Politics
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Monday February 12, 2001
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PrintDEVELOPMENT AND PEACE FORCED TO ABANDON MARCH OF WOMEN
TODAY'S HEADLINES
OTTAWA, Feb. 12, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Nearly a year after LifeSite first broke the story of the $135,000 donation from the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) to the pro-abortion World March of Women (WMW), the CCODP has finally disassociated itself from the WMW. The reason given by CCODP for the move is the CCODP "has learned that the International Organizing Committee has responded to President Bush's funding cuts to international family planning projects by calling on national WMW organizing committees to rally in support of choice for abortion." The B.C. Catholic newspaper reveals further that the decision was made after consultations with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), specifically Bishops Fred Henry of Calgary and Francois Thibodeau of Edmundston, N.B., who are the CCCB members on the National Council of the CCODP.
Early on in the controversy over the WMW pro-lifers pointed out repeatedly the overt and uncompromising pro-abortion and pro-homosexual stance of the WMW's top organizers. The WMW document itself, both the international and the Canadian version, demonstrated these concerns. However, these messages were often met with hostility from those organizations supporting the WMW including the CCODP, the CCCB, and the Catholic Women's League (CWL).
The current release by the CCODP announcing the split with the WMW tells a different story. The first two paragraphs of the release indicate how "proud" CCODP was "to have supported the World March of Women." The letter suggests that the action to support abortion is "new" and that withdrawal from the WMW is motivated by this recent action.
However the pro-abortion stand of the WMW was clearly demonstrated in dozens of articles published all over the world long before this most recent venture into pro-abortion activism on the part of the WMW. Early last year, Diane Matte, coordinator of the International Committee of the World March of Women, rejected a request by a pro-life group to participate in the march. She wrote that at the international WMW meeting held on January 28 it was "unanimously decided that the demand to have a 'pro-life' contingent at the World March is unacceptable to us since the anti-choice position defended by your organization is in clear contradiction with the objectives pursued by the march."
While there are no immediate actions on the part of the CCCB and CWL to officially withdraw from support of the WMW, an unofficial distancing is in effect. Bede Hubbard, spokesperson for the CCCB told LifeSite that the CCCB "never endorsed the World March of Women," only the objectives of the WMW which it agreed with.
See the CCODP press release at:
http://www.devp.org/testA/policy/declarationsi-e.htm
See the coverage in the BC Catholic at:
http://bcc.rcav.org/01-02-12/fp.htm
See all the coverage and documentation on the March of Women at:
http://www.lifesite.net/clc/womens_march/
Back to TopPRO-LIFE MEASURES IN PARLIAMENT
OTTAWA, Feb. 12, 2001 (LSN.ca) - As reported earlier on LifeSite, on February 2 Saskatchewan MP Garry Breitkreuz (CA, Yorkton-Melville) reintroduced his Motion (now called M-228) to define "human being" to include unborn children. On February 7, Maurice Vellacott (CA, Saskatoon-Wanuskewin) reintroduced a bill that would protect health care workers from discrimination and coercion if they refused in conscience to participate in abortions. The bill is now numbered C-246.
The Order Paper for parliamentary business indicates that Jim Pankiw (Saskatoon-Humboldt), a third Canadian Alliance MP from Saskatchewan, was to reintroduce his bill February 9, which calls for a referendum to be held in conjunction with the next federal election to determine whether taxpayer dollars should continue to go towards abortion. It does not yet have a number.
Mr. Breitkreuz's motion is the only pro-life measure so far to have been drawn for debate. It must now go before the parliamentary sub-committee on Private Members' Business to determine whether or not it will be declared "votable."
Two other life-related motions have been introduced by New Democrat MP, Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North Centre). M-148 reads, "That, in the opinion of this House, the government should amend the Patent Act to prohibit patenting of life forms." M-149 deals with organ donations and reads: "That, in the opinion of the House, the government should establish a national registry of organ donors to increase the pool of potential donors, to allow individuals to clarify their wishes regarding organ donations, and to increase the supply of organs for transplantation in order to save as many lives as possible."
You can follow the introduction of legislation by going to the following Internet address and following the appropriate link:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/bills.asp?Language=E&Parl=37&Ses=1
GENIUS SPERM BANK PROGENY INTERVIEWED
PORTLAND, Feb. 12, 2001 (LSN.ca) - A telling sign of how far along the path of genetic manipulation with humans are has surfaced in an interview with an 18 year-old product of the "Genius Sperm Bank." The interview, reported in the National Post, shows that the youth indeed fits much of the description of a genius with constant scholarships and a reported I.Q. of 180. However, Doron Blake says he is confused about who he is and about his place in the universe.
See the interview at:
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20010207/466938.html
FRENCH PRESIDENT CRITICIZES BRITAIN'S APPROVAL OF CLONING
PARIS, Feb. 12, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Speaking at the opening of a life sciences conference in Lyons, French President Jacques Chirac criticized Britain for allowing the cloning of human embryos for research purposes. Chirac encouraged the use of stem cells from adults, an ethically acceptable way of achieving many of the alleged medical benefits of human cloning. He suggested that the final decision about cloning should be made at the international rather than the national level.
For more see the report in The Times at:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-81177,00.html
(with files from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children)
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