When word emerged that James Kopp had confessed to being the trigger man in the shooting of Buffalo, N.Y. abortionist Barnett Slepian, pro-lifers throughout North America doubtlessly braced themselves for another flogging at the hands of the mainstream media. In a surprising development, however, that media onslaught never really emerged.

The Buffalo News newspaper, whose reporters interviewed Kopp for the confession, followed up on the happening with a series of articles revisiting the abortion issue as a whole, especially in the Buffalo area. The publication refreshingly attempted to provide some semblance of balance by interviewing advocates on both sides of the issue and featuring interviews with women who had had abortions and later regretted them.

The News, to its credit, also went outside the box and published a particularly intriguing piece on the fact that abortion is a big money maker. It even extracted an admission from an abortuary manager that her facility does indeed make a tidy bundle of dough every year while engaged in its supposedly benevolent mission of “helping women.” When was the last time you saw something like that in the Toronto Star?

In Canada, coverage was relatively low-key, with many media outlets relegating Kopp’s confession to a lesser story. An exception was the Hamilton Spectator newspaper, which began to take a vested interest in the Kopp matter after an abortionist living in the Hamilton suburb of Ancaster was hit in his home by sniper fire.

The Spectator splashed Kopp’s confession across the front page. Lost in the brouhaha, however, was the fact that whether Kopp confessed or not, the serious questions raised by the abortion phenomenon remain unaddressed. What of the 100,000-plus unborn humans killed in their mothers’ wombs in Canada every year? Or the hundreds of thousands more in the U.S.? Or embryonic stem cell research, and the use and sale of fetal body parts? Surely, these subjects merit more than a little coverage, yet the media maintain what can only be described as a conspiracy of silence.

The Buffalo News was on the right track in trying to provide a balanced perspective on what remains one of the most burning issues of our time. Now, it’s time for the rest of the media to follow suit and disprove the notion that, as International Right to Life president Dr. Jack Willke said recently, they are doing nothing but a massive, intensive, continuing propaganda job for abortion on demand.

New Year’s resolutions

Each New Year, many Canadians make resolutions that, they hope, will in some way make themselves better people. The Interim proposes that all readers renew their commitment to the protection of innocent human life from the moment of conception/fertilization to natural death, and act accordingly.

We urge everyone to pray. Pray for an end to the injustice of abortion, for women facing crisis pregnancies and for the pro-life movement.

In the October centrespread, we began detailing the ways in which large corporations and foundations (not to mention governments) finance the abortion industry. Pro-life organizations are severely underfunded and need your help. If you do not usually financially support local and national pro-life groups, please consider doing so. If you do donate, look at your situation and see if you could not give a little more.

Not all donations are monetary. Donate office supplies to your local pro-life organization or gently used baby clothes, car seats or strollers to a crisis pregnancy centre. Furthermore, organizations such as The Interim and Campaign Life Coalition take barter dollars, so if you can donate your professional services to this system, it can help pay some bills.

Almost every pro-life organization is dependent upon volunteers. Whether you have a special skill you can provide or just – “just” – some time, whatever you can give will certainly go a long way.

Plan to attend pro-life events: the marches for life – in Washington D.C. to mark the 30th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision on Jan. 22, or the May 13 Ottawa March for Life marking the 33rd anniversary of the Omnibus Bill; LifeChain on the first Sunday in October; local activist meetings; national and provincial conferences; local pickets; and, of course, The Interim’s 20th anniversary dinner on April 24.

Write your elected representatives and let them know what you think about issues affecting life and family. Remember, MPs generally figure a letter represents 100 or more constituents. And don’t forget that when MPs and provincial representatives make courageous stands for life and family, you should let them know you stand behind them. We need to support the elected officials on our side while trying to convince more of them to join us.

Call in to radio and television talk shows when life and family issues are discussed. Be polite but firm in your defence of the sanctity of human life and the importance of the traditional family. We need to show all of Canada that the pro-abortion, anti-family agenda does not represent the wishes of the majority.

Lastly, as firstly, pray. Often. We are doing God’s magnificent work, but we need His help. It is through each and every one of us that God will end abortion and create a culture of life. Are we hearing His call? Are we doing all that we can?