Doreen Beagan
Atlantic Canada Correspondent

The National Pro Life Conference, to be held Oct. 25-27, in Moncton, N.B., is the first in the Maritimes  since one in Charlottetown in 1988.

This year’s theme, “From Coast to Coast – for Life!” is a variation on Canada’s national motto, “A mari usque ad mare,” proposed by New Brunswick-born Father of Confederation, Sir Leonard Tilley, who took it from Psalm 72:8. Drawing on the message of the same psalm, N.B. Right to Life executive director Peter Ryan says, “We pray that this conference is a vehicle through which God will act to redeem his littlest ones in our great country so steeped in bloodshed.”

New Brunswick is a “hot spot,” a key battleground in the struggle between the cultures of life and death. Since the two main hospitals stopped committing abortions, the “other side” has been particularly aggressive, now with international backing and guidance. In an ongoing campaign, the Morgentaler site in Fredericton is suing to try to force public funding of abortion on demand at private abortuaries. The implications are national and the stakes are very high.

But Ryan is optimistic. Quoting the province’s motto, Spem reduxit (Hope Restored), he says, “We pray that the conference will galvanize a Canada-wide effort to build a culture of life from sea to sea and give us restored hope for our country.”

The star-studded cast of conference presenters includes the deputy supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, Dennis Savoie; award-winning Christian recording artist Lorraine Hartsook; Baptist minister John Ensor of Heartbeat International; microbiologist Dr. Clem Persaud; Denise Mountenay of Canada Silent No More; Life Canada’s Joanne Byfield; and Campaign Life Coalition national president Jim Hughes.

There is also a slate of highly experienced young pro-life adult speakers, includes John-Henry Westen of LifeSiteNews, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition executive director Alex Schadenberg, C-Fam’s Samantha Singson and Stephanie Gray of the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform.

Keynote speaker Mary Ann Kuharski has written Outnumbered: Raising 13 Kids With Humor & Prayer. The dynamic Minneapolis wife, mother of 13 and grandmother, is a prolific writer, while founding  “The Billboard People” and serving on the National Council for Adoption and the Governor’s Task Force for children with special needs. “You will find the conference strengthening, intensely educational, deeply fulfilling and an opportunity to network with other leaders across the continent,” says Ryan. “Our local pro-lifers will find your presence a gracious act of solidarity.” He says such national gatherings can be a life-altering experience.

The conference is organized and hosted by N.B. Right to Life/Droit à la Vie, with Campaign Life Coalition and LifeCanada. The annual general meetings for both LifeCanada and CLC will take place during the conference and are open to all registrants. Note the reduced rates for early conference registration (until Sept 25.) For more, check the website: www.nbrighttolife.ca