Roxanne`s Law is a Private Members’ Bill in the House of Commons named for Roxanne Fernando. Roxanne was a young, 24 year old Filipino immigrant to Canada who was murdered in Winnipeg for refusing her boyfriend’s repeated demands to have an abortion.

This legislation (which was crafted to permit both pro-life and pro-choice supporters to vote for it) would make it a criminal offence to coerce a woman to have an abortion.

Now critics have argued that we already have laws on assault, intimidation, etc. and that this legislation would be largely redundant.  But critics fail to recognize that one purpose of Roxanne’s law is to provide protection for those more vulnerable; a category that surely applies to pregnant women.

Roxanne`s law is a good piece of legislation, and it needs to be passed. It should be supported on its own merits, regardless of how one feels about the broader abortion debate.

I’m Brad Trost your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt.  You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133 or drop by our two offices to visit: Saskatoon Monday-Friday or Humboldt Tuesday and Wednesday. I always appreciate your feedback.