A 29-year-old Newfoundland mother was days away from delivering her third child when she was murdered. Her boyfriend and the father of the baby, Warren White, has been charged. Four neighbourhood children discovered her dismembered body in a forest near an apartment the couple had moved into six months ago. Amanda Power, who was already a mother of two, was nine months pregnant according to her father, the Canadian Press reported.
“She was almost due,” said Peter Power. “I don’t think there’s a worse hurt in the world that can compare with this.”
Holding off tears, the devastated father continued, “She was always a happy-go-lucky child, smiling, friends with everybody.”
Current Canadian law has no legislation regarding the unborn. Hence, even if convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend, White will escape unpunished for the murder of his child. So far, White has been charged only with second-degree murder for the death of his girlfriend and performing an indignity to a dead body.
If bill C-484 – which is currently making its way through Parliament – were to be passed, however, the likes of White could face a life sentence for the murder of a baby in addition to a sentence for the murder of the child’s mother. In March, the Unborn Victims of Violent Crime bill passed Second Reading in the House of Commons, but is facing stiff opposition from pro-abortionists, who fear the bill is a step towards the re-criminalization of abortion.
Conservative MP Ken Epp, who is sponsoring Bill C-484, has said that his bill is an attempt to curb violent crimes against pregnant mothers. Statistics show that pregnant women are victims of violent crimes at a much higher rate than non-pregnant women.
“What message are we sending to would-be abusers when our justice system turns a blind eye to the intentional killing of a woman’s unborn child against her will?” Epp has asked in the past. “We are only encouraging violence against pregnant women.”
A version of this article first appeared June 10 at LifeSiteNews.com and is reprinted with permission.