Politics
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Friday January 18, 2002
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Print- STOCKWELL DAY RELEASES STRONG SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE POLICY STATEMENTS
- CANADIAN ABORTION STATISTICS RELEASED BUT ONTARIO REFUSES TO REPORT
- THE EFFECT OF LATIMER EXAMINED AFTER HIS FIRST YEAR IN PRISON
- SASKATOON CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOARDS CONSIDER BANNING POTTER BOOKS
- PORTUGUESE ILLEGAL ABORTIONIST RING LEADER SENTENCE TO 8 ˝ YEARS IN PRISON
- U.S. CARDINAL SPEAKS ON ABORTION PRIOR TO MARCH FOR LIFE
- LIFESITE NEWSBYTES
- US NEWS ROUNDUP
STOCKWELL DAY RELEASES STRONG SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE POLICY STATEMENTS
TODAY'S HEADLINES
OTTAWA, January 18, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Stockwell Day, the former Leader of the Opposition who stepped down last month and is running again for the Canadian Alliance leadership, has released policy statements on his campaign website. The statements demonstrate a strong commitment to social conservatism.
On "Respect for Life" he states, "I strongly support the dignity and value of all human life. I agreed with the Supreme Court decision which said that young Tracy Latimer's life was as valuable as any other Canadian's. I am concerned about the Health Committee report on reproductive technologies which would allow embryonic stem cell research - allowing human embryos, which are human life, to be destroyed in the name of science." He notes that "As a party, the Canadian Alliance takes no official position on the difficult questions of abortion or euthanasia, and if a bill touching on these issues were to come before Parliament, we would permit a free vote." But adds, "In such a case my own vote would always be to protect human life."
Regarding the "Family" Day says, "The family is the most basic unit of our society, and government should recognize the importance and value of family. The current tax system gives no recognition to families who are raising children above very low-income thresholds. We need a family friendly tax system that recognizes the costs and the value to society of raising children through a substantial tax break, and the tax system should also recognize the costs to parents who pay for educating their children out of their own pocket. We need to preserve the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, as this has proven to be the best environment for raising children."
Day also puts forward a position in favour of federal "tax credits for parents sending their children to independent schools that did not receive provincial funding," noting his track record of promoting such initiatives as a cabinet minister in the Alberta government. Day explains, "Parents who are paying for their children to attend an independent school are providing a public good - education - at private expense, and it is only fair for government to recognize that sacrifice. Parents who feel obliged to send their children to their own schools for religious and cultural reasons, get no benefit from the thousands of tax dollars they pay towards public education. In effect, they face double taxation."
On "Faith in Public Life" Day said that while "It is not the role of Government to promote a particular religion," the Government should not "stifle religious freedom." Drawing from his own experience as being harassed over his religious beliefs, he stressed that "Canadians who hold religious beliefs should not constantly have their motives questioned in political life, or be forced to limit their free speech to conform to political correctness." Day recalled that "Our constitution recognizes the supremacy of God and our national anthem calls on God to keep our land. Surely this means that politicians and ordinary citizens should not be prevented from recognizing God in public."
See these and other policy statements at Day's website:
http://www.stockwellday.com
Back to TopCANADIAN ABORTION STATISTICS RELEASED BUT ONTARIO REFUSES TO REPORT
OTTAWA, January 18, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Statistics Canada released its abortion statistics for 1999 today but noted that abortions for the province of Ontario were not included due to "changes in reporting requirements in Ontario." The report notes that "women in provinces and territories other than Ontario obtained 65,627 abortions in 1999, down 3.2% from 67,785 in 1998." However, since Ontario usually accounts for about 40% of abortions in Canada (according to the agency), the quality of the federal agency's report is severely undermined.
The 'therapeutic abortion rate', excluding Ontario, decreased to 31.8 abortions for every 100 live births in 1999 from 32.3 in 1998. Abortions were most common among women in their twenties, who accounted for 52% of all women who obtained abortions in 1999. On average, 27 women out of every 1,000 in their twenties obtained an abortion. Abortion rates decreased in the all provinces and territories reporting except Newfoundland and Manitoba from 1998 to 1999.
Jakki Jeffs, executive director of Alliance for Life Ontario told LifeSite that Ontario and British Columbia have been trying for years to avoid reporting abortion statistics. She noted that the current Statistics Canada report does not include demographic information specifying such things as how many abortions were repeat abortions and marital status. Jeffs said it was an outrage that the Ontario statistics are withheld since "abortion impacts women's health and it is publicly funded."
She noted that one reason why Ontario seems to be eliminating the paper trail on abortions may be to conceal eventual liability. Jeffs recalled that new studies are continuing to she detrimental effects of abortion. Ontario appears to be one of the very few governments in the world that withholds abortion statistics from its taxpayers who pay for all Ontario abortion services. The United Nation's regular country-by-country abortion statistics will have to report a seriously incomplete statistic for Canada for 1999.
See the Statistics Canada release on abortions in 1999 at:
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/020118/d020118d.htm
THE EFFECT OF LATIMER EXAMINED AFTER HIS FIRST YEAR IN PRISON
REGINA, January 18, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Today marks one year since the imprisonment of Robert Latimer for the murder of his 12-year-old disabled daughter Tracy. As of today he is eligible to apply for the Prerogative of Mercy, a move his lawyers have said they are going to pursue. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition argues that such a move would put disabled Canadians at risk and today released evidence to prove it.
Professor Dick Sobsey of the University of Alberta conducted a study analyzing the number of cases of homicide and homicide that involved victims with developmental disabilities. In order to assess the effect that the Latimer murder and the surrounding publicity that favoured Latimer as a caring and merciful father may have had, professor Sobsey compared the number of these homicides before and after the murder. He also compared the post-Latimer murder data to that of the United States for added comparison.
Since the US has a population that is about 9.3 times as large as Canada it would be reasonable to expect the number of cases there to be about 9.3 times as many as here. Since they also have a higher murder rate, however, it would be reasonable to expect their numbers to be more than 9.3 times as high as ours. The important thing is to compute the ratio based on cases up to 1993, and then to compute the ratio from 1994 (when the first Latimer trial and surrounding publicity began to have potential effects).
Findings prior to the Latimer murder found that "an individual with a developmental disability had slightly more than double the risk in the US." However after Latimer, the study found "a Canadian with a developmental disability was actually at 19.3% greater risk than his or her counterpart in the US." To exemplify the extent of the change, Sobsey compared it to "suddenly waking up and finding that the murder rate in Canada was 20% higher than the US rate."
Moreover when the study focused on cases in which parents killed their own children, those most likely to be affected by the Latimer publicity, it found a more dramatic effect. "After correcting for population, Americans with developmental disabilities were 2.5 times as likely to be killed by their parents as Canadians. After Latimer, "suddenly Canadians with developmental disabilities were 84% more likely than Americans to be killed by their parents."
SASKATOON CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOARDS CONSIDER BANNING POTTER BOOKS
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, January 18, 2002 (LSN.ca) - The Saskatoon Catholic school board has agreed to investigate the Harry Potter book series after parents raised concerns that the books are inappropriate for children, especially Catholic children. The Canadian Press reports that the books are used as part of school lessons.
The nine trustees heard from Jason and Tracy Stupak, along with friends David and Trudy Waselyshen, who urged the board to remove the Harry Potter books from optional reader lists which can be used for book reports. While both couples have children, the children are not yet in school. David Waselyshen, father of two, the oldest of whom is two years old, told LifeSite that he was concerned that the series will gain in popularity in years to come as the successive volumes and films in the series are released. He asserted that by the time his children are in school the problematic series will be entrenched and much more difficult to excise from classrooms.
Waselyshen noted that only three of the nine board members had read even parts of the books and only two had seen the film. He urged them to read the books and see the film "from a child's perspective" to assess the damage they could have in leading children into the occult.
See LifeSite's page on Harry Potter:
http://www.lifesite.net/features/harrypotter/index.html
See the CP coverage in the Toronto Star at:
http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Ty...
PORTUGUESE ILLEGAL ABORTIONIST RING LEADER SENTENCE TO 8 ˝ YEARS IN PRISON
LISBON, January 18, 2002 (LSN.ca) - A Portuguese nurse who was operating an illegal abortion ring out of her home was sentenced to 8 ˝ years in prison. The case involved 42 people, 17 of which were mothers who availed themselves of the illegal procedure, the remaining 25 were charged with participating in the abortion ring. The nurse, Maria do Ceu Ribeiro, aged 46, was found guilty of practising abortion, forging prescriptions, illegally administering drugs, and gaining money by illicit means.
The BBC reports that the prosecution, using Ribeiro's diary as evidence, said she had performed more than 100 illegal abortions and called for a 12-year sentence. The court said in its verdict: "The court has taken into account that (Ribeiro) did it to help other women."
See the BBC report at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1767000/1767226.stm
U.S. CARDINAL SPEAKS ON ABORTION PRIOR TO MARCH FOR LIFE
WASHINGTON, January 18, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, chairman of the Pro Life Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the press he will be in Washington next Tuesday for the annual March for Life. There he will say Mass, the largest annual Mass in the U.S., in commemoration of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision Roe vs. Wade.
"Abortion is an absolute evil about which no exceptions are permitted," said the Cardinal in an interview. AP reports that Cardinal Bevilacqua, 78, says he will expand a pro-life advertising campaign that ran last year in his city and bring an aggressive lobbying effort to elected officials. He said that while he sympathizes with women in difficult circumstances, "The personal circumstances don't change the horror of the act." The Cardinal warned of the detrimental effect of Catholic politicians who say they personally oppose abortion but support policies that guarantee a right to the procedure. "These people are respected and their positions confuse people," he said.
See the AP coverage at:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020117/us/religion_today_1.html
LIFESITE NEWSBYTES
UK COURT OF APPEAL APPROVES GOVERNMENT CHALLENGE TO CLONING RULING
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has condemned a ruling by the English Court of Appeal which upholds flawed legislation on human cloning. Three judges ruled that cloned human embryos were governed by existing legislation. The decision overturns the victory by the Pro-Life Alliance on 15th November last year in the English High Court, which ruled that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 did not cover embryos created by techniques other than by fertilisation, such as cell nuclear replacement.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1767000/1767503.stm
US NEWS ROUNDUP
ABORTIONIST TILLER OFFERS FREE ABORTIONS SATURDAY TO MARK ROE V WADE
http://web.wichitaeagle.com/content/wichitaeagle/2002/01/18/health/0118abortion_...
AFTER PRESSURE JONES INSTITUTE QUITS CREATING HUMAN EMBRYOS TO RESEARCH ON
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200201\CUL20020118c...
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