The leading British medical journal The Lancet reported last month that the use of oral contraceptives can more than double a woman's risk of developing cervical cancer. British and French researchers with Cancer Research U.K. found that being on the pill for less than five years was associated with an increased risk of 10 per cent, while subjects who took the drug [...]
Like 22.3 million other Canadians, I recently completed my taxes. It is always a painful experience, less fun than the dental work I had done earlier in the month and actually more expensive. But for social conservatives and other people of common sense, forking over hard-earned dough to the government is made even more pernicious when one considers where the money goes. [...]
Every week, I am made more nervous by bioethicists. Every day, some new set of biotech horrors slithers across my desktop, tempting me to despair, go home to Nova Scotia, adopt an alias, live in the woods and pretend I don't speak English. In the last year, a group of suspiciously similar bills have been proposed in legislatures all over the U.S. [...]
Murder of pregnant mom thrusts life issue into spotlight The California deaths of Laci Peterson and her unborn son are sending shockwaves across America, as the issue of when human life begins has been reignited. Laci's husband Scott was arrested in April following the discovery of what prosecutors say is Laci's body and that of their "biological child." Scott Peterson, who was [...]
Canada's pro-life community remains unimpressed by news that the overall abortion rate dropped slightly between 1999 and 2000. A March 28, 2003 report from Statistics Canada indicated that Canadian women obtained 105,427 abortions in the year 2000, down some 0.2 per cent from the previous year. The number of abortions committed in 1999 was 105,666, while the 1998 figure stood at 110,331. [...]
Two well-known sayings suggest that "justice is blind" and "the law is an ass." After a recent court case in Toronto, pro-lifers might tend to agree on both counts. A woman who pepper sprayed a crisis pregnancy counsellor as he was assisting a pregnant client at a St. Michael's Hospital clinic last summer was convicted of assault March 24, but was then [...]
The administration at a Sarnia college forced the cancellation of a speaking engagement by noted pro-life speaker Rebecca Kiessling, a move strongly criticized by some staff and faculty. Organizers of the Kiessling talk told The Interim they were dismayed by Lambton College administration's actions. Kiessling, an American lawyer and mother, was scheduled to provide a testimony about her personal experience - her [...]
The struggle between the pro-life and the pro-abortion sides in the battle over Bill C-13 has come to resemble a fencing match between two desperate opponents. Each side scrutinizes the moves and countermoves of the other, and each side tries to give away as little ground as possible. The bill is supposed to be about regulating assisted human reproduction. It seems ironic [...]
One of the more gratifying aspects of social action by people of conscience is to see the many success stories that result from such efforts. In this installment of The Interim's occasional corporate watch feature, we'll take a look at some of these positive accounts, as well as continuing areas of concern. Credit card company VISA drew kudos recently after it took steps [...]
Rose: Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian minister and reluctant television icon of The Mister Roger's Neighbourhood who provided wholesome programming for children for 32 years. Mr. Rogers died March 2 at the age of 74 Rose: The current and former baseball players, managers and executives, for lending their support to the American Life League's efforts to build a pro-life campus. (See story, [...]
It is not often that a lowly Interim columnist gets invited to the swearing-in of a new Canadian Supreme Court Justice at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. Prime Minister Jean Crouton and Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson were there, along with a large number of tuxedo-clad middle aged men. I was ill-prepared for the arrival of the new Supreme Court appointee, Madam Lucille Edwards. She [...]
I am writing this column on the day before Ash Wednesday - a little late I'm afraid. But I would like to remind myself and others of the importance of this very special time in the Church Year. The word "Lent" comes, I believe, from an old English word, "Lengehtning" which refers to the lengthening of the day-light hours of Spring-time in [...]
Mr. & Mrs. R.M. Abernethy Mary Acommando Denis Adams Evangeline Adams Evelyn Aitchison Helen Albertson Fr. Carl T. Albury Mrs. Isobel A. Allen Gordon Anderson Sister Mary Andre Marguerite Anglin Frank & Mary Arrigo Dialina São Jose Furtado Arruda Herni Arsenault Mary & Alfred Ashfield Raymond Atance Josephine Attard André Audette Carmelo Azzopardi Evelyn Azzopardi Adrienne Bachand Henri Bachand Antoinette & Gus [...]
Kopp guilty of murder Pro-life honoured for UN work Philipines proposes IUD ban Pro-life 'disturbance' gets hearing Kopp guilty of murder Buffalo, NY - James Kopp was found guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of abortionist Barnett Slepian. Kopp, who is a suspect in several non-fatal shootings of abortionists in Canada, said through his lawyer that he intended only to [...]
A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America by Ian Dowbiggin (Oxford University Press, 272 Pages) In A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in America, Dowbiggin examines the Euthanasia movement by gaining access to the files of the Euthanasia Society of America, the first Euthanasia group in the U.S. By examining the files, the meeting minutes, and the records of the [...]