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- C-268 Gets Moved Up Almost A Month Ahead In Parliament's Schedule! – April 4, 2009
- Child Trafficking Bill To Be Debated – March 31, 2009
- Christian Legal Fellowship – April 6, 2009
- Culture Watch Radio – April 4, 2009
- Has The Christian Right Been Wrong – April 3, 2009
- Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #416 – March 29, 2009
- Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #417 – April 5, 2009
- Next Moral Quagmire – Conscience (a) – April 4, 2009
- Next Moral Quagmire – Conscience (b) – April 4, 2009
- North Dakota To Vote On Declaring Fetus A Person – April 4, 2009
- Push For Euthanasia Could Be The Death Of Us All – April 4, 2009
- Rory Leishman, In Defense Of The Pontiff – March 31, 2009
- Speaking Out Against Filthy TV And Polygamy On The Doorstep – April 4, 2009
- UN Commission Ends With Delegations Saying No To Abortion – April 3, 2009
- Webster Dictionary Redefines Marriage To Include Gays – April 4, 2009
- a
1. C-268 Gets Moved Up Almost A Month Ahead In Parliament's Schedule! – April 4, 2009
Urgent: C-268 Gets Moved Up Almost
A Month Ahead In Parliament's Schedule!
Second Hour Of Debate Is This Wednesday www.4mycanada.ca
Good news! Joy Smith was able to trade her bill up on Parliament's schedule, moving everything forward for C-268 by almost a month!
This means that the second hour of debate is this Wednesday (April 1st) around 6pm. You can watch it live on cpac.ca http://www.cpac.ca . After the debate, there is a two-week break for Parliament where your Member of Parliament will be in your constituency (perfect time to book a meeting with them!) and then second vote will be the week they return on
April 22nd.
The time to move is now: We have uploaded free postcards http://www.4mycanada.ca/Pdf/C-268Postcards.pdf to our website that you can download, print off, and send to every MP asking them to support C-268! Click here to download
http://www.4mycanada.ca/Pdf/C-268Postcards.pdf .
Also, pray about requesting a meeting with your Member of Parliament while they are in their constituency office from April 5-18th (next week and the week following) to honour them for the work they do and share your heart with them on human trafficking.
Action points:
1. Get informed : Click here to go to our Human Trafficking page and get informed on the modern day slave trade. Click here to read C-268.
2. Be a voice: Contact your local Member of Parliament, the Justice Minister, and the Prime Minister and ask them to support Bill C-268. Click here to find your Member of Parliament and set up a meeting with your Member of Parliament between April 5 and 18 th to ask them to support C-268.
3. Write a letter to the editor: Write an article in support of Joy Smith and submit it to your local and national newspapers. Click here to use our letter to the editor tool.
4. Join the movement: Click here to join our Support C-268 Facebook group.
5. Pray: Please pray for C-268 and for Joy Smith (and her staff) consistently between now and April 22nd – for wisdom, favour, grace, support, and energy. Getting a bill passed is like running an election campaign, and as they literally write history and potentially save thousands of children from being trafficked, we want to be backing them in prayer as much as possible. Goal – C-268 passed before summer break!
6. Send a postcard: Send your MP, and all MPs, a postcard asking them to support Bill C-268. Click here to download free postcards that you can print off on photo paper. You do not need a stamp to send mail to the House of Commons! Every MP can be reached at:
Name of MP]
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
2. Child Trafficking Bill To Be Debated – March 31, 2009
Dear friends,
I am delighted inform you that Bill C-268 has been traded up on the list of Private Members Bills. Bill C-268 was to be debated on May 4th but will now be debated tomorrow, April 1st.
This is wonderful news as it allows this issue to be kept at the forefront of the Parliamentary Agenda. After its debate tomorrow, Bill C-268 will be voted on April 22nd and, if successful, will proceed to the Standing Committee on Human Rights and Justice.
In advance of the vote on April 22nd, it will be important to keep a strong focus on this Bill and the issue of human trafficking. Parliament will have a two week break over the Easter holidays. During this time, I would ask that you take a moment or two to call, write, or meet with your local M.P. to ask them to vote in support of Bill C-268 on April 22nd.
Human trafficking is a vicious crime and has devastating physical and psychological impacts on its victims, especially children. Canada remains one of the few developed countries that does not have enhanced penalties for the trafficking of children. Through a concerted effort, we can change this!
Thank you to everyone who has worked hard over the past few weeks to raise awareness over about Bill C-268 and human trafficking in Canada. I have been so encouraged by the letters, emails, and petitions that have come in.
Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Joy Smith, MP
Kildonan - St. Paul
3. Christian Legal Fellowship – April 6, 2009
Christian Legal Fellowship
Alliance des chretiens en droit
Phone: (519) 641-8850 Fax: (519) 641-8866
www.christianlegalfellowship.org
2008 Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF). All rights reserved. CLF shall not be liable for any errors or omissions in the content of this publication or for any actions taken or not taken in reliance upon any article or advertisement herein. The contents are intended for general information purposes only and under no circumstances are intended for or can be relied upon for legal advice. You are receiving this Journal as a member of the Christian Legal Fellowship or as someone who has expressed an interest in our organization. Your views and comments are welcome.
Learn more about the Christian Legal Fellowship
Make a Donation to Support Our Work
The Christian Legal Fellowship, founded in 1978, is a national not-for-profit association of legal professionals in Canada. The association, among other functions, explores the complex interrelationships between the practice and theory of law and Christian faith. The Fellowship, while having no denominational affiliation, has more than 540 active members from several dozen Christian denominations and consists of lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students, working in association with many friends, organizations and lay people, to integrate our Christian faith with law. We would be delighted to have you join us. Just click here to do so. Or click here to download an online application form.
4. Culture Watch Radio – April 4, 2009
Praying at the gates of hell was what Father Frank Pavone, national director of U.S. Priests for Life, did when he came to Toronto last year. Originally scheduled to speak at another event the next day, Pavone took time the day before to join members of the Aid to Women crisis pregnancy agency and other pro-life people outside the "Cabbagetown Women's Clinic," a late-term abortion site in downtown Toronto that particularly targets poor women from immigrant communities in a rundown part of town. Listen to Pavone lead impassioned prayers and songs for the closure of the site, as well as for the human beings who have had their lives snuffed out there and the mothers who have been victimized. He also gives a dramatic role call of the many women whose names have been forgotten by the mainstream media, but who went into abortion sites only to never emerge, for their abortion procedures killed them.
Culture Watch examines important news, issues and events from a Catholic-Christian perspective on HMWN Radio Maria, which can be heard via live streaming on the internet through website www.hmwn.net and clicking on the “Listen Live” icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
The program airs live the second and fourth Thursday of every month from 6:05 – 7:05 p.m., with repeats on the first, third and fifth Tuesday of every month from 11 a.m. – 12 noon, as well as on the fifth Thursday of every month (if there is one).
(Over regular airwaves, Radio Maria broadcasts using a sub-carrier frequency of FM radio station CFNY 102.1 in Toronto. To be able to pick up this sub-frequency, one must have a special radio, which is available through the station.)
A number of new programs have been added to the on-demand Culture Watch audio archive, which can be accessed through the website at: http://hmwn.net/audioarchive.
Select the “Culture Watch” or “Tony Gosgnach” buttons in the left-hand column of the media player and a list of available programs will come up in the right-hand column.
The newest archived programs include:
March 12, 2009 – Former MP Tom Wappel
February 26, 2009 – Pro-life students at the University of Calgary charged with trespassing
February 12, 2009 – Dr. Jerome Corsi on Barack Obama’s first days in office
January 22, 2008 – Former abortionist Bernard Nathanson and singer Elizabeth Schmeidler
January 8, 2009 – Dr. Paul Ranalli on fetal pain
December 11, 2008 – A trip to the Holy Land
November 27, 2008 – Who is Barack Hussein Obama? with Dr. Jerome Corsi
October 23, 2008 – Cathedral of Christ the King’s 75 th anniversary and the International Pro-Life Conference 2008
October 9, 2008 – Bishop Anthony Tonnos 25 th anniversary, human rights update with Fr. Alphonse de Valk and Peter Boushy on Hamilton pro-life bus shelter ads
September 11, 2008 – Interview with author William Gairdner
The Culture Watch radio program is presented in co-operation with The Interim, Canada's life and family newspaper (www.theinterim.ca), and Catholic Insight, the monthly magazine on religious, social and cultural issues from an orthodox Catholic perspective (www.catholicinsight.com).
See the blog at: http://dispel-the-illusion.blogspot.com/
5. Has The Christian Right Been Wrong – April 3, 2009
Posted in: Guest Commentary By Lee Duigon on Friday, April 03, 2009
One of the most thought-provoking conversations an American Christian can hope to hear occurred recently when an Iowa talk radio host, Steve Deace, confronted a major honcho of the Christian Right. Because the honcho thought it was an “ambush interview,” and hence unfair, his name shall not be mentioned here. Besides which, his position and his attitude are shared by many. He need not be embarrassed for their sake.
I sympathize with the honcho squirming on the griddle. How do you respond when someone tells you that your whole life's work has been a waste of time and effort?
At issue was the Christian Right's political support of ersatz “conservatives” like Mitt Romney and John McCain. The honcho's position was that politics being what it is, Christians and Christian organizations who get involved in politics must learn to compromise—to support a candidate who is a little less than perfect, or even a lot less than perfect, so as to prevent the election of someone who's a great deal worse.
But Deace argued that continually accepting the lesser of two evils, politically, has boiled down the good in American politics until it's virtually undetectable. Christians, he said, should stand up for God-given principles and never compromise. If you keep on giving away half the loaf, you end up with nothing but a crumb.
Continued... Click here for link.
Copyright by Lee Duigon
Lee Duigon is a Christian free-lance writer whose work can be seen regularly at http://www.chalcedon.edu/.
6. Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #416 – March 29, 2009
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.LifeIssues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
Brazil and Embryonic Stem Cell Research: By vote of 6-5, Brazil's Supreme Court held that killing five-day-old embryos to obtain embryonic stem cells for research was to be permitted in that country. In recent months there has been a move in Brazil to legalize abortion; however, opinion polls show that almost 70% of the nation opposes decriminalization.
Morning-After Pills Abortive? – Vatican Speaks: In December, the Vatican published a document, Dignitatis Personae, which condemned the use of morning-after pills as being "gravely immoral and falling within the sin of abortion." We note that certain Catholic hospitals do give this to women who are victims of rape. The statement which legally only applies to Catholic as a moral issue, nevertheless, speaks to the scientific facts of the matter. The morning-after pill it states, if taken within 72 hours after intercourse, can inhibit a future ovulation, but it also thins the lining of the uterus. This can cause an already conceived human embryo to fail to implant, and therefore die. It calls this use of the pill "interceptive."
It further states, to justify such use, some have stated that this function is not sufficiently understood. It is true that there is not always complete knowledge of the way different pharmaceuticals operate, but scientific studies indicate that the effect of inhibiting implantation is certainly present, even if not in every instance. It is also noted that conception also does not occur after every sex act. So, this is a word to loyal Catholics but also is information that is relevant to all people.
God Bless, Jerry Novotny, OMI
Action: Health Care Providers and Doctors need your help now! If you have never written an email in you life, now is the time to do it. Go to Conscience Protection or go to Freedom Two Care to help Pro Life Doctors have a choice.
Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #416 – March 29, 2009
Table Of Contents:
1. Teens' Abortion Technique: Drink Poisonous Mixture
2. Uruguay Congress Approves Bill Allowing Patient's Withdrawal Of Medical Treatment
3. STDs A Growing Trend Among America's Youth
4. Birth Report Bodes Poorly For Children, Society
5. IVF Watchdog To Warn Of [30% Higher] Birth Defect Risks
6. As Media Lashing Continues, Harvard Scientist Backs Pontiff
7. Judge Orders Morning-After Pill Be Made Available To Teen Girls
8. Indian Bishops Denounce Papal Critics
9. Response To Dr. Sullivan's "Doubts" About Hormonal 'Contraceptives'"
10. New UN Push For Abortion Expected At 15th Anniversary Of Cairo Conference
11. "Too Many Catholics Just Don't Really Care"
12. Pluripotent Self-Delusion
Focus On Asia: "India: Man arrested for running human-trafficking racket" – A man was arrested for allegedly running a human-trafficking racket and sending people to Europe using forged documents, police said.
Item #1. Teens' Abortion Technique: Drink Poisonous Mixture
"What kind of world have we created for these girls that they're drinking poison and risking death in these modern-day back-alley abortions, rather than bear their child in love," asked Judie Brown, president of the American Life League.
View full article at WorldNetDaily.
Item #2. Uruguay Congress Approves Bill Allowing Patient's Withdrawal Of Medical Treatment
It is often said that every man has his price. In this age it seems that even moral absolutes have their price in the minds of many. Actions are viewed as morally wrong only until I decide that the action would have sufficient benefits for me. This is the moral relativism we have often heard our present and our previous Holy Fathers condemn. This approach to morality has led our society into actions many of us would never have imagined possible.
View full article at LifeNews.com.
Item #3. STDs A Growing Trend Among America's Youth
"We have said to a whole generation, almost two generations now, of young people, 'Just be careful and use a condom,' and that's the only advice we are giving them," she adds, "and I think that's so unfair and it's so misleading for our young people because we're downplaying the consequences of casual sex." The only way to prevent STDs and pregnancy, says Crouse, is abstinence.
View full article at OneNewsNow.
Item #4. Birth Report Bodes Poorly For Children, Society
Federal researchers are saying that 2007 saw more babies born than any other year in U.S. history. While the report indicates the U.S. population is more than replacing itself, it also found that teen pregnancies were up – and a whopping 40 percent of births occurred out of wedlock.
View full article at OneNewsNow.
Item #5. IVF Watchdog To Warn Of [30% Higher] Birth Defect Risks
Couples seeking IVF treatment are to be warned for the first time that their children have a higher risk of suffering birth defects, disability and life-threatening conditions. The alert by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the government's watchdog on fertility issues, follows a US study indicating test-tube babies are at a 30% greater risk of suffering from conditions such as cleft palates and defects with heart valves and the digestive system than children conceived naturally.
View full article at Guardian.
Item #6. As Media Lashing Continues, Harvard Scientist Backs Pontiff
What should I say? What would you like me to say?
Pope Benedict's comments on AIDS and condoms continued to garner criticism from editorial pages and health officials. Calling the pope "absolutely and unequivocally wrong," Guyana's Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy said, "Whilst I would hope that Catholics would continue to be extremely supportive of their Church and the pope ... on this issue, they (should) rely on the evidence, and we need at this time to come out forcefully with the evidence to demonstrate that condoms and lifestyle matter."
However, Dr. Edward Green – Director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard School of Public Health and Center for Population and Development Studies – came to the pontiff's defense, as did some newspaper columnists. "The pope is correct," said Dr. Green, "or [to] put it a better way, the best evidence we have supports the pope's comments."
See the full article at Catholic Culture.
Item #7. Judge Orders Morning-After Pill Be Made Available To Teen Girls
In the not-too-distant future, girls across the U.S. likely will be able to get the so-called morning-after pill without anyone's knowledge.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make the morning-after pill available to 17-year-olds without a doctor's visit or prescription – and without parental consent. Korman also asked the FDA to consider making the drug – which is sold under the name Plan B – available to girls of all ages
See full article at BBC News.
Item #8. Indian Bishops Denounce Papal Critics
The Catholic Bishops Conference of India has denounced media criticism of Pope Benedict XVI.
"Pope Benedict XVI is one of the leading intellectuals of the modern times, who is fully aware of the modern trends that forebode moral degradation for humankind in the course of time," the bishops said in a March 24 statement. "It is the moral duty of His Holiness to direct and guide the consciences of people in general and of Catholics, in particular."
Full viewing at Catholic Culture.
Item #9. Response To Dr. Sullivan's "Doubts" About Hormonal 'Contraceptives'"
Oddly enough, several related issues involving the early human embryo and the use of various "abortifacients" that apparently had been laid to rest for several years are currently having a "rebirth", if you will. For example, if ovulation and fertilization have taken place, could the use of such "contraceptives" also be abortifacient and thus cause the death of this early developing human embryo either while still in the woman's Fallopian tube or when attempting to implant in her uterus? Or is there sufficient Doubt about this to justify their use?
View entire text at LifeIssues.net.
Item #10. New UN Push For Abortion Expected At 15th Anniversary Of Cairo Conference
As the UN marks the 15th anniversary of the "Cairo Conference"-- the International Conference on Population and Development – pro-life advocates fear that advocates of strict population control will renew their effort – unsuccessful at Cairo – to obtain UN recognition for a global "right" to abortion.
View entire text at Catholic Culture.
Item #11. "Too Many Catholics Just Don't Really Care"
Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput delivered a speech over the weekend at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit in which he reflected on the significance of the November 2008 election. Warning that media "narratives" should not obscure truth, he blamed the indifference and complacency of many U.S. Catholics for the country's failures on abortion, poverty and immigration issues.
He also advised Catholics to "master the language of popular culture" and to refuse to be afraid, saying "fear is the disease of our age."
View entire text at California Catholic Daily.
Item #12. Pluripotent Self-Delusion
Embryonic-stem-cell research tramples upon human dignity.
View entire text at NRO.
You Can Change Society:
1. Be Informed: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Visit Lifeissues.net Website for insights into current Life Issues . All prior e-mail Newsletters Archives are located online.
2. Pray Daily: for the courage to be God's presence in society and to strongly support those who are deemed "unworthy of life". "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.
3. Become Involved: Several years ago Fr. Jerry created a project entitled, "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia". It is a project which appeals for donations to help finance plane travel for lectures and seminars to developing countries in Asia. Strong focus is placed on reaching Asian Catholic Major Seminaries, Universities, Parishes, Hospitals and Family/Pro Life related groups. The lectures place emphasis on "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues Trends and Challenges".
For information about no-cost Pro Life Talks to your group in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry at jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp.
To become a supportive Missionary participant for this Asian project, kindly send your donations to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; (or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824).
Contact Editor: Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail:jerry@lifeissues.net (or)jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp.
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site:http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html.
7. Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #417 – April 5, 2009
Greetings from LifeIssues.net (www.LifeIssues.net)
Dear Friends for Life,
Sweden: More Morning-After Pills, More Abortions. Directly contrary to earlier predictions by pro-abortion authorities, the number of abortions in Sweden has increased 17% from 2000 to 2007. During this same period, sales of the morning-after pill also increased dramatically. This pill was legally sold over the counter after 2001 with the assurance that it would reduce abortions. But as has happened in other nations, exactly the opposite has occurred.
Teens suffer more from abortions. In a study entitled, "Detrimental Effects of Adolescent Abortions," by A. Sobie and D. Reardon, comparing them to adult women, teens are:
Kindly share this study with your young people. Thank you.
God Bless, Jerry Novotny, OMI
A thought for today: If people contemplate and really see the sanctity of life, their "quality of life" arguments fall away and they will understand that we are here to care for each other, not to kill each other. Caring, and not convenience, is the sign of a civilized and just society! – Ron Panzer
Lifeissues.Net Newsletter #417 – April 5, 2009
Table Of Contents:
1. Gallup: Catholics More Likely To Believe Abortion, Homosexual Acts Are Morally Acceptable
2. More Evidence That Canadian Bishops' Office Involved In Abortion; Agency Denies Charge
3. Brazil's Fertility Falls Below Two-Child Average
4. Majority Of Doctors Opposed To Assisted Suicide
5. Abortion: A Foreign Concept
6. Five Foot Two, Eyes Of Blue: Designer Babies
7. Contemptible Distortions And Delusions
8. The Pope's Critics Are In The Grip Of Dogma
9. Catholic College Bars Student's Free Condoms
10. Top Irish Scientist Questions UK Human Embryo Experiments
11. Thousands Of Anti-FOCA Postcards Delivered To Congress
12. Countries Face Off At United Nations Conference On Population Control And Abortion
Item #1. Gallup: Catholics More Likely To Believe Abortion, Homosexual Acts Are Morally Acceptable
An analysis of Gallup surveys conducted in 2006, 2007, and 2008 has found that Catholics are more likely to believe that abortion, sexual relations between unmarried people, divorce, embryonic stem cell research, and homosexual relations are morally acceptable than are non-Catholics. Although practicing Catholics are more likely than the non-Catholic population as a whole to adhere to Catholic and traditional Christian teaching on these matters, they are less likely to believe these acts are immoral than are non-Catholics who attend church regularly. For example, 53% of Catholics who attend church regularly believe that sexual relations between unmarried people is morally acceptable -- compared to 30% of non-Catholics who attend church regularly.
View full article at Catholic Culture.
Item #2. More Evidence That Canadian Bishops' Office Involved In Abortion; Agency Denies Charge
The Canadian bishops' Development and Peace (D&P) office has released a statement defending itself against charges that it has provided funding for pro-abortion activist groups in Latin America. "Nothing could be further from the truth," insists Pat Hogan of the D&P national council. But LifeSite News, which first unearthed evidence of the D&P connections, cites mounting evidence that the office has funded advocacy groups – and indeed has suspended that funding for Mexican groups mentioned in the LifeSite expos’s. LifeSite goes on to connect D&P with groups supporting legal abortion in Haiti, bringing "the total number of confirmed pro-abortion groups funded by D&P to twelve, including five in Mexico, two in Brazil, three in Africa, and two in Haiti."
View full article at Catholic Culture.
Item #3. Brazil's Fertility Falls Below Two-Child Average
(February 2009) Recent population estimates from Brazil's national statistical office (IBGE) peg the national fertility rate at just 1.9 lifetime children per woman in 2007, lower than previous rates estimated by the UN, the U.S. Census Bureau, PRB, and other international organizations that estimate population measures. Notably, this new estimate is below the long-term replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman and below the 2.1 estimated for the United States in 2007.
View full article at Population Reference Bureau .
Item #4. Majority Of Doctors Opposed To Assisted Suicide
Only a third of doctors (34%) are in favour of the legalization of euthanasia and 35% in favour of assisted suicide, Seale's work shows. That contrasts with 82% and 62% respectively of the general public who were asked exactly the same questions in the survey.
View full article at guardian.co.uk .
Item #5. Abortion: A Foreign Concept (Planned Parenthood)
The most recognizable face in President Obama's cabinet, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, basked in the adoration of Planned Parenthood last Friday in Houston as she accepted the group's highest honor, the Margaret Sanger Award. During her remarks, the country's chief diplomat promised to live up to Sanger's legacy by making international family planning (including abortion) a top global policy goal. "I want to assure you that reproductive rights...will be a key to the foreign policy of this administration." The unofficial ambassador for abortion gushed about Sanger, the award's namesake and Planned Parenthood's founder.
"I admire Margaret Sanger enormously, her courage, her tenacity, her vision," said Clinton. While Planned Parenthood may downplay Sanger's real vision – racial eugenics – her other objective, "unlimited sexual gratification without the burden of unwanted children...," has been at the heart of the organization's modern mission. That work – "Margaret Sanger's work" – "is not yet done," said Hillary Clinton. She described a new age of integrating "family planning" and diplomacy. "At the end of the next four years, I hope we'll be able to look around the world and see that... organizations like Planned Parenthood will be our partners."
With women like Hillary Clinton in key posts, the greatest obstacle for pro-life groups may not be pro-abortion leaders who lobby the government, but pro-abortion leaders who are now a part of the government. None of us can afford to stand on the sidelines as the government actively works against pro-lifers and the growing network of pregnancy resource centers.
View full article at Family Research Center .
Item #6. Five Foot Two, Eyes Of Blue: Designer Babies
Note: Since recording this script, the fertility clinic in Los Angeles, which announced in February that it would be allowing couples to pre-select embryos based on gender, hair, and eye color, has retracted the hair and eye color pre-selection option due to public outcry. While BreakPoint is encouraged to hear that the company has changed these practices, the issue addressed in this commentary still remains a very real threat -- one that Christians should speak out on.
See the full article at BreakPoint .
Item #7. Contemptible Distortions And Delusions
In the not-too-distant future, girls across the U.S. likely will be able to get the so-called morning-after pill without anyone's knowledge.
Today, rather than clarity and pride in all things Catholic, there is dilution of what it means to be Catholic and an obvious hesitation on the part of those who lead the Church to throw down the gauntlet and demand of Catholics adherence to Church teaching. On the subject of Obama and the "honorary degree" from Notre Dame, one would have hoped that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops would have come down hard on the administration of Notre Dame. The USCCB should make it clear that either Notre Dame rescind the invitation, or remove the word "Catholic" from any description of this football bastion that might have actually been genuinely Catholic at some point. But no, the USCCB has been eerily silent. Strange, isn't it....
Full article at LifeIssues.net .
Item #8. The Pope's Critics Are In The Grip Of Dogma
[Condoms are not the only way to combat Aids in Africa, says Anthony McCarthy, and the Pope is right to focus on abstinence and monogamy.]
The Pope has, again, made a "controversial" statement that has provoked "outrage". He spoke of humanizing sexuality, i.e. treating sexual activity as an expression of fully human and committed love. That message certainly is controversial to modern ears – as was Christ's own upholding of the sanctity of marriage and condemnation of sexual activity damaging of commitment to it. Researchers at the Harvard AIDS Prevention Research Project recently reminded us that in every African country in which HIV infections have declined, this decline has been associated with a decrease in multiple partners and often premarital sex as well. This is not true of use of condoms.
Full viewing at Telegraph.co.uk .
Item #9. Catholic College Bars Student's Free Condoms
"We're a private Catholic college," Martin McGovern, Stonehill's spokesman, said yesterday. "We make no secret of our religious affiliation, and our belief system is fairly straightforward. We don't expect everyone on campus to agree with our beliefs, but we would ask people, and students in particular, to respect them."
McGovern said the college's policy follows church teachings, which oppose use of artificial contraception. Most Catholic colleges do not distribute birth control on campus.
View entire text at boston.com
Item #10. Top Irish Scientist Questions UK Human Embryo Experiments
British scientists will experiment on embryonic stem cells and tissue from aborted babies in an attempt to create synthetic human blood. Announcing plans this week for a major research project over the next three years, scientists asserted that experimenting with "spare" IVF embryonic humans would let them explore the possibility of creating a limitless supply of blood, free of impurities and infections.
View entire text at Family and Life
Item #11. Thousands Of Anti-FOCA Postcards Delivered To Congress
On a cool and rainy afternoon last week, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde visited Virginia's Democratic Sens. James Webb and Mark Warner to demonstrate Catholic opposition to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) and any similar legislation. The bishop was accompanied by Father Richard Mullins, Arlington diocesan director of Multicultural Ministries, and Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist Sister Clare Hunter, director of the Respect Life Office,
They brought 189,000 postcards that were the result of participation in a nationwide campaign by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to prevent the passage of FOCA. The local effort was coordinated by the diocesan Respect Life Office. The two senators received approximately 63,000 cards each while U.S. Reps. Gerald Connolly, Jim Moran, Frank Wolf, Bob Goodlatte, Eric Cantor and Rob Wittman will split the remaining 63,000.
The bishops state that FOCA goes far beyond even Roe v. Wade in allowing and promoting abortion, and would lead to the elimination of informed consent laws, partial birth-abortion bans, abortion clinic regulations and conscience protection laws.
View entire text at Catholic Herald .
Item #12. Countries Face Off At United Nations Conference On Population Control And Abortion
As the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) meets at the United Nations (UN) this week to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held at Cairo, fault lines have appeared between states that see people as a resource to be promoted, and those that see people as a burden to be controlled.
View entire text at LifeNews.com .
You Can Change Society:
1. Be Informed: "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6. Visit Lifeissues.net Website for insights into current Life Issues . All prior email Newsletters Archives are located online.
2. Pray Daily: for the courage to be God's presence in society and to strongly support those who are deemed "unworthy of life". "If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.
3. Become Involved: Several years ago Fr. Jerry created a project entitled, "Journey for Life into the Heart of Asia". It is a project which appeals for donations to help finance plane travel for lectures and seminars to developing countries in Asia. Strong focus is placed on reaching Asian Catholic Major Seminaries, Universities, Parishes, Hospitals and Family/Pro Life related groups. The lectures place emphasis on "The Asian Family at Crossroads: Life Issues Trends and Challenges".
For information about no-cost Pro Life Talks to your group in Asia: contact Fr. Jerry at jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp.
To become a supportive Missionary participant for this Asian project, kindly send your donations to: Fr. Jerry Novotny, OMI; LifeIssues.net, Editor; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; (or transfer donation directly to ProLife bank account: Jerome Novotny, Shikoku Bank, Asakura Branch, No. 102-1-0080824).
Contact Editor: Jerry Novotny, OMI; Akebono-cho 1-15-9; Kochi City, Japan, 780-8072; Tel/Fax: 088-843-0406; E-Mail: jerry@lifeissues.net (or) jerry@shirt.ocn.ne.jp.
Websites by Editor:
English LifeIssues Site: http://www.lifeissues.net,
Japanese LifeIssues Site: http://www.japan-lifeissues.net,
OMI Site: http://www.omijapankorea.net/index.html.
8. Next Moral Quagmire – Conscience (a) – April 4, 2009
Thank you Charles Lewis once again for an excellent and timely article on a very important issue! Although it is inaccurate to say that I ever raised the ire of customers and colleagues over refusing to fill prescriptions for morning-after pills, it is true to say that I refuse to fill them or to refer for the drug for the reasons stated in the article. It was in Toronto that a colleague suggested I leave my beliefs at the door and in Vancouver that a pharmacy manager warned me about “imposing my morality”, after which I was let go under other pretexts. Why is this significant? Because this is a national problem for pharmacists, and not limited to Calgary, where yet another pharmacist, Maria Bizecki suffered a lengthy suspension from her job for kindly asking a customer to come back for the product she requested next day when someone else would be all too happy to meet her needs.
See more…
http://conscience-and-healthcare.blogspot.com/
Cristina Alarcon
9. Next Moral Quagmire – Conscience (b) – April 4, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009 – Presented by 
Politics collides with freedom of workers' beliefs
Charles Lewis, National Post
Handout
Dr. David Stevens worries Barack Obama is about to end his medical career.
As a family practitioner and a devout Christian, the Tennessee doctor has been able to cite an existing conscience protection for health workers to avoid doing anything that clashes with his beliefs. But with Mr. Obama looking at rolling back these conscience protections, Dr. Stevens says he isn't sure if he would go on practicing medicine.
"If it happens, I would have to scale back my practice or quit," said Dr. Stevens, head of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations.
"This is important to me because I'm a professional; I professed how I was going to use the powerful knowledge I got in medical school. I wasn't going to do abortions.... I was always going to preserve life.
"What does the free exercise of religion mean if I cannot follow my conscience? It becomes meaningless if you try to privatize beliefs where they have no bearing on action."
This is a battle being played out in different ways across North America, as dissenting voices like those of Dr. Stevens reflect what happens when the legal rights of society bump up against personal conscience.
There have always been such voices of dissent – Catholics in Protestant England, Jehovah's Witnesses in Catholic Quebec, conscripted soldiers who refuse to go to war – but as our society becomes increasingly rights-focused, is there less tolerance for acts of conscience?
Just consider: On Canadian university campuses antiabortion groups are successfully being shut down by students unions.
In Ontario, the licensing body for the province's doctors attempted to strip away the right of physicians to refuse abortion referral and other procedures that go against their conscience.
Last year, an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal forced a conservative religious charitable group, which cares for thousands of severely disabled individuals, to pay damages to a gay employee who violated the group's morals clause.
Pharmacists with strong religious beliefs have lost their jobs for refusing to bend their conscience. At one pharmacy in Vancouver, Cristina Alarcon, a Catholic, was told she was trying to impose her morality on others and she was eventually let go. After moving on to a new place of work, a colleague said it was best to follow her example and leave her religion at the door. "I could not and would not follow her example, as my peace of mind and unity of life were more important to me than my job or even my life itself," Ms. Alarcon said.
That is also the stance of religious health-care workers in the United States, like Dr. Stevens, who fear that without the existing regulations, they would no longer be able to opt out of abortions or sterilization procedures or other things that go against their religious or moral convictions.
Opponents of the conscience regulation say existing civil rights laws already provide ample protection against discrimination based on religion and argue that stripping the regulations will bolster health-care rights for all.
On the other side, there is now a growing chorus of voices warning that the suppression of dissent is eroding the very underpinnings of a free society.
"The reason we protect conscience is not because everyone agrees with everyone all the time but because it's massively damaging to the body politic when the state is put into opposition with people's closely held religious beliefs or conscientious beliefs," said Eric Rassbach, national litigation director for the Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
He thinks many Canadians and Americans suffer from short memory or a lack of basic history.
"Why did so many religious minorities flee Europe to come to North America? It was because their consciences were being violated and they were being persecuted for what they believed to be true. We don't ask if [those fleeing Europe] had an accurate viewpoint. We don't ask if it made sense for the Pilgrims to think as they did.... We just say it was bad they were being persecuted because they had these beliefs in England and isn't it great they could come over here and live out their lives in relative peace."
Iain Benson, the director of the Centre for Cultural Renewal, an Ottawa-based think tank focused on religion and public policy, said dominant groups have always attempted to shut down dissenting opinion in the name of protecting societal norms and rights. In another age, it was religion that played the oppressive role, dictating aspects of law, politics and public education.
"The form it takes now, in an age dominated by post-religious viewpoints, is a kind of 'atheistic theocracy' that poses just as real a threat to divergent beliefs as the old kinds of theocracy," Mr. Benson said.
"The courts have long said one of the key aspects about freedom of expression is that it protects 'the search for truth.' This is important because only by keeping alive a vibrant open society that allows debate and differences can citizens keep alive certain kinds of disagreements.... On controversial matters, however, those who seek one-size-fits-all will oppose genuine diversity."
Canadian author and ethicist Margaret Somerville, who has been banned on some campuses for her stand against gay marriage, said one of the classic strategies used to quiet dissenters is narrowing every debate to two answers, with no room for nuance or shades of grey.
"I'm anti-discrimination against gays but anti same-sex marriage, but that position is not allowed to be considered," she said. "You can only be pro gay rights and pro gay marriage or the opposite on both."
"Speaking against abortion or same-sex marriage is characterized as a sexist act or discriminatory act against homosexuals, therefore a breach of human rights or even a hate crime. This is a new form of fundamentalism."
Mr. Rassbach notes that the right of conscientious objection has long been a tradition in the United States and is generally respected, even in the military, as long it can be proven to be sincere.
"So, on one hand, people will agree with that because they'll say it's all right to be pacifist about things, but then when someone says, 'I don't participate in a particular procedure, be it abortion, or providing certain kinds of contraception,' then suddenly they're being moralistic and there's a problem there."
His group, the Becket Fund, takes on all sorts of cases in which religious liberty is being violated. He notes the case of an orthodox Jew who was in prison in Texas and wanted kosher food. The prison system refused. The Becket Fund took up his case and helped the prisoner get a diet that did not offend his religious beliefs.
"That's a conscience issue, too," said Mr. Rassbach. "Most people could understand that is doesn't make any sense to force someone to eat something they think is defiling them from a religious point of view. It is the same thing for those opposed to abortion and contraception."
People who have exercised their conscience through history are often admired in the long run. While it may seem a stretch, Martin Luther, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and even Joan of Arc were all considered irritants to the public good. But they were admired because even their enemies had to give a grudging respect for their being true to themselves – and paying the price.
"Conscience is the most sacred part about us," Moira Mc-Queen, a Catholic moral theologian in Toronto. "And that's why it's given this respect, as long as it's informed."
Lawyer Alan Borovoy, head of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, believes conscience should generally be protected when it is possible.
"If there's an overriding societal interest ... and there's a conflict, there may be an argument for overriding the conscience right, but only to the extent it's necessary for that overriding interest. The test is: Is there a reasonable alternative to what is being proposed to the encroachment of conscience."
By way of analogy, he described the case of a Toronto police officer who opposed abortion and so did not want to stand guard outside the Morgentaler abortion clinic.
"I took the position that cops can't pick and choose whose rights they protect and whose rights they don't. But in Toronto, with so many police officers, it shouldn't have been difficult for another officer to do that duty. But that might not be the same answer if it had been a small town.
"I went to bat for that cop even as I simultaneously articulated the principle that his first duty was to provide that protection."
Ms. McQueen said the problem today is that people often think of conscience as something additional to their personality.
"A moral stance, a conscience stance, I see as being constitutive of a human person just as much as my ethnic background or gender. My conscience is who I am at a different level," she said. "I am not allowed to be discriminated against because
I'm a Catholic and a woman. Then why is my conscience – which is not an add-on – why is that not protected?"
That is exactly the point of Ms. Alarcon, the Vancouver pharmacist, who raised the ire of customers and colleagues alike for refusing to fill prescriptions for morning-after pills, or even making a referral for the drug, because that would be "co-operation with evil."
"I'm not saying to the person, you can't have it, I'm saying you can't have it from me," she said. "No one should be denied the ability to live a unity of life, whereby we say what we mean and we mean what we say, and we live with integrity and not as fragmented individuals. Denial of freedom of conscience is the beginning of the end of a mature democracy. [Without it] we would all become like robots."
© 2009 The National Post Company. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
10. North Dakota To Vote On Declaring Fetus A Person – April 4, 2009
'Personhood bill' – Charles Lewis, National Post
North Dakota, with its deeply rooted conservative politics and piety, may soon pass the most radical anti-abortion legislation in the United States.
In the next few days, the state Senate will vote on a "personhood bill" that would declare a fertilized egg a human being. If passed, it would apply all criminal laws now on the books – from murder to assault and prohibitions on slavery – to an embryo or a fetus. The law would also likely end in-vitro fertilization and embryonic stem-cell research in the state.
Activists see North Dakota as the perfect place to attempt such far-reaching legislation, part of a broader strategy to circumvent Roe v. Wade.
"The main strength of doing this approach is it defines when life begins then applies the protections of our existing laws to that life," said state Representative Dan Ruby, a father of 10 and the bill's author. He also said it would be more effective in facing a challenge under Roe v. Wade, which made the right to abortion the law of the land in 1973.
His ideological opponent, Tim Stanley of the local Planned Parenthood chapter, agrees the bill would have enormous breadth.
Continued.... http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1457860
11. Push For Euthanasia Could Be The Death Of Us All – April 4, 2009
How far do we want laws to go on 'death with dignity' and assisted suicide?
By Hugh Anderson, The Gazette
Imagine carrying around with you at all times a sort of get-out-of-hospital-alive card, sometimes called a sanctuary card. Its message: I do not want to be killed even though my quality of life seems to you to be unbearable.
Hard to imagine? In Holland and Belgium right now such cards are in demand. They may become essential in the not too distant future for seniors in Quebec and other parts of Canada and the U.S. who do not want to die before their time because other people believe that killing you is in your best interest, or that you should be assisted to kill yourself.
A majority of voters in Washington state recently approved allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs on request, under certain conditions. The Death With Dignity Act that emerged is now law in the state. So Washington has become the second U.S. state to sanction assisted suicide, joining Oregon. Similar legislation is being advocated in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Mexico, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
In Canada, actively assisting somebody else to commit suicide remains a crime, punishable by up to 14 years in jail. A third attempt by Bloc Québécois MP Francine Lalonde to move a private member's bill through Parliament is getting under way. Her previous bill would have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide for people suffering from chronic physical or mental pain. Nor was it limited to terminal illness.
A Quebec jury recently refused to convict a young man for helping his uncle to commit suicide. The uncle had been disabled by poliomyelitis as a child and was confined to a wheelchair. His condition was not terminal, but he had badgered his nephew for a long time to help him die.
The Washington vote has changed things, warns Alex Schadenberg, head of Canada's Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. The idea had been turned down in earlier state votes. "I have a feeling that euthanasia and assisted suicide supporters believe they are on a roll," he says.
The strange thing is that we do have an ominous real-life or real-death demonstration of what this kind of thing can lead to. Holland legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide three decades ago, first in practice and later by law. Advocates said it would be limited to competent adults who are terminally ill and ask to be killed. Then it was extended to competent adults with incurable illnesses or disabilities, although not terminally ill. Then it was extended to competent adults who were depressed but otherwise not physically ill. Then it was extended to incompetent adult patients like Alzheimer's sufferers, on the basis that they would have asked for death if they were competent.
And now it is legal for doctors in Holland to kill infants, if parents agree, if they believe their patients' suffering is intolerable or incurable. This is a long way from the soothing image of an elderly person choosing with full understanding to die with dignity, assisted by compassionate relatives and friends.
Then there are such places as Dignitas, one of the Swiss assisted-suicide clinics. An investigation by a British newspaper found that those who could afford the high fee could fly in and be killed within an hour or two. A whistle-blowing former employee said she had seen new arrivals sharing the same elevator with gurneys removing the bodies of earlier arrivals.
Yes, but there are safeguards, advocates of assisted suicide and euthanasia argue. Indeed there are – on paper. Experience indicates that they are frail bulwarks against abuse, however, especially as health care systems struggle to cope with soaring demand and budget shortfalls.
Oregon health authorities have admitted that they have refused to pay for an expensive new drug while simultaneously offering the patient a cheaper alternative: physician-assisted suicide.
In Britain the recently appointed "voice of older people," Joan Bakewell, says Parliament should look again at a proposed law that would give doctors the legal right to prescribe a fatal dose of drugs to terminally ill patients. The 75-year-old also says she does not think elderly people, including herself, should be kept alive for as long as possible just because it has become possible, especially if they have become "a vegetable."
Next column (in two weeks): More on those illusory safeguards.
E-mail seniors@sarabethmanagement.com. Write to Hugh Anderson, care of the Arts & Life Section, The Gazette, 1010 Ste. Catherine St. W., Suite 200, Montreal H3B 5L1; or call 514-987-2553 and record your question or comment, with your name and phone number. You might be contacted if I want to use your question or comment in the column. Otherwise, individual replies cannot be provided.
What do you think? Use the box below to share your thoughts on legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide.
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
12. Rory Leishman, In Defense Of The Pontiff – March 31, 2009
Rory Leishman, National Post, Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI seems to be under attack in the secular media. First, newspapers around the world mocked him for suggesting during a discussion of AIDS with reporters: "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem."
Then, on Saturday, Agence France-Presse sensationally reported: "Pope Benedict used a nationally televised speech in Angola yesterday to reiterate the Roman Catholic Church's ban on abortion, even to save a mother's life."
According to the official Vatican text of the Pope's address, he made only one reference to abortion, stating: "How bitter the irony of those who promote abortion as a form of 'maternal' health care! How disconcerting the claim that the termination of life is a matter of reproductive health!"
Later, Agence France-Presse reported that Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi had "clarified" the Pope's remarks on abortion, stating that the Church has always taught that "indirect" abortion is permissible if necessary to save the life of the mother. Lombardi added: "What the Pope said is that the concept of maternal health cannot be used to justify abortions as a means of limiting births."
Quite so. It is generally agreed among pro-lifers – Catholic, Protestant and secular – that induced abortion is a grievous wrong that can never be justified except if necessary to save the life of the mother.
Meanwhile, the controversy over the Pope's remark about condoms and AIDS continues. In an editorial, The New York Times contended: "Pope Benedict XVI has every right to express his opposition to the use of condoms on moral grounds, in accordance with the official stance of the Roman Catholic Church. But he deserves no credence when he distorts scientific findings about the value of condoms in slowing the spread of the AIDS virus."
In support of this argument, the Times editorial stated: "From an individual's point of view, condoms work very well in preventing transmission of the AIDS virus from infected to uninfected people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites 'comprehensive and conclusive' evidence that latex condoms, when used consistently and correctly, are 'highly effective' in preventing heterosexual transmission of the virus that causes AIDS."
This statement is essentially misleading. Despite several decades of "safer-sex" propaganda, the great majority of sexually active people do not use condoms "consistently and correctly." In an article published in The British Medical Journal, Dr. Stephen Genuis, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Alberta, observed: "In theory, condoms offer some protection against sexually transmitted infection; practically, however, epidemiological research repeatedly shows that condom familiarity and risk awareness do not result in sustained safer sex choices in real life. Only a minority of people engaging in risky sexual behaviour use condoms consistently. A recent study found that ... [e]ven among stable, adult couples who were HIV discordant and received extensive ongoing counseling about HIV risk and
condom use, only 48.4% used condoms consistently."
13. Speaking Out Against Filthy TV And Polygamy On The Doorstep – April 4, 2009
ARPA e-Luminary, April 3, 2009 (Issue 31)
Polygamy on the Doorstep
By ARPA Canada (http://www.arpacanada.ca) It will come as little surprise to most of our readers that polygamy may soon be legal in this country. After all, many will say, if we redefined marriage to allow same-sex couples to "marry" then why would our courts stop there? But it wasn't the same-sex "marriage" decision that opened the door to polygamy. The road to this development started already in 1968 when Prime Minister Trudeau introduced no-fault divorce to this country. From then on, our courts and governments began to look at the entire family unit subjectively – based on personal preference.
Canada's rights-oriented society has hurt families immensely. Divorce, the redefinition of marriage, the "three parents" case, and now the polygamy case that is before a BC court all flow out of the mentality that individual rights and preferences should be able to trump the well-being of children and families.
The purpose of this article is not to explore how we got here and what will happen. For more information on those topics, check out an upcoming article in Reformed Perspective http://www.reformedperspective.ca/ magazine as well as Reverend Johan Tangelder's article "The Slippery Slope Towards Polygamy: Why should Christians oppose polygamy if even the patriarch Abraham, the father of all believers, practiced it?
The point that needs to be made right now is not to be reactive but proactive – by using this as a springboard to bring positive change to this country. For some time now, ARPA Canada has been promoting a Royal Commission on the Family. We aren't the only ones to have done so. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, and the Christian Heritage Party have all advocated for this in the past. We believe that a Royal Commission would be a good way for Canada to put the brakes on the social experiment we are engaged in. A conservative government should be receptive to this very moderate and rational idea.
We encourage our readers to refresh themselves on this call for a Royal Commission by reading the article located here.
Then follow up on the action item suggestions. Many MP’s have never heard of this idea and they need to hear about it directly from you. Get together with a few others from your group of friends, congregation, or local ARPA group and schedule a lunch or coffee with your MP. Then bring up this issue and proposal and, if they are receptive, urge them to pursue it with their caucus. If you would rather not meet directly with your MP, consider phoning him or her, or simply writing a letter. ARPA Canada is here to help you. Just pick up the phone and call us at 1-866-691-2772 or email mark@arpacanada.ca.
Now is the time to promote a Royal Commission on the Family. With a strong majority of Canadians against polygamy, many will agree that the government should take measures to look in depth at the effects of these developments. Let's not wait for this issue to come and go. The time to act is now!
Success Story – Speaking Out Against Filthy TV
Sometimes we may wonder what exactly happens to our letters, phone calls, emails, etc. when we perform an action item. The following story should provide some encouragement that little efforts can have a big impact.
In January, CBC TV featured numerous ads for its new digital channel called BOLD. The ads included many sexually charged segments that can't even be described here due to their explicit nature. They were even run shortly after dinner time, when families typically watch TV. One viewer saw the ads and didn't just get angry. She remembered an article she saw on the ARPA Canada website and looked it up again. From there she found the relevant contact information and wrote an email to the CBC, Advertising Standards Council, and the Prime Minister. In it she said "Not only is it ridiculous that this type of flashy cheap advertising is being shown during this time, it is my tax dollars that are being used to pay for it. This advertisement should be relegated to the trash bin. In fact the whole channel should be but at the very least it should not be shown during this time of day."
In the weeks following, a response was received from all of the email recipients. Advertising Standards Canada told her that they followed up with the advertiser and were informed that the ad was no longer being broadcast and would not be in the future either. Furthermore, a communications officer from CBC sent a response that indicated that the executive and producers at CBC will all read her email of complaint. Finally, the office of the Prime Minister responded and also forwarded her letter on to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
We may never know what impact this letter will have. But we do know that the message was received loud and clear by many of the authorities who are responsible for what goes on television. We may be disappointed with what we sometimes see in public life. But me it not be said that we did nothing about it. May the Lord bless these efforts to speak up for decency and justice in Canada.
14. UN Commission Ends With Delegations Saying No To Abortion – April 3, 2009
Volume 12, Special Edition – April 3, 2009
By Samantha Singson http://www.c-fam.org/about_us/id.1/author_detail.asp
(NEW YORK – C-FAM) As the sun rose on the last day of negotiations at the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) at the United Nations (UN) today, delegations were still embroiled in a contentious debate over language concerning “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” which some radical NGOs and UN committees have interpreted and used to promote abortion. As UN member states came together at the closing meeting to adopt the document, delegations took the floor to define abortion out of the document.
Up until the eleventh hour, the contentious term “sexual and reproductive health and rights” remained in the draft document. Just prior to adoption, Iran took the floor to object to the phrase which has never before been included in any negotiated UN document. Iran stressed that the term remained problematic for a number of delegations and urged the Commission to revert back to previously agreed upon and carefully negotiated language from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Program of Action, which is understood not to create any right to abortion.
In an attempt to get consensus, the chairwoman from Mexico suspended the meeting and after twenty minutes, returned to the room and announced that Iran’s proposal would be accepted and that the term “sexual and reproductive health and rights” would be removed from the text. The document was then adopted by consensus.
Several delegations, however, went further and made statements to explicitly define abortion out of the CPD document and to reiterate that the document created no new rights. Comoros, Peru, Poland, Ireland, Chile, the Holy See, Malta, and Saint Lucia spoke out against the other remaining reproductive health-related terms such as “reproductive rights,” “reproductive health services” and “sexual and reproductive health” and emphasized that these could not be construed to “support, endorse or promote” abortion.
Malta’s ambassador stated that his delegation was finding it more difficult in accepting the resolutions of UN bodies like the CPD where there were consistent attempts to expand “reproductive health” to include abortion.
Saint Lucia made an explicit objection to the term “safe abortion” because the term could “give the impression that abortion was a procedure completely free of medical and psychological risks.” Saint Lucia also highlighted a provision in the CPD document which called on states where abortion was legal to “train and equip health service providers and should take such measures to ensure that such abortion is safe and accessible.” The Saint Lucian representative stressed that her delegation understood this provision did not impact the right of healthcare providers to refuse to perform or be complicit in abortions as a matter of conscience, stating, “Again, no new rights are created or acknowledged in this document, and the universal right to conscience can in no way be overridden or weakened.”
Only the representative of Norway expressed regret that the term “sexual and reproductive rights” was not accepted in the text, saying that his country had widespread access to abortion and virtually no negative effects on women.
The CPD will next meet in April 2010.
15.
Webster Dictionary Redefines Marriage To Include Gays – April 4, 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., March 19 (UPI) – U.S. dictionary giant Merriam-Webster has sparked controversy by changing its definition of "marriage" to include same-sex unions.
The new definition defines marriage as "the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law," but adds the term also applies to "the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage," WorldNetDaily reported Thursday.
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