This March marks the beginning of the 20th year of publication for The Interim.

While you surely have noticed changes in this issue that you have in your hands, rest assured all the changes are cosmetic and that we remain committed to defending life and family. It is important as editors, writers and readers that we recall the unique mission of The Interim – to remain always faithful “until the law is changed to protect all human life” – and for that reason we reprint the editorials that appeared in the first issue of this paper (March 1983) and the 10th anniversary issue (March 1993).

Welcome to The Interim. Our new coast to coast, pro-life newspaper will inform you of the many successes and fewer (hopefully) failures in the day-to-day battle to protect unborn babies.

The philosophy of this monthly will always be one of no compromise on abortion. All human life, from the moment of conception, represents an individual, precious gift from God.

The Latin motto Semper Fidelis appears to us an appropriate description of the efforts we have been called to provide. In the interim, until the law is changed to protect all human life, we will be here, always faithful, to champion the rights of those whose voices cannot be heard.

We will continue our efforts to educate the public and lobby the politicians while supporting the lonely and distressed.

In the face of a media hostile to the pro-life cause, our responsibility becomes even broader. The favorable response to Morgentaler and his associates by the press, borders on hysterical. The manipulation of the media by the pro-abortionists has been masterful.

… Our society will not have to stand before a higher authority to answer these charges … but we will … individually.

In any political campaign, abortion is a disqualifying issue. Politicians and would- be politicians who advocate the right to choose to kill must be defeated. Whether candidates who you support are running for Parliament or even for the local library board, do not elect them if they refuse to stand for life.

This newspaper will provide information on natural family planning, as well as adoption, pregnancy counselling and post- abortion counselling, and alternatives for pregnant women.

So friends, we are here with you, reporting the efforts of the pro-life groups across Canada seeking protection for the unborn and offering encouragement to you to keep up the fight.

We may not be successful at all times, but rest easy, we will be always faithful!

When The Interim staff began preparing this 10th anniversary issue, we looked carefully through back issues, searching for the stories that would define the paper’s role over the past decade. We failed.

Our search reminded us that The Interim is not about stories, it is about pro-life people. We are merely the instrument to let the pro-life family across Canada know who is doing what, and when, and why. Where else do you read about the pickets, the vigils, the political intrigues, the medical advances, the lives saved?

In 10 years of publishing, The Interim has published more than its share of bad news. Our issues are not light reading, and we have lived through a decade now of one blow after another against life. But the very fact that we are still publishing is a sign of hope.

Our job is to tell the truth. We publish the news that the other newspapers do not find “fit to print.” Whether the news is good or bad for the pro-life cause, we have to pass it on. By passing it on, we then leave the job to you, the so-called ‘ordinary’ pro-lifer. You are the reason we are still here. You may look ordinary but you are each a hero or heroine in your own way. You support the most important cause in Canada today, and we will not give up until each and every one of you out there says that you no longer believe.

For many years, our masthead contained the words semper fidelis. We dropped the words in order to make a more streamlined front page. But we did not drop that promise.