Quebec Life Coalition

I would like to recommend the following website : http://www.canadasilentnomore.com/. In particular, I would like to point out the large-spanning, comprehensive review that Canada Silent No More has put together regarding the mental and physical effects related to legal abortion. The ‘Facts and Stats’ section of the website, at first glance, is daunting and discouraging. However, it is important to note that these discomforting figures represent the truth about the terrible effects abortion can have on women. Given that many people base their decisions on ‘what the research shows’, it is impressive to see that an organization has devoted the time and energy to sift through a massive pile of research studies in order to inform women on various mental and physical effects of abortion.

When it comes to counseling women who are debating an abortion, I believe the best approach is to offer love, support, understanding, and resources (both emotional and financial, whenever possible). Nonetheless, attention also must be drawn to the scientific evidence that warns against abortion. The medical community cannot continue to shun its eye from the negative impacts of abortion. Many pro-choicers claim that pro-lifers are inventing the idea of a “post-abortion syndrome”…but if that’s really the case, why do numerous scientific studies show us otherwise? If the risk of breast cancer doubles after one abortion, and a 1997 government study from Finland showed that “women who abort are approximately four times more likely to die in the following year than women who carry their pregnancies to term”, shouldn’t women considering abortion be at least notified of these disastrous health consequences?

Let me re-iterate: the abortion debate is fundamentally about the life of the fetus. What we are defending, here at Quebec Life Coalition, is the unborn child’s right to life and protection. In addition to killing the lives of children, abortion also destroys the lives of many women (and men). In sharing the cited studies on http://www.canadasilentnomore.com/, what I seek is to spread greater awareness of the evils of abortion- but the primary wrong of abortion is that it kills a new human life- the fact that it hurts so many women too reveals the aftermath of actions that go against God’s love for all of us.

(The following story, written by Vanessa Sproule, appeared in today's Guelph Mercury.)

After shouting on Parliament Hill last Thursday with a crowd the size of a small city — 19,500 people-strong I’m told — it seems obvious to me that there’s a new normal among Gen Y and the Millennials taking over the scene.

It’s not one that would have been expected to emerge 20 years ago during the rise of third wave feminism or one that 1970s politicians would have anticipated. It’s one that has been moving into the mainstream, making headlines in last week’s national newspapers and challenging perspectives of today’s MPs, many of who are accustomed to pro-abortion rhetoric prevalent among the Gen X-ers and baby boomers.

Residue from 1960s activism has condemned voices from my generation — Gen Y — as “anti-choice” or intolerant if we dare to disagree. Who would have expected so many Canadian citizens under the age of 35 to be adamant about bringing attention to the fact that a baby in the womb is to be recognized for what it is — human and deserving of full human rights?

Despite what a former generation might be trying to assert, the younger generations are immensely in favour of legal protection for the unborn and safeguarding the physical and emotional well-being of all women.

This new normal is not just based on observation of the crowd on Parliament Hill last week. Recent polls have been picking it up.

Just over three years ago, a poll conducted by Environics Focus Canada questioned 2,047 Canadians. Results showed 67 per cent of people between age 18 and 29 years old surveyed wanted legal protection for unborn babies at some point before birth. This same age bracket further showed that 70 per cent had high support for informed consent surrounding abortion. More recently, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted a nationwide survey that included a representation of Canada’s population age 18 to 35. Results showed 60 per cent of people surveyed believed abortion is morally wrong.

Going beyond the polls, over the past five years, teams of 20-somethings have visited politicians on the Hill every November to express their grief at Canada’s continued killing of the unborn and to advocate for protection of babies’ lives by law, before they are born. Then, there was also last year’s Defund Abortion Rally at Queen’s Park; the Letters for Life movement — founded and directed by teens; the growing movement known as the National Campus Life Network; the countless members of pro-life student clubs on university campuses and high schools across the country; the When Am I Human campaign — founded and fuelled by individuals under the age of 30; Bound4Life Canada, and Campaign Life Coalition’s pro-life youth movement to name a few more examples of pro-life youth and young adult initiatives.

These are 100 per cent dedicated to going against what’s force-fed in public schools while standing for the truth — plain and simple.

In our own community, several students from the University of Guelph and at least two bus loads of teenagers headed to the Hill this month to participate in bringing awareness to an issue they believe is worth making a ruckus about.

There’s no denying, it’s an emergence of a new normal. It’s one much different from the Trudeaumania-filled days of 1968 and it’s happening right here, too. Until last week, this young-people movement has swept the country but without recognition from the media.

Why the lack of coverage? With a movement this strong, why has there been silence from journalists across the nation? Could it be that, like many of our MPs, our media is still governed by those who dare not oppose the creed of their day in order to escape being branded as intolerant or a woman-hater or anti-choice?

As a result of the May 10 gathering, abortion proponents need to recognize that Gen Y and the Millennials have a different perspective that is quickly rising. Downplaying it, and threatening it with name calling, won’t make it disappear.

(Vanessa Sproule is Program Manager for the Guelph and Area Right to Life.)

Has much changed between gladiatorial Rome and today's western society?

Back then, the life or death fate of the arena combatants was determined by Caesar. Were he to turn his thumb upward, the combatant would live; downward ... death.

In contemporary society, the fate of the unborn is as precariously determined as that of gladiators of old. In our times, it is either the pregnant woman or those exercising undue force on her that decide.

In "Caesar's Thumb," Lord Nicholas Windsor laments as much:

We live in what is truly a moral world turned upside down, and the greatest irony may be that a broad consensus exists, in a highly rights-aware political establishment, in favor of one of the gravest and most egregious abuses of human rights that human society has ever tolerated. Didn't Europeans think they could never and must never kill again on an industrial scale? What a cruel deceit, then, that has led us to this mass killing of children, for a theoretical greater good, which in this case is simply the wish not to be bound by a pregnancy unless it is fully and feely chosen, and which, outside of that parameter, is declared, by fiat, to be null and void.

Lord Windsor argues for a new "New Abolitionism for Europe." He admits that though the first abolitionism in late 19th century America may not be a perfect template for current events, yet the courage and imagination shown then need be carried over to contemporary circumstances.

Read the full article here.

A wonderful day was had by the 50+ Montreal pilgrims who attended the annual March for Life in Ottawa, yesterday.

Motor coach ride from downtown Montreal to Ottawa via Pointe Claire, 10 a.m. Mass at the Notre Dame Cathedral, lunch in the food court at the Rideau Centre, gathering on Parliament Hill, march through the streets of downtowm Ottawa, reconvene on the Hill, return to our bus and ride to Montreal.

The mass was packed to the rafters. presided by archbishop of Ottawa, Mgr. Terence Prendergast, sj, presided along with seven other bishops, including Montreal's own Christian Lépine, and fifteen or so priests. Many of the faithful stood throughout the service.

After the celebration, Archbishop Prendergast greeted many of the pilgrims including a few from our own group. In this photo we see with his grace Christine Le Beau, Marc-Albert Bélanger, and Lucille Charette-Morga, who is sporting the white cap. In the fore plan is Mr. Marcel Givoque

After a lunch break, we walked up Wellington street and entered the grounds of the parliamentary buildings. There we gathered and milled about, listening to the various speakers. 

At about 1:30 p.m., the march began. Seen above are the walkers leaving Parliament hill and ...

... then proceeding through the cavernous streets of downtown Ottawa...

... returning to their starting point.

The website of Campaign Life Coalition, the march's organizer along with us and LifeSiteNews, states that over 19 500 people came to this year's march. This is 6000 more than last year!

Will you be with us next year?

I received the following email from R.E.A.L. Women of Canada. (The acronym stands for Realistic, Equal, Active, for Life.)

On the one hand, it summarizes the parliamentary debate about Mr. Woodworth's motion - C-312, this past Thursday, April 26, 2012.

On the other hand, it requests us to act. This non-partisan and non-denominational group is encouraging Canadians to write the Prime Minister to let him know that you support the motion.

It also suggests that we contact your Member of Parliament - MP.

I mailed a similar letter to both and, within days, I heard back from my MP - Honourable Stéphane Dion, but not the PM.

I encourage you to do likewise. Let me know what results you have had.

Here's a copy of the correspondance from REAL Women of Canada:

MP Stephen Woodworth Motion M-312 on Abortion MP Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener Centre) proposed in Motion M-312 that Parliament study when human life begins, by reviewing Section 223 of the Criminal Code, which provides the child becomes a human being once he or she is fully proceeded in a living state from the body of its mother.

In his Motion, Mr. Woodworth has proposed that a Parliamentary Committee be established to carry out this review of Section 223 which was included in the Canadian Criminal Code when it was passed into law in 1892. Section 223 was based on the English Draft Code of 1878, which in turn, was based on judge-made law (common law) decisions handed down in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. At that time it was necessary to decide when human life begins in order to determine whether a charge of murder could be laid on the death of a child. This definition then was based on the limited knowledge and standards of those previous centuries.

Modern science and technology have enormously broadened our knowledge of human life and development in the womb from that of the previous centuries. It is only reasonable, therefore, that a review of Section 223 of the Criminal Code should be carried out at this time in order to update the provision to conform to the present medical and technological knowledge.

Mr. Woodworth’s motion was given its first hour of debate on April 26, 2012. Prior to the debate that same day, during Question Period, Prime Minister Harper stated that he would vote against the bill and further stated, that it was unfortunate that the House of Commons committee had selected the Motion as being a votable one.

Conservative House Leader Gordon O’Connor spoke against the motion as did most of those speaking during that hour of debate. Opposition NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Bob Rae, spoke against the motion.

Outside Parliament during the debate, approximately 50 pro-abortion activists demonstrated against the Motion. Their demonstration received large media coverage from CTV, CBC, and Global Networks as well as the National Post, Globe and Mail and Toronto Star. It is notable that the latter media have studiously avoided coverage of the 15,000 + people rallying in front of Parliament during the annual March for Life event.

Another hour’s debate on the motion will take place possibly in early June or September 2012.

It is important that the Prime Minister and MP’s hear from the public about the importance of this Motion. It must not be shut down by a biased media and the pro-abortion activists, who do not want a debate on the critical issue of abortion in Canada.

Please contact the Prime Minister and your MP urging their support of Motion M-312.

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Office of the PM House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 (Fax: 613-941-6900 E-Mail: Stephen.Harper@parl.gc.ca)

Your MP, House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A6

From the blog of Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, I bring you this good news:

The Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians (CSPCP) recently published a paper opposing the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide and instead promoting the development of palliative care in Canada.

A survey of the CSPCP also shows that a majority of its members do not support euthanasia or assisted suicide.

CSPCA Euthanasia Survey Results

 The Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians (CSPCP) represents nearly 300 member physicians who provide care to the dying. Our mission is to advance the quality of life of our patients and their families. The survey used the definitions and glossary of the Quebec National Assembly for clarification and standardization.

Definitions are as follows:

Euthanasia - "An act that consists of deliberately causing the death of another person to put an end to that person's suffering."

Assisted Suicide - "The act of helping someone commit suicide by providing the means or the information on how to proceed, or both."

Almost half (46%) of CSPCP members responded to the survey, and the overwhelming majority were OPPOSED to the legalization of euthanasia (88%) or assisted suicide (80%).

* 90% of responding members would not be willing to participate in the act of euthanasia.

* 83% of responding members would not be willing to aid in assisted suicide.

Based upon the survey results, the Canadian Society of Palliative Care. Physicians strongly oppose the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide at this time, and most of its members are unwilling to participate in euthanasia or assisted suicide.

Thank God for the decision of the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians! We need more doctors that adhere to the values of compassion and care.

To all Montreal Youth: come to Ottawa for this year’s exciting Youth Conference!

Location:Hampton Inn Ottawa, 100 Coventry Road There will be fantastic pro-life speakers, workshops, and opportunities to meet with other youth.

To sign-up please contact 416-204-9749 or e-mail youth@campaignlifecoalition.com

Registration: $45/ per person (call for special group rates)

Breakfast, lunch and one coffee break included.

Schedule of events

7:30AM- Mass (Hampton Inn)

8- 8:30AM- Registration & Breakfast

8:30- 8:45AM- Music (by Gethsemane Ministries) and Welcome by John-Henry Westen,Editor and Co-Founder of LifeSite News

8:45- 9:30AM- Plenary Address, Alissa Golob, Campaign Life Coalition Youth

9:30-10:15AM- WORKSHOP (choose one of four amazing workshops to learn more about various topics pro-lifers are faced with today in an intimate and interactive setting. To see the list of speakers and topics click here)

10:15- 10:45AM- Coffee Break

10:45- 11:30AM- WORKSHOP 11:30- 12:30PM- Plenary Address, Pam Stenzel, Chastity and Motivational Speaker,Founder of Enlighten Communications

12:30- 1:30PM- LUNCH

1:30- 2:15PM- Plenary Address, Fr. Bouquet, President of Human Life International

2:15- 2:30PM- Wrap-Up

PLEASE JOIN US FOR THIS GREAT EVENT!!!

Following the private member bill M-312, which was introduced by MP Stephen Woodworth to explore the question of when human life begins, many of the mainstream news media have renewed their focus on the abortion issue.

CTV News is asking it's audience: Should the government re-open the abortion debate? and the CBC is asking: Should Canada reopen the debate on when human life begins?

Please make sure that your voices are heard and vote in these polls! You also have an opportunity to leave  a comment as well on both the CBC and the CTV News website.

Here are the links: CTV News  (the poll is on the upper right side of the screen) and the CBC poll. There is also a comment section on each website.

Thank you for taking a stand for the rights of unborn children!

Motion 312 (definition of 'human being') will be debated this afternoon - Thursday, April 25, 2012, in the House of Commons at 5:15 pm.

Catch the live action on CPAC - www.cpac.ca

For background information regarding Mr. Stephen Woodworth's motion, see his website.



For other infomation, see previous articles on our site; simply enter "Woodworth."

Dear Pro-Lifer,

Blessed Easter season to you.

Our Lord has risen. From the tomb come our birth, our light, our forgiveness, our hope, our joy, and our life. (Click here to access the April newsletter.)

Praise be to Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

The victory is ours…

… yet there are battles that remain.

Revivifying Quebec Society

One such battle is tormenting our fellow citizens. It is the lost of hope and the signs are many.

Abortions continue. Many have turned their back on life and relationships; these are viewed as disposable, replaceable. And in so doing, they are scarred in the process – scarred psychologically, physically, and spiritually. Over 30 000 per year rends havoc in the women themselves and in then in those around her. I recently read that ten people are affected with each abortion.

Suicide is real yet seldom reported.

And assisted suicide and euthanasia has gained greater advocacy. The recently released report from the Death with Dignity Committee included a most worrisome recommendation - that the Quebec Government not prosecute physicians who help terminally ill patients to die.

So, the value of life has been lost to many of our fellow Quebeckers.

(It makes one wonder what has become of the once-familiar motto – "Joie de Vivre.")

Que se passe-t-il au Québec? (What's going on in Québec?)

Elsewhere in our society we are witnessing an indignant student movement, perturbed by legislation that will impact not only the level of their indebtedness upon finishing school but also, and more fundamentally, whether they will be able to go on with their studies.

Quebecers are also confronted with how their provincial government does business, particularly in the construction industry. The Charbonneau Commission is investigating how contracts are awarded and we have already seen arrests being made.

Absence of Religious Reflection

Yet, to many of us in the pro-life movement what concerns is the dearth of any religious reflection in these and other matters. We see a climate that has ignored and, more strongly, scorned and vilified appeal to divine assistance.

For example, during the just concluded "40 Days for Life" prayer vigil, I witnessed numerous instances of abusive behaviour directed towards me and many with whom I prayed. Also, I was told of similar occurrences during my absences. Yes, the notion of restrictions is a cause of this aggression but also the fact that we are, heavens forbid, are praying perturbed many of our fellow citizens. The implication by many is that prayer is outdated and belongs to a former era.

Yet the same vigil witnessed the participation of over 250 centres of prayer from around the world - including nine others in Canada, resulting in over 880 children saved from the scourge of abortion.

We at the Quebec Life Coalition, with your support, are ever present in this battle to promote hope.

• We have begun a sidewalk counselling program and telephone help line to combat the scourge of abortion.
• We seek to inform you daily via blogs on these and other topics.
• Organizing a three day faith service in early May; and
• Participate in a Christian March in early June to foster our Faith.

So, whether setting out on our own or in collaboration with other groups in Quebec, the rest of Canada, and in the United States, we hope to sprinkle seeds of hope within Quebec.

Thank you for your continued support.

Brian Jenkins

Coordinator for English and Multicultural Community Outreach

Quebec Life Coalition