The morning of Monday March 3, 1998 was just like any other. Employees of Vernon Jubilee Hospital arrived and departed to and from work as they had on numerous other occasions.
But this day was different. Discovered in the parking lot was a small briefcase – laying next to it was a sign with the slogan: “Abortion is wrong; our mission is strong.”
Panic ensued, the RCMP contacted and the waiting began. Just what, if anything, was inside the briefcase?
Vernon area RCMP blocked off the area and evacuated some homes. Hospital operations went unaffected. Because of a late storm, Vancouver bomb squad experts took until 3:30 p.m. to finally reach the scene.
The case did not contain an explosive device; nonetheless, pro-abortion advocates went on the attack.
“It is a hotbed for these extremists here in the Okanagan,” stated Dr.
Lianne Lacroix, board member of both Planned Parenthood of Kelowna and the Kelowna and District Pro-Choice Action Society.
A week earlier, the Kelowna Right to Life society had mailed a letter to physicians in the Kelowna area, politely asking them to help identify the city’s abortionists.
Despite claims to the contrary, members of the pro-abortion movement are convinced that the two events were related.
Kelowna Right to Life issued a quick denial, stating that if the two events were indeed related, it was because pro-abortion individuals arranged the fake bomb-scare themselves.
Jean Sweet, head of the Vernon & Area Pro-Life Society, was also firm, stating that neither she nor her group would ever resort to violence: “Violence is just not us. I suspect that anyone who would support the use of violence to get across the pro-life message would be pretty bored with our group,” she said.
The Vernon Jubilee Hospital is the only facility in the Okanagan to offer abortion services. 1996-97 saw 322 young lives taken at the hospital.
Most of the abortions here were performed by one man, Dr. L.T. Jordan, who is also expected to retire soon. Abortion advocates remain frustrated at the lack of any candidate to fill his shoes.
In fact, the dearth of abortionists necessitated the creation of a secret special “committee” within the B.C. Ministry of Health. The “Abortion Services Working Group” has worked to address the crisis of having fully government-supported abortion, yet no one new volunteering to perform them.
The result has been some areas of the province where no abortion services are offered.
The B.C. NDP governmen is resolute. Full access to abortion, fully paid for, everywhere in the province, under a thick veil of secrecy and non-accountability.
Pro-lifers also remain resolute. A spokesman at Kelowna Right to Life stated that information continues to come in, some from surprising sources. Vernon & Area pro-lifers are convinced the developments will not hurt them … they are too well known in the community and too involved in their city for anyone to believe the pro-abortion charges of “extremism.”
Meanwhile, regional health officials have issued their own warnings: any employee or physician leaking information to any pro-life group runs the risk of being fired. The memo was later leaked to the media.