Mr. Speaker, I have a huge number of petitions today from right across Canada.
The petitioners indicate that a CBC documentary revealed that ultrasounds were being used in Canada to tell the sex of an unborn child so expectant parents could choose to terminate the pregnancy if the unborn child was a girl.
An Environics poll found that 92% of Canadians believed sex-selected pregnancy terminations should be illegal. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and the Canadian Association of Radiologists strongly oppose the non-medical use of fetal ultrasounds. Over 200 million girls are missing worldwide and this “gendercide” has created a global gender imbalance crisis, resulting in violence and human trafficking of girls. The three deadliest words in the world are, “It's a girl”.
The petitioners therefore call upon Canada's Parliament to support legislation that would make sex selection illegal.