Last year, the eleventh anniversary of the first National March for Life had more than 8,000 participants in Ottawa from across the country. It was the largest ever. Another estimated 2,000 people took part in various Provincial Marches for Life. This is a huge increase from the few hundred who took part in the 1998 National March for Life when some questioned whether Canadians would ever rise up to protest the injustice of abortion and speak up for the unborn, demanding legal protection for all human life from conception (fertilization) to natural death.

This year’s march promises to be even bigger. Since last June, we have been planning for the May 14th National March for Life that will commemorate 40 years since the 1969 Omnibus Bill effectively liberalized abortion in Canada. Four decades ago, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal Government amended the Criminal Code, technically keeping abortion illegal but creating a huge loophole: abortion was permitted when approved by a Therapeutic Abortion Committee at a hospital.

Within a few years, tens of thousands of abortions were committed annually and by the 1990s, more than 100,000 unborn children died at the hands of abortionists across the country each and every year. According to Statistics Canada, about 3.4 million babies have been killed by abortion since 1969. The scale of the killing is almost unfathomable: abortion is the number one cause of death in the country every year and in Canadian history it has claimed more lives than wars. Four decades after liberalizing abortion, Parliament is on the cusp of debating assisted suicide and euthanasia.

The theme of this year’s National March for Life is Exodus 2009 - A Future Without Abortion. Exodus draws upon the story of the Israelites lost in the desert for 40 years - much as Canada has been lost in a moral desert for the past four decades. We are challenging Canadians to consider a Canada without abortion. What kind of country could we be if we embraced every child who was conceived rather than one which ignored desperate women to dispose of inconvenient life? A much better country, for sure. Our politicians have been silent on the issue of abortion for so long - too long. We must speak for the unborn and demand justice on their behalf.

Exodus 2009 - A Future without Abortion begins on Wednesday, May 13th with Mass at St. Theresa Parish at 7:30 p.m., followed by a Candlelight Vigil at the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights Monument at dusk in the Nation’s Capital. On May 14th there are a number of ways in which Christians can spiritually prepare for the day’s events. At 10 a.m. there is a Mass at both Notre Dame Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Basilica, a Prayer Service at St. George Anglican Church, and a worship and meditation service hosted by the Canadian Reformed Church at the Merivale United Church. We know that the battle to protect the unborn is not our battle but God’s, and we encourage those who are in town on Thursday morning to take the time to pray for the success of the March and for an end to abortion.

At noon, introduction of dignitaries and select speeches will be made on Parliament Hill and the March will begin at 1:30 p.m. and it usually lasts about an hour. When people return to the Hill, the Silent No More Awareness Campaign will make a presentation at 2:45 p.m. The events on the Hill close at 4 pm with Prayer Service led by the Eastern Catholic Chaplaincy of Ottawa.

In the evening there is the Rose Dinner which begins with cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. This event is held at the Hampton Inn (200 Coventry Road) and tickets must be ordered in advance. They are just $75 and every year, the dinner is sold out in advance. Former MP Tom Wappel and Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson will both be speakers. Call (613) 729-0379 or 1-800-730-5358 to order or for more information. At the last count, over 900 tickets for the Rose Dinner had been sold.

On May 15th, there is a Youth Conference from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hampton Inn, geared mostly toward high school students but also useful for many university students. Call Yoli at 1-800-730-5359 for more information.

Confirmed speakers include MPs Rod Bruinooge and Paul Szabo, Alex Schadenberg among others as well as university campus activists from across the country.

There are also Provincial Marches for Life in all Provinces except Ontario and Quebec whose focus is on boosting attendance in Ottawa. We urge you to contact your local pro-life group for more information. We encourage people to participate in whatever March for Life they can - some people take part in both the National March for Life and the Provincial one.

If you cannot take part in the March, consider supporting those who are making the trip to a Provincial capital or to Ottawa, or donate to the National March for Life effort. Your generosity will either help increase the numbers of those attending the Marches or help with the costs in hosting those planning on attending. We also ask that all of you pray for the success of all these events.

On May 12th, voters in B.C. will go to the polls. In economic times like these, financial issues are sure to be at the top of many people’s minds but we urge supporters to ask candidates about their views on abortion and other life issues. Don’t swallow their argument that abortion is a criminal law issue and thus a Federal matter. There is plenty that Provinces can do to regulate and restrict abortion as a health matter, including women’s right to know legislation (informed consent), parental consent, conscience protection for health care workers, and funding. Voters are encouraged to check out www.bcelection.org for information about candidates.

The Voter’s Guide Project is organized by the Family Life Committee, an ad hoc committee with representatives from Campaign Life Coalition B.C. and REAL Women of British Columbia. This committee will survey all candidates on important life and family issues. If you are not on the web, ask a family member or friend to help you find the information or contact CLC BC for details at 604-534-4828.

We strongly encourage Ontario supporters inclined to favour the Provincial Progressive Conservative Party to get involved in the leadership campaign. Some of the declared candidates support pro-life measures that would limit abortion.

Past candidate questionnaires and track records on issues and petitions indicate that MPPs Frank Klees and Tim Hudak are supportable. Randy Hillier did not sign a questionnaire and has no pro-life track record but he is a social conservative who is in favour of conscience rights for marriage counsellors and is committed to replacing the Ontario Human Rights Commission and other quasi-tribunals with real judges in real courts.

As of yet, there is no information on Masood Khan and MPP Christine Elliott (although she is wife to Jim Flaherty, a pro-life Federal Cabinet Minister) is a Red Tory who indicates that she falls into the "fiscally conservative but socially progressive" mould. We are still collecting information, in part, through the use of a leadership questionnaire, so we can’t provide more information now, but it is clear that this leadership race will provide pro-lifers with a supportable candidate. While the leadership vote is June 27, the deadline for party registration is May 14.

Registration forms are available online at: https://secure.ontariopc.com/secureforms/pcsecurepay.aspx?type=membership or you can call Jeff Gunnarson at (416) 204-9749 or 1-800-730-5358 for assistance or more information.

The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) at the United Nations concluded on April 3rd and although there was a contentious debate over the language concerning"sexual and reproductive health and rights" (read: abortion), several States, supported by pro-life non-government organizations, worked diligently to remove abortion references from the document. Iran opposed the use of the term "sexual and reproductive health and rights" because that precise phrasing has never been included in a negotiated UN document. The delegate was adamant that the Commission revert back to previously agreed upon and carefully negotiated language from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Program of Action, which is understood not to create any right to abortion.

A short recess was called to work on a consensus (read: strong arm opponents of the radical language) but when the Chairwoman from Mexico resumed the proceedings, the phrase was removed from the text and the document was then adopted by consensus. More importantly, several delegations (Comoros, Peru, Poland, Ireland, Chile, the Holy See, Malta, and Saint Lucia) went further and made statements to explicitly define abortion out of the CPD document and to reiterate that the document created no new rights, noting that the remaining reproductive health-related terms (such as "reproductive rights," "reproductive health services" and "sexual and reproductive health") could not be construed to "support, endorse or promote" abortion.

The Maltese Ambassador condemned numerous UN efforts to expand "reproductive health" to include abortion and the Saint Lucia representative made an explicit objection to the term "safe abortion" because the term could "give the impression that abortion was a procedure completely free of medical and psychological risks." In the end, only Norway expressed regret that the pro-abortion language was not included.

Where was the Canadian delegation? Initially, it supported the pro-abortion language but after Campaign Life Coalition contacted officials in Ottawa to ask why Canada’s UN delegation was actively promoting abortion, delegates dropped their insistence on including the radical language. We hope that the Conservative Government, which has never seemed to care much about what happens at the United Nations except on a few select files, will begin to provide more oversight on the activities of the delegation. The next CPD meetings will be April 2010 when many of these same battles will resume.

We’ll be keeping an eye on the Canadian delegation.

In March, LifeSiteNews.com blew the lid off a story that has had legs for more than a month. LSN revealed that Development and Peace (D&P), the international aid arm of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, was funding five pro-abortion groups in Mexico. Since then, further investigation
has found that D&P is funding pro-abortion organizations throughout Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Nigeria, Benin, Guinea, Togo, Haiti and elsewhere).

Some LSN critics, including a few bishops and officials at D&P, accused the pro-life on-line news service of "yellow journalism", intent to maliciously target the aid group during its Lenten fundraising efforts through Share Life. LSN was following up an inquiry and after a little investigation that included cross-checking "partner" organizations D&P gave money to with the groups’ websites to see what kind of work they did, it was discovered that the Catholic charity was funding organizations that promoted abortion. The idea that because the money did not go to abortion promotion directly is irrelevant: the funding of other projects for the partner organizations freed up funds for their abortion advocacy.

Sadly, an interview with a senior representative of D&P, Gilio Brunelli, Director of International Programs, found that the Catholic Bishop’s international assistance organization had no official policy for or against abortion, which LSN noted was "an unacceptable situation that has led to the current scandal." Bishop Weisgerber of Winnipeg pleaded with Catholic donors not to withhold their support of ShareLife and D&P continued to attack LifeSiteNews and deny the undeniable facts of the accusations made against them.

While some of the partner groups also work towards other goals, pro-life advocates believe that there are other groups more worthy of Catholic aid in developing nations. Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins and Peterborough Bishop Nicolo De Angelis have both called for an investigation of where D&P money went and threatened to cut off funding if they found money going to pro-abortion groups. LifeSiteNews has been very clear: it has never alleged that D&P was funding groups that offered "abortion services," but rather that the groups were involved in "pro-abortion" advocacy. That is a subtle distinction and either way pro-life Christians should not be supporting such groups; but the distinction has allowed D&P to defend itself against charges that have never been levelled at it. (That’s called a straw man in logic class.)

Despite its denials, D&P has announced that it is temporarily suspending funding of the Mexican partners implicated in LSN’s reports and that it is sending "a delegation of senior staff to Mexico to meet with our partners for further consultation and dialogue." We hope that the investigation is an honest one. The Catholic Register, which initially joined in on the attacks on LifeSiteNews, has called into question D&P’s investigation of its own activities. We are sure that one way or another, the truth will be made clear. But until D&P changes its ways, admits its wrong-doing, and institutes a clear anti-abortion policy, the organization does not deserve the direct or indirect (through Share Life) support of pro-lifers.

Fr. Alphonse de Valk, in a lengthy analysis of Development and Peace for the May edition of Catholic Insight, has even gone so far as to state "Let D&P rest in peace for eternity". That is, since serious problems with the organization have continued to be reported since its founding, despite many complaints, it might be best, in his opinion, to finally shut it down.

The 40 Days for Life prayer and fasting vigil and, in communities that had variations of the full 24-hour vigil, concluded April 5th. A total of 135 cities in Canada (Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal and Winnipeg), the United States, Australia and Northern Ireland took part in the 40 Days for Life campaign and a number of Canadian communities such as North Bay and Saskatoon had shorter prayer vigils to help prepare for Exodus 2009, the National March for Life.

We are convinced that abortion is, first and foremost, a spiritual battle and that all our other efforts will be deficient if we neglect prayer. It is through us that God acts to reach out to women facing crisis pregnancies, to change the hearts and minds of an apathetic public and to restore legal protection for the unborn through legislation. But first we must empty ourselves of worldly distractions and spiritually prepare for the battle ahead.

There are incredible blessings that come out of 40 Days for Life. For 40 days pro-life Christians prayed and fasted for an end to abortion, provided constant vigil outside abortion centers, and reached out to the communities affected by abortion. From all 135 locations during this campaign, 40 Days for Life received reports of 389 saved babies. In the CLC Ottawa organized 40 Days, four babies were saved in the first two days; in Toronto, there are indications that two babies were saved by the CLC organized 40 Days campaign. Abortion facilities in two U.S. cities significantly cut back on their hours of operation - which undoubtedly saved lives. In many cities, the number of women entering the abortion facilities declined sharply. The campaign must have been working in Ottawa where the Morgentaler abortion mill had supporters urge the police to end the vigil; police showed up and bothered some pro-lifers who were praying alleging that they were harassing women seeking abortions but there were no formal charges. If the campaign was not making a dent in the facility’s business, why would they try to shut down 40 Days for Life?

Working with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, 40 Days for Life provided many men and women with abortion experiences the opportunity to come forward to pray at abortion centers and warn women about the physical, emotional and spiritual damage they risk by going through with an abortion. As a result, many post-abortive men and women found an outlet for healing and forgiveness. This campaign was the fourth co-ordinated and simultaneous 40 Days for Life in the past 20 months and the second in Canada in the past half year.

In all, more than 200,000 people have prayed and fasted, 1517 babies have been saved, 17 abortion workers have quit their jobs and three abortion facilities have been closed. And that is not all; it brings many new people to pro-life activism and other pro-life ministries report new successes. For example, Aid to Women, across town from the Toronto location for the 40 Days for Life, had 19 women come to them for help in March with nearly half of the women vowing to keep their baby. That is twice the number of most recent months. Also, many participants in 40 Days continue to return to the abortion facilities to pray and/or counsel after the formal campaign ended.

The next 40 Days for Life campaign is set for this fall from September 23rd - November 1st. Additional information will be provided when it becomes available. Meanwhile, other events will be organized to ensure that the level of commitment to do this essential work remains high.

Campaign Life Coalition is seriously concerned about the spectacle of press conferences and the morbid death watch surrounding the case of Baby Kaylee and Baby Lillian in Toronto. The parents of the former, who suffers from the usually non-lethal Joubert’s Syndrome, want to donate Baby Kaylee’s heart to Baby Lillian. Baby Kaylee did not die when she was removed from life support and is still doing relatively very well. Things did not go as expected for the organ harvesters. As Alex Schadenburg points out, Baby Kaylee’s condition is not necessarily a lethal one, contrary to what it appears her parents were told by "Sick Kids" doctors. But then again, it appeared that Kaylee’s parents were anxious to donate the heart of their seriously handicapped child. Considering all the factors in this strange case, we have to wonder what might have happened had the issue not been so much in the public eye.

Unfortunately, as we have documented repeatedly, heart transplants require the donor to still be living when the heart is removed - the act of which kills the donor patient - because if the heart stops beating, it may be damaged and become less desirable as an object of donation. Too often, doctors provide a bogus definition to assuage the consciences of those seeking to harvest organs - whether within the medical community or family members asked to co-operate with the donation process.

Some journalists, including Toronto Star’s featured columnist Rosie DiManno, have muddied the water by combining cardiac death, where doctors wait for a short time after the cessation of the heart beat, sometimes as briefly as five minutes, and then declare death while other body systems are still functioning.

There are, however, numerous cases where patients have been known to revive long after the five minute cut-off. Even so, doctors who are under pressure to procure organs, are shortening even the five minute wait period to maximize the quality of the organs. We are very concerned about any plan that promotes organ transplants without providing safeguards which will prevent vulnerable patients from being killed prematurely. In the second situation the person has been declared "brain dead" by doctors and organs are retrieved when the heart is still beating. Brain death is not true death but a method devised to end a life to retrieve organs from the patient.

Dr. John Shea, Campaign Life Coalition’s medical consultant answers the question on brain death in this way: ‘Brain Death’, is the most common determination of death prior to organ harvesting and involves the cessation of brain activity.

There is no general agreement that ‘brain death’ is, in fact, death. The criteria for establishing ‘brain death’ varies from the US to England and through the other countries of Europe. The fundamental question is - ‘is the person dead?’ It is not ethical to harvest organs from living persons if it will result in their deaths. That is true even if we don’t know for sure that the person is living or dead, as in the case of some people in a coma and on life support. Thus the answer to the question - is the person dead - is resoundingly that we don’t know in the case of ‘brain death’.

We would like to see the medical establishment and Provincial laws give the benefit of the doubt to life, to err on the side of caution, and protect vulnerable patients from misleading diagnoses that could prematurely result in their death. Campaign Life Coalition urges all Provincial governments to exercise extreme prudence when developing legislation on organ donation. A few weeks ago, CLC made a visit to Queen’s Park and delivered an information package to each Ontario MPP clearly outlining the common misconceptions and unethical practices that surround the issue of organ donation. This campaign is a work in progress so keep your ear to the ground for more developments as the lobby efforts continue.

CLC sponsored a T-shirt design contest for elementary and high school students (separate
competitions) for the National March for Life to focus on this year’s theme: Exodus 2009 - A Future Without Abortion. We received more than 60 entries; some of the designs were excellent and the committee judging them had a difficult time picking a winner. The winners are Brenden Smith who is a grade seven student at St. Teresa of Avila School in Mississauga and Lucyed Hernadez, a grade 12 student at St. Thomas More High school in Hamilton. T-shirts featuring the winning designs will be available at the National March for Life.

For the past eight years, The Interim has run the Fr. Ted Colleton Essay Contest for senior high school students. This year’s essay theme was the application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the issue of abortion. It is incredible how clearly many young people see abortion as a violation of the most important human right, the right to life. Adam Giancola and Suzanna Kurzawa of St. Theresa of Lisieux School in Richmond Hill, and Edward Woolley of St. Thomas More in Hamilton, Ontario are the three winners.

We congratulate these students wholeheartedly and we encourage you to read their winning essays in the May and June issue of The Interim. If you are not an Interim subscriber, please contact circulation manager Dan Di Rocco at (416) 204-1687 or 1-800-730-5358 or email him at dirocco@lifesite.net. It is just $40 a year to receive life-affirming news and commentary to your door each and every month.

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,

Jim Hughes
CLC National President