Oberg pushes rights of fetus

By: Marta Gold, Edmonton Journal

The Alberta government should look at ways to change the province's Child
Welfare Act to protect a fetus from its mother's abuse, says Social
Services Minister Lyle Oberg.

``I think we're obligated to pursue it. If you've ever seen a child that's
born drugaddicted, it's tragic," said Oberg, a medical doctor.

``You've got a group of children that are being brought into the world
without a lot of advantages.''

Oberg was commenting Sunday on last week's Supreme Court of Canada ruling
that no one has the legal right to intervene if they feel a pregnant
woman's behavior is threatening her fetus. The law only recognizes the
rights of a born person, and changing that law is up to politicians, not
the courts, the judges said.

The ruling came in the case of a Winnipeg woman who, in August 1996, was
five months pregnant and addicted to gluesniffing. A superior court judge
allowed Manitoba's Child and Family Services Department to force her into
treatment.

The Court of Appeal disagreed, as did the Supreme Court.

``The Supreme Court has put it back in our laps,'' said Oberg. ``I think
for us to just put our head in the sand and say there's nothing going on is
wrong.''

Federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan has said she won't get involved in
the issue. Instead, she invited provincial governments to look at it under
their child welfare laws, which currently don't allow for protection of a
child until after it is born.

Oberg said he hasn't yet talked to Alberta Justice Minister Jon Havelock
about the issue but will raise it with him soon. Havelock was out of the
province Sunday.

``Each circumstance is different and I have to look at the legalities of
it, but I don't have a problem with what they did in Manitoba,'' Oberg
added. He acknowledged defining when a fetus becomes a person has proven
difficult in the past. ``But the flip side of that is you have mothers that
are drugaddicted that cause irreparable damage to their babies, so where
the happy medium is, I don't know."

Linda Sloan, social services critic for the provincial Liberals, said the
government's time would be better spent trying to improve life for the many
Alberta children who already live with poverty and abuse, and who have
suffered further as a result of government cuts to social services.

``If they're not going to defend and act on those children's behalf, why
jump to be the champion of fetal rights? To me it seems so hypocritical.''