Make pregnancy an aggravating factor

AI summary

Petitioners ask Parliament to amend the Criminal Code to treat violence against pregnant women or harm to preborn children as an aggravating sentencing factor. The government responds that Canadian law already treats offences against pregnant victims as aggravating, cites Bill C‑16 reforms on gender‑based violence, and says separate fetal‑victim status requires legal and constitutional review.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED Whereas: It is well established that the risk of violence against women increases when they are pregnant; Currently, the injury or death of preborn children as victims of crime are not considered aggravating circumstances for sentencing purposes in the Criminal Code of Canada; Canada has no abortion law. This legal void is so extreme that we don't even recognize preborn children as victims of violent crimes; Justice requires that an attacker who abuses a pregnant woman and her preborn child be sentenced accordingly. The sentence should match the crime. We, the undersigned citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to legislate the abuse of a pregnant woman and/or the infliction of harm on a preborn child as aggravating circumstances for sentencing purposes in the Criminal Code.

Government response

Response by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Signed by THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY PATRICIA LATTANZIO Canadian criminal law has long drawn a clear distinction between a pregnant woman and a fetus. Section 223 of the Criminal Code makes clear that legal personhood applies to individuals who exist independently from their mother, or who have been “born alive.” This is consistent with established jurisprudence, including the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1997 decision in Winnipeg Child and Family Services v. D.F.G., which affirmed that fetuses are not recognized as legal persons independent from their mother. Committing an offence against a pregnant victim is already an aggravating factor for sentencing purposes at common law, and within this framework, Canadian law protects fetuses through the protections afforded to pregnant women. In addition, the Criminal Code provides specific protections in certain circumstances, including subsection 223(2) and section 238, which address conduct causing harm in the course of birth. On June 18th, 2026, Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act, received Royal Assent. Bill C-16 introduces several important Criminal Code reforms aimed at addressing gender-based violence and violence against women. Significantly, it creates a new offence to prohibit engaging in a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct toward an intimate partner – a strong predicator of physical violence in intimate relationships. The Government is committed to preventing gender-based violence and intimate partner violence before it becomes lethal, and the criminalization of coercive or controlling conduct is just one of the ways in which it is fulfilling that promise. The Government remains committed to ensuring that acts of violence against pregnant women are treated with the utmost seriousness under the criminal law, while continuing to support a woman's right to choose and protecting access to reproductive health care. Any proposal to recognize separate victim status would require careful consideration of broader legal and constitutional implications.