Atheists condone and condemn rape

[KichigaiNeko]

The amendment aims to do
two things. First, it aims to put beyond doubt that the bill will not criminalise anything that is not presently
criminal. The amendment does so by the simple, clear technique of expressly declaring that the bill does not
criminalise anything which is not presently criminal. So any innocent, negligent or intentional termination of a
pregnancy which is presently lawful remains lawful.

Secondly, the amendment aims to make it clear that a court is not to increase the overall penalty that it
would have otherwise imposed anyway before the passage of this bill. So the fact that the bill recognises an
offence as being committed against an unborn child would not become the basis for a new, greater penalty than
what exists now when it is instead an offence against the mother. Likewise, where both a mother and an unborn
child are injured the fact that after the bill is passed there would be two offences—one against the mother and
one against the unborn child—would not be a basis for a greater penalty than at the moment when there is
deemed to be only one offence, namely, against the mother. I am not wedded to any particular wording for the
amendment. I am happy to take on board any suggestions for improving the wording of the amendment I have
circulated to achieve the two aims that I have described, namely, no extra criminality and no extra penalty.

If the amendment were carried the bill would not have what some would call any practical consequence

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it continues...

The bill before the House, even with its amendment, is revisiting an area that already has been
extensively adjudicated by most legal authorities who have said that this proposed law will only make a very
difficult decision even more difficult. The application of the definition of unborn child from one context—the
Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995, which stipulates greater than 400 grams or 20 weeks
gestation—in a different context, the criminal law, has been raised with concern by all legal and medical
experts. Why should a foetus of 19 weeks and six days be regarded differently from a foetus of 20 weeks? The
Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 does not state that the foetus is alive. Accurate estimation of
gestational age is fraught with inaccuracies