CCCB throws support behind Motion 312

By Deborah Gyapong

Canadian Catholic News

OTTAWA (CCN) — The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has issued a Sept. 18 statement affirming support for the sacredness of all human life from conception to natural end as Motion 312 comes to its second and final hour of debate in the House of Commons.

Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth’s private member’s motion would review the Criminal Code’s definition of a human being in the homicide section that declares: “a child becomes a human being within the meaning of this act when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother.”

The statement, signed by CCCB President Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith, and posted on the CCCB.ca website provides a link to Motion 312’s text.

“The Catholic Church holds that a human being comes into existence at conception,” Smith says in the statement. “The lives of human beings are, therefore, sacred at every stage in our existence — from beginning to natural end.”

“As the House of Commons prepares to debate Motion 312, the bishops of Canada invite all members of the Parliament of Canada to take into full account the sacredness of the unborn child and each human life,” he says. “We also encourage Canadian Catholics, and all people of goodwill, to pray that our legislators be blessed with wisdom and courage to do what is best to protect and further the common good, which is based on respect for the human dignity of all.”