Terri Schiavo Killed Two Years Ago Today

I was there, two years ago today, outside the hospice where Terri died, pictured holding the flag above. Beside me was Frank D'Angelis, fellow pro-lifer from Toronto, whom I met when I arrived there. It was really Terri's plight and my trip to Pinellas Park in 2005 that was a kind of "baptism" for me into pro-life work.

From my diary entry Tuesday, March 29, 2005:

Today I traveled to Pinellas Park in Florida to stand with others in proclaiming the unjust and immoral killing of Terri Schiavo, a 41 year old woman whose only crime was that she was a disabled person. Less than 24 hours before the airplane left St John’s for Florida I had been experiencing a troubling day but I wasn’t sure why.

Just after supper that day I realized that I was much more concerned about Terri’s plight than I had realized. After two weeks or more listening to and watching the in depth media coverage and my own intense inquiries into her circumstances for more than a month, I think it had gradually, and subtly, forced me to a point of decision. Was I just going to let the tragedy happen, let it continue without a murmur? What could I do anyway? She could die before I even get there, I thought. I’ve left it so late, too late to do anything. And who am I, a Canadian, so far away?

As my evening progressed from this point of climax I spent several hours thinking to find a reason not to bring a drink of water to Terri in Florida. But I could find no good reason not to go, no good reason to allow a great travesty of justice to continue without lifting a finger. It was obvious that the countless prayers of thousands of people had not prevailed and my continued silence would accomplish nothing as well. Terri was being starved to death, and all the world was doing was watching. How could this be happening? The whole world seemed powerless to stop it.

God rest your soul Terri Schindler-Schiavo.

South Korea Aborts 1.5 Million Unborns Yearly

Last week UCAN reported that at a March 15 press conference in Seoul Bishop John Chang Yik, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea (CBCK), released details of the Bishops' statement "Toward a Culture of Life."

Asia News yesterday released their report of the Bishops’ concerns.

In this statement the Korean Bishops have charged the government with destroying human dignity instead of promoting the culture of life.

"With government policy and laws destroying human dignity by prioritizing economic efficiency, we now face the sad reality of having the world's lowest birth rate, along with extremely high suicide and abortion rates."

Bishop Chang noted,

"According to media, an average of about 1.5 million abortions have taken place every year since 1973. If we add them all up, that exceeds the whole population of South Korea. It is that serious.”

A quick check on South Korea’s statistics showed it has a population of 48.8 million, about 1.5 times the population of Canada’s at 32.8 million. If the figure provided is accurate for the number of annual abortions in Korea, it is an horrific number, representing a full 3% yearly of the country’s total population. The culture of death surely has swept over South Korea.

To place it in a Canadian context, at the South Korean rate, it would equate to about 984,000 abortions annually in Canada! Canada currently records just over 100,000 abortions annually.

South Korea’s experiments on human embryonic stem cells, an issue that has recently emerged as a matter of grave concern on the international level, and its subsidies of IVF, in vitro fertilization, also came under attack from the Bishops.

The Bishop pointed out that many Catholics too have undergone abortions,

"swimming with others in society on the wave of the culture of death," because "Koreans value social success above all else and are ready to do so at the cost of others."

I applaud the Bishops on their public statement and I think it is an essential part of the task of Bishops to make known to their society the principles and teachings of the Church. However, one can’t help but ask whether the task of Bishops doesn’t go much further than this. In what sense was Jesus right when He said that His followers were to be the salt and light of the world, and that if the salt had lost its saltiness it was good for nothing but to be cast underfoot?

The Bishops admit that “Catholics” also swim with the rest of society “on the wave of the culture of death.” Isn’t it exactly at this point where the Bishops find their most crucial role, in the spiritual formation of the laity to be the salt and light of society? This sadly sounds like an admission of serious guilt and failure, despite the very good words of the document.

Words contained from time to time in a statement obviously haven’t been enough to save South Korea’s 1.5 million aborted unborns every year nor Canada’s 100,000 aborted unborns.

Society still desperately yearns for spiritual and moral leadership which can conquer the giants of sin in the land, first individually but ultimately nationally. Nothing less from the Church can glorify the one true God and Jesus Christ His Only Son, the Saviour of the world.

P.S. For the reader’s information, I was able to discover the following about South Korea’s religious makeup:

Half of the population actively practices religion. Among this group, Christianity (49%) and Buddhism (47%) comprise Korea’s two dominant religions. Though only 3% identified themselves as Confucianists, Korean society remains highly imbued with Confucian values and beliefs. The remaining 1% of the population practice Shamanism (traditional spirit worship) and Chondogyo ("Heavenly Way"), a traditional religion.

The Moral Incoherence Of Amnesty International

One after another of Amnesty International’s national sections are falling under the spell of the abortion demon. Here’s the most recent report I’ve seen and it describes the scenario which took place in the British section just last week.

LONDON (CNS) -- The British section of Amnesty International has endorsed a policy in support of legalizing abortion which could change the human rights group's global neutral policy on abortion.

The Amnesty International UK move, which formally adopted the legalization of abortion in cases of rape, incest, sexual assault and when the mother's life is at risk, came despite the results of a yearlong consultation which showed that the majority of regular members did not want to abandon the neutral position. The board pushed through the motion at a March 23-25 meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The International Executive Committee of Amnesty International will decide as early as next month whether or not to change the current position.

If the committee decides there isn't sufficient support from its branch members for a revision, the British section's stance would be moot.

Christine Usher, the board member who proposed the pro-abortion resolutions, told the UK Amnesty International meeting that there was sufficient support among the 72 national sections for a policy to be implemented soon.

However, Debby Wakeham of Luton, England, said the policy clearly was being "imposed from top down."

She told Catholic News Service March 26 that the pro-abortion motion was passed because the delegates at the meeting did not represent the views of the members. Wakeham said the abortion push "has not come from the membership, and it has not come from the countries in which Amnesty works."

"I'm extremely angry," she added. "I think it is outrageous that the views of the membership are being disregarded in this way."

Michael Hill, a Catholic member from Rotherham, England, said: "I feel very disappointed and let down. They (the board) have manipulated the decision-making process until they got what they wanted."

Sarah Green, Amnesty International spokeswoman, said in a March 26 statement the aim of any policy on abortion would be to help address human rights abuses such as rape and sexual violence in Africa.

"Amnesty International would continue to take no position on the rights and wrongs of abortion, which it sees as a matter of personal choice," she said.

In 2005 Amnesty International decided to set a policy on abortion, pending the 2006 global consultation results, on the questions of "decriminalization of abortion, access to quality services for the management of complications arising from abortion, and legal, safe and accessible abortion in the cases of rape, sexual assault, incest and risk to a woman's life."

The further question of whether a woman's "right to physical and mental integrity includes her right to terminate her pregnancy" will be decided at the next International Council Meeting in Mexico in August 2007.

LifeSiteNews.com reported on May 26 that the reason Amnesty is entering the world of abortion advocacy stems from its support for women’s and homosexual rights.

Note that the Amnesty International spokeswoman was quoted as saying "Amnesty International would continue to take no position on the rights and wrongs of abortion, which it sees as a matter of personal choice.” Doesn’t that sound very tolerant and neutral? AI doesn’t want to moralize on the issue—and they don’t want to infringe on a woman’s personal choice.

But isn’t that a very strange statement to hear from an organization which constantly moralizes and in fact highly specializes in identifying and protesting the ill treatment of individuals and a host of other human rights abuses?

The article notes that:

Amnesty was founded in 1961 by English lawyer Peter Benenson, a Catholic, to fight for the release of prisoners of conscience, for fair trials for political prisoners, and for an end to torture, ill-treatment, political killings, disappearances and the death penalty.

Clearly AI is choosing, in the midst of this powerful move by international agencies to establish abortion rights worldwide, to ignore the question of the human rights of the unborn. The Canadian section of AI also voted in favour of this new position.

If any agency ought to have clear and uncompromising guidelines on this matter, it would be AI. If they plugged the unborn into their formulae, they would immediately see that this is an entire class of human beings being subjected to radical discrimination and capital punishment. And these are not prisoners suspected or convicted of crimes. These are the most innocent of all human beings.

In fact, the moral incoherence of the AI spokesperson is quite incredible, for in her preceding statement in the article above, she noted, “the aim of any policy on abortion would be to help address human rights abuses such as rape and sexual violence in Africa.” In other words, AI feels they are quite justified in moralizing in regard to actions of rape and sexual violence, but when it comes to the matter of taking the lives of innocent unborn children, suddenly it wishes to remain neutral.

Once again, the unborn seem destined to pay for the crimes of those who have been born. They are our scapegoats, like those of old sent away into the wilderness to perish after the sin of the multitude was heaped upon them. They scream for their lives but in vain, for they are the most defenseless of all those created in God’s image, and they scream silently.

Perhaps their screams can be heard only by those who first know the power of their own sin.

Stilwell's Loss Points To Apathy Of Christian Vote

In their April newsletter, Campaign Life Coalition reports a disturbing story on the failure to nominate an outstanding pro-life politician in British Columbia.

Heather Stilwell, a pro-life, pro-family Surrey school board trustee and former leader of the CHP, lost in a dirty and dubious Conservative nomination meeting in Newton-North Delta on March 3. Despite help from Campaign Life Coalition that included a telephone message to supporters in the riding, Stilwell finished a distant third because the front-runners tapped into their Sikh communities and signed up more than 10,000 new members. But as Stilwell was able to expose, there were numerous irregularities in sign ups by former Liberal Paul Brar, one of the candidates in the running.

Stilwell’s campaign called hundreds of the newly signed up members and talked to just 155 of them. Of that number, just 25 knew they had been signed up as members of the Conservative Party of Canada. Brar didn’t get out the vote and he didn’t win – perhaps, so it seems, because many of his sign-ups had no idea they were members of the party. Sandeep Pandher, who has worked in Ottawa for several Liberal MPs, won the Conservative nomination. He will face Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal in the general election.

We congratulate Stilwell whose courage and integrity led her to stand for the nomination, to give pro-life and pro-family issues a fair hearing, to fight for the right to contest the nomination even after the party refused to sign her nomination papers, and then for highlighting the problems with the membership lists. And while she didn’t win, it is important to note that the candidate who signed up thousands didn’t either. Sometimes pro-life and pro-family voters might convince themselves it is not worth showing up for a nomination battle because our opponents seem to have us outnumbered. Sometimes, though, looks can be deceiving.

If a solid pro-life, pro-family candidate with impeccable credentials like Heather Stilwell doesn’t have the support of like-minded Canadians, the uphill battle we fight is tilted even further against us.

If this story does not illustrate the failure of the pro-life movement to affect the Christian vote, it would be difficult to imagine a better example. If pro-life leaders do not engage with Church leaders on a significantly different basis and promote action by Christians in defense of the unborn, the pro-life cause is certain to be lost in Canada.

Where were the Christians in Heather Stilwell’s riding? Why were they not able to be activated and convinced, on Christian grounds, of their duties and responsibilities before God to support a well qualified candidate such as Stilwell? If Christian leaders in the area have lost sight of the urgency of such support and have failed to teach their people, why were seasoned pro-lifers not able to challenge them in sufficient measure to ensure success for Stilwell? Perhaps Church leaders have been sidetracked or blindsided in some way by “vain philosophies,” various trends in human thinking, such as the idea that the only hope for Canada is the “pure” Gospel and evangelism, not “pro-life politics.” If so, they need to be reached with a sound and truly Christian corrective through direct and organized contact.

These are hard questions which must be answered. Are we afraid to answer them? Are we saying it cannot be done? Are we saying that Christians cannot be successfully engaged and recruited on this fundamental issue through appeals and cooperation with their Christian leaders? If our reply is essentially that they cannot, are we suggesting that Church leaders in Canada cannot be depended upon to establish spiritual and moral direction for this nation and that in some manner pro-life activism is the preferred route to accomplish this goal?

But if we assume that pro-life efforts hold any prospect for changing the Canadian status quo on abortion, it must surely be obvious that support must come first from Canada’s moral high ground, which is Christians. It simply will not do to maintain that pro-lifers waste their time with Church leadership [with the exception of the vocal pro-life church leaders] who have a sad record of disappointing the expectations of those with traditional Christian views on life and family.

Again, are pro-lifers saying rather that attention and efforts need to be placed on affecting the mindset of average Canadians in the issue of unborn human rights? If so, this seems to me to be ludicrous. A campaign to properly inform the consciences of the larger Canadian population [i.e. pro-life “evangelization”] is a far weightier and more ambitious project than that of affecting Church leaders, which, it seems, pro-lifers have admitted is essentially impossible, or at least beyond their capacity.

So isn’t it time pro-lifers woke up to this reality and started to formulate a different strategy? It seems obvious to me that what has been overlooked in this current emphasis of the pro-life movement is the very nature of God’s help to lift mankind from his sinfulness and wretchedness. Perhaps the nature of help that I refer to may be overlooked these days by the majority of Church leaders as well but until it is rediscovered and acknowledged by BOTH Christians and pro-lifers, the killing of unborn children, the breakdown of the family, the spectre of a future euthanasia holocaust, and the further descent of Canada into its abyss, will inevitably continue.

The help I refer to is the Church. How can pro-lifers, especially pro-life Christians, conceive of accomplishing anything for the unborn within Canada by largely ignoring and short circuiting, least of all usurping, the teaching and preaching authority of the Church and by extension, the leaders of the Church? After all, isn't that really what got Canadian society in the mess which it finds itself today? Maybe this is strong medicine for pro-life leaders to accept but I believe they have no choice but to find a merging mechanism with Church leaders in their mission and assist them in the defense of the unborn wherever they are able to secure their trust and persuade them of the integrity of their crusade.

Our work as pro-lifers in many cases might need to take a drastic turn in direction, to one of much greater humility, appeal, entreaty, and solidarity with Church leaders. A true and fully amenable partnership is essential. No doubt there exist some pro-life organizations that already possess this vision and that have adopted this humble posture when dealing with church leadership. They are to be commended and their example followed, for the sake of Canada’s unborn children.

At least that’s my opinion. And it’s the vision that drives Vote Life, Canada!

The alternative seems rather frightful. Church leaders are failing to defend truth and their God, and to form the morality of their nation. They are likewise failing to call their people to repentance, and nothing can be done about it.

A Timid Clergy, A Tepid Church

James Lambert, columnist for OneNewsNow.com shared his perspectives on the lukewarmness of today’s Church leaders.

Unfortunately the vast majority of America's leaders and Christian spokesmen, many of whom stand in the pulpit on Sunday mornings, cowardly ignore what is happening around them…

Complacency and apathy are the order of the day. May I present for your consideration ...

Case in Point #1: In 2005, only four pastors -- out of a community with more than 1,800 churches -- appeared before a San Diego City Council hearing to defend a 54-year-old historical cross from being torn down by government bureaucrats.

Case in Point #2: In California last fall, a state-wide initiative was placed on the ballot that would have allowed parents to have pre-notification rights if their child requested an abortion. Despite appeals from numerous pro-life groups inside and outside the state, little or no support was heard from the clergy on this measure.

Case in Point #3: Less than two years ago, Republicans in the U.S. Senate -- despite being the majority party -- could not even muster 50 votes for a constitutional amendment defining marriage solely as the union of a man and a woman. Appeals to Congress from conservative groups like the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, Coral Ridge Ministries, and others did garner substantial support (close to 3.5 million petitions) from the Christian community. However, considering the fact that millions of people attend church each week in this country, support from these pro-family organizations would have been even more significant if pastors and priests had actively voiced their support for the initiative from the pulpit.

Case in Point #4: With fatherless/out-of-wedlock childbirth at epidemic proportions in this country, one would think that leadership from within the Christian community would be spearheading the charge to denounce the type of behavior found at the root of this problem. Close to 70 percent of births in the black community are to single moms, and within the white community out-of-wedlock births have grown to approximately 29 percent -- a figure far higher than in past years. Obviously, promiscuity is rampant in both the white and black communities. Yet the clergy are simply afraid to tackle this problem. They are too timid to address the moral issues of today that incur huge social and spiritual costs.

Case in Point #5: Spreading the gospel is one of the main mandates of the Church. But according to Christian pollster George Barna, telling others about the Good News of Jesus Christ is done regularly by only about five percent of Evangelicals. If you're speaking of something that should be addressed by the clergy, this is it! I recall attending a concert a number of years ago in a high-profile Presbyterian church in Southern California. The senior pastors became appalled when the group performing in their main sanctuary extended an altar call to an audience comprised primarily of young people who were not church members. In some mainstream churches, some parishioners feel that church leadership is too timid to ask people to publicly commit themselves to a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Lambert’s conclusion was summed up like this:

What has become of America's commitment to moral and even biblical values? Possibly we are too consumed with what other people think. Perhaps our leaders in the pulpit lack the backbone to risk offending anyone. We need to be more concerned with the cost of offending a Holy God, who deeply cares for each of us.

Yes indeed, that ought to be our greatest concern. In Canada, regarding the apathy of Church leadership, we have much the same problem as Lambert has noted in the U.S. There is no other possible explanation as to why the majority of Canadian Christians go on merrily with their daily lives without much, if any, thought and concern over the fact that in their communities 100,000 unborn children are killed in the womb yearly.

Christians are responsible for the moral health of their nation.

Christians do have a mandate from God to ensure justice in their communities and nation.

Church leaders hold the key to the spiritual and moral vitality of their congregations.

Christians can effect the greatest and most immediate moral change in their nation through the voting process.

Abortion is the flagship of moral degeneracy in Canada and the world. It is very likely the ultimate act of rebellion against the supremacy of God and the stewardship of man. Other than personal repentance and daily conversion, nothing demands the Christian's concern and political attention more than the issue of abortion.

It’s not just one more issue.

Thank You Bishop Robert Finn

Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City has written "A Pastoral Letter on the Dignity of the Human Person and the Dangers of Pornography," which was issued February 21, 2007. It is an extensive treatise, complete with prayers and resources.

All Christians need to look more seriously into the evils and perversity of pornography. It is a significant factor in winning the battle against abortion and the reformation of the Canadian conscience.

Christian leaders in Canada mustn't give up preaching and teaching about such evils, as they have done in so many cases, e.g. pre-marital sex [fornication], adultery, divorce, abortion, etc.

h/t Stefan Jetchick

Winnipeg Has New "Hidden" Abortion Facility

From today's LifeSiteNews

New Government Run Abortion Facility in Winnipeg Hidden from Public

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Canada, March 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA), has opened a large abortion facility but is not revealing its location. The facility will commit abortions and provide both pre-operative and post-operative care at the undisclosed 5,000-square-foot space.

The Winnipeg Free Press reports that the facility's location will not be made public in order to avoid confrontation with pro-life demonstrators.

With a nod to the growing awareness even among pro-abortion health care providers of the psychological damage to women, the facility will also provide two full-time psychological counsellors. The WRHA is seeking an additional family doctor and nurse practitioner to staff the facility.

Canadians are expected to pay for the killing of innocent unborn children through their "health" system but are not permitted to know where this activity takes place...in case someone might be upset.

Oh Canada.

Simple Non Political Solution To Abortion: Christian Love

Orthodox priest from Urals subsidizes women for not having abortion

Moscow, March 26, Interfax - Orthodox clergy from the town of Alapayevsk, Sverdlovsk Region (Urals), combat demographic crisis by setting a motherhood relief fund.

Women who reject abortion receive a monthly grant of 1,000 rubles from the parish treasury. The motherhood subsidy starts with pregnancy and continues until the baby grows one year old.

The idea belongs to the rector of a local church, Fr. Moisei. The money is drawn from people’s donations and the church building fund.

‘From the viewpoint of religion, abortion is a grave crime. We combat this sin by preaching, but that’s not enough. We should better understand the future mother’s problems. All of them have something that drives them to ask for the horrible operation,’ the priest said.

A woman is required a reference from a gynecologist to get her subsidy. The doctors are first who try to dissuade future mothers from committing the sin. And if the woman appears to be moved to having abortion by material difficulties, the doctors tell her about the financial aid offered by the church.

Fr. Moisei doesn’t care what religion the woman holds. A future mother in need will receive assistance even if she is atheistic. The doctors note that since the antiabortion crusade started there has been 40 percent decline in number of abortions in the town, NTV reports.

This story illustrates one incontrovertible fact about the tragedy of abortion: A key dynamic is money.

In terms of monthly wages, I don't know how much 1000 rubles translates into in Russia but this is a very bold move by Church leaders to address the needs of women facing the choice of abortion. A 40% decline must represent hundreds of unborns! Thank God for this priest!

However, the report also indicates the power of love, measured by pure generosity, in addressing the number of abortions. If only Christians everywhere would put their money where they say their heart is, and suffer the sacrifices necessary to do so, so many of the evils in society could be addressed. And it's not simply the money...it's the love accompanying it that will do so much more for the women and families involved as well.

Addressing abortion is hardly as simple as the solution shown here, but Canadians take note, it's an inspiring start! And Church leaders especially take note: you could inspire a host of other Christians, perhaps an entire nation, by taking some kind of similar bold step.

h/t Big Blue Wave

Letter To Family And Friends on IDUC 2007

Dear family and friends,

It is not often that I take this kind of approach in contacting family and friends as a group. Such an approach seems reserved for only the most unusual kinds of occasions. In fact I don’t know that I even contacted all my family and friends in this way when I first repented of my sins and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ many years ago. Yet in other ways I certainly did let everyone know the Good News!

The cause of the unborn in Canada, whose lives are being snuffed out at the rate of twelve per hour, every hour, has become a matter close to my heart. The issue of justice for these young lives has challenged me to a new degree of consistency in my Christian life. Indeed, I ask myself the question often: How is it possible to say we love God and fellow man, to say we are prepared for that certain face to face meeting with God and not consider something so obvious that it threatens to strike us in the face if we take one step closer? I refer to the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40 which, in context, he speaks to explain how that final meeting with God will end, specifically, how the sheep and goats will be divided.

One translation says it like this:
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

And indeed, we ARE doing it to them. ‘IT’ referring to abortion, which is killing, and ‘THEM’ referring to the unborn. We will not have the excuse that some Germans had with Hitler during the years of the holocaust, when he ruled over them as a ruthless dictator. We will not have the excuse that Russians had with Stalin, who oppressed them as a tyrant while he liquidated 10 million or more of his countrymen. No, we live in a democracy, and in a democracy each individual will answer to God for their part in the abortion holocaust, because every Canadian gets a vote in what happens in Canada.

Democracy is really a wonderful blessing from God. Think of it. It took almost 1900 years of developing Christianity to produce the democratic nation of Canada. That’s 1900 years of God’s grace and wisdom flowing into the hearts and minds of Western civilization, largely Christians, who all concede that, despite its drawbacks, the best practical form of government in the world today and indeed in the history of humanity is democracy. Many of our fellow Canadians have sealed such convictions with their blood.

And how do we repay God for that blessing? Wicked men have perverted this wonderful gift of God through evils [the greatest being abortion] and good people like Christians have surrendered to the evil. They have essentially given up. More than that, many of them fail to even vote at all. I know what it is like to be guilty of that offense. For many years, even as a pastor, I could not see past the dark veil of apathy, ignorance and indifference.

Think of it—Christians refrain from doing one of the simplest, easiest and most practical things possible in this country in order to help implement a righteous standard in our most basic laws. Others vote but give no thought or consideration whatever to the plight of the unborn when in their voting booth. How deep is our darkness!

Martin Niemoller, a German pastor who was imprisoned for his opposition to Hitler made this statement in 1946, "Christianity in Germany bears a greater responsibility before God (for the Holocaust) than the National Socialists, the SS and the Gestapo."

Imagine, if you will: we have given the right to women to destroy their unborn children! You may protest and say that you have done no such thing. However, even in the case of a highway accident, if you fail to stop and render assistance, you can be charged with a criminal offense. So I ask: What have you done to render assistance? What have you done to help save these children? Have you considered doing anything at all? Do you not see it as even a basic civic responsibility to defend your most vulnerable neighbour from being cut to pieces?

This brings me back to the idea of living a consistent Christian life. I do not believe God is going to count it consistent that we knew of the horror of over 100,000 innocent unborn children legally killed yearly in Canada, and yet we were silent. Remember, these were the very words of Jesus: “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”

Make no mistake about it: these are His children, conceived in the womb by the union of a father and mother. Did such a union produce simply a new cell that started dividing on its own? No! a thousand times No! It’s time to review some basic facts and ask: What is life? Is it a mere clump of cells? No! Is it the mere growth and movement of a few cells, or of even a human body? No!

At the moment of conception, God gave His great Amen! to that union and breathed into it LIFE! Yes, a SOUL! God gave that new cell a life, the animating force and power from God which would sustain it until its natural death many years later. That is precisely what launched that new cell…that new human being…into an energetic organism which grew and developed at an amazing rate and through a miraculous process.

That is how you and I started. We were once an embryo, then a fetus, then a newborn babe, yet at every stage we were the one and same life, with a soul, given by God from the beginning, at conception. Think of John the Baptist in the womb, and Mary carrying Jesus and the scripture truths surrounding those events! And you and I are still that same human being we once were in the womb, of course with a few extra bodily pounds. If my mother had aborted her embryo, her fetus, it would have been ME! that died!

And twelve of God’s little children in the womb, like I was, suffer death at the hands of their mothers every hour in Canada alone! God have mercy on us! God’s will is for them to see His creation, come to know His Son Jesus, grow in faith and knowledge, help their fellow man in this earthly journey, then to receive their heavenly citizenship and live forever with Him.

If there is anything to fight for, to struggle for, in this nation of Canada, it is the scream of the unborn child, for without being born, there can be no joy of salvation from sin, there can be no thrill of conversion, no delight in leading others to Christ, no fulfillment through contributing to a better world, no satisfaction and joy in old age, and no peace in death. God’s will is immensely thwarted. What pain for God! And should His people be indifferent to their Lord’s pain and deny such a gift to a fellow human being created in the image of God?

What are we commanded to do in such desperate situations? What has God said? Consider some of His thoughts:

“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not requite man according to his work?” Proverbs 24:11-12.

“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.” Ephesians 5:11

Neither of these verses gives Christians the freedom of passivity and the luxury of moral withdrawal. We are commanded to get involved, to help and to expose.

Perhaps you think this is a lot to suddenly throw your way. But if you have not before come to grips with this evil in our midst, this black mark upon our very souls, it is past time to consider this Canadian reality.

Effective today, and with God’s help and strength, I have pledged with all my time and energy to undertake the defense of these unborn children in Canada. God has graciously given me a plan to start with, a plan aimed at saving them for God. In fact I claim each one of their lives for God and for Jesus Christ right now. I have pledged to God to do what I can.

I have no resources to undertake this work, but I start today in faith. I have no income with which to accomplish this campaign. I trust God to supply what is necessary, but I have purposed to start TODAY and to make the most of those resources which God sends my way.

Please consider supporting me in this endeavour. If some of you would commit to $50 month for the next 6 months it would be a great help in getting started. I realize some of you simply can’t do anything at this point except pray for this endeavour, which I hope you will do. Others may be able to manage a more generous monthly gift and I pray you will consider doing so. For those of you who are internet savvy, you can keep track of my work by visiting the Vote Life, Canada! website and blog which I have developed. The website address is www.votelifecanada.ca and the blog address is http://votelifecanada.blogspot.com/. They both provide a great deal of information about the initiative and will answer all your questions or your friends’ questions. I will also be keeping supporters updated by means of a monthly newsletter.

Supporting this venture can be your way of fighting the gravest evil and injustice of all time. The evil of abortion represents the greatest slap ever in God’s face by a nation whose majority of citizens identifies themselves as Christians and claims to bear the name of Christ. And it can be your means of ensuring that unborn children live to see the wonderful creation of God and have the opportunity of knowing Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour [and theirs too]. To that Saviour on that great and fearful day, you will be able to say: “In the hidden faces of those unborn children, O Lord, I saw Your face, and felt Your pain and helped rescue those who are being taken away to death.”

"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'

God help us all to live consistent, fruitful lives for Christ.

In His service, and for the children,

Eric

P.S. Please consider forwarding this letter to anyone you think might be willing to lend support for this faith venture.

Today Is International Day Of The Unborn Child

Dear Canada,
Please respect all your unborn children.
Signed,
Vote Life, Canada!

Abortion And The Politics Of Ultrasound

According to this fine editorial by Star Parker yesterday, South Carolina appears close to becoming the first state in the country to require that women considering an abortion view an ultrasound image of their fetus before deciding to undergo the procedure.

Of course the anti-life proponents characterize the legislation as "intimidation" and "emotional blackmail." According to NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan,

The women of South Carolina are fully capable of asking their doctor for information they need to make private, personal medical decisions. Politicians don't belong in the examining room.

No surprises there.

However, Star provides a valuable corrective to this rhetoric and makes some excellent observations about the reality of women’s choices in the matter of abortion and the very practical [and sobering] role which ultrasounds can serve.

An increasing number of crisis-pregnancy centers now have ultrasound equipment that allows clients to see the child developing within them. Their experience shows that there is little question that this materially impacts the decision that women make. Centers report that anywhere from 62 percent up to 95 percent of women who had intended to abort changed their minds after seeing the images.

….

When these young women see fingers, toes and a beating heart, they understand the emerging life within them. This is a profound moment of personal growth. It's what causes their change and opens the door to their own rebirth and a life with new possibilities.

Be sure to read Star’s editorial.

The good news is that seventeen states already have or are considering legislation that would ensure that ultrasound viewing is available to women considering abortion. But South Carolina would be the first to make the viewing mandatory.

Jill Stanek recently posted on the subject of compulsory ultrasounds. Read Informed consent or intrusion?

These kinds of laws would save unborn lives just as effectively in Canada but sadly as a nation we are nowhere close to being as concerned as the Americans.

We have lots of work to do.

Unborn Children Helped By Church Leaders Speaking The Truth

I can’t help it. I just get excited when Church leaders come out and say something TRUE! And twice in one week! [Yes, I’m having just a little fun here.]

You may ask, “Are you saying they don’t normally say things which are true?”

No, I’m not saying that but too often they say little, if anything, on the important subjects and then when they do speak on those crucial issues, many Christian leaders make ambiguous, if not careless, statements.

That explains in large part why our nation is in its current mess. After all, Christians truly are responsible for the moral health of their nation, aren’t they?

So when Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput made a bold statement this week entitled We Need to Stop Pornography, Now it was good for all of us. After all, he put his finger on an issue that goes to the very root of our sexual perversions, something which “poisons the human heart, imagination and soul.”

Pornography is never “innocent entertainment,” no matter how private it might seem. It turns human beings into objects. It coarsens our appetites. It darkens our ability to see real human beauty. It creates impossible expectations about sexual intimacy. It kills enduring romance and friendship between the sexes. And ultimately it’s a lie and a cheat. Pornography is a cheap, quick, empty copy of the real thing — the real joy of sexual intimacy shared by a man and woman who have joined their lives in a loving marriage.

The Archbishop did not specifically mention abortion in his column, although it’s relatively easy to see that abortion is the “final solution” to so much dark sexuality. His letter ends with a challenge that needs to be taken seriously:

…we can do a lot about the poison in our homes and local communities. Pornography is poison. It should be controlled like any other toxic waste. And don’t be fooled. This isn’t “censorship.” It’s a matter of public health and common sense.

This was an important and timely reminder from one of the Church’s Pastors. The fact is that society needs this kind of leadership and outspokenness consistently and from ALL spiritual leaders in the Church. If the truth does not ring out clearly and constantly into our ears, then the enemy of our soul will be only too glad to fill the void with lies and death.

The second item of significance was also news from the USA.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops have announced that two pamphlets circulated by Daniel Maguire, a Marquette University theologian, represent “false teaching” which cannot be reconciled with Catholic doctrine.

This may not sound very newsworthy but consider what Maguire was teaching.

The doctrinal committee, chaired by Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, addressed two pamphlets circulated last year by Maguire, covering the issues of contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage. The USCCB concluded that Maguire’s views on those topics, and his understanding of Church teaching authority, “cross the legitimate lines of theological reflection and simply enter into the area of false teaching.”

In the pamphlets, Maguire had argued that “the Roman Catholic position on abortion is pluralistic,” claiming that some Catholics have always endorsed the “pro-choice” stance. He writes that on abortion-- and on other issues such as contraception and same-sex marriage-- there are two opposing Catholic views. “Neither is official,” he says, “and neither is more Catholic than the other.”

These kinds of statements embolden “pro-abortion” forces in our society, particularly pro-abortion Catholics and politicians, who continue to scandalize not only the US but Canada as well. Consider our last “faithful” Catholic Prime Minister who made declarations on national TV in the closing days of the last election, defending his government’s position on a “woman’s right to choose.”

This course of action by the USCCB may not seem very substantial to the reader but I can assure you that this is indeed a rare decision which they have made. I see this therefore as a very significant step. It sends the right message. We ought to strongly commend the Bishops for doing so and encourage them to do this sort of thing much more often.

Although I have been accused of placing far too much importance on the part that must be played by Church leaders in order to end abortion, the worse thing pro-lifers could do is to give up on Church pastors and leaders or minimize their role in the moral re-formation of the nation.

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

P.S. This posting and another recent one have been rather saturated with [good!] news surrounding Catholic leaders, news which promises to have a positive impact for the protection of unborn children. This is just a note to readers that Vote Life, Canada! highlights good news and reports about Church leaders from all Christian bodies whenever it comes to our attention.

Constitutional Right To Abortion In Canada?

As we have stated on the Vote Life, Canada! website,

Legalized abortion, like all state sponsored injustice, is founded on false premises and is opposed to truth, reason and natural law. It fosters, sustains and thrives in a climate of prejudice against the unborn child who is an unseen victim.

Here’s a recent good example.

ARCC, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, which describes itself as “the only nation-wide political pro-choice group devoted to ensuring abortion rights and access for women,” carries an article on its website entitled “Abortion Is a ‘Medically Required’ Service and Cannot be Delisted.”

This is actually one of ARCC’s position papers and it is rife with exaggeration and the usual pro-abortion deception and rhetoric.

I’ll allow the reader to peruse their ludicrous document and in this posting I’ll restrict my comments to the ARCC’s claim that “legal, accessible abortion is also a Charter right guaranteed to women,” which appears in their position paper under the heading “Access to abortion is a constitutional right.”

However, this is deception pure and simple.

Just this week, on March 21, a pro-life panel on abortion and the law at Carleton University found that despite claims by pro-choice activists, there is no constitutional right to abortion.

Lawyer and Laurentian Leadership Centre director Janet Epp Buckingham called the claims of a constitutional right to abortion a “disturbing trend.”

“This is not the law in Canada,” she said, explaining the 1988 Morgentaler decision that struck down Canada’s abortion law recognized “there is a legitimate government interest in protecting the unborn.”

Under the old Criminal Code provision, abortions were permitted when the life or health of the mother was endangered. The Supreme Court found that in some cases women had to wait as long as eight weeks for a legally-required committee of three doctors to okay the procedure. In some jurisdictions, hospitals did not have the committees.

The court found that for women who faced health risks carrying a pregnancy to term, this delay infringed their right to life and security of the person under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Buckingham said.

Buckingham pointed out the court insisted on a balancing of the rights of women and the rights of the fetus.

Liberal MP Tom Wappel (Scarborough Southwest, Ont.) described the so-called “constitutional right to abortion” as a misstatement of the law and an example of a big lie being repeated enough so that it becomes believed as the truth. Discovering the facts is “simply as easy as reading the decision,” he said.

When you decide to fight the truth, as abortion advocates do, you end up constructing an entire network of lies, striving endlessly and noisily to maintain the deception, and hoping everybody is sufficiently intimidated as to never call you on the lie. In most cases, for the honest person, discovering the facts is “simply as easy as reading the decision.”

Mike Shaw made some interesting comments on this same theme recently when he said,

It is no wonder, then, that the advocates of abortion have to work ceaselessly. They are on the ultimate fool's errand. After all, it takes great effort to cause people to act against the natural law. And when they do, they limit the numbers on their side.

To Be Credible, Respect Life, Pope Tells Doctors

Pope Benedict XVI hardly misses any opportunity to give to the world the urgent message of respect for life. Especially in this regard he is a model to all other Christian leaders in emphasizing the age old Christian teaching on the sanctity of life.

It is only within the last sixty or seventy years at most that Christians en masse have seriously defected from traditional Christian teaching in matters of sexuality, one of the most serious consequences being the rise of the demon of abortion.

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 22, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- Benedict XVI told doctors, nurses and other health care workers that their credibility depends on their respect of and love for life.

The Pope gave them this message today when receiving in audience participants of the plenary session of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry.

The Holy Father stated: "Esteem for and confidence in health care workers are proportional to the certainty that these professional defenders of life will never lack respect for a human life, even that of the disabled, and that they will always know how to encourage every attempt at healing."

He said that the commitment to offering care should be extended "to every human being, with the intention of covering their whole existence."

The Pontiff recalled: "The modern concept of health care is, in fact, human promotion: It includes everything from caring for the sick to preventive care, searching for greater human development, favoring an adequate family and social atmosphere.

"This ethical perspective, based on human dignity and on the fundamental rights and duties connected to this, is confirmed and strengthened by the commandment of love, the center of the Christian message."

Vote Life, Canada! Launches on March 25, International Day of the Unborn Child

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote Life, Canada! Launches on March 25, International Day of the Unborn Child--Aims to Assist Church Leaders in Defending the Unborn

Contact: Eric Alcock, President, Vote Life, Canada!, 403-253-1577

CALGARY, Alberta, Canada, Mar. 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- Vote Life, Canada! is an educational resource organization whose goal is to assist Church leaders to recognize the unborn as victims of the grave injustice of abortion. On March 25, the International Day of the Unborn Child, Vote Life, Canada! will launch with a national vision to mobilize congregations to establish justice for Canada's unborn through the informed and responsible exercise of their Christian duty to vote.

'Canadians, particularly Christians, need to be alerted and re-awakened to the monstrous evil of abortion and to its various contributing causes,' says Eric Alcock, founder and president of Vote Life, Canada! and a former evangelical pastor. 'Vote Life, Canada! exists to advance such an objective and to carry it forward to its logical and necessary end, which is complete legal protection for all unborn Canadians through recognition of their full personhood.'

Through networking with Church leaders, hi-impact multimedia presentations and other educational enterprises, Vote Life, Canada! aims to expose the plight of the unborn child and God's urgent but neglected call to Christians for justice and rescue. 'When Christians vote for (or fail to vote) and elect candidates who, year after year, take no steps to defend the unborn, they perpetuate the legalized slaughter of God's most vulnerable souls and cease to function as salt and light in their society,' says Alcock.

Vote Life, Canada! will challenge Christians to pursue justice and will offer guidance in the responsible exercise of their democratic voting duties with a view to change existing laws. 'The task of defending innocent human life,' states Alcock, 'is everyone's responsibility and to be Christian, historically and doctrinally, is to be pro-life.' In addition, he notes that ‘the committed pursuit of justice has, throughout the ages, been a recognized badge of the authentic life of a Christian.'

Vote Life, Canada! relies on the financial support of churches, pro-life organizations, religious and charitable groups, and private individuals who share its objectives and broad vision. Letters and e-mails expressing support are invited and may be addressed to: letters@votelifecanada.ca or Vote Life, Canada! Suite 287, 7620 Elbow Drive SW, Calgary, AB T2V1K2

Visit the official website at www.votelifecanada.ca and the blogsite at http://votelifecanada.blogspot.com/

Peru Declares March 25 As Day of the Unborn

Sunday, March 25, 2007 is the International Day of the Unborn Child.

Many countries have made their own declarations in favour of the unborn child. Recently I blogged on the sad turn of events in Portugal and Peru regarding legalization of abortion.

When Peru made its official declaration in 2002 it was one of the first countries to designate March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, as the "Day of the Unborn Child." Although the recent news was sad, it's good to hear that the day will still be observed in that country by some at least.

LIMA, Peru, MARCH 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Another country has joined the list of those that will celebrate the Day of the Unborn Child this Sunday.

The Family and Defense of Life Commission of the Peruvian bishops' conference has stressed the urgency of defending pre-born human beings.

"The new being might be wanted or unwanted, perhaps unexpected," the commission said. "It might be in the maternal womb or in a laboratory plate, perhaps in a freezer; it might have been generated by love or in violence, in the warmth of a home or the coldness of irresponsible recklessness.

"But none of these circumstances modifies the scientific truth, which remains unharmed and unchanging: We are before a human being, as valuable as one already born."

The commission's message entitled "Love, Celebrate and Defend Life," reiterated the Church's call to welcome "the great and mysterious gift of life that shines in every human being, especially those about to be born."

Coinciding with the solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25 has been established as the Day of the Unborn by numerous countries and dioceses.

A Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Center Launched For New York City

The numbers of ways in which pro-lifers are able to save the unborn [and their mothers] seems to be limited only by the imagination.

This news is a little old but makes an important point.

EMC FrontLine Pregnancy Centers is New York City's oldest and largest network of crisis pregnancy centers and pro-life health clinics (15 sites currently). It has announced the launch of the City's first pro-life, mobile ultrasound clinic to be parked at major abortion clinics- a full six days per week starting February 27th, 2007.

In co-ordination with local pro-life sidewalk counselors, EMC will offer free ultrasounds, hot drinks, and friendly compassionate crisis counseling to all pregnant women on their way into abortion clinics.

…women will be offered a judgment free space to reflect on their impending abortion without heavy pressure or coercion. Women will be offered free group housing, free pre-natal care, and material aid, as well as professional adoption counseling, besides an offer of a free ultrasound.

Apparently this initiative

…is the first in the U.S. of this type in a major American city, and the first ever in the city many in the pro-life movement refer to as "the Abortion Capital of America" where over 88,000 abortions were reported in 2005, according to the State of NY Department of Health.

I’ve noticed a few recent statistics which indicate that as many as 84% of women who view an ultrasound of their unborn child will choose to cancel plans for an abortion. When you think of it, that seems like an easy fix for the biggest part of the abortion holocaust, doesn’t it? Simply get women to have an ultrasound first, right?

But just imagine the difficulty of trying to force women to have an ultrasound! There should be a law forcing women, right?

Impossible you might say, but look at what the state of South Carolina did two days ago.

The South Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill March 21 that would require women seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound image of their unborn baby. No other state has such a law. This law sounds like it could save many unborn lives.

At least seven states have laws concerning abortions and ultrasounds. For example, women in Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin must be told an ultrasound is available. In Arkansas and Michigan, if an ultrasound is performed, women must be given the opportunity to view it.

Why couldn’t we manage a law here in Canada like that of South Carolina? We could, with the right amount of determination, hard work, money, and prayer. It would be a good step towards saving Canada’s unborn and that’s exactly what Vote Life, Canada! is working to achieve.

Genocide Awareness Project at U of C Calgary

The Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform [CCBR] organizes the Genocide Awareness Project [GAP] at universities under the sponsorship of campus pro-life clubs. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the pro-life club at the University of Calgary hosted an exhibition of GAP.

I was in attendance on Monday for several hours, watching the reaction and listening in on the conversations. It was an extremely effective demonstration in my opinion and significantly affected quite a number of passers-by. There were some very interested individuals asking questions and some able apologetics happening, resulting in hearts and minds being changed in favour of the rights of the unborn.

The pro-life students manning the display were well prepared and enthusiastic, having gone through a fairly extensive training process under the leadership of Stephanie Gray, the Executive Director, and Jose [Jojo] Ruba, a co-founder and full time leader at CBBR.

Graphic images have their place in the fight to protect unborn human beings and this event is a perfect example of not only a good setting in which to do it but also an excellent approach to accompanying the graphic displays with serious heart changing apologetics!

Great work Stephanie, Jojo, and all the pro-life student volunteers! Lives are being saved through your efforts and dedication. We need lots more GAP projects at universities and colleges and more pro-life projects of all kinds in all the nooks and crannies of the Canadian landscape.

Baby-Making Needed In Canada

On Friday past, an editorial entitled “Baby-making Needed” by Licia Corbella of the Calgary Sun appeared in the Edmonton Sun newspaper.

Be prepared for more and more of these kinds of messages because Canada’s demographics are beginning to catch up on us. As Licia noted, the simple message is that Canada’s prevailing birthrate will lead inevitably to social disaster if not quickly addressed.

Canada's census figures came out this week to much chest thumping from politicians, commentators and others.

As usual, most of the mainstream media and government analysts missed the key point, which is this -- Canada's census numbers add up to impending social disaster.

The question is asked bluntly,

“…who will pay for all of those social programs and hip replacements? New immigrants? Nope. Studies show on the whole new immigrants consume more services than they pay for.”

No satisfying answer, in fact, can be given to this question under Canada’s present value system. It requires a dynamic, youthful population not only to ensure a hopeful future for a nation, but also to pay the bills for those who are aging. So how can Canada regain the necessary good balance in its population?

"The only way to stop the Canadian aging process," states the Statscan report, "is to increase fertility."

You would think that Canada’s experts would be all over this crisis. You would think they have it covered and a plan has been implemented to right Canada’s sinking ship. But no, unfortunately the experts cannot speak the unspeakable, which is exactly what Licia, spoke—baby-making is required. The whole subject of babies and family size floods over too easily into the subject of women’s rights, family “planning,” and the A-word, abortion. None of it is politically correct, to the sad detriment of Canada’s future, and so the politicians won’t mention it or venture to address it.

So, how are governments dealing with this demographic disaster? They're not. In fact, their tax policies and ever-increasing social programs make things worse.

Licia gets closer to the heart of things and makes an excellent point when she says,

What's more, while abortion is fully funded without question in every province, fertility treatments are not. Ontario is the only province that funds in vitro fertilization (IVF), but only for prime candidates.

It's true and its madness that Canadians sponsor child-killing with their tax dollars but unfortunately, IVF is fundamentally immoral and it’s quite obvious anyway that funding IVF is not going to solve Canada’s birth crisis. As I said, Licia came somewhat close to the heart of the matter before she veered off into IVF. But perhaps that was just her way of citing an example.

Nevertheless Licia ended on the right note when she spoke of “…giving couples incentives to have babies,” and with an alarming warning, “Anything less is suicide to our way of life.”

If we take her comments seriously we will first of all stop all child killing in Canada, and secondly take immediate steps to encourage in every possible way more “baby-making.”

Vote Life, Canada! says “Thank-You,” Licia Corbella.