to any law that even mentions abortion.

“What kind of leaders refuse to protect pregnant women who want to keep their child?” commented ARPA Canada’s director Mark Penninga. “We need to ask the MP’s who voted against it how exactly they can justify their vote, especially given that all of the arguments raised in the House against it were answered in detail.”

ARPA supporters from across the country have played a huge role in advocating for this legislation throughout the entire year. Over 500 letters have been sent to our MP’s on C-510 through Easy Mail alone, in addition to visits that have been made both in Ottawa and in local constituencies.

“By no means was this bill a lost effort” stated Penninga. ‘”It was invaluable because it got our MP’s, the public, and the mainstream media talking about an issue that has been hidden for far too long. To add to this, it served as a catalyst for getting the pro-life community to work together towards a common goal, something that has been sadly lacking for years. We hope this will be a stepping stone for more legislative efforts.”

ARPA Canada would like to commend MP Rod Bruinooge for his dedication to the pro-life cause and his fervent efforts with this bill. We also commend the organizations Campaign Life, My Canada, and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada who worked so hard to build support for this. A special thanks goes to our readers who really picked up the ball on this. There is no doubt that our MP’s heard from us.

We look forward to seeing more MP’s bravely step up to introduce legislation that pertains to the value of the unborn. They need our encouragement and support.

Action Item: A list of how each MP voted will be linked to on the ARPA website when it becomes available. Readers are encouraged to thank their MP if they voted in support of C-510, and follow-up with MP’s who voted against it, asking how they can justify this position in light of the points available here.

Related: An Inside Scoop on Monday’s Bill C-510 Debate

How Each MP Voted on C-510 (first Yeas and then Nays)

YEAS

Members

Abbott
Albrecht
Allen (Tobique—Mactaquac)
Allison
Anders
Anderson
Ashfield
Benoit
Bezan
Block
Boughen
Breitkreuz
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Newmarket—Aurora)
Brown (Barrie)
Bruinooge
Calandra
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Carrie
Casson
Clarke
Cummins
Davidson
Day
Del Mastro
Devolin
Dhalla
Fast
Galipeau
Gallant
Glover
Goldring
Grewal
Guarnieri
Harris (Cariboo—Prince George)
Hiebert
Hoback
Hoeppner
Jean
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Karygiannis
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Komarnicki
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Lake
Lamoureux
Lauzon
Lemieux
Lobb
Lukiwski
Lunney
MacAulay
Malhi
Mayes
McColeman
McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood)
McTeague
Merrifield
Miller
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Norlock
O’Neill-Gordon
Payne
Poilievre
Preston
Rajotte
Reid
Richards
Ritz
Scheer
Shea
Shipley
Shory
Smith
Sorenson
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Szabo
Toews
Tonks
Trost
Tweed
Uppal
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Warawa
Warkentin
Watson
Weston (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country)
Weston (Saint John)
Wong
Woodworth
Yelich
Young

Total: — 97

NAYS

Members

Ablonczy
Allen (Welland)
André
Andrews
Angus
Armstrong
Arthur
Ashton
Asselin
Atamanenko
Bachand
Bagnell
Bains
Baird
Beaudin
Bélanger
Bellavance
Bennett
Bernier
Bevington
Bigras
Blackburn
Blais
Blaney
Bonsant
Bouchard
Boucher
Bourgeois
Braid
Brison
Brunelle
Byrne
Cadman
Cannon (Pontiac)
Carrier
Chong
Chow
Christopherson
Clement
Coady
Coderre
Comartin
Cotler
Crombie
Crowder
Cullen
Cuzner
D’Amours
Davies (Vancouver Kingsway)
Davies (Vancouver East)
DeBellefeuille
Dechert
Demers
Deschamps
Desnoyers
Dewar
Dhaliwal
Dion
Donnelly
Dorion
Dosanjh
Dreeshen
Dryden
Duceppe
Duncan (Etobicoke North)
Duncan (Edmonton—Strathcona)
Dykstra
Easter
Eyking
Faille
Fantino
Finley
Flaherty
Fletcher
Foote
Fry
Gagnon
Garneau
Gaudet
Généreux
Godin
Goodale
Goodyear
Gourde
Gravelle
Guay
Guimond (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Guimond (Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord)
Hall Findlay
Harper
Harris (St. John’s East)
Hawn
Holder
Holland
Hughes
Julian
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret’s)
Kennedy
Kent
Kerr
Laforest
Laframboise
Lavallée
Layton
Lebel
LeBlanc
Lee
Lemay
Leslie
Lessard
Lévesque
MacKay (Central Nova)
MacKenzie
Malo
Maloway
Marston
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Mathyssen
McCallum
McGuinty
McLeod
Ménard
Mendes
Menzies
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Mourani
Mulcair
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Murray
Nadeau
Neville
Nicholson
O’Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Oliphant
Ouellet
Pacetti
Paillé (Hochelaga)
Paquette
Paradis
Patry
Pearson
Petit
Plamondon
Pomerleau
Proulx
Rae
Rafferty
Ratansi
Rathgeber
Regan
Richardson
Rickford
Rodriguez
Rota
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Schellenberger
Sgro
Siksay
Silva
Simson
Sopuck
St-Cyr
Stanton
Stoffer
Thi Lac
Thibeault
Tilson
Trudeau
Valeriote
Verner
Wallace
Zarac

Total: — 178