Candidate questionnaires help identify social conservatives and pro-lifers in new legislature On March 12, Premier Ralph Klein's Tories streamrolled the NDP and Liberal opposition taking 74 of 83 seats in the Alberta provincial election. While social issues were not a factor in the election pro-life and social conservative groups were involved in the campaign, and active informing voters about the candidates. Campaign [...]
NDP and Liberals compete for pro-abortion vote With media reports of an imminent provincial election in British Columbia - the government must call one by June - the NDP and Liberals are fighting over the pro-abortion vote, a tactic that has limited the options for the province's pro-life voters. The NDP is staking out ground as arguably the most pro-abortion government in [...]
Prominent Montreal bioethicist opposes cloning, but aims for elusive balance on abortion The Ethical Canary: Science, Society and the Human Spirit by Margaret Somerville (Toronto: Viking, 2000). 344 pages, $33.99 CAD. Margaret Somerville, founding director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill University, says in The Ethical Canary: Science, Society and the Human Spirit that it is time for the [...]
American Life League uneasy about how Tommy Thompson will handle fetal experimentation Media reports in the first weeks of the new Bush administration suggest that President Bush is committed to a limited pro-life agenda. This is getting a mixed reaction from American pro-life groups. Bush signed an executive order re-instating the so-called Mexico City Policy, suggested Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy [...]
Canada's Catholic bishops have taken a stand against the expansion of abortion through Ottawa's coercion of provinces to fund private abortuaries. The January 19 Ottawa Citizen reported that Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais said Health Minister Allan Rock's promotion of abortion funding made his "blood boil" and rebuked Catholics Rock and Prime Minister Jean Chretien for their government's support of abortion. "The fact that [...]
Pro-lifers and disability activists applauded the January 18 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that said Robert Latimer had to serve at least 10 years in prison for the 1993 murder of his daughter, Tracy, but some concede the fight is far from over. The unanimous 7-0 decision dismissed Latimer's request for leniency in sentencing as well as his appeal for [...]
Three of five candidates pro-abortion, while Clement and Flaherty send mixed signals It did not take long for abortion to become an issue in the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leadership campaign - just long enough, in fact, for the media to ask the first announced candidate about his views on the issue during his kick-off press conference. Unfortunately, it was became an [...]
First Things, a "Survey of Religion and Public Life" edited by Father Richard John Neuhaus, caused a stir in the academic and journalistic communities when it posed the question, "The End of Democracy?" in its November 1996 issue. Going beyond the debate over judicial activism in the United States, the symposium questioned whether or not "conscientious citizens can [any] longer give moral [...]
Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially by Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher (Doubleday, $37.95, 260 pages). While Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher's The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially may seem a tad shallow in pointing to why marriage is a good thing, it is a wonderful tonic to the cultural [...]
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25 Year Landmark Study by Judith Wallerstein Julia M. Lewis and Sandra Blakeslee (Hyperion, $35.95, 347 pages). The conventional wisdom about divorce and children - that family breakups are, at worst, a temporary difficulty for kids - is so wrong that new research about the long-term negative effects on children of divorce must force a re-thinking [...]
As the worldwide push for the "morning-after pill" and RU-486 increases, pro-lifers wonder about its effect on the abortion debate and on the pharmacy profession In the past few years chemical abortion has become more prevalent as country after country approved the morning-after pill (MAP) and the abortion pill RU-486. The most infamous of these was the September 28, 2000 United States [...]
Some leaders adopting a wait-and-see approach as cabinet nominees face confirmation After a long campaign and close election, Republican George W. Bush was announced the winner of the U.S. presidential race. While Bush was preferable in comparison to Democrat Al Gore, the reaction of pro-lifers to Bush's victory has been mixed. Groups such as the National Right to Life Committee and Family [...]
After a three-month delay, police seem to be taking seriously allegations of repeated assaults on a Toronto pro-life activist. In mid-October, pro-life activist and counsellor Robert Hinchey was told by police that they will charge an individual who is alleged to have assaulted him on numerous occasions, although the police didn't release his name or any other details at the time. Hinchey [...]
New health minister said to be pro-life On Sept. 21, nearly 12 years of Tory rule in Manitoba came to an end as the NDP won a majority government. Under leader Gary Doer, the NDP captured 32 of 57 seats (the Tories won 24 and the Liberals just one). Like the NDP across the country, is a solidly pro-abortion party. But as [...]
Officials accused of ignoring attacks on pro-lifers, and going easy on pro-aborts Several recent legal cases in Ontario and Alberta could leave the impression that the capricious nature of the legal system is being used against pro-lifers. This past summer the police and courts have seemingly employed a double standard in dealing with allegations against pro-life activists. The day before police arrested [...]