Paul Tuns:
On May 9, Albertos Polizogopoulos, a Canadian pro-life lawyer, died at the age of 41 following a three-year battle with cancer.
Polizogopoulos had a career that defended life, conscience, and religious freedom, with his official obituary noting, “He defended the rights of the vulnerable and the freedoms of Christians.” Polizogopoulos appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada ten times and he completed nearly 4,000 pro bono hours valued at more than $1 million. One of the cases he was working on before his condition worsened was defending Fr. Tony Van Hee, the pro-life priest who was charged with breaching Ontario’s bubble zone law prohibiting pro-life speech outside the province’s abortuaries.
In 2018, he successfully represented the Christian Heritage Party in a challenge against the city of Hamilton which had banned the party’s public advertising criticizing transgender ideology.
Also in 2018, Polizogopoulos represented Free to do Business Canada, a group challenging the federal government’s policy requiring businesses and charities, including churches, to sign an attestation in support of abortion in order to qualify for the Canada Summer Jobs Program subsidy to employ students.
In 2017, he represented the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada in a challenge to the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons over the college’s policy that infringed the conscience rights of medical professionals.
In 2016, he represented Steve Tourloukis in the Hamilton father’s challenge to the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board after his children’s school would not allow Tourloukis to remove them from classes which he considered morally objectionable.
Polizogopoulos was also a critic of Ontario’s Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act, which opponents said would open the door for LGBTQ activism in schools, and he assisted Patricia Maloney with accessing abortion records that the Ontario Ministry of Health was withholding.
Polizogopoulos was also featured in the recent pro-life documentary ROE Canada: The True North in a Post-Roe World, in which he helped plot the course necessary to end abortion in Canada.
In 2020, Polizogopoulos and his wife, Faye Sonier, founded The Acacia Group law firm which is dedicated to serving the Christian Church in Canada. At the same time, they homeschooled their two children, Jack, now 10, and Melina, 8.
Jeff Gunnarson, national president of Campaign Life Coalition, told The Interim, his organization sought legal advice from Polizogopoulos a number of times, and praised the lawyer’s willingness to tackle issues affecting life, faith, and family. “The pro-life community has lost a great ally,” Gunnarson said.
Derek Ross, executive director and general counsel at the Christian Legal Fellowship, said “Albertos took seriously his commitment to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with his God.”
Ross said “he was a good friend – a true companion on a road less traveled” and “I will miss him, and I know that the journey will be a little harder and lonelier without him.”
