Editorial comment:

Morgantaler vs New Brunswick Government

In the last issue we said that Morgentaler had filed a suit against the New Brunswick Government demanding Medicare payment for abortion on demand at his clinics. A coalition of incorporated organizations called “moving parties” include: The N.B. Right to Life Association, The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint John, Focus on the Family (Canada) Association, REAL Women of Canada, Canadians Physicians for Life, Catholic Civil Rights League, Christian Legal Fellowship, and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada are attempting to get intervener status at the upcoming court case.

There are two kinds of intervener: a) a friend of the court where arguments may be heard but evidence not presented, b) a status where evidence as well as argument can be presented with witnesses and testimonials. The coalition is hoping for status (b) to be able to present evidence.

The judge on the case heard the petition on the 25^th of March and has reserved his decision until a later date (Possibly within a month). “Ruling”: On April 2^nd, Mr. Justice David Russell issued a ruling denying the Coalition intervener status. An appeal is pending. The Judge said, “The central issue here is whether the Charter of Rights and Freedoms imposes an obligation on the Province to provide funding for abortions performed at the plaintiff’s clinic.” Prayers are asked for the judge in his deliberations. Money is being collected in the event that intervener status will come about. Donations can be sent to help defray legal costs to Legal Defense Fund, N.B. Right to Life, P.O. Box 113, Station A, Fredericton, N.B. E3B 4Y2.

This case may determine such important issues as a) whether there is a constitutional right to abortion on demand; b) whether aborting an unwanted pregnancy is a “medical necessity” that must be covered by Medicare; c) whether the unborn child has a right to life.

The LifeCanada News suggests that “The boldness of Morgentaler’s quest is breathtaking when you consider at present there is a) no legal right to abortion, let alone abortion on demand; b) no legal right to Medicare-funded abortions; c) minimal public support for tax-funded abortions on demand (23% of Canadians, 2002 Leger poll); d) no political consensus that provinces must fund abortions at private facilities like the ones Morgentaler operates in six provinces.”

The Health Act in s.2 defines “hospital services” as follows:

“Hospital services” means any of the following services provided to in-patients or out-patients at a hospital, if the services are medically necessary for the purpose of maintaining health, preventing disease or diagnosing or treating an injury, illness or disability, namely, a) … but does not include services that are excluded by the regulations.

Healthcare relates to the treatment of disease, illness, and injury. Virtually all abortions being done in Canada are provided for non-medical reasons on perfectly healthy women and destroying perfectly healthy babies. The Canadian Abortion Rights Action League’s (CARAL), executive director, Marilyn Wilson, told a Commons Finance Committee on October 31, 2001, that women seek their abortion for socio-economic reasons. The reasons given are as follows: to complete their education, become financially independent and restrict the size of the family. Would such reasons constitute a “medical necessity” or “elective service”?

There has to be a distinction made between medically required and, therefore entitled services, and for services chosen as an elective procedure. The right to choose an abortion in no way implies a medical necessity. All hospital abortions, whether medically necessary or not, are paid for by the taxpayer through the publicly funded health care system. When are abortions medically necessary? Is abortion necessarily a health care?

The Leger Marketing poll on the issue of abortion, which we carried in our last newsletter, stated that 68% of Canadians believe that abortions should not be paid by the taxpayers, except in the event of a medical emergency.

Canadian taxpayers pay over 40 million dollars on abortion every year. There are 100,000 abortions in Canada every year. More than one third of abortions are performed on women who already had one or more previous abortions. In Canada, children in the womb may be legally killed or aborted at any time by any means and for any reason right up to their birth. The child receives protection from the law only when it is completely out of the womb.

Presently, the pending court action in New Brunswick, where Dr. Morgentaler is challenging the Province, amounts to the establishment of a constitutional right to abortion on demand and an obligation upon the public to finance such abortions, including privately run abortion clinics. He is maintaining that the denial of this medical service infringes on the constitutional right of pregnant women to have abortion.

If Morgantaler wins it will give every Canadian woman the legal right to abort her unborn child on demand at private, not just public facilities, with you and me as taxpayers forced to pick up the tab for each and every one.

Our health care system is now breaking under the fiscal demands being made upon it. Taxpayers’ money is weighed in the balance. Should Medicare fund abortions as a constitutional right? In doing so it would make all requests for abortion not an elective but a medical necessity.

back to Newsletter Index

Easy to use references

Contacting your provincial and federal politicians can get your message across.

Web sites such as

www.canada.gc.ca will give you access to the federal web site.

www.familyaction.org can be your MP link.

www.gov.pei.ca - your provincial government site.

www.glinx.com/users/vcpc - Crisis Pregnancy center.

www.parl.gc.ca - the parliamentary site for updates on legislation.

www.statscan.ca/daily/english for the latest information on released statistics.

back to Newsletter Index

President’s Report

By John Broderick

It’s newsletter time once again and my thanks go out to Bernie and his crew for all the hard work in seeing that we once again go to publication.

We are approaching the end of my

first year as President; time passes quickly.

It has been a busy year for all concerned. Since our last newsletter we have been very active with every successful membership campaign as well as Christmas Card sales. Thank you very much for your support in these areas.

An active “Celebrate Life Week” is being planned under the direction of past president Pauline. Further info and schedules are available elsewhere in the newsletter. Please give these activities your fullest support in time and prayer.

Your Board continues to meet on a regular basis and continues to promote and sponsor educational activities and to keep our membership informed.

If you have any suggestions or wish to assist in any way please call our office at 894-5473. Again thank you for your financial and prayerful support over the past year and look forward to a large turnout at our Annual Meeting at the Basilica Recreation Centre on Saturday afternoon the 24^th of April, 2004.

Branch Reports

West Prince

Regular meetings are held by the members of this branch on the last Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the basement of the Sacred Heart Church in Alberton. Numerous activities are ongoing. On March 25^th,, on the feast of the Assumption, Masses were held in Alberton and Tignish. Action by the Knights of Columbus and the Right to Life branch will partake in a major “life” activity on the 30^th of May in Tignish. It is called “On Fire For Life” and will consist of a Mass in the morning, a prayerful march for life through the streets of Tignish in the afternoon, followed at 4 p.m. by a speaker of national recognition.

They also had a spiritual weekend at the Heritage Inn on March 19,20,and the21st;

Presentations were also made by chapter members to area Confirmation classes; fund raising through fudge sales; and a distribution of “life” materials to the pastors of the area for their homilies.

Bumper stickers with abortion themes are now prominently shown on a significant number of West Prince vehicles. Congratulations!

For further information contact Terry Laming at 902 882-2583

East Prince

Meetings are held on the 3^rd Thursday of each Month beginning in September at St. Paul’s Center in Summerside. They are presently running an awareness program in conjunction with Celebrate Life Week and plan to hold a lottery for the draw to be made at the AGM (24 April, 04).

For further information contact Clara Lawless at 902 887-2519.

Southern Queens

This Branch has been meeting regularly. Their last annual meeting was held in March and Clara Lawless gave a talk on her experience at the 2002 National Convention. They organized Celebrate Life activities last year and expect to be active again this year. They fund-raised at the 20-mile coastal yard sale. Their branch members were also active in writing to their M. P. s on contentious life issues.

For further information contact Fim Visser at 902 651-2226.

back to Newsletter Index

At the Office by Aukje Annema

It has been a busy time at the office with the arrival of the many membership forms. We took a break for two weeks for the Christmas holidays then we got busy with the help of our regular volunteers and some extra help with writing out the receipts and thank you letters. Thank you to these special volunteers and our regular volunteers; without you we couldn’t have done it.

Our membership drive was again very successful. If you misplaced your renewal form or have forgotten about it you can still send it in at this time. Also our memorial donations have been exceptional this year. Thank you all and especially the families of the deceased members for promoting life issues through this means. The memorial cards are available at funeral homes. If you don’t see them, you can ask for them.

Do any of our members have some spare time? Please give us a call; we could use more volunteers. The board is working very hard, but does not always have time to do it all. There is a special need for speakers, people for special projects, and those with computer knowledge, etc. Please come forward to help in any way you can. We would really appreciate it.

We need to speak out and put as much educational materials out there as we can. If you have access to internet, visit www.togetherforlife.ca. The information on this site is exceptional. Also on this web is Denise Mountenay’s book, Forgiven – A True Story. We hope to have the book available in the office prior to her visit in June. Three video-tapes have been ordered of ABCLink, Abortion, Breast Cancer Link, what every woman has the right to know, including Scientific Evidence, Medical Fact & Personal Testimonials of breast cancer survivors. We plan to make these tapes available to the Department of Health and the University of Prince Edward Island students.

Did you know? --that there is an international Right to Life Federation . Dr. John Wilkie is the president and founder. They lobby third world countries and governments and educate through the churches producing materials in many different languages.

--that the RU-486 abortive, the abortion drug of choice of some physicians, claimed its latest victim - a girl 18 years of age from California.

--that in September, 2003, the Canadian Family Action Coalition in cooperation with leaders of several denominations organized simultaneous prayer rallies across Canada. CFAC reported that 100.000 participants publicly prayed for their local MP’s about

the same-sex marriage issue.

--that a poll done by Legere Marketing for Life Canada indicates that 2/3 of Canadians are in sympathy with our views and do not support the current government position on life issues.

--that in April, 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law legislation that makes it a separate crime to harm a fetus during an assault on a pregnant woman, thus giving the fetus its own rights.

Speaking out! Silent no More!

Over the past year we have been in touch with Denise Mountenay with regard to her crusade against post-abortion syndrome. She is the national director of “Silent No More”, a pro-life ministry giving aid and assistance to post abortive women. We tried to have her here last year but the timing conflicted with the visit by Angelina Steenstra. As you might remember Angelina spoke on the same topic at the St. Pius X Hall in June of last year. Presently we are negotiating to have Denise on the Island in June of this Year.

In the personal section of the Guardian Newspaper the P.E.I. Right to Life Association is presently funding an ad supporting Denise’s ministry. It reads, “PROBLEMS after abortion? Infertility Breast Cancer, Depression…

Don’t suffer in silence.

Legal/Medical/Emotional Help.

Confidential and Free.

Denise 1-888-777-5503

Do you have a concern?

Bill-250 would amend the Hate Crime sections of the criminal code to include as a new category “sexual orientation”. This Bill is presently in a committee of Senate and is being discussed prior to being voted on as law. If passed, discussion on any of the issues of gay rights and marriage could be considered “offensive” and a criminal offence. For your information:

Committee Chairman, Senator George Furey
Committee Clerk, Ms. Marcy Zlotnich
Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs
The Senate of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A4
Tel: (613) 943-7865, Fax: (613) 947-2104
Email: leg-jur@sen.parl.gc.ca

Local Senators: Percy Downe, Catherine Callbeck, Eileen Rossiter and Elizabeth Hubley.

The Youth Association

The National Campus Life Network had a Fall Symposium in Toronto. Students from Nova Scotia to B.C. spent a weekend at St. Augustine’s Seminary. This student organization was founded in1997 by 40 young people in Toronto and has grown to be a presence on most college and university campuses. Their web site is www.ncln.ca or email director@ncln.ca. Presently active in U.P.E.I., Dalhousie, Atlantic Baptist, St. Thomas, Universite de Moncton, and U.N.B.

Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus

This caucus is a group of pro-life members of Parliament of any party affiliation that meets regularly to try to impact the legislative and public policy environment in Canada. This

group of MPs has been functioning now for six years and is quite concerned that its existence and effort has not reached many Canadians. They want and indeed need the input of many of the concerned individuals from across the country who believe in the sanctity of life to be effective in their work.

The Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus works out of Room 610, Justice Building, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6.

The Co-Chairs are: Paul Steckle 613-992-8234; Elsie Wayne 613-947-4571 and

Maurice Vellacott 613-992-1899.

Report on Pro-Life Conference

by Hemke and Betty van der Zwaag

In November, 2003, my wife and I went to the Pro-Life Conference in Edmonton, Alberta. This was a real life experience. We were listening to the many speakers and visited seminars. It was a very busy schedule, but most importantly what we saw and heard is how many people and organizations are actively working for the sanctity of all human life, especially the unborn. We met people from various parts of Canada and were impressed that their concerns, as were ours, were that family tradition, morals, and Christian values were being eroded.

They shared with us how important it is to speak out before more values are lost. We listened to Hon. Pat O’Brien, a Liberal MP, who shared how some times he feels lonely sitting in Ottawa, wrestling with faith and politics, which he says cannot be separated. He wonders why church leaders are not speaking out. He shared how Pro-Lifers in government need more support from members of the faith. They need inspiration to maintain the morals of life and traditions of family values, to fight against abortion and same-sex marriage. We also listened to many women who had experienced an abortion, and what they went through. Tears came to many people’s eyes as they spoke. In most cases abortion has ruined their lives until they came in contact with other women and could talk about it, but even more when they found Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. It was amazing how many young people spoke for Pro-Life.

Note: Silence is the worst enemy of Pro-Life. What can we do? Involving ourselves in this issue is an important cause.

If you are a pro-lifer, let us start in PEI; speak out and support this organization with your time and financial help. Thank you for the opportunity we had to go to this conference.

THE BOOK TO READ

By Myrna Dykeman

Pre –Parenting Nurturing Your Child from Conception by Thomas R. Verny, M.D. & Pamela Weintraub

This book can be found in Charlottetown book stores. I bought it personally and I learned ever so much about how very early the unborn baby can feel pain in the womb; how early the unborn baby knows its environment; how early the unborn baby knows its feelings and emotions; how early the unborn baby can hear through the womb sounds and voices from the outside world and recognize its their mother’s voice & how early the unborn baby can remember. We didn’t think unborn babies feel pain, think and can remember in the womb, but experts have proven that they can. Information and memory can be stored in every cell in the body, not just in the brain.

They have also proven the harm done to unborn babies whose mothers are under a lot of stress. The stress related hormones cross through the placenta to the baby as surely as do the chemicals from alcohol and nicotine, causing low birth weight and life-long personality disorders.

Dr. Thomas R. Verny is the world’s leading expert on the effects of the prenatal and early postnatal environment on personality development. He is the founder of what is now known as the Association for Prenatal & Perinatal (post natal) Psychology & Health. Scientific teams at various Hospitals & Universities carried out studies and experiments to prove the facts they learned about Unborn Babies in the womb.

back to Newsletter Index

INDUCED ABORTIONS (2001)

Statistics Canada just released on the 31st of March, 2004, the 2001 figures on induced abortions in Canada. It shows both a record number of abortions (106,418) as well as a record number of repeat abortions (36.8%). The age group of women 20 – 24 years of age is nearly twice the national average in both the ratio of abortions to live births and in the national rate of abortion per 1000 women. One hopeful sign is that the ratio of the number of induced abortions per 100 live births decreased form 32.2in 2000 to 31.9 in 2001.

The number of abortions performed on Prince Edward Island women in hospitals and clinics in the year 2001 was up considerably form the year 2000. The abortions from 1995 to 1999 are as follows; 1994 – 168; 1996 – 190; 1997 – 150; 1998 – 149; 1999 – 145. The majority of the abortions in these statistics are not paid for under the Canada Health Act. In 1999 the number of government-funded abortions was six.

Vol. 4, No. 1 April 2004

P.O. Box 1988, Charlottetown, P.E.I. C1A 7N7

Easy to use references