New bill to protect unborn children

A Windsor man is supporting a new bill to protect the right of a woman’s unborn child, should she be killed.

 

Jeff Durham started the campaign Molly Matters when Cassandra “Cassie” Kaake, the mother of his unborn child Molly, was killed in their home when she was seven months pregnant.

 

Since then the alleged killer Mathew Brush, 27, has been caught. Brush is being charged with first degree murder, break and enter, indecent interference with a dead body, arson causing property damage, possession of material for arson and arson with disregard for human life. The trail will been held in Superior Court and he is currently being held in jail until his trial date is set.

 

Durham said this is an injustice as his unborn child should also be considered a person since she was intended to be born.

 

Durham started Molly Matters with Kaake’s mother Nancy Kaake. They have created Bill-225, Cassie and Molly’s Law, with the help of Saskatchewan’s MP Cathay Wagantall. The bill, which is being introduced as a private member’s bill, will make it a criminal offense to harm an unborn child while attacking the mother.

 

The bill has been given a considerable amount of positive reinforcement by Windsor’s community.

 

“We have a lot of support,” said Durham. “The people who have voiced opposition to it have clearly been not educated on it themselves, about what we are actually trying to say, which is that a pregnant woman’s child should be protected when someone kills her.”

 

Currently, the Molly Matters lobby is using social media to raise awareness out about their campaign. Rallies and protests have also been held around the city.

 

A challenge against the bill is coming from the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.

 

“The perception is that, that is a prochoice coalition but it’s not,” said Durham. “It’s only pro-abortion. If they were prochoice, they would stand behind a law that would protect a woman’s choice in such circumstance. Joyce Arthur, the ARCC, is represented in the papers as this correlation and she essentially has done everything to counter our effort to have these circumstances acknowledged.”

 

The next step for this campaign is to have Bill-225 passed by the House of Commons.

 

“I just hope that we can get parliament to look at it outside of abortion politics,” said Durham. “That this should be considered separately of prolife and prochoice.”

 

Wagantall said it is a challenge to get private members bills passed in the House.

 

“That being said, it is an amazing opportunity for individual MPs to put forward issues important to them and their constituents that they feel passionately about,” said Wagantall.

 

For more information about Molly Matters and Bill-225 visit mollymatters.org.