The abortion issue

Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the passing of Pierre Trudeau’s Omnibus Bill which, not only technically kept abortion a crime on the book, but opened up the abortion license by permitting it whenever a hospital’s Therapeutic Abortion Committee approved a woman’s request for an abortion. These committees rubber-stamped abortion requests and effectively legalized abortion on demand. Within a few years, the number of abortions jumped from 20,000 to 30,000 to 50,000 and by the early 1980s more than 100,000 abortions were committed every year.

This past January marked the 20th year after the infamous Morgentaler decision in which the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the limited “restrictions” on abortion passed in 1969. It threw out the Criminal Code prohibition on abortion and the Therapeutic Abortion Committees, yet at the same time, the Supreme Court urged Parliament to draft a new abortion law. Despite the widespread misconception that the Morgentaler decision created a ‘right to an abortion, only one Justice (Bertha Wilson) claimed such a right. Yet even she recognized a Parliamentary prerogative to legislate on the issue.

Twice the Mulroney Tories introduced another bill to address the abortion issue, but neither passed. (Fortunately they both failed; the bills had loopholes that would not have prevented a single abortion.) Since 1993, no abortion bill has even been voted on in Parliament and, to this day, Canada still operates in a legal void. Our nation is the only Western democracy to have no law or any Federal regulations restricting abortion. As a result, a pregnant woman can have her child killed for any reason, at any time during her pregnancy and almost always, with taxpayer funding. Furthermore, nowadays women have access to chemical as well as surgical abortions.

While the official statistics show that there are nearly 100,000 surgical abortions committed annually, there are an unknowable number of chemical abortions (RU-486 and abortifacient morning-after pills). Also, countless human beings are destroyed at the embryonic stage since reproductive and experimental technologies legislation was passed in 2004.

In short, there is an open season on pre-born human life in Canada. Sadly, the majority of legislators in this country seem entirely uninterested in restoring legal protection for the pre-born. Yet this is an abrogation of the duty placed on Parliament by the Supreme Court in the Morgentaler decision. It also goes against the will of the people; every year, Environics polls Canadians on the abortion issue and every year it finds that the majority oppose the status quo (abortion without any limits). More importantly, Parliament has abandoned its responsibility to address fundamental issues of rights and justice.

Abortion violates the rights of the pre-born and the injustice results in more than 100,000 abortions each year - approximately three and a half million abortion deaths since 1969.

Just as human life has been denigrated and destroyed at the beginning of the cycle of life, so it is now threatened at the end of life’s journey; in the last two Parliaments, Francine Lalonde (Bloc-La Pointe-de-l’Île) has introduced a Private Member’s bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The responsibility to vote pro-life

Every election presents Canadian voters with a plethora of issues to consider: health care, the economy, crime, foreign policy. All these are important, but none are as important as protecting the pre-born . All other issues pale in comparison when the right to life is not protected. Pro-life voters know this and we have a responsibility to help others understand the centrality that the sanctity of life must play in our decisions.

We know that the pre-born child is a human being. This knowledge is not a matter of religious dogma but scientific fact. We also know that the child in the womb is as deserving of protection before the law as you or I. Can you imagine any other group of people who could be systematically eliminated and have an electorate completely indifferent to their killing? Hundreds of pre-born children are killed every day by abortion. This slaughter must stop and, to achieve this, we need pro-life politicians.

So the first thing we must ask ourselves is: does the person for whom I intend to vote recognize the sanctity of human life and is he or she willing to defend the pre-born in Parliament? If the answer is no, then we need to find a new candidate. We must support only those candidates who share our principles and values; we must vote for candidates who are pro-life. As we have noted in the CLC National News the last two elections: “We must act on our pro-life convictions and demand that our elected representatives do, too. If we do not, then we must share the blame for creating victims of abortion (mother, child, extended family, society, our nation). We must demand that Parliament act to protect human life from the time of conception (fertilization) to natural death.”

Local candidates, not party or leader

When the mainstream media complains that there is increasingly little difference between the political parties, there are candidates at the local level who have starkly differing opinions on matters of life and death: abortion and euthanasia.

Each of us has the responsibility to know where every candidate stands on life issues. The CLC Voter’s Guide will be available online at www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/federal and it will list all the candidates and their position on life issues. If you do not have web access or cannot find your candidates (because information continues to come into our office throughout the campaign, sometimes until the last day of the campaign), call Campaign Life Coalition for more information. In Toronto call (416) 204-9749. Others may call us toll free at 1-800-730-5358. You can also contact your local CLC representatives. The first step in making a responsible pro-life vote is becoming informed.

We also encourage you to talk to your candidates (and their supporters) about life issues, so that not only do you understand the candidates’ positions, but those seeking your support also know how important life issues are to voters. If they are pro-life, let them know you intend to support them; if they are pro-abortion, let them know why they lost your support.

We urge you to put aside partisan considerations. This is not easy – most of us prefer one party over the others. We need to work not toward a Conservative government or Liberal government however, but a pro-life majority Parliament. Preventing pro-life candidates from going to Ottawa because of their political affiliation puts the pro-life cause on the wrong side of the numbers game in the House of Commons.

It should be noted that in Canada, citizens vote, not for a party or a party leader, but for the local Member of Parliament (a representative). The party brand might be an indication of a candidate’s views but it is folly to believe that every candidate for each party holds the exact same views on every issue. Nowhere is this clearer than on life issues; for years, there have been pro-life and pro-abortion MPs in all parties.

More importantly, it just doesn’t make any sense for pro-life voters to oppose a candidate who defends the sanctity of human life simply because of a party label. What is more important: a candidate’s stand on an issue, or the party with which a candidate happens to be affiliated? It is not that the party or party leader is unimportant: it is the case, however, that an individual candidate’s personal views and commitment is essential.

If you are able to do more to help pro-life candidates - volunteer in their campaign office, put up a lawn sign, whatever – please do. Candidates who stand up for human life very much deserve to have us stand alongside them.

Retiring pro-life MPs

One of the serious challenges we face is replacing the retiring pro-life MPs – those men and women who have stood up in defense of the pre-born, but who have decided they had enough of electoral politics and want to return to private life, often to spend more time with their families. Who can blame them? Politics is a numbers game and we need a majority. Their retirements, often after many years of heroic work, require that we make extra efforts to hold their ridings for the forces of life and family. That is not always easy because in some cases, their successors for the party’s nomination are not pro-life. For example, after having stellar pro-life representation in Scarborough Southwest from Tom Wappel, local Liberals are stuck with Michelle Simson, a pro-abortion feminist appointed by party leader Stephane Dion.

We want to recognize the 12 retiring pro-life MPs and encourage people in their ridings to make an extra special effort to elect pro-lifers:

Ray Bonin (L) – Nickel Belt
Norman Doyle (C) – St. John’s East
Ken Epp (C) – Edmonton Sherwood Park
Brian Fitzpatick (C) – Prince Albert
Art Hanger (C) – Calgary Northeast
Brian Pallister (C) – Portage Lisgar
Carol Skelton (C) – Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar
Monte Solberg (C) – Medicine Hat
Paul Steckle (L) – Huron-Bruce
Myron Thompson(C) – Wild Rose
Tom Wappel (L) – Scarborough Southwest
John Williams (C) – St. Albert

Where there is no pro-life candidate, it would be a good idea to make mention that you hope they will follow the example of their predecessor in standing up for life.

How to vote when there is no pro-life candidate

There are numerous strategies that pro-life voters can follow on election day when there is no pro-life candidate on the ballot. One of the most common is to defeat the pro-abortion incumbent. If this is the strategy you choose, you must notify the campaign office of the incumbent to let them know they have lost your vote because of the MPs stand on abortion.

Or pro-life voters can mitigate the evil by considering other factors: who is less pro-abortion or more educable, or who is stronger on family issues. This is not always an easy thing to determine and voting in such cases is not a simple decision for many pro-lifers. We encourage you to pray about your decision and for the wisdom to make a good decision.

Often there is a pro-life candidate in the riding, but many people believe that voting for the Christian Heritage Party is a wasted vote. As Ron Gray, the CHP leader always says, the only wasted vote is the one cast for candidates who do not share your principles. Please do not overlook CHP candidates running in your riding. Voting for them sends a message to the so-called mainstream parties that they cannot ignore moral issues without losing votes.

Lastly, in cases where you are lucky enough to have more than one pro-life candidate in your riding, you should look at the totality of their views on life and family issues; if they are still equal, then you can look to other important issues (such as health care, the economy, crime, etc…). It might be advisable to vote for candidates with the best chance to win. For example, if both a pro-life Liberal or Conservative and pro-abortion NDP are neck-and-neck locally, you might want to look past party labels and help elect the candidate who has the better chance to defeat the pro-abortion candidate.

Voting is an incredible privilege that we must exercise responsibly. That means first, being informed. CLC does its best to provide important information to you through the questionnaire (on our website at www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/federal or call us at 1-800-730-5358). We hope you use that information to help elect pro-life MPs, and where that is not possible, to still further promote the cause of life by raising the issue and voting to mitigate the evil of abortion.

On Election Day we recommend that you do one of the following:

Vote for the pro-life incumbent regardless of party.

Vote for a CHP candidate

Vote for the pro-life candidate, whether affiliated with a party or not, even if the candidate doesn’t stand much of a chance

Vote to defeat the pro-abortion incumbent by supporting the candidate who stands the best chance of unseating him/her

Write in ball point pen “no pro-life candidate”. It is counted as a spoiled vote, but the inside scrutineers will see the message and such messages are frequently discussed at party headquarters.

Refuse the ballot - if this is allowed in your province (at one time, you could state your reason for refusing the ballot and it was recorded)

*** If there is more than one pro-life candidate, choose the candidate whose party’s platform best accommodates your personal values.

On Election Day we recommend that you DO NOT do one of the following:

Stay at home and not vote

Vote for the party your family has always supported, regardless of the values of the candidate in question and/or the party platform

Vote solely based on traditional party allegiances (i.e. the party that was in power when your family immigrated to Canada)

Action Item To Do List

1) Ask candidates and their volunteers about life issues and raise the issue at all-candidates’ meetings.
2) Let a candidate know he or she has lost your support if the candidate is not pro-life.
3) Pass along any information you have to Campaign Life Coalition.
4) Raise life issues when discussing the election with friends, family and co-workers.
5) Volunteer to assist pro-life candidates.
6) Put up a lawn sign for the pro-life candidate you are supporting.
7) Write letters to the editor about life issues during the election.
8) Participate in radio call-in shows when life issues are raised.
9) Read LifeSiteNews.com to up-to-date election coverage.
10) Vote pro-life on October 14.

The case of Linda Gibbons, who is alleged to have obstructed a Peace Officer during her pro-life witnessing at the Scott abortuary in Toronto on July 31, was heard at the College Park courthouse on September 11 and 23. What is unusual about this case, is that she is being represented by legal counsel. Usually, Linda doesn’t say anything, refusing to defend herself, in solidarity with the unborn. But this time, she took a lawyer and his assistant, who argued that she was not charged correctly.

For years, police have charged pro-life witnesses with obstructing a Peace Officer when they are alleged to have violated the ‘temporary’ 1994 court injunction setting a 40-meter bubble zone that prohibits pro-life speech and expression around abortuaries; the correct charge would be violating the injunction. This practice of police and the Crown attorneys is a political tactic aimed at preventing a constitutional challenge to the ‘temporary’ injunction.

It is an abuse of their power. But Linda does not obstruct the work of the officer and during her past two arrests did not even fall limp (again in solidarity with the unborn), instead she co-operated with the police as they escorted her to their cruiser.

Lawyer Daniel Santoro noted inconsistencies between the officers’ testimony and their arrest notes, attempted to have the case thrown out because there was no proof the abortuary was open (as the injunction requires), and Linda’s activities were not a hindrance to the Peace Officers, which is the technical requirement for an obstruction charge. He also argued that the Crown’s erroneous charge is an abuse of process and Santoro made a motion to stay the proceedings. A decision was scheduled for September 30, after the CLC National News goes to press.

Over the Summer, Campaign Life Coalition contacted all the MPs and asked whether or not they supported the awarding of the Order of Canada to abortionist Henry Morgentaler. Based on their responses and public statements from many elected representatives, a total of 109 MPs were against the Morgentaler OC while just 35 would publicly support it.

Not everyone who opposed the award is pro-life, speaking to the divisiveness of this particular Order of Canada recipient. We placed ads with the complete list of those opposed, as well as our call for the Prime Minister to appoint a special committee to examine how the OC will be awarded in the future, in the Hill Times (a weekly paper that covers Parliament) and numerous religious newspapers across the country.

On September 11, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, Archbishop of Montreal, announced that he would return his Order of Canada medal. He explained that he waited two months to protest against the July 1 awarding of Canada’s highest civilian honour to Morgentaler because he thought the controversy generated by the announcement and resulting activism would lead to a reconsideration by the Governor General.

When the Consultative Council for the Order of Canada had not reconsidered by Summer’s end, Cardinal Turcotte said he did not want his silence to be ‘misinterpreted’. He said: “I feel obliged in conscience to reaffirm my convictions regarding the respect for human life … As a result, I wish to declare that I am renouncing the title of Officer of the Order of Canada … and that I am returning the insignia that was given to me.” Still, in an interview with La Presse Cardinal Turcotte said he doesn’t consider himself ‘pro-life’ although he did not bother to offer an explanation.

Action Item: Please consider a special donation to offset the costs of our continuing activism on the Morgentaler Order of Canada, including the commission of a massive poll, advertising the list of MPs opposed to his OC, and other strategies to help keep this issue alive. There has been a renewal of pro-life activism among the grassroots, including the creation of new activists, following the Governor General’s outrageous appointment of an abortionist to the Order of Canada.

The Republican Vice Presidential candidate is Sarah Palin, the pro-life Governor of Alaska who famously gave birth this past Spring to her fifth child, Trig, who was diagnosed, in utero, with Down’s Syndrome. This is actually newsworthy because more than 80% of such babies are killed by abortion when their mothers find out about the genetic anomaly.

Sadly, the Culture of Death has darkened North American society to the point that some people are outraged at Governor Palin for choosing life. (This shows the lie behind their battle cry of ‘choice’.) But this nonsense hit a new low when Dr. Andre Lalonde, executive vice president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada told the Globe and Mail that he was worried that her example may lead to mothers shunning abortion after diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome. He said that he was concerned that families who do not have the financial resources or emotional support that the Palins enjoy would keep a special needs child for which they are ill-prepared. “The worry is that this will have an implication for abortion issues in Canada,” he said.

In other words: choice is fine as long as the choice is abortion. He says that doctors in Canada are not biased, but one would seriously doubt that when a high-profile Canadian doctor like Lalonde regrets the decision of a prominent American politician to choose life. This is sick and it highlights the moral decadence of our culture and the ethical bankruptcy which infests too many within the medical community.

“This kind can only be cast out in no way except by prayer and fasting.” These words of Jesus from the gospel of St. Mark (9:28) serve as the basis for the 40 Days for Life campaign to end the abuse and hopelessness of abortion. On the evening of September 23rd in Ottawa 500 people gathered on Parliament Hill for the Kick Off Rally to start the 40 days of prayer and fasting in Ottawa. Campaign Life Coalition Organizer Nicole Campbell commented that she was impressed by the serenity and support of all those who came and has great hopes of that together with everyone’s prayer and fasting this is the beginning of the end of abortion in Ottawa.

Participants were treated to Christian music by Joe Zambon and heard presentations by web page registrations co-ordinator John Pacheco, Angelina Steenstra from Silent No More and Faytene Krysko from 4 My Canada. After the gathering on Parliament Hill, a candle light procession went to Bank Street in Ottawa in front of the Morgentaler abortuary. The procession was led by an empty baby rocker which drove home the fact that by abortion we are creating a society with an empty future.

It is hoped that the 40 Days for Life effort will also inspire people to renew their enthusiasm to stand up for life at next year’s March for Life on May 14, 2009 in Ottawa. The theme for that March is Exodus 2009 and marks the 40th year since the law was changed in Canada to permit abortion. Exodus will include a pilgrimage to Ottawa leading up to the March for Life as well and prominent guests to encourage everyone to recognize the significance of the 40 years of abortion in Canada.

To check up on when and where prayer partners are needed please check the web-site at:
www.40daysforlife.com/Ottawa.

One of the best means of spreading the pro-life message and keeping people informed about life and family issues is through the pages of The Interim, your pro-life newspaper that has been publishing monthly for 25 years. If you do not have a paid subscription, order one today. It is one of the best things you can do to promote pro-life news and views. A regular paid subscription is $40 per year, but a special rate is offered to CLC supporters, only $25 for a one year subscription. E-mail dirocco@lifesite.net or phone 416-204-1687.

Occasionally, it is necessary to activate pro-lifers for immediate action. For those of you with access to the internet, please forward your email address to clc@lifesite.net. This will enable us to enhance our communications with supporters for specific action items.

Yours for life and family
Jim Hughes
CLC National President