Canadian Supreme Court Refuses to Grant Rights to Protect Fetuses
OTTAWA — It is up to lawmakers, not the courts, to protect unborn children from potential harm caused by their mothers, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled Friday in a case involving a glue-sniffing mother.
Under Canadian law, a fetus has no legal status until birth. In a 7-2 ruling, the court said it will not expand existing laws to allow mothers to be ordered to protect fetuses.
“The common law does not clothe the courts with power to order the detention of pregnant women for the purpose of preventing harm to her unborn child,” Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote on behalf of the majority.
The case had been watched closely by groups engaged in the debate over abortion, which is legal in Canada.
The case involved a Winnipeg woman who challenged being ordered into treatment for her glue-sniffing addiction. The woman gave birth to a healthy boy last December.
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