Shame! (Updated)

Following are the names of the Liberal MPs who voted with the government in favour of Bill C-484, the pathetic Trojan Horse, anti-choice legislation otherwise known as the Unborn Victims of Crime Act . Also included is a list of the spineless weasels (the alleged “leader” amongst them) who were conveniently absent from the vote. Neither the Liberals nor the NDP bothered to whip their votes.

Voting For: Raymond Bonin; Gord Brown; John Cannis; Hon. Raymond Chan; Hon. Roy Cullen; Sukh Dhaliwal; Hon. Albina Guarnieri; Hon. Charles Hubbard; Hon. Jim Karygiannis Derek Lee; Hon. Lawrence MacAulay; Hon. Gurbax Malhi; Hon. John McKay; Hon. Joe McGuire; Hon. Dan McTeague; Hon. Shawn Murphy; Massimo Pacetti; Francis Scarpaleggia; Hon. Raymond Simard; Lloyd St. Amand; Paul Steckle; Paul Szabo; Hon. Robert Thibault; Alan Tonks; Roger Valley; Tom Wappel; Borys Wrzesnewskyj

Absent: Stéphane Dion; Bryon Wilfert; Joe Volpe; Scott Simms; Nancy Karetak-Lindell; Hon. Mark Eyking; Ujjal Dosanjh; Denis Coderre; Brenda Chamberlain; Gerry Byrne.

Way to score points with your base Mr. Dion! Bad move… very bad move.

To quote Garth Turner:

“Since an unborn child is not currently recognized as being distinct from the woman carrying it under current law, then this bill would change that, and open up abortion for legitimate review.”

The bill will do absolutely nothing whatsoever to prevent or minimize the egregious sorts of violent crimes it purports to address. In that respect, it’s utterly meaningless. Its sole purpose is deeply cynical and transparently obvious: to advance by stealth the cause of Christian fundamentalists and other “pro-life” (anti-abortion) advocates.

Update: BCL advises that this was misreported by the Globe & Mail the other day as being second-reading of the bill, whereas, in fact, it’s just the FIRST reading. I’m still disappointed in the way this vote was handled by the Liberals, but it does put matters in a somewhat different perspective. A terse rebuke is still in order for those who voted in support of this deeply flawed private member’s bill or who were conveniently MIA. You know where to find their contact info.

Update2: Now (also via BCL and better-informed commenters) it’s learned that the first vote is on the second reading, so the Globe was right after all. Whatever. My disappointment stands.