A parliamentary vote on whether or not to revisit the definition of when life begins caused some to decry the motion as nothing more than an attempt to revisit Canada's abortion laws.

But while the motion, introduced by conservative MP Stephen Woodsworth, was defeated 203 to 91, it once again brought the issue of abortion and MP's stances on the issue to the forefront.

Out of the 91 who voted in favour of the motion, 87 were members of the Conservatives, while four were Liberals.

Closer to home, between four Surrey MPs, the vote was split two and two, with NDP members Jasbir Sandhu and Jinny Sims voting against revisiting the issue, while Conservatives Russ Hiebert and Nina Grewal voted in favour of it.

When asked why he voted against the motion, Sandhu, MP for North Surrey said ultimately, he felt the issue was best left between a woman and her doctor.

"The whole abortion issue is a very sensitive issue on both sides and I heard from my constituents both sides of the arguments and both were very passionate with their arguments so it's a very difficult decision that I had to make," he said.

South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale MP Russ Hiebert said while it is a challenging topic, the motion offers a chance for debate.

"The motion asked for an all-party committee to review the legal question of when life begins," said Heibert, who said he heard from constituents on both sides of the argument. "While this is a challenging topic, it is clear to me that the very best place to discuss challenging topics is in Parliament, where the representatives of the people can express their views freely."

Sims and Grewal did not respond to the Now by press time.