The U.S. Supreme Court ruling which found Joe Scheidler and two other pro-lifers guilty under federal anti-racketeering laws holds a lesson for those concerned with the progress of civil rights. Scheidler, head of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League, was found guilty of extortion April 20 in a 12-year-old court action initiated by the National Organization for Women (NOW). The verdict opens the door [...]
Pro-lifers will monitor the course of a private member's bill in the Ontario Legislature, which would protect the right of health care workers to refuse to participate in practices they find morally objectionable. An act to protect the consciences of health care workers is expected to be introduced in the Legislature in the near future. According to Progressive Conservative MPP Jim Brown [...]
WASHINGTON - A leading pro-life supporter in the U.S. Congress has signaled a fresh tussle this year over U.S. funding of the United Nations and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Congressman Christopher Smith spoke February 12 after Secretary of State Madeleine Albright accusedunnamed lawmakers of "legislative blackmail" for tying the release of funds to what she said was an unrelated abortion issue. The [...]
There may yet be a glimmer of hope in the legal situation that has seen Toronto pro-lifer Linda Gibbons languish in jail for most of the last four years. Gibbons continues to stay behind bars at the Metro West Detention Centre in Rexdale, Ont. and refuses to take steps to defend herself legally. But Milton, Ont.-based Christian activist Ken Campbell has taken [...]
A national pro-life postcard campaign aiming to override U.S. President Bill Clinton's veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997, HR 1122, is gaining support from the grassroots. The 1998 Veto Override Postcard Campaign heightens the right-to-life message, and coincides with the 25th anniversary on January 22, 1998 of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's decision legalizing abortion in all 50 [...]
The following is a sampling of opinion and comments from participants in the 25th annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C. The rally, marking the disastrous Roe vs. Wade decision which legalized abortion on demand in the United States, attracted 200,000 people. The comments shown below are taken from press reports in newspapers and from an Interim contributor who attended the [...]
A new Internet website makes for timely and interesting reading as North American pro-lifers mark the 25th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision in the United States. The new site, available at www.prolife.org/rvw, is labeled 25 Years of Life Denied, and features a host of useful information for pro-lifers interested in learning the real significance of this landmark decision. The homepage [...]
Canada's pro-life groups have renewed calls for Parliament to pass legislation protecting the unborn child as the country marks the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court's striking down of the former abortion law. The Supreme Court ruled January 28, 1988 that the former abortion law conflicted with what it saw as security of person guarantees in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [...]
A Reform party MP is calling for a binding national referendum on government funding for medically unnecessary abortions. Garry Breitkreuz (Reform, Yorkton-Melville), reintroduced his Bill M-268 November 20, partly in response to the release of the latest abortion statistics which showed there are nearly 30 abortions committed for every 100 live births in Canada. The call was part a series of petitions [...]
TRENTON, N.J. - The New Jersey state Senate voted to ban controversial late-term abortions, overriding an earlier veto by Gov. Christine Todd Whitman in the state's first restriction on abortion in 24 years. The Republican-controlled senate voted 27-15 December 15 to override the veto by Whitman, the state's recently re-elected moderate Republican governor. She earlier this year conditionally vetoed a ban on [...]
The following is an excerpt of a statement released in November by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. The twentieth century will not end without one more anniversary to remind us that this era of extraordinary progress is also darkened by the shadows of unimaginable tragedy. January 22, 1998 marks the 25th anniversary of our Supreme Court's rulings in Roe v. Wade [...]
TORONTO - Canada's pro-life community is once again lamenting the justice system's failure to recognize the personhood of the unborn child. Reacting to the Supreme Court's decision in the Winnipeg child case, pro-life officials said justices missed an ideal opportunity to free the unborn child from legal limbo. In a 7-2 ruling October 31, the Supreme Court ruled the courts have no [...]
A bill introduced in the Canadian Senate is going to bat for health care workers who object to morally objectional medical practices such as abortion and assisted suicide. Pro-life Senator Stanley Haidasz of Toronto introduced Bill S-7 November 19. The bill would amend the Criminal Code to protect health workers from coercion in assisting in procedures posing avoidable risk to human life. [...]
With news of health care restructuring and hospital mergers foremost in the thinking of many provincial governments, it is high time for a closer examination of the whole issue of conscience legislation. At present, health care workers who have moral or religious objections to procedures such as abortion, medical experimentation or treatment withdrawal, have little recourse in law. Several groups, including Campaign [...]
The president of Canadian Nurses for Life believes the financial crisis in provincial health funding underscores the need for legislation protecting health workers from participating in objectionable medical practices. Mary Lyn McPherson said provincial downsizing, which has resulted in hospitals consolidating abortion services on obstetrical or medical units, presents new dangers to health care workers. “Canadian nurses have been disciplined, and fired, [...]