Bill 12, which also regulates surrogate pregnancies, was unanimously passed by the National Assembly.
QUEBEC — The National Assembly unanimously adopted Bill 12 on Wednesday, a part of the reform of family law that aims in particular to protect children born of rape.
After the vote, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said the new law would “better protect Quebec families” by responding more adequately to their needs.
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Under the law, a mother victim of rape will now be able to refuse the aggressor the establishment of paternity.
A sexual aggressor may be required to pay compensation to provide for the needs of the child resulting from the rape. The latter can inherit from the aggressor after his death.
In addition, the burden of proof in matters of forfeiture of parental authority will now rest on the offending parent when a judgment recognizes that he has committed an offence of a sexual nature against a child.
When tabling his bill last February, Jolin-Barrette said he was strongly inspired by the case of Océane, reported by La Presse in August 2022.
The young woman, who had had a child following a rape, had been unable to refuse to her attacker’s request to submit the child to a paternity test.
The Department of Justice estimates that more than 170 children are born from rape each year in Quebec.
“We all agree that this is a … despicable situation. The message that we wish to send to Océane today is that thanks to her … the laws will change,” Jolin-Barrette said.
“A mother who has experienced such a traumatic event should not live with the fear that one day her attacker will seek to have rights over her child,” he added.
Bill 12 also establishes a process to regulate surrogate pregnancy, so that the rights of children and mothers are protected. Agreements concluded so far had no legal value.
The legislation relies on certain fundamental principles:
Both the intended parents and the woman who plans to carry the child will have to participate in a preliminary information session. A notarized agreement whose content is defined by law will be mandatory.
The last section provides that children who will be born from a donation of gametes or from surrogacy can also have access to knowledge of their origins.
In certain circumstances, the child will have the right to know the name and profile of the third party, as well as the information enabling the child to contact that person, unless the latter refuses contact.
A register will be created to allow children resulting from assisted procreation to access their origins.
“Bill 12, an important part of our family law reform, was passed unanimously. … Throughout the work, it is the interest of the children who guided our decisions” Jolin-Barrette said.
The minister passed Bill 2 last year, which mainly dealt with the issue of gender identity and the recognition of nonbinary people.
He had run out of time and withdrew from the bill the entire section on the supervision of surrogacy, that is the contracts between intended parents and surrogate mothers.
Bill 12 took up the component on surrogate mothers and added others, in particular on children born of rape.
