Sex-selection abortion vote expected June 2

OTTAWA -- A final vote on a Conservative MP’s effort to ban sex-selective abortion is expected to be held June 2.

The vote will come after the final hour allocated for debate surrounding Cathay Wagantall’s proposed private members Bill C-233, scheduled for May 28.

“The final hour of the two hours allocated for private members bills will be on May 28 and then the vote being held on June 2,” Wagantall’s legislative assistant Tristan McLaughlin told Canadian Catholic News.

The bill would make it a crime for an abortion to be performed solely on the grounds of a child’s genetic sex.

While Bill C-233 has garnered vocal support from pro-life organizations across Canada, when it was debated during second reading in the House of Commons on April 14 it came under attack by Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois members as an alleged Trojan Horse effort to reopen the abortion debate in Canada.

And while Wagantall was free to put her proposed bill forward in the House of Commons, Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole has said he will vote against the bill.

Conservative MP Karen Vecchio, who supports a woman’s right to choose, takes issue with the tone of debate.

“This should not be about how we feel on the right to choose to have an abortion. This is whether sex-selection abortion is happening in Canada and what is ethical in this situation.”