While researching the euthanasia issue recently, I came across an article, now forty years old, that deserves widespread consideration even today. Called “Medical Science under Dictatorship,” it was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in July 1949. Written by psychiatrist Leo Alexander, the article discussed the atrocities committed in Germany during World War II and how Nazi propagandists manipulated public [...]
Scarborough, Ontario – The General Hospital in Scarborough, Ontario, a Toronto suburb, may be committing abortions soon. At one time the hospital was administered by the Sisters of Misericordia who saw to it that the killing of pre-born babies was not a part of “medical treatment.” When the Sisters left, the hospital continued the policy as before. Recently, however, a Dr. R.N. [...]
I am a single male, aged 29. This statement may be irrelevant on its own and may not even relate to the issue of abortion at all. However, one must consider that as a single male (or as a male at all), I am one part of the equation which states: one male plus one female plus one intimate evening equals a [...]
It is impossible to open a newspaper any day without being disturbed by the “news.” It may be the report of an earthquake, a flood or some other disaster. Those which disturb us most are the tragedies caused by deliberate and hateful human action. The most recent, of course, is the air crash in Scotland. But the item of news which disturbed [...]
Another time when Catholic leaders ignored a public figure’s support of the abortion and anti-family mentality occurred at the funeral of former Quebec Premier René Levesque, in November 1987. Once more, caution is in order because this incident again involves church-state relations. As explained earlier, even in the best of times different people can view such matters from different perspectives. Still, I [...]
New York – Auxiliary Bishop Austin Vaughan of New York, perhaps the first U.S. bishop to serve a jail sentence, said that his night in jail in Chester Country, Pa., on November 18, gave him no sense of guilt – and that he slept well. “I had even more than a clear conscience,” he said. “I had a sense of purpose.” Along [...]
Sabina McLuhan deserves a symbolic Valentine from The Interim staff and its readers. She is leaving her position of the last four years as editor of the newspaper. She will remain a contributing editor, however, writing her monthly column and other articles from home. Sabina’s first calling as a mother summons her. She is leaving her demanding and time-consuming post to spend [...]
The Not In My Backyard-NIMBY-syndrome is stopping the expansion of a United Church sponsored home for single mothers in Toronto. Victor Home has been located in a mostly residential section of Metro Toronto since 1948. It now houses 18 low-income women and four children. Proposed expansion plans called for building townhouses which would house up to 66 mothers and children. East York [...]
If a pregnant and frantic teenager threatens to commit suicide unless she gets an abortion, wouldn’t an abortion be the lesser evil? A short answer is that records show that the girl would be much more likely to commit suicide if she had an abortion, rather than if she were refused one. A study published in 1971, showed that 13,500 women were [...]
Despite very strong opposition among rank and file members, the United Church reiterated its acceptance of active homosexuals as ministers in November 1988. Last August the General Council of the Church formally approved ordaining practicing homosexuals as ministers, a policy which earlier appears to have been permitted on an occasional basis in some places. Organizations such as the United Church Renewal Fellowship [...]
The media’s campaign against B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zalm continues unabated. For two years now reporters and columnists have been predicting his downfall, always hoping that their columns might help bring it about. At first amused, then annoyed at a politician who actually believes that his Christian faith ought to inspire his public actions, the Toronto media people became alarmed and even [...]
Among the many insults hurled during Operation Rescue, a constant refrain was that pro-lifers do not care about the women who go to have abortions. One chant, “Campaign Life, your name’s a lie, and you don’t care if women die.” The complete falsity of such an accusation was demonstrated horribly and graphically throughout the three days, and particularly, at the Scott abortuary [...]
An abortion pill called a contra gestation pill may be marketed in Canada if abortion is not considered a criminal act in the future, a large Montreal-based pharmaceutical firm hinted recently Roussel Canada Inc., is considering asking the Health Protection Branch of the federal government for permission to market the drug RU-486 under the name Mifespristine, in Canada. The drug causes an [...]
Washington – U.S. President George Bush declared legalized abortion “a great American tragedy” on January 23, his first working day as President. He urged the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 decision which opened the gates to a flood of abortions. He told 45,000 cheering pro-life demonstrators at the White House on the anniversary of the decision: “I think the Supreme Court [...]
Halifax – Nova Scotia’s Medical Board granted Henry Morgentaler a general practitioner’s license on December 19, 1988. “He is fully licensed to practice medicine in Nova Scotia,” declared the Board’s Registrar Dr. Bernard Steele on January 17, 1989, when the story became public. Like medical boards elsewhere, the Board in Nova Scotia sees no contradiction between medicine and the extinguishing of unborn [...]