UNITED STATES Unborn stay of execution WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a new bill July 25 that would prohibit the state from imposing the death penalty on pregnant women convicted of capital offenses. The bill prevents the executing of a woman "who carries a child in utero." Presumably, the bill allows the death penalty to be imposed once the [...]
IN BRIEF CANADA Day would overrule court TORONTO - In a recent interview with a homosexual magazine, Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day said he would invoke the constitution's "notwithstanding clause" to block any court rulings that would sanction gay marriage. In an interview in Toronto's fab magazine, Day said he would use the notwithstanding clause after wide debate and a free vote [...]
Alone: A Grandmother's Struggle for Life, by Gord Truscott, with foreword by Fr. Ted Colleton. Softcover, 109 pages, $10. Available from Campaign Life Coalition Canada 104 Bond St. Toronto ON M5B 1X9 tel. (416) 204-9749 fax (416) 204-1027. Review by Cathrina Keet The Interim My dream in life is to make a difference. With love, strength and determination, Linda Gibbons has made [...]
Espousing radically conservative views on abortion, capital punishment and same-sex unions in a largely liberal country is not the route to 24 Sussex Drive," wrote Robert Lewis, editor of Maclean's magazine recently. Mr. Lewis was responding to protests that the magazine's July 10 cover headline "How scary?" beside a photo of newly-elected Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day, was a bit over the top. [...]
By Mike Mastromatteo The Interim Readers of The Interim have donated more than $900 to a Toronto woman who recently gave birth to a baby girl, after resisting pressure from her former boyfriend to abort the child. Maria (not her real name), whose story was featured in the April, 2000 edition of The Interim, gave birth to six-pound, 10-ounce baby daughter, Jenna Maria, June [...]
By Linda Wegner The Interim Lance Campbell was forty-seven when his body began to fail. "I couldn't run," said the resident of Prince Albert, Sask., "and when I fell, I was unable to balance my fall - I just flopped." Today, Lance is confined to a wheelchair with Lou Gerhrig's disease. Three months ago that same disease claimed his wife of less [...]
Will anti-Catholic group finally die after humiliating defeat in Congress? By Donald DeMarco The Interim It is a monumental challenge to put the right spin on losing by a score of 416-1 to create the impression that your opponent's victory was something less than deserving or decisive. Undaunted by monumental challenges, a group that calls itself Catholics for a Free Choice reacted [...]
By Paul Tuns The Interim The United States House of Representatives is considering a law that would protect newly born infants, including those who survive abortions. The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act would guarantee that babies who survived abortion attempts have the same legal rights as other newborns and that they could not be killed with impunity. According to the Act, a child [...]
But judge tells Parliament to clarify limits By Paul Tuns The Interim The Ontario Superior Court upheld section 43 of the Criminal Code July 5, which allows a parent, schoolteacher or a guardian to spank a child for the purpose of discipline. But while finding section 43 to be no violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Justice David McCombs nonetheless [...]
By Linda Wegner The Interim In June, pharmacists from across Canada gathered in Saskatoon for their annual convention. Maria Bezecki and Mike Izzoti, both pharmacists active in the pro-life movement, travelled to the event with serious concerns about the erosion of their professional right to refuse to dispense drugs based on their freedom of conscience and religion. Nothing happened to alleviate those [...]
By Mike Mastromatteo The Interim Pro-lifers are undecided as to the impact of a Manitoba court decision that allows an elderly man to escape punishment in the assisted suicide of his terminally ill wife. Bert Doerksen, 81, of Winnipeg, admitted to killing his 78-year-old wife Susan in November, 1997, by placing her in the family car and leaving the engine running as [...]
By Mike Mastromatteo The Interim Pro-life students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) believe that the university has suspended three members of the Alma Mater Society (AMS) for their role in destroying a pro-life display on campus last November. According to information obtained by members of the UBC's Lifeline group, AMS members Erin Kaiser, Jon Chandler and Lesley Washington could be [...]
By Susan Schadenberg The Interim Editor's note: As The Interim went to print, the Catholic Women's League of Canada was about to begin its annual conference, held this year in Charlottetown beginning August 13. It is expected that the CWL national executive's endorsement of the pro-abortion World March of Women 2000 will be the subject of heated debate. A full report will [...]
The cases of three pro-life freelance journalists - Interim contributor Sue Careless, LifeSite managing director Steve Jalsevac, and Linda Gibbons biographer Gord Truscott - arrested last October for covering a pro-life demonstration, appear not to be unique. Recent events indicate that freedom of the press is in peril in this country. At least 10 journalists and photographers have been arrested in Canada since [...]
Interim board member endured nine month ordeal just for doing her job By Mike Mastromatteo The Interim Toronto journalist Sue Careless has finally found relief after a nine-month ordeal at the hands of police and Crown prosecutors. Careless, who was arrested October 15, 1999 for covering a pro-life demonstration by long-time activist Linda Gibbons, learned July 28 that charges of obstructing a [...]