Dear Pro-lifers:

This year 2003 has been a year of celebrations: The Interim's 20th birthday, Fr. Ted Colleton's 90th and Campaign Life's 25th. It is important to celebrate, to thank God for our many blessings, to recharge our emotions and spirits for the next onslaught.

Upon the death of his father, an old friend of mine recalled in his eulogy that his dad would say " Paul, don't just stand there … do something!" Not only do we prepare our own strategies we must also respond to others. CLC's ability (your ability) to quickly respond makes the organization a forceful champion for doing good.

When I joined Campaign Life on October 7, 1978 I had no idea what forces we were up against and only through the grace of Almighty God has society been thus far spared the worst. But, the slide down the slippery slope of death and perversion has only been impeded or slowed by your efforts. It has not been stopped.

Each and everyone of you is part of CLC's efforts. When outsiders think of CLC, they may only see our spokespersons but the real "meat and potatoes" of this organization is you and your efforts. You must not underestimate the value of your telephone calls or letters to an MP or any other action you take. One simple action after another by each individual can cause great changes.

As you well know, recent court decisions have turned society on its ear as it attempts to reshape the home and family. We, the people must make it clear to our politicians and to all of society that marriage is a union of one man and one woman and that we will not accept so called "marriage" of couples involved in homosexual relationships.

Common law relationships and homosexual unions are not marriages. Marriage is marriage and, from a pro-life perspective, it is the ideal and sacred environment for the generation and raising of new human life. We have received many positive comments from supporters telling us that their pastors have finally begun to talk about morality from the pulpit.

The next battle will be fought in the schools. Many parents will remember the concerns about providing sex education unrooted in moral teachings in the schools. Fraught with problems, depending upon who was teaching the courses, a host of parents began home schooling their children or removed them from the classrooms - at an incredibly great personal sacrifice.

If the concept of homosexual "marriage" is not defeated, I predict the homosexuals activists will demand the teaching of homosexual activities, for it follows that if students are taught about sexual intercourse for heterosexuals then the militants will demand that students be taught about homosexual acts. And don't say it won't happen, … how many people ten years ago thought Canada would be seriously considering same-sex "marriage" in 2003?

In this mailing we have included a petition to respond to the same sex controversy. The petition has been worded so that MPs will be able to present them in the House of Commons when Parliament resumes in mid-September. There are many rules and stipulations about what makes a petition valid, and, unfortunately, there are many out there that cannot be submitted in the House.

Please have your relatives, friends, neighbours and fellow churchgoers sign and then return the completed or half completed petition to our office. We will see that pro-family politicians receive them and read them into the public record. CLC will keep everyone informed of these efforts and other initiatives required to help overturn the court's decision and strengthen our MPs and provincial representatives.

If the battle against abortion on demand has taught us anything, it is that it is very difficult to undo these types of radical laws. We must defeat the same-sex "marriage" bill now. Although most people would prefer not to do any additional pro-life work during the summer months, it is urgent that we take this initiative.

We must re-commit ourselves to prayer and sacrifice. In our busy schedules we must take the time to be sensitive to the needs of others. We must persevere in being positive, upbeat and joyful people as we serve the Lord.

But while the economy ails, abortion continues unabated and the government is about to radically redefine marriage. We must continue to do our work.

Fortunately, you have responded in the past when our needs were known. Right now our needs are great because Canada desperately needs our voice to speak out for the bedrock institution of our country - the family. We need your financial assistance now in order to carry out our plans.

Yours for Life
Jim Hughes

Click Here for Petition

P.S. Father Ted wishes to thank everyone who celebrated with him in person or who sent their prayers and best wishes for another 90 years.

P.P.S If you intend to run for municipal office, school board, mayor etc … in the Ontario elections to be held on November 10, please contact Bill Mullaly in our office.

The federal Justice Department has completed its promised draft legislation on homosexual "marriage," changing the definition of marriage from the traditional union of "one man and one woman" to between "two persons." It also asks the Supreme Court of Canada to rule before-hand on whether it complies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, whether it is permitted by the Charter for the bill to allow a religious exemption so that churches are not forced to perform homosexual "weddings" and whether the definition of marriage is the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government rather than the provinces. The last question is an attempt to curtail the efforts of the province of Alberta which has vowed to use the notwithstanding clause provisions of the Charter to avoid the court-ordered redefinition of marriage. As Gwen Landolt of REAL Women explained, the "reference" can only be answered yes or no; it does not hear arguments from either side and therefore the choice of a Reference is a poor one.

Meanwhile, two coalitions - one religious, one representing pro-family Canadians - have announced they will file for leave to appeal the Ontario Appeal's Court decision permitting same-sex "marriage." The Interfaith Coalition consists of the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada , the Catholic Civil Rights League and the Islamic Society of North America. Canada Family Action Coalition, Focus on the Family Canada and REAL Women of Canada have filed a separate appeal requesting a stay on the Ontario Court of Appeal decision, and are requesting the Supreme Court of Canada for Leave to Appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision. Roy Beyer of CFAC said "We cannot allow this decision to go unchallenged. Due process requires that the Supreme Court respond to a provincial court ruling with such profound implications for the whole nation." In short, these two coalitions are doing what the federal government should have done themselves to defend the traditional definition of marriage.

For our part, we are distributing a petition calling for the maintanence of the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. We have also been working with other groups in order to have an effective co-ordinated strategy. Also, if you have internet access and want to keep up with the on-going developments on this issue, make sure to check out www.lifesite.net.

When the House of Commons recessed for the summer in June without a final vote on C-13, it gave pro-life Canadians yet another chance to contact their MPs to urge them to defeat this terrible bill that would allow destructive embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and a host of other immoral and scientifically unnecessary procedures.

This has been a long and arduous fight, carried on throughout this land by tens of thousands of pro-life Canadians such as yourself. Your calls, letters, faxes, emails and visits have successfully convinced many MPs to learn more about this issue or to oppose it outright. While our Public Affairs Office in Ottawa has been busy working with MPs on this issue, we have been very encouraged by their receptiveness to the truth. Furthermore, MPs from the Canadian Alliance, Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties have expressed interest in defeating this bill, proving that the protection of innocent human beings is not a partisan issue, but a human rights issue. We must continue to show our elected officials that when they take courageous and correct stands, we will stand with them. We cannot emphasize enough how important this is to them and how discouraging it can be for them to not receive such words of support.

At a June 30 meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction in Madrid, Israeli scientists put forward the notion of using ova from aborted baby girls for fertility treatments. Tal Biron-Shental, a gynecologist from Meir Hospital-Sapir Medical Centre in Kfar Saba, announced that he and his team extracted ovarian tissue from seven aborted baby girls aged 22 to 33 weeks.

This "discovery" of harvesting eggs from aborted babies raises the specter of creating children through IVF treatments using "mothers" who themselves were never born. Aside from the science fiction-like horror this idea conjures and the immorality of both IVF and using aborted babies in such treatment, who knows what the psychological effects could be on the children being created.

Dr. Roger Gosden, a researcher who advocated this type of research in Britain in the early 1990s before being chased out of the country and landing at McGill University in Montreal, greeted the announcement with a frightening amount of glee. When he came to Canada in 1999, he was greeted by CLC and other pro-lifers to remind him of the unethical nature of his research by carrying signs that said "Try telling a child: Your mother was a dead baby." Shortly after his arrival, the Quebec government banned research which destroyed human embryos and Gosden moved to Virginia.

The July 5 National Post reported that Maurice Strong, currently a special advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, may, by the end of the year, become a top aide to Paul Martin, the heir apparent to the throne of the Liberal Party leadership and the presumptive next Prime Minister of Canada.

Strong is one of the world's leading advocates for population control, one-world government and assorted other radical ideas. Among Strong's many questionable views is his advocacy of legal limits on family size and a new "global ethic" to replace existing religions. As an analysis by LifeSite Daily News noted, "Such nonsense would normally not be taken seriously except for the connections that Strong has at the U.N. and with many current and past world leaders." Strong also supports international treaties that erode the sovereignty of nations and thus threaten democracy.

We had hopes that the House of Commons under a Paul Martin prime ministership would be friendlier to democratic ideals, including the empowering of backbench MPs; but such enthusiasm could be seriously misplaced if reports are true that Strong will become Martin's advisor on international and environmental issues.

Nova Scotia: As we go to press, we have few other details other than the date of the provincial election in Nova Scotia. It will be August 5. We urge all our N.S. supporters to become informed about where your candidates stand on abortion, euthanasia and family issues. Please remember that support for abortion is a disqualifying issue for a candidate. For more information, please call CLC Nova Scotia President Herm Wills at (902) 861-1982 or e-mail clcns@clcns.com. Also, check www.lifesite.net for regular updates.

Ontario: While no election has been called, all parties are in election mode and rumours swirl around Queen's Park that an election could be called for late September. CLC Ontario has prepared a questionnaire and is sending it out early in hopes of getting maximum response. Furthermore, pro-life activists and religious leaders are already preparing for the election. We note, for instance, the editorial of the Catholic Register, which took to task Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty for his support of abortion and legal recognition of same-sex unions (despite a generally positive reception to the provincial Liberals). It is important for people of all faiths who recognize the need to protect innocent human life that, whatever our political affiliations, no politician who favours so-called abortion rights is deserving of our support.

On June 27, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that political parties do not need to run 50 candidates to register and have the party name appear on the ballot. In recent elections, Christian Heritage Party candidates were disadvantaged by not having their party affiliation listed beside their names. Each of the opposition parties agree that the Federal Elections Act should be amended so that official party recognition on the ballot is the same as before the House of Commons (12) but the Liberal government refuses to consider this democratic reform. While other political parties such as the Communists, Greens and Libertarians will all benefit from this ruling, the big winner is democracy. For once, the Supreme Court got something right.

A story appearing in the National Post and other papers July 8 left the misleading impression that there is - in the words of the Kingston Whig-Standard headline - "No 'safe' time for sex." According to a study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, University of Saskatchewan researchers have "discovered" that women are capable of producing eggs more than once during their menstrual cycle. The CanWest News Service article said "The discovery could lead to more effective contraceptives and could boost success rates for women undergoing expensive and invasive high-tech fertility treatments." However, the study is much bally-hooed but of little real substance.

Scientists used high-resolution ultrasound equipment on 50 women for one month and found that physiologically it appeared that some women could release more than one egg per month. Not one woman with a normal cycle actually produced more than one, although two women with abnormal cycles did produce two eggs, but their cycles were, I repeat, abnormal. This "discovery" was quickly used to point to the "inadequacy" of natural family planning methods. This is pure bunk: many NFP methods are altered to take into account irregular or abnormal cycles and many of the other signs of increased fertility are present to let NFP-practicing couples know when to abstain from sexual activity.

With all the diseases and illnesses Canadians face - including new problems such as SARS and West Nile Virus - why is the CIHR funding research that can be applied to "more effective" contraceptives and fertility treatments. Why do researchers view fertility as a problem or disease? As Sam Torode, author with his wife Bethany of Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception, says "To many people today, fertility is a disaster waiting to happen." The anti-child mentality expressed in support for this research and the newspaper coverage is all part of the abortion mentality.

On Sept 13 Campaign Life Coalition will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Campaign Life with a dinner in Toronto at the Holiday Inn downtown. Campaign Life was founded on May 25th 1978 at a meeting in Winnipeg Manitoba and in 1987, it merged with the Coalition for Protection of Human Life to form CLC. If you plan to be in Toronto or vicinity in Sept, please plan to join us for this celebration For more information, call Yoli Singson at (416) 204-9749 or 1-800-730-5358.

Yours for life
Jim Hughes
National President