Canada

Senator Tobias Enverga (Conservative), passed away while attending the ParlAmericas Annual Plenary Assembly in Colombia at the age of 61. Enverga, a former Toronto Catholic School Board trustee and the first Filipino-Canadian to sit in the Senate, was a regular speaker at the National March for Life, along with his wife and three daughters, including Rocel who had Down syndrome. MP Brad Trost (Conservative, Saskatoon-Humboldt) said in a statement that Enverga, “was a strong pro-lifer, family man and a wonderful colleague” … The abortion pill Mifegymiso is now or soon will be fully covered by provincial health plans in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. It is not covered or only partially covered in British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan. Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor told reporters, “our department will be looking into (it) as we want to ensure that all women have access to the reproductive health services that they need.” She said ministry officials will talk to their counterparts in the provinces and territories. Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights claims that the various coverage schemes undermines the universality provisions of the Canada Health Act, even though not all provinces cover all the same services … The Manitoba legislature passed Bill 34, the Medical Assistance in Dying (Protection for Health Care Professionals and Others) Act. The law provides conscience protection for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals to ensure they may refuse to take part in euthanasia or doctor-assisted suicide. Bill 34 also forbids any professional regulatory body from making rules to force health professionals to violate their conscience. Campaign Life Coalition Manitoba president Maria Slykerman said, “we are delighted that Bill 34 passed.” CLC describes Bill 34 as “the model for conscience protection that all provinces should enact” … Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would apologize on Nov. 28 to self-identified homosexual, bisexual, and transgender members of the military and public service who lost their jobs due to enforcement of “gross indecency” laws. Trudeau said the apology “for the persecution and injustices they have suffered” will “advance … the path to equality and inclusion” … International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the Liberal government would provide $35 million over five years to increase access to “sexual and reproductive health and maternal health services” in the poorest regions of Bangladesh … Australian euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke launched his 3D printed euthanasia machine at the Exit NuTech Conference in Toronto on Oct. 28. The Sarco machine is designed to be easily assembled in any location so a euthanasia-minded individual can recline in the capsule and die when liquid nitrogen drops the oxygen level.

United States

Page 93 of the Republican tax plan in the House of Representatives designates “unborn children” as beneficiaries of college savings plans. The change — currently, parents can establish college savings plans for expectant children in their own names and transfer them to the child when she is born and obtains a Social Security number – defines the unborn child as “a child in-utero … a member of the species human sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.” Rep. Diana DeGette (D, Colorado), co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus, complained that Republicans were using the tax code as “a back-door attempt to establish personhood from the moment of conception” … LifeSiteNews reports that President Donald Trump mentioned God eight times in his first Thanksgiving address. President Barack Obama never mentioned “the name of God even once in his Thanksgiving Proclamations since 2009” … The Institute on Religion and Democracy reported that all four members of the Palm Spring city council in California are all self-identified as homosexual, bisexual, or transgender. Chelsen A. Vicari, evangelical programs director for the institute said: “The election of an all-LGBTQ+ city council is … all the more reason for Christians to strengthen our public witness and share the moral clarity, freedom, and grace of Jesus Christ with our broken world.”

International

The non-binding Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, carried out from Sept. 12 to Nov. 7, endorsed same-sex “marriage” by a nearly two-to-one margin, with 61.6 per cent supporting redefining marriage to include same-sex couples. Turnout was nearly 80 per cent. The conservative-leaning Liberal-National Coalition government said it would support a private member’s bill legalizing same-sex “marriage” to respect the outcome of the vote … During his address to the Tusk Conservation Gala in Cape Town, Prince William remarked on “Africa’s rapidly growing population” before claiming, “there is no question that this increase puts wildlife and habitat under enormous pressure … we are going to have to work harder and think much deeper, if we are to ensure that human beings and the other species of animal with which we share this planet can continue to co-exist.” Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, are expecting their third child this spring.