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Updated: Nun Abortion Clinic Escort Reprimanded - Dominican Congregation Apologizes for Scandal

Three bishops now discussing ways to end this many years ongoing scandal

By Peter J. Smith

HINSDALE, Illinois, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A congregation of US Dominican nuns has publicly apologized for the scandal caused by one of its members acting as a volunteer escort at a Chicago area abortion facility, who now faces severe canonical penalties including excommunication and the possibility of dismissal. 

LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) first broke the story about Sr. Donna Quinn, O.P., a Dominican nun who is outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion, who had been identified by pro-life witnesses as an escort for the ACU Health Clinic.

Sr. Quinn's religious community, the Wisconsin-based Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation, admitted in a press release posted on their website that they were informed of the allegation several months ago, and, after having completed a period of investigation, the Congregation's leaders have informed the pro-abortion sister that "her actions are in violation of her profession as a Dominican religious."

The congregation reports that its leaders "are working with Sr. Donna to resolve the matter appropriately" and regret the public scandal caused by her actions.

The Sinsinawa Dominicans took the opportunity to re-affirm unequivocally their commitment to the Catholic Church's core teachings, as well as the necessity to witness to the sanctity and dignity of all human life from conception to natural death.

"We as Sinsinawa Dominican women are called to proclaim the Gospel through the ministry of preaching and teaching to participate in the building of a holy and just society," read a statement issued on behalf of the congregation.

"As Dominican religious, we fully support the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the dignity and value of every human life from conception to natural death. We believe that abortion is an act of violence that destroys the life of the unborn. We do not engage in activity that witnesses to support of abortion."

ChicagoCatholicNews.com reports that three Catholic hierarchs are meeting to discuss what remedial action must be taken to correct Sr. Quinn: Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Joliet, Illinois and Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin. An anonymous aide to Morlino said the three were involved since Sr. Quinn's motherhouse is located within Bishop Morlino's territory, but Sr. Quinn resides in the Chicago Archdiocese, while the abortion clinic where she gave formal assistance to abortion as an escort is situated within Sartain's diocese.

Formal cooperation with abortion is considered a grave sin in the Catholic Church that carries an automatic penalty of excommunication or excommunication latae sententiae as it is called within the Church's canon law (Canon 1398). Earlier in July, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reiterated the penalty of excommunication applied to all parties formally cooperating in abortion, emphasizing that the penalty was an act of mercy, because in that way the Church "makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society."

All three prelates will have to take that matter into consideration when they consult, but canon lawyer Edward Peters on his blog says that Sr. Quinn faces the possibility of dismissal from her order if matters are not reconciled.

"Canon 695 calls for the mandatory dismissal of a religious guilty of the delict of abortion described in Canon 1398," writes Peters. The case would be made that Sr. Quinn is an accomplice to abortion under Canon 1329, which would then make Canon 695 applicable.

"The novelty of nuns serving as murder mistresses at abortion clinics means that there is not much jurisprudence for such cases, I grant, but it is still a theory worth exploring," Peters remarked.

Another possibility would then be Canon 696, Peters continues, "dismissal from religious life can be imposed against one who gives 'grave scandal arising from culpable behavior.'"

That leaves either Sr. Quinn's superiors or the three bishops with the option to pursue Sr. Quinn's dismissal in the Church's courts. With American Archbishop Raymond Burke as the head of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's supreme court of appeal for canon law cases, it is doubtful that Sr. Quinn could acquit herself of the charges in light of long-standing evidence regarding her support for abortion.

Chicago-area pro-life witnesses informed LifeSiteNews.com that Sr. Quinn has acted as escort for "six years, at least" and they were finally able to identify her after her picture appeared in an article for the Chicago Tribune.

Sr. Quinn has also spoken out in favor of legal abortion for decades and is a coordinator of the National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN), an organization which opposes the Catholic Church's position on abortion, homosexuality, contraception, and the male priesthood.


See previous coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:

Nun Volunteering as Abortion Clinic Escort in Illinois 

On procured abortion - Clarification from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

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Upset wins for Republicans in Virginia, New Jersey

Hoffman trailing Democrat in New York District 23

By Steve Jalsevac

November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At 10:45 p.m. Tuesday evening, voting results indicate major upsets in the Virginia and New Jersey Governors races, with Republicans being declared the winners in both states.

In Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell has won the governorship over Democrat Gov. Deeds.  In New Jersey, Politico had declared Republican Chris Christie the victor over incumbent Democrat Gov. Jon Corzine although Christie has only a 4.5 point lead with 91% of the vote having been reported.

In the New York District 23 race, Doug Hoffman is trailing his Democrat opponent with 63% of the vote in. Hoffman is 3.9% behind Owens.

LifeSiteNews will provide more complete coverage on the results in a Tuesday report.

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11,000 on Abortion Mandate Webcast Warned against Phony Compromises in Healthcare Bill

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Over 11,000 pro-lifers tuned in last night to an emergency webcast by StopTheAbortionMandate.com, where national pro-life leaders briefed listeners on the extent of the threat to human life posed by the House health care bill.

According to coordinator David Bereit, although news of the webcast went out only 13 hours before it began, 11,243 people joined in.  Speakers included Rep. Chris Smith, Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life, Kristen Day of Democrats for Life, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America, Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee, Deirdre McQuade of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' pro-life secretariat, and Christian Medical and Dental Associations CEO Dr. David Stevens.

"You know as well as I, ladies and gentlemen, that killing human babies by abortion is not health care," said Congressman Smith of New Jersey, the chairman of the House's pro-life caucus.  The congressman noted that prohibiting federal funding of abortion has been the status quo "across the board," including for the Medicaid Program, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, SCHIP, the Department of Defense, and even the Veterans Health Administration.

Smith warned that, included in the language of the "manager's amendment" that will be introduced to try to bridge divides in order to pass the bill, "will almost certainly be a new phony compromise that does nothing but put window dressing on the deadly abortion funding already in the bill."

The leaders once again made clear the bottom line regarding the 1,990-page bill's treatment of abortion funding.  The Capps amendment, proposed as a "compromise" measure in July by the radically pro-abortion Rep. Lois Capps, does three key things: it allows abortion-covering insurance plans to receive government subsidies, establishes a government-run insurance plan that must cover abortion, and requires all U.S. regions to offer at least one abortion-covering health plan.

"They are wanting to make it as complicated as possible," said Americans United for Life President and CEO Charmaine Yoest, "in order to obscure the fact that there is a very simple truth underneath it all: this is a huge expansion in abortion funding and coverage by the federal government, which changes the way that we've approached abortion policy in this country for the last 30 years."

Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, whose efforts at a pro-life amendment have posed a significant threat to the bill's abortion expansion, earned praise from the webcast speakers.  Stupak has threatened to arrange like-minded Democrats to block passage of the bill's rule - which must be passed before the bill can be considered by the House - unless Democrat leadership allows a vote by the full House on a Hyde-like amendment for the measure.  Kristin Day, the president of Democrats for Life, called Stupak a "hero." 

"Pelosi has made it very clear so far that she has no intention whatsoever of allowing a vote on the Stupak/Pitts amendment," said Rep. Smith, referring to the pro-life amendment.  "She wants to keep this issue quiet, and silence the pro-life members of congress who oppose government funding for abortion."

Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, focused on the public option and the "powerful legal formula" in the Capps amendment that protects the public option's coverage of abortion.  "Will the Obama administration use that sweeping authority if Congress provides it?  You bet they will," he said.  "And will they use federal funds to pay for those abortions?  Why, certainly they will.  Because the federal agency can spend nothing other than federal funds."

"The claim which has been disseminated by pro-abortion lawmakers and by some of their apologists in the media, that this federal program would pay for abortions but with private funds - although accepted and repeated with a straight face by some gullible journalists - is absurd on its face," he added.  "It's a political hoax."

The leaders noted that the pro-life lawmakers have a formidable opponent in House Speaker Pelosi, who, according to Rep. Smith, has "no intention whatsoever" of allowing the House an opportunity to vote on the pro-life amendment.   "Indeed, Speaker Pelosi believes that if the full House were allowed to vote on the Stupak/Pitts amendment, it would pass, and so she is determined not to allow that vote," noted Johnson.

Deirdre McQuade from the USCCB affirmed that the U.S bishops are "responding clearly and vigorously" to the health care bill.  The USCCB recently began an all-out campaign against the abortion-laden bill, and asked all American U.S. prelates to join the effort to stop the abortion mandate earlier this month. 

Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, said that the bill's conscience language protecting doctors objecting to abortion was weak, and liable to be scrapped when the House and Senate bills undergo a merging process.  "I don't think it's any time to relax or celebrate," Stevens said.

In addition, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America noted President Obama's ambiguity on the abortion mandate.  Though claiming that he is personally opposed to federal funding for abortion, Wright reports that Obama "has been personally and aggressively lobbying members of Congress to vote for the current bills," all of which include such funding.

Ultimately, according to the speakers, the pro-life effort against the rules vote - due to occur either today or Wednesday - is the "do or die" moment.

"I believe we can and I believe we will win, but we have to out-think and outwork the abortionists as never before," said Smith.  "Clearly, this is the big one."

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Planned Parenthood's President Lashes Out at USCCB

By James Tillman
 
WASHINGTON, DC, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, sent an email to her supporters on Monday, complaining of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) campaign against the abortion-funding health care bill. Richards begged for quick action from abortion supporters to counter the bishops' influence and push the bill through Congress.

Richards' attack was spurred by the nation-wide campaign the USCCB has recently launched, seeking to mobilize parishioners and clergy to call their representatives and senators to defeat the abortion-funding health care bill in Congress.
 
In the email, Richards breathlessly avers that "every group opposed to a woman's right to choose is pulling out all the stops this week to bring all the progress we've made on health care reform to a grinding halt."
 
She then urges abortion supporters to contact their senators and representatives and tell them to continue to work for the health care bill. "I know that you've likely e-mailed and called before," she writes, "and I'm asking you to do it again today - and it won't be the last time."
 
The email links to tools to help supporters of abortion contact both their senators and their friends.  The form email to representatives and senators urges them to protect the "current House bill [that] ensures access to reproductive health care."
 
However, the statement from Richards appears to clash with the earlier denials by President Obama, members of Congress, and Cecile Richards herself, that the proposed health care bill would not bring about federal funding of abortion.  In early August, Richards wrote that it was a myth that "taxpayer money would be used to pay for abortions in the public plan." At the same time, however, Richards is now bitterly fighting the U.S. bishops' campaign against the abortion-funding provisions in the bill, despite the fact that the bishops have expressed support for healthcare reform without abortion funding. 

In addition to urging pro-aborts to lobby Congress, Richards goes on to say that the U.S. bishops "don't speak for all Catholics."  She then includes a quotation from a "Catholic" supporter of abortion, saying that "hundreds of thousands" of people die because they lack insurance, and that the Catholic bishops "don't represent me, and they don't represent my beliefs.  I'm speaking out, and I'm asking my Catholic friends and family to do the same."
 
Richards then goes on to urge any Catholics who disagree with their bishops to speak to their legislators.
 
Richards has previously attacked the U.S. Bishops in a similarly hyperbolic fashion.  In an August 18 editorial in the Huffington Post, Richards accused bishops of endangering "millions" of women's lives with their "hard-line opposition the women's rights," and said that if they had their way "the national health care system would make American woman second-class citizens."
 
Richards ends her most recent email by assuring Planned Parenthood supporters that they are "doing all we can."
 
"Every time a group tries to limit the care and rights of women and their families, we will be here for them," she writes.  "And we know that you, too, will be right here with us."
 

See related stories on LifeSiteNews.com: 
  
The Gloves are Off: Planned Parenthood President Slams U.S. Bishops on Abortion, Healthcare  

USCCB Launches All-Out Campaign against Abortion-Funding Healthcare  
  
USCCB Pro-Life Office: No Health Care Reform while Abortion Mandate Remains  
  
Head of USCCB Meets with Obama: Also Releases Video Saying Decision on Conscience Protection a Move Towards "Despotism"

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Czech Republic Leader Signs Lisbon - No More Barriers to New European Superstate

By Hilary White

PRAGUE, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, signed the Lisbon Treaty at 3 p.m. Central European Time today, the last leader of the European Union's 27 members states to do so. This removes the last barrier to the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the document that is said to be effectively identical to the European Constitution that was defeated by public votes in France and the Netherlands in 2005.

Klaus, the eurosceptic leader of the former Soviet bloc country, has warned repeatedly against Lisbon's encroachments on national sovereignty and democracy, calling the project of a "united Europe" a return to a leftist tyranny. Since the start of the battle over Lisbon, Klaus has warned that ratification of the Treaty would signal the end of his and all European countries as independent sovereign states.

After the Yes vote in last month's Irish referendum, Klaus' opposition to Lisbon was the last barrier to the full implementation of the agreement that pro-life advocates have warned will likely result in the loss of the right of countries to pass laws protecting the unborn and elderly from abortion and euthanasia. Pro-life leaders in Ireland warned that under the Treaty the laws of member states will be interpreted not through that state's courts, but by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that is under no legal obligation to consider any other law besides EU law.

Today the anti-Christian, secularist leanings of the EU's institutions were illustrated when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that crucifixes must be removed from Italian state schools. In response to a complaint from an Italian woman in Padua, the Strasburg court ruled, "The presence of the crucifix ... could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion."

The court ruled that the Italian state is to "refrain from imposing beliefs in premises where individuals were dependent on it." Campaigners have warned that this type of ruling under Lisbon's terms would become binding on all member states, ushering in the effective repression in all of Europe of public expressions of Christianity or any other belief that opposes the prevailing official European secularism.

In a 2005 speech, Klaus wondered if the former communist countries were not risking falling into "another blind alley of regulated society, of unproductive welfare state, of brave new world of European social democratism and of empty and artificial Europeanism."

Klaus's capitulation was anticipated at last week's EU summit, when French President Nicholas Sarkozy said, "The Lisbon Treaty will enter into force doubtless as early as December 1."

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Lisbon Will Force Abortion into Ireland through EU Charter of Human Rights: Irish Pro-Life Lobby
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09072006.html

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European Court of Human Rights Bans Crucifixes in Italian Schools

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

STRASBOURG/ROME, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The European Court of Human Rights ruled today that displaying crucifixes in Italian classrooms violates parents' rights to secular education for their children.

The Strasbourg court found that, "The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public authorities ... restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions."

"The presence of the crucifix ... could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion," the court said in a statement, adding the presence of such symbols could be "disturbing for pupils who practiced other religions or were atheists."

The seven judges ruling on the case added that crucifixes in the classroom also restricted the "right of children to believe or not to believe," according to the statement quoted by AFP news agency.

The case was brought to the Human Rights Court by Soile Lautsi, a mother of two from Abano Terme, near Padua, on the grounds that her children were being influenced by having to attend a school that had crucifixes in every room.

Ruling that this contradicted the separation of Church and state in Italy the court awarded her 5,000 euros (7,400 dollars) in damages.

The court did not, however, order the Italian authorities to remove the crucifixes, and the Italian Government said that it would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights' Grand Chamber, according to the ANSA news agency.

The ruling has sparked an uproar throughout the country, with religious leaders and politicians condemning the ruling using words such as "abhorrent," "offensive," "pagan," and "spineless."

"This is an abhorrent ruling," said Rocco Buttiglione, a former culture minister.

"It must be rejected with firmness. Italy has its culture, its traditions and its history. Those who come among us must understand and accept this culture and this history," he said.

Mariastella Gelmini, the Minister for Education, said that the ruling was "an offence against our traditions."

"The presence of a crucifix in the classroom does not signify adherence to Roman Catholicism, rather it is a symbol of our tradition," Gelmini told the ANSA news agency. She pointed out that, "The history of Italy is marked by symbols and if we erase symbols we erase part of ourselves. No one, and certainly not an ideological European court, will succeed in erasing our identity."

"It is not by eliminating the traditions of individual countries that a united Europe is built," Gelmini stated.

Mario Baccini, a senator in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government, said the European Court of Human Rights had "gone adrift in paganism," while Pierferdinando Casini of the opposition Union of Christian Democrats party said the ruling showed that the European Union's institutions were "spineless" in their failure to acknowledge the continent's Christian roots.

Vatican spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he wanted to see the ruling and the reasons behind it before commenting, whereas the Italian Bishops Conference said that the verdict was "one sided and ideological," and "evokes sadness and bewilderment."

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Blair's Chances as Euro President Recede as Lisbon Treaty Signed

By Hilary White

ROME, November 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Now that the last barrier has fallen to implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, reports are increasing that Tony Blair's chances of getting the top spot in the soon-to-be-constituted super-nation of Europe are fading fast.

After eight years of battling against it, Czech President Vaclav Klaus has signed the Lisbon Treaty, the last national leader of the EU's 27 member states to do so. Attention now goes towards filling the new leadership jobs of president and foreign minister of Europe.

Opposition to the former British PM's bid for the new EU Presidency - which has previously been considered a shoo-in - grew across Europe after an EU summit in Brussels last week, with former supporters in France and Germany giving Blair thumbs down.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that their two centre-right countries, considered the most powerful members of the EU, would work together to propose a candidate. 

Open Europe (OE), one of the leading Euro-watch groups, said that the rejection of Blair is the result of a deal between socialist governments and a group of "centre-right" countries. Under this deal, OE says, the left would nominate for the post of EU foreign minister, and the centre-right governments would nominate the president.

Sarkozy was the first European leader to name Blair as a candidate for the presidency in 2007. But OE reports that Jean-David Levitte, Sarkozy's foreign policy adviser, said this weekend it was unlikely that France would support a presidential candidate from the UK.

Some European papers are speculating that it is the British desire to preserve the country's parliamentary sovereignty through various 'opt-outs' from Lisbon, negotiated by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, that has put the European leaders off a British candidate. Prime Minister Jose Zapetero was quoted by the Times as saying, "I want a real European president who wants to strengthen the union. He has to be in favour of the union and of the common policies."

Critics of the post say that under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, the new EU president will have no democratic mandate whatsoever, being appointed by the leaders of the EU in a process that will neither require nor allow any input from the public.

The leader of Britain's Conservative party, David Cameron, who is likely to become the next Prime Minister and will therefore have a key role in the newly united Europe, has said that Blair would be "unacceptable" to the British people as EU president. But Cameron said his party objects not only to Blair's appointment, but to the whole notion of a president of the "state of Europe."

"We think that Europe is supposed to be an association of member states, not a country called Europe," Cameron told the BBC. Cameron noted the loss of support by the Labour government for reneging on its previous promise of a referendum on Lisbon.

This weekend, however, David Cameron signaled that should his party form the next government, it will not give the public a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty post-ratification as promised.

Cameron's Treaty promise has been a key component of his party's rise in popularity after the ruling Labour party refused the referendum. In the run up to the last general election all of Britain's major political parties promised a plebiscite on Lisbon.

Conservative Home, the blog aggregate site for the Tory party, says that "conversations with a dozen good sources" in the party have confirmed that if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified when the party reaches power next year, the Conservative leadership will say that there will be no attempt to "unratify it" via a referendum. Instead there will be negotiations with the EU to repatriate "key powers from Brussels."

The Times reports that Cameron will only pledge to create laws prohibiting any British Government to push through any future European treaty without a referendum.

The Observer's Peter Oborne said that Cameron's pulling back from what he called his "ironclad" promises on Lisbon is a "cop-out and a betrayal" and said it is "exactly the kind of post-democratic politics which defined, debased, and finally destroyed, the Blair premiership."

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Trespassing Charges Stayed against Pro-Life Students at University of Calgary

By Patrick B. Craine

CALGARY, Alberta, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The trespassing charges brought against six members of the University of Calgary's pro-life club 'Campus Pro-Life' have been stayed by the Crown prosecutor - a decision that likely means that the charges effectively have been dropped.

The club's president, Leah Hallman, made the announcement at the National Pro-Life Conference in Saskatoon this past weekend, to a standing ovation.

"We are relieved by this decision on the part of the Crown Prosecutor," she stated in a press release yesterday.  "Campus Pro-Life has consistently maintained that all of our actions were in full compliance under the law."

The students were charged by their university in February 2009 after conducting a pro-life display on the campus in November 2008.  The group had done the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP), a display using images to compare abortion to past historical atrocities, every semester since 2006.

In previous years, the university had protected their right to put up the display; but it changed its approach last year, initially seeking to have the display facing inward, and then threatening arrests and sanctions.  University officials claimed that they were seeking to censor the display based on anonymous complaints and suggestions that the display could provoke violent reactions, despite the fact that there had not been any such incidents in the past.

"When we notified the university that we would be doing GAP in Spring '09," Hallman told LifeSiteNews.com, "within a week or so of that police started showing up on our doors giving us summons to court."

The Calgary Police delivered the charges at the students' homes in February.  "It was shocking to all of us," said Hallman.

They each pleaded 'not guilty' on March 16th.  At that time Hallman argued: "We have asked the university several times which of its by-laws, policies, regulations or other authority it relies on for censoring our viewpoint, and have received no answer to date."

The court date was set for tomorrow, November 4th, but the students found out over the past weekend that the charges had been stayed.  "Just today we found out that they have stayed the charges," Hallman told LSN on Saturday, "which essentially means that the Crown could bring them back in within a year, but that, in the past, has been very unlikely, so it essentially means to us that it's been dropped."

Hallman indicated that they could still face three counts of trespassing, including the stayed charges, because campus security took down their contact information at the GAP display in the spring and when they did it again this fall.

Nevertheless, the group is committed to continue standing up for the right to life.  "Campus Pro-Life will continue being a voice for the voiceless," stated club treasurer Alanna Campbell.  "We hope to continue our activities on campus and raise awareness among the next generation of community leaders."

Contact Information:

Dr. Harvey P. Weingarten, President
Executive Suite
Administration Building, Room 100
University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4

Phone: 403-220-5617
Fax: 403-289-6800
Email: president@ucalgary.ca

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Calgary Pro-Life Students Handed Trespassing Notices, Again
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032615.html

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New Poll Reveals that Canadians are Conflicted About Legal Euthanasia

By Patrick B. Craine

November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Despite recent Quebec-focused polls indicating large support for euthanasia, a new Environics poll commissioned by LifeCanada reveals that Canadians are conflicted, and that they would rather the government focus on care for the sick and dying.

"Outside of Quebec support drops dramatically and is tempered by fears about how vulnerable groups will be affected," said Dr. Delores Doherty, President of LifeCanada, about the poll. "The idea that Canadians are clamouring for euthanasia is not accurate, despite the impression that may have been left from some polls."

According to the poll, carried out October 6-13, 61% of respondents said they favored legalization of euthanasia if a patient consents. That included 75% of Quebecers. But the figure drops to 56% in Ontario, 52% in Atlantic Canada and 51% in Saskatchewan.

At the same time, a large majority of respondents (70%) said they were worried that if euthanasia were legalized, patients would be euthanized without their consent.

"Canadians are conflicted. They have mixed feelings," says Dr. Doherty, a Newfoundland pediatrician. "While a majority favors legalization, most also have serious concerns about it."

The Environics poll is based on responses from 1,014 Canadians and has a margin of error of 3.1% 19 times out of 20.

An August poll in Quebec showed that 3 out of 4 Quebeckers supported legalized euthanasia.  Last month, the Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists (FMSQ) released the results of a poll of their members that indicated 75% favor legalized euthanasia 'certainly or probably' within a clearly defined framework.

The latter poll, however, also revealed the difficulty with all polls on this issue: frequently people do not understand what euthanasia actually is.  Asked whether palliative sedation should be considered a form of euthanasia, 48% of FMSQ respondents answered "Yes" and 46% said "No."

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition's Alex Schadenberg said about the results of that poll: "I am absolutely convinced that a large number of physicians in Quebec are unsure of what euthanasia is or is not."

"The fact is that palliative sedation is not euthanasia," he pointed out.

"Euthanasia is the direct and intentional cause of death, whereas palliative sedation is the sedation of a person in order to eliminate their suffering," he continued.  "The proper use of palliative sedation does not cause death, but rather it eliminates suffering."

The recent LifeCanada poll found that 70% of Canadians worried that if the practice were legalized, sick, disabled, or elderly persons would be euthanized without their consent. In addition, 56% were concerned that elderly persons would be pressured to accept euthanasia due to rising health care costs.

"People are scared but they don't want to get in anyone's way," Dr. Doherty told LifeSiteNews.com.

The concerns were shared even by those who favor euthanasia.  72% of those "somewhat supportive" of legalization indicated concern about euthanasia taking place without patient consent. In Quebec, where support for legalization is high, 73% have the same concern about non-voluntary euthanasia, while 66% worry the elderly would be pressured to accept euthanasia.

"A lot of stated support for legal euthanasia is soft," Doherty commented. "When Canadians consider the risks, they have second thoughts."

These results come as Parliament deliberates over Bill C-384, to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.  The private members bill, brought by Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde, received its first hour of debate on October 2nd, and is scheduled to get its second hour on November 19th, followed by a November 25th vote.  While Parliament would seem to disfavor the bill, pro-life advocates have called on Canadians to keep the pressure on their MPs.

Should euthanasia and assisted suicide be legalized, the medical profession would be undermined, explained Dr. Doherty to LSN.  "How can you be a doctor when you're expected to either write the prescription or give the needle?" she asked.

"If [euthanasia] is made legal, we'll see an erosion of patient trust as doctors move from healing to taking lives," she explained.  "People are worried that elderly and disabled folks would be at risk. They're right. The Dutch experience with euthanasia sadly bears that out. Safeguards tend not to work."

She views the results of the poll as positive for the cause of life, telling LSN that she sees "legislators being able to use the results since they can see the public would rather have improved end of life care over euthanasia."

While a small majority supported legalized euthanasia, a large majority felt the government should instead focus on support for the sick and dying.  When asked what the government's priority should be in this area, 69% said improved palliative care compared to just 18% who said legalizing euthanasia should be the priority. 

"When people are dying, good palliative care can relieve suffering, Every Canadian needs access to that," says Doherty. "It also maintains the principle of 'first do no harm' that is essential to the doctor-patient relationship."

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Anti-Euthanasia Group Questions Survey Suggesting Quebec MDs are Favorable to Euthanasia
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09101404.html

Canadian Parliament Debates Euthanasia Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09100609.html

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Lakehead University Pro-Life Group's Club Status Revoked Again

By Patrick B. Craine

THUNDER BAY, Ontario, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The pro-life club at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario has had its club status revoked again by the university's student union (LUSU).

After a long battle with the LUSU Board of Governors, dating back to September 2007, Lakehead University Life Support (LULS) won their status in March, but they lost it again last week in a tight vote.

"A lot of people from the [student union board] were actually frustrated and disgusted with the fact that we didn't get this status," explained Francisco Gomez Jimenez, former club president.  In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) he attributed the reversal to the fact that several new executives had joined the board this year.

Life Support was fully ratified as a club in 2006/2007, but their application was rejected in 2007/2008.  LUSU wanted to impose special restrictions on the club with the purpose of "decreas[ing] the amount of offence."  The club was again denied status on January 10, 2008, after they insisted they would only abide by restrictions applicable to all clubs.

At the time, Jimenez asked Matt Granville, the LUSU board member in charge of student clubs, for further explanation, but was told to contact a lawyer.  After having additional written requests ignored and being told by the university's Ombudsman that they were too "political," the group began considering making a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission based on religious discrimination.

In January 2008, seemingly in response to the Lakehead club's attempt to gain status, the Canadian Federation of Students declared a policy that pro-life groups are not welcome on Canadian university campuses and voted to support student unions that ban pro-life groups.

Following last week's decision, Jimenez said that, according to the board, the club "was really hurting people and apparently giving the wrong message to people."  A woman had reportedly gone to the LUSU office during the University's club days this fall and, Jimenez explained, was "apparently crying there for a number of hours, saying that someone told her that she's a murderer if she had had an abortion."

"We don't know where these comments came from," Jimenez continued, but, according to him, "this was their point. ... This was where they were coming from, saying 'No, we can't let this happen again.'"

Renee Schmitz, Assistant Western Canada Director of the National Campus Life Network (NCLN), with which the club is affiliated, explained that a motion was brought at last week's meeting "claiming that they're an extremist group and that they need to protect students on campus."

Campaign Life Coalition's Mary Ellen Douglas remarked that this most recent incident is part of a trend of university clubs “being censored and university students being persecuted.”  “We just expect the institutions of learning to be places where free speech is allowed, and they shouldn't be shutting down free speech,” she continued.

“They've been given the right to start the club, and the university should be smart enough just to keep them open.”

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Another Pro-Life Student Group Denied Official Club Status 

No Support for Pro-Life Groups on Ontario Campuses - Student Federation 

Unprecedented Restrictions Placed on Religious, Political Clubs at Ontario's Lakehead University 

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Over 200 Christendom College Students Protest Abortion at Planned Parenthood Clinic

FRONT ROYAL, VA, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) ­- Christendom College's pro-life student group, Shield of Roses, held its biggest protest in over 30 years of its existence this past Saturday. On October 31, over 200 students, faculty, staff, and visitors traveled to Washington, D.C., to peacefully protest abortion at the Planned Parenthood clinic, located just north of the White House, on 16th Street.

The group protests at this same clinic each Saturday morning during the academic year, but normally only around 20-30 students make the trek into D.C. on a weekly basis. Once a semester, however, the group's leadership organizes what it calls a "Mega Shield" event and encourages as many of the members of the College community as possible to participate. Last year, Mega Shield events drew as many as 125 students, and prior years' saw up to 150 participants.

"All of the members of our college community are, of course, pro-life," says Shield of Roses President Paul Wilson, who will be graduating this May, "but getting college students to give up their Saturday mornings to drive 75 miles to Washington to pray four rosaries and a Divine Mercy Chaplet and to drive another 75 miles back to campus all before lunch is a lot to expect ­ even for Christendom students. But once a semester, when we organize Mega Shield, the members of our community really get fired up."

According to a woman identifying herself as Professor Foxy, writing for an online blog on feministing.org, Christendom College students are really making an impression on those who work at the abortion clinic, and are changing the face of "anti-choice" America.

In her article, entitled, "Thank you Dr. Tiller," Professor Foxy, who says that she works as a pro-choice clinic escort at the Planned Parenthood clinic where the Shield of Roses group prays, writes: "Over the years, the antis [anti-abortion protesters] have stayed the same and they have changed.

"When I started, almost all the antis were 45 plus, white, male and slightly disheveled. These antis still exist, but they are now joined by the younger antis. Some of these younger antis are hip, especially the Bound for Life crowd. We also have many, many students who come from local colleges, the most prominent being Christendom College. They drive in from Front Royal, VA every Saturday morning (leaving in time for Saturday brunch) to stand outside the local Planned Parenthood. Most of them pray (ending each Saturday with a rousing Viva!), but a few of them approach the patients. Nervously approaching the women entering the clinic, the Christendom kids tentatively say 'we can help you save your baby. Each baby is a blessing from God.'"

"It really makes you think," says Admissions Director Tom McFadden, who attended the October 31 Mega Shield. "I've been to the annual March for Life in D.C. probably over 20 times and it's hard to tell what affect it has on saving the lives of unborn babies. But this past Saturday, being there, kneeling on the grass in front of the abortion clinic, made a difference.

"Through the grace of God and our physical presence, we ended up saving the lives of two babies because their mothers chose not to enter the clinic that day. It doesn't really get much better than that!"

Shield of Roses has been protesting at this particular Planned Parenthood clinic for the past ten years, and over the past five years, members of the pro-life group have built relationships with some of the pro-choice clinic escorts, even offering some of their rosaries for these same clinic escorts.

The Shield of Roses receives limited funds from the College's Student Activities Council but relies on the generosity of others to continue its work. Anyone interested in making financial contributions to this student group should contact Paul Wilson at pwilson@christendom.edu.

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Scottish Gay Rights Activists Found Guilty of Pedophilia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

EDINBURGH, Scotland, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An influential gay rights activist and youth group leader, and another homosexualist activist, have been jailed for life for their involvement in the largest pedophile ring ever uncovered in Scotland.

James Rennie, one time co-coordinator of the homosexual rights group LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Youth Scotland and a former teacher, and Neil Strachan, the former secretary of a Celtic boys club and campaigner on homosexual issues, were convicted in May on charges including sex attacks on children, conspiring to abuse children, and possessing and distributing child pornography.

Rennie and Strachan were the ringleaders of the pedophile network which was uncovered in 2007 after an intensive police investigation, codenamed Operation Algebra.

The investigation led to the arrest of six other men besides Rennie and Strachan, and to the seizure of over 125,000 images and videos of child abuse.

Rennie, 38, was convicted of 14 offenses, including molesting a young boy who was left occasionally under his care by friends over a period of more than four years, beginning when the child was three months old. Rennie was sentenced to life with a minimum of 13 years behind bars.

Strachan, 41, was convicted for nine offenses, including attempting to sodomize an 18-month-old boy and sexually assaulting a six-year-old boy. He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 16 years in prison.

The judge, Lord Bannatyne, said the pair were guilty of gross and appalling breaches of trust since both men had abused children entrusted to them for babysitting by close friends. They had both photographed the abuse.

"These offences involve real children and many of the photographs involve children being sexually abused, often in the most appalling ways. There are real victims of these offences, namely the children who were photographed and abused," Lord Bannatyne said.

Bannatyne imposed a "lifelong restriction" order, used for the most serious and violent sexual offenders, on both men, indicating they were likely to "seriously endanger the physical wellbeing of a member of the public." This order will place them under risk assessment and management plans until they die.

See previous LSN coverage:

Pedophile Ringleader was Top Advisor to Scottish Gov't on Homosexuality and Children 

Chief Executive of Homosexual Group Found Guilty of Involvement in Pedophile Ring 

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Letters to the Editor

Re: Obamacare

To the Editor:

Barak Obama has been treated like a Messiah, by the Media, while campaigning and since elected.  Even as he demeaned the U.S. while flitting about internationally, he was given a free-pass.
 
It must have been some shock to him therefore when the Media backed-up Fox News, as Obama launched his attack on Fox, in an attempt to silence them.
 
Perhaps the "Honeymoon" is over.  Hopefully, the many false claims, promises and statements he has made, and the questionable and seriously objectionable characters, with whom he surrounds himself, will now be scrutinized by the Media.
 
For starters he should be challenged on the claim he's making, that his proposed Health care Reform Legislation provides no Federal Money for Financing abortions.
 
His legislation HR3200 provides for "the Public Plan," a Federal agency program to pay for elective Abortions.  By law, a Federal Agency Program can only spend Federal Funds.
 
"Your Tax Dollars At Work." 
 
To give the "Silver-Tongued Devil" his due, Obama told the truth to Planned Parenthood while campaigning.  He committed himself to covering the cost of Abortion in his Health Care Reform Legislation in its "Public Plan."
 
He's only lying to the Public.
 
Edwina and Gene Cosgriff
Staten Island, New York

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Re: U.S. Bishops Will "Vigorously" Oppose Health Care if Abortion Concerns Not Addressed

The Roman Catholic Church in the United States would be making a grievous error if it choses to support a government-controlled health care system if it did not fund abortions.  The plain fact is that, once in place, a government can do anything it wants to a government-controlled health care scheme.  Yesterday's promises will be declared to be "non-binding"... and
nothing can be done by citizens at that point to reverse the juggernaut. Look how far government has taken 'legalized abortion' - to the point that partial-birth abortion is now seen as desirable and commendable.

Frankly, I just cannot understand the stupidity of the Catholic Church in the US on this issue.  Any support, even conditional, for such a health care scheme jeopardizes the future safety and dignity of the most vulnerable in society. 

Alexander Black
Ontario, Canada

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Re: Bishop Co-Author of D&P Investigation Admits: "I Just Should Have Followed Up more"

Sorry, this is not a correction, but there was no place to check off "congratulations".  I am so pleased with LSN and with the reporters that sat down with Bishop Currie.

Thank you !!  Please run this story again for anyone that might have missed it.

Regina Rolph
Braeside, Ontario

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Re: Abortionist Reflects on Dismembering One Baby While Feeling Her Own Flutter in Her Womb

I was horrified (as I'm sure most LSN readers were) to read the reflection of Lisa Harris of feeling her own child quicken in her womb as she was aborting a baby that was the same age as her own.

Immediately the words of Luke's Gospel came to my mind, "When the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb." What a beautiful moment in salvation history it was when these two infants in the womb somehow encountered each other. This passage in Luke reveals to us that the baby in the womb is already spiritually aware.

But, what was this other encounter we hear of from Lisa Harris? Her own visitation upon this pregnant mother is one, not to bring good news and salvation, but death and destruction. The mother of this poor child who was destroyed perhaps also asks now in despair, "How do I deserve this?" And indeed she doesn't.

We can only surmise about the "leap" that Harris felt of the child in her own womb. One wonders if it was somehow a leap of horror or of fear. For sure it was a moment sent by God Himself to draw back this daughter who has gone seriously astray, much to her own detriment and that of many, many souls. And yet, she intellectualizes this moment, denying that inscription of God on her own heart which calls her to repent, even when plunged in such darkness. In this moment of the culture of death, we glimpse again the inverted cross, the anti-gospel, the total perversion of everything good and holy.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Schmidt
Baltimore, Maryland

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Re: Student President Faces Removal after Allowing Pro-Life Display

I receive "California Catholic" each day on line and find it very informative, it usually covers 3 major stories each day.  Today, an article on 'Tolerance' was featured.  This article, although it covered an event in California, was credited to LifeSiteNews.com and written by Patrick Craine.

This certainly should tell us, here in Canada, how LifeSiteNews.com is recognized and respected throughout the US and in other countries.

Unfortunately, we in Canada, even the Catholic News community in Canada, do not acknowledge  the professionalism of lifesitenews.com nor recognize the thorough job these LSN writers do each day in searching out and confirming information from all over the world.

Anne Ashford-Hall
Halifax, NS

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Re: Coalition of Catholic Groups Calls for Massive Reform of U.S. Bishops' Social Justice Arm
 
The only reform is to give nothing to the whole thing.  CCHD is NOT Catholic in any way shape or form. There is nothing to reform. Just get rid of the whole thing. If you put anything into a CCHD collection basket, make it play money from a monopoly game. 

Nancy Vogel
Peoria, Illinois

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Re: Stem Cell Breakthrough Could Create Babies Without Men, Women, or Sexual Relations

How strange that our society slaughters naturally conceived, pre-born babies, and then tries to create babies in a petri dish.

As stated elsewhere, our culture has become one of sex without reproduction, and reproduction without sex.

The events of the Flood and of Sodom and Gomorrah were placed in the Bible as examples to teach us, but hardly anyone in authority seems to be listening.

Tishia Jones
Pierre, South Dakota

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Re: Irish Priest Blasts Self-Righteous "Holier-than-Thous

To the Editor:

I read this story with great sorrow.  While Fr. Moloney is a Redemptorist priest, he appears to care little for the sacred space of the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a Redemptorist-run treasure.  People come from all over the world to see this strikingly beautiful church and to pray at its many altars.  One such altar, dedicated to Our Lady, has been the site of many miraculous healings and other life-affirming interventions for decades.

How dare Moloney claim that those who disagree with the virtual cannonization of Senator Kennedy at this most holy place are just "holier than thous" who "lack compassion."  By his perverted logic, it is "compassionate" to desecrate this place of miracles - wrought through very deep devotion of God's word- by honoring one of the Nation's chief supporters of the murder of innocent children. Abortion is no miracle. It is the absolute opposite, and its proponents should not expect to be honored at a facility dedicated to life.

Ed Burke
Warrenton, VA

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Re: Pro-Life Student Forced into Isolation on Day of Silent Witness by School Principal

Dear LifeSite,
 
I am so appalled at the claims made by principal Cavan in the Peninsula Shores matter with student Rankin that I am writing to all the trustees for the Bluewater school board which I assume oversees the Peninsula Shores school that Patricia Cavan in principal of.
 
I suggest there be letters to that Board ;
1) asking for disciplinary action  against the principal
2) that an apology be made to the student who was isolated from others
3) that sensitivity training be conducted with Cavan and she be suspended until she completes the training
 
Minister Wynne should be involved also:  kwynne.mpp@liberal.ola.org
 
Brian Rushfeldt
Executive Director
Canada  Family   Action

 
My letter to the Board:
 
To Trustees Bluewater District, 
 
I would like to address a situation that I believe requires action from the level of Board in not the Minister Wynne.
 
I have received a report based upon a story from Bill Henry, Owen Sound Sun Times, on a situation about one student at the Peninsula Shores school in Wiarton who was mistreated, whose rights were violated and who was discriminated against due to her religious views.
 
There is evidence that a lawsuit could be filed against the principal in this case. When one violates the Charter there is grounds for action. I am in hopes that that action is taken to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again.
 
The fact that this principal , if what is reported in media, said that the rights to free speech does not apply on school property is most appalling. That woman has violated the very top law of the land if she refused rights to free speech. The charter most certainly applies to schools. There is no exemption for schools and certainly not for bloated egotists like Cavan.
 
Secondly Cavan makes a claim, in quotes, "school property is not a public place”. She is most certainly wrong again. In fact I believe all funding for that school is public funding.
 
What action will you as a Board take against the discrimination and attack upon student  Rankin?
 
I am suggesting to several people that a human rights action be filed in this case, and that Cavan be required to complete a full sensitivity training course before she is allowed to be in a public school again. The principal is lying , if in fact she said "So while absolutely we support the right to free speech in a public space, that's not school property." She violated the student’s right and she discriminated against this person.
 
Again I ask will you take disciplinary action against this principal.
 
Sincerely,
 
Brian Rushfeldt
Executive Director
Canada Family Action

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Re: Commentary on October 26 News

We have a Conservative Party in Canada. Unfortunately we have many liberal members inside the party, so it is very difficult to carry out election promises. We have a minority gov't. so the other parties have control.

Dr.Mona J. Zahara
British Columbia, Canada

LSN Comment: So, fundamental principles on crucial issues are ignored and evil is permitted to thrive without any significant opposition by the governing "Conservative" party? Whatever happened to heroism and trusting in God and the power of truth skillfully and confidently presented? 

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