Judicial intervention in pregnancy.

The authors postulate that judicial intervention in pregnancy is one of the means by which control is legally exercised on women's bodies and lives. Despite the recommendations of the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies, which rejected proposals for intervention, and the fact that the movement to recognize fetal "rights" has been stronger in the United States than in Canada, the authors suggest that these proposals nevertheless pose a subsisting threat to women. Women's Charter rights, notably their right to equality, are especially compromised. To illustrate the extent and nature of the threat, the authors canvass the proposals for intervention in pregnancy put forward in academic writings, certain express statutory provisions, and through the judicial interpretation of child welfare legislation. These proposals are all the more worrisome to the extent that they include the imposition of broad civil and criminal liability on women for their conduct during pregnancy. The authors suggest that the difference between the position of the Royal Commission and of many courts on the one hand, and that of proponents of these interventions on the other hand, lies in their respective approaches to the debate over the recognition of fetal "rights", a recognition which would result in the creation of maternal-fetal conflict. In Canada, however, fetal rights have not been judicially recognized and any claims against a woman's body on behalf of a fetus would have to be based on the power of the state. Les auteurs postulent que l'intervention judiciaire dans la grossesse est un moyen d'exercer un contr6le sur le corps et ]a vie des femmes. Maigi les recommanda-tions de la Commission royale sur les nouvelles techniques de reproduction, qui a rejet6 les propositions favo-risant l'intervention, et malgr6 le fait que le mouvement pour la reconnaissance des "droits" du foetus est plus puissant aux tats-Unis qu'au Canada, les auteurs maintiennent que ces propositions posent une menace persistante pour les fermmes. Les droits protdg.s par la Charte, notamment le droit h l'galitd, sont particuli-rement compromis. Afin d'illustrer l'6tendue et la nature de ce danger, les auteurs passent en revue les propositions avancdes dans des dcrits acaddmiques, certaines provisions lgis-latives et par l'intermdiaire de l'interprdtation juridique des lois protdgeant les enfants. Ces propositions sont encore plus inquidtantes dans ]a mesure oh elles compren-nent l'imposition d'une large responsabilit6 civile et criminelle sur les femmes pour leur conduite pendant la grossesse. Les auteurs suggbrent que la diffdrence entre la …