On February 4, 1986, the pro-life community was saddened by the sudden death of Harry Schadenberg of Woodstock, Ontario. Harry and his wife Mary have been cornerstones of the pro-life movement in South Western Ontario since the early 1970s. When Mary first became involved in pro-life work, Harry would chauffeur her to meetings in the evenings. Then, recognizing the depths of the [...]
The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld an earlier court ruling preventing George Carruthers and Michael Whelton from continuing a civil suit against the North and West Vancouver Hospital Society. Carruthers and Whelton are former members of the hospital society and are attempting to sue the hospital on the basis that abortions are authorized and performed in Lions Gate Hospital, contrary to [...]
On January 25 the Toronto Star reported that “Maureen McTeer, a practising Catholic and wife of External Affairs Minister Joe Clark, has become an honorary director” of the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League. McTeer was quoted as saying that – while she would never consider having an abortion herself – she believes as “a lawyer, a mother and a Christian,” that a [...]
Death in the afternoon One day this winter, while picketing the front of the Toronto Morgentaler abortuary, I looked across the street and noticed two young girls walking back and forth on the opposite sidewalk. They were obviously nervous, glancing and pointing at us picketers while at the same time whispering to one another. They appeared to be “nice high school girls,” [...]
In November 1985, Henry Morgentaler lectured on abortion to the student body of the University of New Brunswick. The visit was, naturally enough, controversial and the student organizers subsequently agreed to give equal time for the pro-life view. On January 29, 1986, New Brunswick Right to Life sponsored a visit to Fredericton by Dr. John Willke. Dr. Willke, president of the International [...]
The Corporation Professionnelle des Médecins du Québec will formally advise Henry Morgentaler of the necessity for pathological examination to be made of “tissue” removed in his Montreal abortion facility. A letter from the Corporation to Ottawa resident David Waechter states that “… recommendations will be formally addressed by our office to Dr. Morgentaler requesting that all tissue obtained by aspiration or curetage [...]
Pro-lifers picketed the B.C. Teachers’ Federation executive meeting held in January in Vancouver. The pickets were protesting the Federation’s policy in support of removing abortion from the Criminal Code. Picketers also protested the use of pro-abortion literature in the classroom. Picketers included representatives from Campaign Life, Right to Life and Christians for Life. Their press statement pointed out the “contradictory absurdity” that [...]
Sue Hierlihy, president of Action Life Ottawa, was recently the target of an anonymous letter accusing her of not being truly pro-life, and in fact of being a “phoney.” The reason for this allegation is that Mrs. Hierlihy keeps a rabbit outside in the winter. The letter writer insisted that in his or her opinion, keeping a rabbit out of doors in [...]
Attorney-General Ian Scott and Premier David Peterson use an identical standard form letter in replying to citizens who write to them demanding that the Morgentaler abortuary be closed. The letter is carefully crafted to support the claim “We are doing everything we can do to enforce the law.” In fact, the provincial government is steadfastly refusing to take the one course of [...]
The Winnipeg Free Press of December 30, 1985 reported that the co-administrator of the Morgentaler Clinic in Winnipeg, Suzanne Newman, felt that Henry Morgentaler should take a back seat from now on because her boss generated so much bad publicity and angered so many Manitobans. Abortions have not been done at the Winnipeg abortuary since March 1985. According to Newman, Morgentaler alienated [...]
(Editor’s note: There has been much controversy about the position of the Anglican Church on abortion. The following is an attempt, by means of examining the original documents, to allow everyone to examine the matter and draw the proper conclusions.) The current position on abortion of the Anglican Church stems from 1967. That year, the General Synod (the legislative body of the [...]
A new kind of activism has been evident in the Canadian pro-life movement over the past year. Each month, The Interim has reported on the court cases of picketers, on the efforts of sidewalk counselors, on sit ins (both in the Harbord Street abortuary itself and in the Ontario legislature), and on the constant picketing of premier David Peterson – a persistent [...]
St. Michael’s Choir School has long been renowned as the most famous choir school in Canada. The school was founded in 1937 by Msgr. J.E. Ronan to provide a choir for the liturgical services of St. Michael’s Cathedral. It began with 18 boys and now has over 400 students. The school begins at Grade Three and from that year to the last [...]
On February 13, pro-life picketer Padrig Omathuna was given a conditional discharge and ordered to stay away from the abortuary for six months as a result of an assault charge laid by Toronto Police. David Butt, a part-time Morgentaler employee, the man who actually committed the assault, was acquitted of the same charge laid by way of a private information by the [...]
On September 23, 1985, Ontario Provincial Court Judge Arthur Meen stated: And it was not as though those human lives were being taken lawfully, for in fact, the Clinic was operating outside the law, and such was therefore murder. The irony of this entire matter is that, on the one hand we have a clinic performing abortions openly, blatantly and outside the [...]