Interim staff Canada’s Catholic bishops have seized on the Brenda Drummond case to make the rights of the unborn a prominent issue in the upcoming federal election. In a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, the Catholic Organization for Life and Family said the results of the Drummond case – which found that the unborn are not entitled to legal protection in [...]
Third of a series The abortion debate touches on theological, ethical, medical, legal, social and personal issues. At one point in time, abortion was considered an offence under the Criminal Code. The Law Reform Commission once referred to that code as our “moral code.” However, in January 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada threw out the relevant section with the Morgentaler decision. [...]
Interim Staff Pro-life supporters in the United Kingdom are dismayed by reports that the British Medical Association has revised the ancient Hippocratic oath to justify abortion. According to a report in the Times of London, the British medical group updated the oath at the request of the World Medical Association, for consideration by doctors worldwide. The original Hippocratic oath, which has guided [...]
A conservative Catholic journalist has expressed reservations about the image of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago as a champion of unborn children. In an essay in the Catholic World Report magazine (February, 1997), James Hitchcock reflected on the cardinal’s popularity with liberal elements, and on his ability to mask his support for dissenting voices within the church. While praising the [...]
Since President Bill Clinton’s veto last year, of the partial-birth abortion ban there have been many interesting statements with reference to it. One of the most recent is by Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers. “One of the facts about abortion is that women enter clinics to kill their unborn child. It is a form of killing.” [...]
(Ed. Note: the following incident was reported by a participant at the recent Ontario Student’s for Life Skate for Life in Ottawa). During the walk, an event that boosted our morale considerablely took place. A young man named Joey boarded a bus for part of the trip. One commuter, upon seeing his banner, began to curse at him. She became extremely abusive [...]
Roman Catholic leaders in the U.S., including Cardinal John O’Connor of New York have urged President Bill Clinton to change his position on late-term abortions. In a letter to the president, Cardinal O’Connor and other U.S. cardinals said Clinton and the public were deceived by a leading abortion supporter last year who said the partial-birth abortion technique was rare and was used [...]
WASHINGTON – Douglas R. Scott, president of Life Decisions International (LDI), called on Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada (PPFC) to end its unethical fund-raising practices. “The PPFC needs to tell people the truth that it has been lying in its fundraising letters.” Background: in March 1993, Douglas R. Scott sent a letter to corporate supporters of Planned Parenthood stating that they would [...]
OTTAWA – REAL Women of Canada, in a recent letter to Justice Minister Allan Rock, has urged that the age of consent for sexual activity by young persons with adults be raised from 14 years to 18 years of age. The concerns over this age of consent have been exacerbated in recent weeks by the revelations of repeated acts of sexual misconduct [...]
LOS ANGELES – Authorities near Los Angeles have asked for the public help in determining how five cardboard boxes containing aborted unborn children wound up in a dirt lot near two freeways. Investigators said it was possible the aborted children were being transported by a local abortion clinic and that the boxes “accidentally” landed in the vacant lot. Two boys playing in [...]
The mid-winter weeks proved especially trying for John and Ginny W. (pseudonyms). Since their wedding in September, 1990, the young Manitoba couple has dreamed of becoming parents. But the intervening six years became the proverbial roller coaster of emotions – rising expectation and disappointment, frustration, and finally the realization of a dream. Steeped in the ways of large families, the couple looked [...]
Planned Parenthood often bills itself as the largest volunteer organization in the world. Indeed, pro-life/pro-family advocates know it to be a huge monolith – no matter what country they set their eyes to prey upon. And they’re getting bigger. A $200,000 grant to Planed Parenthood USA will enable this huge conglomerate to continue and expand its presence on a new culture – [...]
The end of April will put the coda to nearly three decades of frontline pro-life work for Alliance for Life’s Anna Desilets. Anna steps down April 30 after a 26-year association – the last 14 as executive director – with the Winnipeg-based educational and research organization. “It’s time for some new talent and fresh ideas,” Desilets told The Interim. “We’re hoping there [...]
WASHINGTON – Disabled people asked for help March 7 in protecting what one called their “imperfect lives” from assisted suicide. They addressed a session of a two-day international conference on assisted suicide, jointly sponsored by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law, and the Center for Jewish and Christian Values. “The message of the current pro-assisted suicide [...]
The latest breakthrough in genetic engineering, the successful cloning of an adult mammal, carries with it the disturbing possibility that the same, or similar, techniques could be used to clone human beings. Even the secular press, e.g., The Globe and Mail, recognizes that this possibility has raised “the thorniest of ethical and philosophical questions.” These “Thorny questions,” however, along with the frightening [...]