Where have all the Children Gone?

Updated December 30th, 2003

FLASH NEWS FROM ZENIT.ORG RE: American Conscience Legislation. CLICK HERE

Campaign Life Coalition Pilgrimage, Bus Tour, March for Life, May 2004 Details Click Here

Family Life Conference, Sunrise Marian Center, Pictou, NS August 2004 Details Click Here

What happens to bills when Parliament is Prorogued? An answer from RealWomen. Details Click Here

Contents  {Click on item of interest}

LIFE IS THE ONLY CHOICE [MARCH FOR LIFE OTTAWA, MAY 2004]

Closing of Maternity Wards

(A trend of closing maternity wards seen too, in England
Health authorities in Wiltshire, England, are carrying out a
consultation on the proposed shutting of two maternity units run by
midwives. The National Childbirth Trust says the possible closure of
facilities at Devizes and Malmesbury is part of a worrying trend.
There are reportedly shortages of midwives at hospitals in the area.
[Sun, 24 December

TOP

Stem Cell News that sheds new light on nw technology
Researchers in California say they can make adult cells change
into immature cells from which a range of tissue can be grown.
Scientists at Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, claim that a
synthetic molecule can be used to cause cells to reverse their
development. [Telegraph, 24 December] It is argued that immature cells
are best obtained from embryos. A technique such as this could provide
an ethical alternative.

TOP

Religious right has no influence in new Conservative Party!?

Canadian Alliance policy chair, Frank Gue, in Burlington, Ontario, wrote in
a letter to the editor that having spent much time helping to build party
policies, he can give assurances that no words about religion are heard in
Alliance policy conferences, nor are they in our policy booklet. Mr. Gue
said whatever the "religious right" may be, it must operate outside the
Alliance. He noted that Mr. Harper stated in the House that the "failure of
politicians to express moral values is directly related to their failure to
behave ethically....This does not mean we are theocrats. We will not ask the
state to impose our values, but we must demand that the state stop
undermining them" (HS A23).

TOP

Subject: A Catholic Pharmacist's Struggles

http://tcrnews2.com/pharmacy.html

A Catholic Pharmacist's Struggle
By Erik A. McClave

I am a Catholic pharmacist currently working for a large chain pharmacy. I
am struggling with moral issues at work daily and seeking a more Catholic
friendly position. There are mainly three types of drugs that are causing
me to feel a tremendous amount of guilt after I have dispensed them. These
three are misoprostol, birth control pills, and "morning after pills."

TOP

The Daily Telegraph - Dec. 23, 2003
Europe's problem is that it's barren
By Mark Steyn

... Confronted with all the begetting in the Old Testament, the modern mind
says, "Well, naturally, these primitive societies were concerned with
children. They needed someone to provide for them in their old age." In our
advanced society, we don't have to worry about that; we automatically have
someone to provide for us in our old age: the state.

But the state - at least in its modern European welfare incarnation - needs
children as least as much as those old-time Jews did. And the problem with
the European state is that, like Elisabeth, it's barren. Collectively
barren, I hasten to add. Individually, it's made up of millions of fertile
women, who voluntarily opt for no children at all or one designer kid at 39.
In Italy, the home of the Church, the birthrate's down to 1.2 children per
couple - or about half "replacement rate". You can't buck that kind of
arithmetic.

Israel's doing the numbers, too. If it doesn't unload the "occupied
territories" soon, Palestinians will do their sums, quit asking for their
own state, and instead demand a one-man-one-vote arrangement for the state
they're already in. Last week, in a speech on the country's demographic
difficulties, Binyamin Netanyahu conceded: "We do have a demographic
problem, but it is with the Arab Israelis."

"The day is not far off," replied Ahmad Tibi, an Arab member of the Knesset,
"when Netanyahu and his cohorts will put up roadblocks at the entrances to
Arab villages to tie Arab women's tubes and spray us with spermicide." Mr
Tibi is correct to this extent. The problem is not tying Arab tubes, but
metaphorically untying Jewish tubes. It's remarkable that, having survived
the Holocaust, the Jewish people should now be in danger of not surviving
their survival of the Holocaust.

Demography is not necessarily destiny. Today's high Muslim birthrates will
fall, and probably fall dramatically, as the Roman Catholic birthrates in
Italy, Ireland and Quebec have. But demo-graphics is a game of last man
standing. It's no consolation that Muslim birthrates will start falling in
2050 if yours are off the cliff right now. The last people around in any
numbers will determine the kind of society we live in. You can sort of feel
that happening already. "Multiculturalism" implicitly accepts that, for a
person of broadly Christian heritage, Christianity is an accessory, an
option; whereas, for a person of Muslim background, Islam is a given. That's
why, as practised by Buckinghamshire County Council, multiculturalism means
All Saints Church can't put up one sheet of A4 paper announcing tomorrow
night's carol service on the High Wycombe library notice board, but, inside
the library, Rehana Nazir, the "multicultural services librarian", can host
a party to celebrate Eid. ...

TOP

The New Prime Minister and His Cabinet - A Pro-Life Perspective

OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews.com) - Paul Martin officially takes over from Jean
Chretien as Prime Minister of Canada today, and has released his new list of
cabinet ministers. While Mr. Martin has installed anti-life and anti-family
caucus members in the most powerful positions in his inner circle and
cabinet, for the first time in many years there are some pro-life MPs in the
Liberal government cabinet.

Paul Martin, as LifeSite has reported in the past, has the same ties as did
his predecessor Jean Chretien to the powerful Desmarais family. Chretien sat
on the board of Power Corp. subsidiary Consolidated Bathurst Inc. before
becoming leader of the Liberal Party and his daughter France was married to
Paul Desmarais' son Andre. Martin, was hired in the 1960s to work for Paul
Desmarais senior by Maurice Strong. Desmarais made Martin president of
Canada Steamship Lines and then, in 1981, made him spectacularly rich by
selling the company to him and a
partner.(http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/may/030502a.html)

Moreover Martin recently announced publicly that he would have
internationalist and depopulation-pushing environmentalist Maurice Strong as
an advisor. (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/oct/03102904.html)

Martin himself has an anti-life and anti-family voting record.
(http://www.lifesite.net/clc/fedvotes/) As LifeSite reported last week he
has appointed pro-abortion and pro-homosexual marriage supporters to top
posts in the Prime Minister's Office.
(http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/dec/03120101.html) Among new cabinet
ministers that read like a who's who of anti-life, anti-family activist
politicians include: Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness; Claudette Bradshaw, Minister of
Labour and Minister responsible for Homelessness; William Graham, Minister
of Foreign Affairs; Jean Augustine, Minister of State (Multiculturalism and
Status of Women); Carolyn Bennett, Minister of State (Public Health). Scott
Brison, the former Progressive Conservative homosexual-activist MP who
defected to the Liberals was made Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime
Minister with special emphasis on Canada-U.S relations.

However, for the first time in many years, several pro-life Members of
Parliament were appointed to the cabinet and as parliamentary secretaries.
Among the pro-life and pro-family supporters in these positions are: Albina
Guarnieri, Associate Minister of National Defence and Minister of State
(Civil Preparedness); Joseph Volpe, Minister of Human Resources and Skills
Development; Dan McTeague, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of
Foreign Affairs with special emphasis on Canadians Abroad; Jim Karygiannis,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport with special emphasis
on Transport and Environment.

Commenting on the selections, Jim Hughes, President of Campaign Life
Coalition Canada told LifeSite, "I'm happy for the good solid pro-life MPs
now in cabinet which shows that you can be party loyalists without giving up
your strong moral convictions. And I long for the day when the cabinet will
be full of pro-life, pro-family people who will then truly represent the
bulk of grassroots Canadians."

See the official list of cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries:
http://www1.pm.gc.ca/eng/new_team.asp
http://www1.pm.gc.ca/eng/new_team_1.asp

TOP

CDC Called on the Carpet for Failure to Place HPV Warnings on Condoms
Project Reality Says 45% of U.S. Teens and Young Adults Infected With STD's by Mid-20's

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 23, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) -Reacting to the failure of government health agencies to comply with federal law requiring efforts to educate the public about the virus that causes cervical cancer, U.S. Representative Mark Souder, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, called on the heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to testify before his subcommittee on Jan. 28.

Public Law 106-554, signed by President Bill Clinton in 2000, directed the CDC to issue by December 21, 2003, a report detailing the best strategies to prevent the spread of human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer. The FDA was directed to ensure that condom labels are "medically accurate" regarding the lack of effectiveness in preventing HPV infection. Neither agency has complied with these legal mandates.

"The CDC and FDA are today in violation of federal law, and the health of thousands of women is at risk as a result," Souder said yesterday. "We are deeply concerned whenever a federal agency fails to abide by the law, but especially so when the public's health is threatened. We hope that this hearing will reveal why FDA and CDC have been reluctant to educate Americans about the dangers of HPV and raise awareness about the epidemic."

About 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV and an estimated 5.5 million Americans become infected with HPV every year. Nearly all cases of cervical cancer are associated with HPV infection. An estimated 13,000 new cases of invasive cervical cancer are diagnosed annually and over 4,000 women die of the disease every year in the United States. Tens of thousands of others will be treated for HPV related pre-cancerous conditions.

A 2001 report, entitled "Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention," prepared by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health in consultation with FDA, CDC and the U.S. Agency for International Development, evaluated the published data on latex condoms and STD prevention. It "concluded that there was no evidence that condom use reduced the risk of HPV infection."

In related news, The Culture of Life Foundation (CLF) reported today on a recent Project Reality conference that indicated "almost 45% of all (U.S.) teenagers and young adults are infected with at least one STD by their mid-twenties". As well, CLF reported the conference stated, "the popular claim that 'condoms help prevent the spread of STDs,' is not supported by the data. If condoms were effective against STDs, the increase in condom usage would correlate to a decrease in STDs overall, which is not the case. Rather as condom usage increases, so do rates of STDs."

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.

TOP

Wanted: a baby boom

Author: Jamie Doward
Source: The Observer
Date: 2003-12-14

The evidence is now conclusive: women are turning their back on childbirth and marriage in unprecedented numbers as part of a radical redefinition of the female role in society.

Against a backdrop of sweeping social change, new figures reveal that around one in four women is now taking a conscious decision not to conceive, preferring the freedom and career opportunities of a child-free life. And those who do have children are opting for smaller families later.

The cultural shift has prompted alarm among demographers, who warn that it has grave consequences for the future prosperity of the UK, while relationship counsellors fear it will tear more and more couples apart.

According to predictions in the Office of National Statistics' latest Population Trends report, about 22 per cent of women are now choosing not to have children, compared with just nine per cent of women born half a century ago.

The figure confirms the acceleration of a trend towards childlessness in women that first emerged in the 1980s, but which politicians and economists had hoped by now would be in decline. 'A lot of this is to do with relationship change,' said Lynda Clarke, a demographer with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

'Women are delaying marriage or partnerships. And they're delaying having their first-born. They have jobs and they don't want to lose their economic autonomy. Then they get to 40 and say: "Oops, I forgot to have children".'

Often events conspire to stop women having children. 'Basically, about 80 to 90 per cent of women start life thinking, "I'll have children later", but some just never get around to it,' said Clarke. 'Perhaps they don't meet the right person, or they meet someone who already has children from a previous relationship.'

But profound societal changes also appear to have bolstered the trend to childlessness. 'There used to be a real stigma attached to not having children, but that has weakened,' said Kaye Wellings, Professor of Sexual and Reproductive Health at LSHTM. 'We've become more tolerant of diversity, more multicultural and increasingly tolerant of sexuality and many other things. This is part of a bigger picture.'

The increased confidence among women to reject society's mores was reflected last week with the publication of statistics showing that one women in four now marries a man younger than herself. The 'toyboy' phenomenon earned a few wry smiles and did wonders for the profile of Joan Collins, but there is now evidence that women's empowerment is causing tension among couples.

'If you'd asked me about this seven years ago, I would say the choice of whether to have children or not was a non-issue for couples. But that's not the case now,' said Denise Knowles, a relationship counsellor with Relate.

'Invariably it comes down to women not wanting to have children and the man wanting them. The problem usually surfaces when the couple hit their thirties and the man wants children to complete their lifestyle,' said Knowles. 'But this often means the woman giving up her career.'

With 60 per cent of children born in wedlock, marriage continues to have a powerful role in governing fertility rates. According to the Population Trends report, the average British woman married at 23 at the start of the 1980s, compared with just over 28 today. By 2020, the ONS predicts the average woman in the UK will have her first child only a few months before she hits 30, considerably later in the fertility cycle than that of her predecessors.

This may partially explain why almost a third of women in the 1960s had three or four children, whereas today the figure has shrunk to less than a quarter of that.

Overall, the rise in childlessness and the trend to smaller families means the average British couple of the next decade will have 1.74 children, compared with just over two 20 years ago. The figure is the lowest since records began and, although it means the population is still growing by 0.3 per cent a year, economists say it raises profound concerns for the future.

Statistics show that the population of Scotland is already in decline and there are predictions that the rest of the British Isles could go the same way.

Later this week, a report by the Government's Actuary Department (GAD) will paint a number of scenarios that will highlight just how devastating these trends could be. Depending on migration flows and life expectancy rates, the UK population could peak in 2040, an event that would be damaging both symbolically and economically.

But, even if the population doesn't decline as the prophets of doom predict, few suggest it will grow anything like enough to combat the problems associated with an ageing population.

The last GAD report concluded ominously: 'At present, there are 4.1 people aged 16 to 64 in the UK for every person aged 65 and over. This elderly support ratio is likely to fall to between 2.3 and 2.6 by the middle of the century.'

Only a breeding frenzy over the next decade will avert this scenario, but, based on the latest evidence, British women are just not interested.

As Lynda Clarke observes: 'With reliable contraception, you have to ask why people have children at all. They involve considerable sacrifice and expense. If the decision to have children were like any other rational economic choice, we wouldn't do it. But people are not rational.'

Worryingly for the governments of the future, an expanding army of women might disagree.

TOP

Teens want to wait for sex

Author: Joyce Howard
Source: The Washington Times
Date: 2003-12-19

Two-thirds of U.S. teenagers who have had sexual relations wish they had waited longer, a new survey has found.

The survey conducted for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that the number of people who wish they had delayed sexual activity rose 4 percent from three years ago. Of the 2,000 people polled, 67 percent said they wished they had waited. The new data also determined that 85 percent of teens believe sex should occur only in long-term committed relationships.

The findings were based on telephone surveys of 1,000 young people, ages 12 to 19, and 1,000 adults 20 years and older. It was conducted in August and September by International Communications Research, an independent research firm. The margin of error in the survey was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Campaign spokesman Bill Albert said there are two key findings from the survey.

"First," he said, "teens express more cautious attitudes and values toward sex than is perhaps generally believed."

The second big finding, Mr. Albert said, is that "parents continue to underestimate the influence they have" on whether their child becomes sexually active.

On the subject of delaying sex, the poll found that 77 percent of sexually experienced teen girls and 60 percent of sexually experienced teen boys reported they wished they had postponed sexual activity. They were not asked how long they wished they had waited.

In 2000, when asked the same question, 72 percent of girls and 55 percent of boys said they wished they had waited longer. The 2000 survey canvassed youngsters ages 12 to 17.

The Campaign is a bipartisan, nonprofit coalition aimed at deterring teen pregnancy.

Other findings that suggest teens are more wary of early and casual sex include:
Nearly three in 10 teens (28 percent) say they have become more opposed in the past several years to teens having sex.
84 percent of teens say pregnancy-prevention programs should teach young people to be married before they have a child.
88 percent of teens say it would be easier for teens to postpone sexual activity and avoid teen pregnancy if they were able to have more open, honest conversations about these topics with their parents.
59 percent of teens say their parents are their role models of healthy, responsible relationships.
Teens say parents (45 percent) influence their decisions about sex more than friends (31 percent) or others. Adults, however, do not believe they are the most influential factor in whether their teens become sexually active. Only 32 percent of adults believe parents play the biggest role in this area. Adults mistakenly think a teen's friends are most influential.
Only a quarter of teens (26 percent) think it's embarrassing to admit being a virgin.
Teens say their own morals, values and religious beliefs - as well as concerns about their future - influence their decisions about sex far more than concerns about pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.

This survey, coupled with one issued two years ago by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showed that teens overestimate the percentage of their peers who have had sex. The CDC's 2001 Youth Risk Survey reports that 46 percent of those in grades 9 to 12 have had sex.

However, 68 percent of those in grades 9 to 12 in the Campaign's survey said they believe teens their age are sexually active.

Six in 10 teens overall in the new survey believe teen boys often get the message that sex and pregnancy are not a big deal. The breakdown was 49 percent of boys and 70 percent of girls who believe boys receive a different message.

Another finding of concern was that 42 percent of teens in grades 9 to 12 said they had been at parties in the past six months where both boys and girls, but no adults, were present. Among adolescents 12 to 14, one in five said they had been in that situation.

Better than nine out of 10 teens and adults say society needs to provide teens with a clear message that they should delay sex until they have, at least, completed high school.

TOP

Toronto World Youth Day Priest Says Abortion is Worst of Social Justice Ills

TORONTO, December 12, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic priests who headed up the Pope's World Youth Day in Toronto addressed the abortion issue at the Reaching Minds Through Media gala pro-life fundraising dinner in Toronto last month... Father Thomas Rosica stated that among crimes which offend human dignity "we can say in a very significant way that abortion represents the worst of these things."

Rosica, a Scripture scholar and current CEO of a new Catholic television venture called Salt and Light Television, stated in full: "Whatever violates the dignity of the human person such as mutilation, torments inflicted on the body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the sex trade, selling of woman and children, disgraceful working conditions. All of these things poison human society. And we can say in a very significant way that abortion represents the worst of these things.

See the website for Salt and Light Television:
<http://www.saltandlighttv.org>

TOP

**********************

Information of the Bus Tour and Pilgrimage to National March for Life, St. Anne de Beaupre, St. Joseph's Oratory and Ottawa click here.

(Life is the Only Choice)

National March for Life in Ottawa 2004

Wednesday May 12 to Friday May 14

Makes Plans Now and join pro-life people from across the country to demand protection for our unborn citizens. Join other Nova Scotians by Clicking Here.

Wednesday Evening Church services and

Candlelight Vigil at Canadian Human Rights Monument

Thursday, Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral

Noon - Gathering on Parliament Hill followed by March.

Evening - Banquet at 6PM at Lisgar Collegiate

Friday - Youth Conference.

**********************