Articles for Month: June 2000

ON June 28 Belgium announced it had ratified the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. The court has now received 14 of the 60 ratifications required to take universal jurisdiction over individuals even in countries which have not agreed to the ICC.  Retired Lt.-Gen. Romeo Dallaire was found drunk and unconscious in a park. He has been struggling against post-traumatic stress for years after leading the UN mission in Rwanda in which UN higher ups prevented him from stopping a planned genocide resulting in some 800,000 deaths.  For background on the Rwanda genocide see: Was Rwanda genocide UN supported […]

TORONTO, June 30 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With scientists just having announced the mapping of the human genome and the accompanying glimpse into a world of designer babies, the New Reproductive Technology boom has gone into overdrive. On June 17 details of the first cloned human (animal-human) embryo were released. American Cell Technology (ACT), a leading, private biotechnology company, cloned the human embryo in November using a cell from a man’s leg and a cow’s ovum. The human-animal embryo was allowed to live and develop for twelve days before it was killed. To deal with the booming number of multiple births thanks […]

OTTAWA, June 30 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy today announced that Bill C-19, the   Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, which incorporates the provisions of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Canadian legislation, has received Royal Assent.  Confirming the alarming redictions that the court would strip sovereignty from Canadian law for international law, Axworthy said, “We have now succeeded in enshrining its provisions in our own criminal law, thereby ensuring that no person in Canada who has committed crimes against humanity will escape justice.” Various Senators objected to the lightning fast speed at which the upper […]

OTTAWA, June 30 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Many pro-life Canadians are confident thatStockwell Day is their solution to the advancement of pro-life legislation through the federal Parliament. They may be right, but not without maintaining constant vigilance. Neither Canadian Alliance leadership candidate has promised to implement pro-life legislation if they become the Prime Minister of the country. During a live CBC interview on Tuesday night, Day told his host, and CBC viewers, that his position on abortion legislation remains the same as it did from the beginning of his campaign: that he would not initiate such legislation; rather he would seek to […]

TORONTO, June 30 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In his March 4 article in the National Post, “The Long road to political reform”, Peter C. Newman reported on his interview with political strategist and then non-leadership candidate Tom Long. Newman related Long’s surprisingly candid comments about his long-term strategy to use the Canadian Alliance and Preston Manning to create a winning new federal conservative party in the image of the Ontario Tories. Who would head that party? Not Preston Manning. Newman wrote “Despite his temporary alliance with Preston Manning, helping him to kick start the Canadian Alliance, Mr. Long has his own candidate […]

ASHINGTON, June 29 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Radical abortion supporters rejoiced at the US Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of partial-birth abortion, a ruling which also ordered federal appeals courts to take a new look at laws from Illinois and Wisconsin banning the infanticidal procedure. American citizens across the country, however, are reacting with outrage. The ruling may well have crossed a line in American politics, igniting intense criticism of the court, with the possibility of spurring actions for change to new heights. It is also likely to fuel the momentum in Canada of a growing movement demanding a halt to destructive […]

EDMONTON, June 29 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Alberta provincial Catholic Women’s League (CWL) has   disassociated itself from the March of Women 2000. Alberta CWL President Lucille Partington told LifeSite that the CWL members of the province were encouraged “NOT to march under a banner that is not in accordance with our faith and belief.” Partington said that rather than march in the pro-abortion March of Women 2000, “the CWL will march in marches against abortion.” It noted an upcoming pro-life march in Edmonton. The Alberta CWL has intensified its work to end poverty and violence in the province and will […]

ST JOHN, NB, June 29 (LifeSiteNews.com) – J. Edward Troy, Bishop Emeritus of Saint John issued a letter to the editor of the Telegraph Journal earlier this month emphasizing the need for morality in politics. The letter came in response to attacks on Campaign Life Coalition for, in the bishop’s words, “simply pointing out that people who are radically hostile to the cause of life and of traditional families occupy positions of influence” in Tom Long’s campaign team. Responding to charges of Campaign Life Coalition being guilty of “vicious attack” and “outrageous behaviour”, the bishop said: “What is vicious and […]

PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 29 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Julia A. Ericksen, Associate Professor of Sociology at Temple University points out in a recent article in the May/June issue of Society magazine that she prefers to “always use the term child-adult sex for sexual encounters involving both adults and children.” In “Sexual Liberation’s Last Frontier” she complains about the use of “emotionally laden terms like ‘pedophilia’ or ‘child sexual abuse’” and finds fault with researchers who use these terms since “most of their research attempts to measure the harm brought about by such activity.” Much better, she suggests, are researchers who “question the […]

FREDERICTON, NB, June 29 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-life group is buying the property next to the Morgentaler abortuary in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The group will operate a center called the Mother and Child Welcome House. Its founder, Peter Ryan, told a news conference today that the center will offer pregnant mothers another choice beside abortion, and help women recover from past abortions. “Most women who have abortions feel they have no choice due to fear and social pressure, including pressure by their male partners,” said Ryan. By offering peer counseling and various forms of social assistance, the pro-life center hopes […]

TORONTO, June 28 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Post reports today that Stockwell Day has won key endorsements from senior Ontario Cabinet minister Bob Runciman, a former leader of the provincial Tories and support from two key fundraisers of Mike Harris’s Tory government. Mr. Day also won backing from a number of former senior advisors to Tom Long in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. He has previously received the support of several high profile Tories across Canada who were Long supporters. Preston Manning has been criticizing Day for not being a coalition builder. However, as Lorne Gunter points out in today’s […]

A federal judge in San Francisco has deemed the “Truth in Love” ads (an advertising campaign sponsored by several Christian groups, which tells homosexuals that they can change their lifestyles and find hope in Jesus) to be ‘hate speech’. The city of San Francisco concluded the ads contributed to “horrible crimes committed against gays and lesbians,” and city officials asked local TV stations not to run them.  Senate candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday proudly proclaimed herself pro-abortion saying if elected, she would not vote (in the Senate) to confirm any nominee for the Supreme Court who did not support […]

Canada’s Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is quietly pressing Health Canada to make the morning-after pill available without a doctor’s prescription. The society wants the federal government to take the rare step of allowing the drug to be sold over the counter without a pharmaceutical company first applying for permission. See the National Post June 23, 2000 The Vancouver Sun reports that a British Columbia company has designed, built and sold the world’s first device to measure the brain signals of unborn children. Ultimately, the device could help doctors detect and treat conditions that might otherwise lead to mental retardation […]

WASHINGTON, June 28 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US Supreme Court today struck down Nebraska’s law banning the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion. The 5-4 ruling will likely seriously effect the application of similar bans that are in place in Nebraska and 29 other states. Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the four dissenting justices, wrote a scathing dissent. He stated that “The notion that the Constitution of the United States, designed, among other things, ‘to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, . . . and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,’ prohibits the States from simply banning this visibly […]

WASHINGTON, June 28 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today that the Boy Scouts of America have the right to bar practicing homosexuals from leadership positions. Writing for the decision, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion of the majority stating that although “it appears that homosexuality has gained greater societal acceptance”. . . this is scarcely an argument for denying First Amendment protection to those who refuse to accept those views.” He said, “The First Amendment protects expression, be it of the popular variety or not.”

TORONTO, June 27 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Shocked at a stunning loss in the first round of the Canadian Alliance leadership contest, Preston Manning’s camp has gone on attack mode against Stockwell Day. Manning’s top advisors Rick Anderson and Nancy Branscombe both hurled personal remarks at Day, characterizing him as a “disaster” and having “baggage” for his social conservatism on life and family issues. Surprisingly, even Preston Manning himself entered the fray saying, “Who can hold the Alliance together and expand it? Who is the builder of alliances? I am a person who can get people together rather than polarize them … […]

ROME, June 27 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A torchlit prayer march to be held in Rome on July 1st, the same day the World Gay Pride event begins in the ancient city, has been blessed by the Pope. EWTN news reports that Pope John Paul II has conveyed his personal encouragement to the pilgrimage through his personal secretary. The same day, Portuguese archbishop Alvim Pereira will celebrate a solemn Pontifical Mass in the main square of Lisbon and has already pledged to also offer it for the pro-family march in Rome.

Pro-Life Infonet reported yesterday on Henry Foster, the abortionist who President Clinton unsuccessfully nominated a few years ago for Surgeon General. The same Henry Foster landed a post last year at the United Nations Population Fund as chairman of the new US Committee for the UNFPA (a pro-abortion/population control organization). “The committee’s aim,” says a March,  1999, UNFPA news release, “will be to rally financial and political support in the US for international family planning and reproductive health programs.” A highly informative article by Fredrick D. Palmer, President, Greening earth society, claims that the UN is attempting to re-write climate […]

NEW YORK, June 27 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Austin Vaughan, an auxiliary of the archdiocese of New York passed away yesterday. In a touching article of commemoration Thomas Droleskey writes that the bishop was “fearless in the face of the police brutality visited upon him when he was arrested during various (pro-life) rescues in the 1980s and early 1990s.” Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition Canada said Bishop Vaughan’s death is “a tremendous loss following on the heels of Cardinal O’Connor.” Hughes said the bishop was invited to Canada on numerous occasions and that he gave inspiring pro-life presentations.  […]

WASHINGTON, June 27 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Scientists announced yesterday that they had coded a draft of the human genetic code. While extravagant possibilities were laid out for the research,  even anti-life politicians addressed possible abuses of the technology. US President Bill Clinton warned that “We must guarantee that genetic information cannot be used to stigmatize or discriminate against any individual or group.” However, the warnings from pro-lifers are much greater. When the scientists speak of a “cure”  for genetically detectable diseases by screening, they are referring, for the most part, to killing off an already created human embryo – whether in […]

OTTAWA, June 26 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A review panel commissioned by Justice Minister Anne McLellan to review the Canadian Human Rights Act and the policies and practices of the Canadian Human Rights Commission released its report last week. The four-member panel submitted a 180-page report calling for an expansion of the role of the controversial human rights commission and tribunal. The report, entitled Promoting Equality: A New Vision, makes 165 recommendations. One such demand is that the government introduce a new category of special rights – transvestites and those who have undergone sex change procedures. “We recommend that gender identity be […]

The European Union is suggesting fines for nations that refuse to apply the Kyoto protocol’s “greenhouse gas” reduction measures. France suggested the creation of a World Environment Organization to ensure that member countries submit to ecological demands.  On June 21 the Italian Senate decided to amend the bill it is preparing on artificial insemination in order to recognize the rights of the unborn. Today, L’Osservatore Romano referred to the decision as a “change in the direction of truth and justice. “The Vatican’s semi-official newspaper expressed satisfaction over the decision, and stated that if the Senate is to be coherent, it […]

OTTAWA, June 26 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a result that has astounded the Canadian media and other observers,  Stockwell Day beat Preston Manning for first place in the first round of voting in the Canadian Alliance leadership race. Manning received 36% of the vote, 8% behind Stockwell Day, who garnered 44% of the vote. As expected, Ontario Tory strategist Tom Long finished third, with only 18% of the vote.  British Columbia MP Keith Martin, who ran on an openly pro-abortion platform, received less than 2% of the ballots cast.  While the days leading up to Saturday’s ballot saw numerous media reports […]

The American Heart Association is considering endorsing and even paying for research of embryonic stem cells, the building blocks of all human tissue typically derived from aborted fetuses or human embryos. The experiments hope to bring breakthroughs for people suffering from ailments including heart diseases and strokes. “We’re creating a whole new market for these babies,” said Kyleen Wright, president for the Texans for Life Coalition. (Pro-Life E-News)  Christian Film and Television Commission warns against tonight’s ABC presentation of present “Peter Jennings Reporting: The Search for Jesus.” Behind the program, is the so-called Jesus Seminar. The group has gained a […]

SURREY, BC, June 22 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The issue of allowing homosexual propaganda books into kindergarten and grade one classrooms was heard in the BC Appeals court last week. After James Chamberlain, an elementary school teacher requested that he be allowed to use the books to indoctrinate children about “diverse” families, the material was banned by the Surrey school board. An earlier court ruling ordered the Surrey school board to withdraw its ban, but the decision was appealed. The BC Appeals court reserved its decision in the case, and is expected to bring down its ruling in the fall. LifeSite reported […]

Russia’s population continued to decline over the first four months of this year, with a drop of 293,000 people, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday, citing the state statistics committee. Experts say the continued decrease is due to migration, as well as rising death rates and a falling number of births.  (Russia Today) Almost four years after South Africa legalised abortion, many doctors remain unwilling to kill unborn babies.  Abortion advocates are complaining that many hospitals are refusing to perform the procedure. (bibim.com) See Michael Coren’s Sun Media column on why Stockwell Day is the right choice for Canadian Alliance […]

The Mesa, Ariz., school board voted this week to remove certain elective abortions from the procedures covered under the district’s health insurance, the Arizona Republic reports. The new school board policy, which cleared in a 5-0 vote, bars coverage for elective abortions with exceptions for those performed when the procedure is “medically necessary” or in cases of rape,  incest or fetal defects.  (azcentral.com)

WASHINGTON, June 21, 2000 (LifeSiteNews.com)—A new study commissioned by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Global Aging Initiative (GAI)  shows that the world’s seven largest economies have significantly underestimated the rate at which their populations are aging, potentially creating much greater social security crises than are currently forecast.  The study notes that Japan, Italy, and France are in dire circumstances, with aging populations and extremely low birth rates compounding the problem. “The G-7 countries generally underestimate the speed at which mortality is likely to decline,”  said Shripad Tuljapurkar, a leading demographer and president of Mountain View Research Associates. […]

NEW YORK, June 23 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Christopher Reeve, known for his big-screen portrayal of Superman,  urged population control at the United Nations Wednesday. “The children of the 21st century will be faced with a very daunting problem—that is, the quality of life because of overpopulation,”  he told a UN headquarters dinner. In spite of UN reports of a looming underpopulation crisis,  Reeve said more than six billion people live “on a planet that is falling apart, where there is not enough food to go around, not enough health or education.” “It is time to take bold steps to control the […]

UNITED NATIONS, June 23 (LifeSiteNews.com) – What was supposed to be a victory for radical feminists in forcing abortion on poor nations turned out as a victory for pro-life forces lobbying at the United Nations. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Nafis Sadik, one of the world’s most vociferous abortion proponents, wept as she edited a speech she delivered to the Beijing +5 conference June 9.  The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) reports this week that Sadik was bitterly angry as she delivered her speech, making it plain she was unhappy with the progress of the meeting. […]

On Tuesday the US Senate approved the expansion of federal hate crimes laws to include penalty enhancements for those who commit violent acts because of victims’ “actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation or disability”. Pro-family groups fought the measure noting that homosexual activists intend to use the special protection “to criminalize any criticism of their behavior.” The Clinton administration initiated a furious last-minute lobbying blitz to win the vote 57 to 42.   Teenage boys’ attitudes toward abortion grew “significantly more conservative,” between 1988 and 1995, according to a study published in the recent issue of the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher […]

German scientists said on Tuesday they planned to import human embryo stem cells from the United States for research. Germany has banned the killing of embryos for scientific research, and embryo stem cells are culled from tiny human babies who have been killed,  so the scientists are trying to side-step the law. A spokesman for the federal Justice Ministry said importing embryo cells was not illegal. (Pro-Life E-News)  The complete text of the abortion debate in the Northern Ireland legislative assembly last Tuesday (20 June) can be found here, below the debate on postal services in rural areas.

OTTAWA, June 22 (LifeSiteNews.com) – in her June 22 column, “Manning looks like a leader”, Financial Post editor Diane Francis declares that Preston Manning would now be the best choice for leader of the Canadian Alliance. Francis’ support for Manning is summed up by noting that her first choice, Tom Long, has no hope of winning thanks to his membership fiasco and that Stockwell Day is open to pro-life initiatives within the party. Francis does not explain why she does not consider Preston Manning to be a threat to the abortion status quo. In an uncharacteristically open display of her […]

MONTREAL, June 22 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite the big money and confident swaggering of prominent fiscal-only conservatives, polls are suggesting the two Alliance leadership candidates who represent a blend of social and fiscal conservatism are tied for first.  A poll of Canadian Alliance supporters by Societe Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of the CBC, found that 37.1 percent of Alliance supporters surveyed favour Day and 36.7 percent said they support Manning. Former Ontario Conservative organizer Tom Long was a distant third, with a little less than 11 percent, and the other social liberal candidate Keith Martin was not even on the map. […]

NEW ORLEANS, June 22 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In June last year a Pentecostal pastor invented a tool that can delete pre-programmed expletives from TV programs and movies while you are watching them, and ever since it has been selling like hot-cakes. Fed up with the increased bombardment of foul language from TV programs, Rev. Jonas Robertson, pastor of the Abundant Life Pentecostal Church in New Orleans, invented the TV gadget and first introduced it to the public at the annual convention of the 32 million member Assemblies of God denomination last year. The product, called Curse Free TV (CFTV),  claims to […]

OTTAWA, June 21 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bill C-214, a private members bill which, if passed, would have required the federal government to pass all international treaties through Parliament before ratifying them, has been defeated at second reading despite support from all opposition parties.  In an upsetting loss, the bill was defeated 110 to 151. Pro-life Liberal MPs surprisingly voted with the government even though their support for the bill could have made the difference between success and failure for this initiative which would have inhibited the very serious, on-going, international anti-family agenda via international treaties and agreements. See the way your […]

DELHI, India, June 21 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Hindustan Times reports that the World Bank has expressed dissatisfaction with a population project underway in India whose prime goal is “reducing the birth rate.” “According to sources in the Health Department, the World Bank has made adverse remarks on three successive occasions about the project not being able to achieve its targets,” reports the article. The funding was to be pulled last August but an extension has been granted until June 30, 2001. Apparently the Bank is concerned at the under-utilization of maternity homes, but the top listed goal of the project […]

Gay Pride week commenced in Toronto yesterday with the raising of the homosexual activist flag outside city hall.  The “Dyke March” is scheduled for Saturday and the “Pride Parade” will flood downtown Toronto with homosexual exhibitionism on Sunday beginning at 3pm.  The Church of England has agreed to allow a priest to undergo a sex-change and continue as pastor of his parish as a “woman.” Fifty percent of women between 15 and 19 are having sex, say Canadian doctors. One in three sexually active teenagers claim they have intercourse in the first month of a new relationship and say they […]

KELOWNA, BC, June 21 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray has again refused to proclaim gay and lesbian pride week, noting that he has stopped all proclamations after a March human rights tribunal decision found him guilty of “discrimination” for not proclaiming homosexual pride. Gray notes that the tribunal ruling said he must not treat homosexual activists differently and thus he is complying with the ruling by not issuing any proclamations. However, homosexual activists and their supporters in the BC government are not satisfied. Mary-Woo Sims, the head of BC’s Human Rights Commission reproached Gray saying: “It’s really unfortunate that […]

TORONTO, June 21 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Gord Truscott and LifeSite Managing Director Steve Jalsevac, two of the journalists arrested while photographing the October 1999 protest by Linda Gibbons at a Toronto abortuary, had their obstruction charges dropped this afternoon. After eight months, a total of ten court appearances, and several thousand dollars in legal costs, the journalists were vindicated by the Crown attorney today. He stated that, after reviewing all the evidence in the case, he concluded there “is no reasonable probability of conviction” of the defendants and recommended that the charges be withdrawn. Two weeks ago, after numerous repeated requests, […]

The following found on Bourque News service: Manning, Day and Long are in a plane running out of fuel. The pilots have donned their parachutes and already jumped out. One parachute remains.  To decide who gets the parachute the three Alliance candidates agree to do so by secret ballot.  The results: Manning 1, Day 1, Long 2822

LONDON, ON, June 21 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop John Michael Sherlock, of London, Ontario issued a statement Monday apologizing for his earlier disparaging remarks about pro-lifers, but he continues to defend Catholic participation in the World March for Women. The primary reason the bishop gives for supporting the march is “that poverty and violence, especially the poverty of women and children,  kills and disables more children than abortion does, and it is against poverty of women and violence that we march.” Unfortunately, the bishop is severely misinformed on his facts. Even pro-abortion groups admit to “between 36 and 53 million abortions” […]

VICTORIA, BC, June 21 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canadian Alliance leadership hopeful Keith Martin, who yesterday made news headlines saying he would leave the party if it went pro-life, was back-pedaling today after losing a key campaign worker over the issue. Herb Wiens, treasurer of Martin’s Canadian Alliance leadership campaign, resigned yesterday and switched his allegiance to Stockwell Day.  Wiens said Martin violated a promise to him that he would not make abortion an issue in his leadership campaign. The Victoria Times Colonist reports Martin saying that the coverage of his abortion comments was “overblown.” He reaffirmed his allegiance to the party. […]

Jerry Britt, a 62-year-old blind man, is walking across the United States. Britt, a recent masters graduate of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio joined up with Crossroads, Inc., a team of college kids who have set out on a pilgrimage from San Francisco to Washington, DC, as a witness to the sacredness of human life.  The Supreme Court has ruled that public school districts cannot let students lead stadium   crowds in prayer before high school football games. Chief Justice Rehnquist, who was   on the dissenting side of the 6-3 vote, wrote that the court’s opinion “bristles with hostility […]

Archbishop Edward Egan who replaced the late Cardinal O’Connor as Archbishop of New York, was installed as Archbishop of the diocese on Monday. During the homily, in the presence of 3,500 guests, including pro-abortion politicians such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, he stated, “May we stand idly by while the being within the mother is killed, even though no one has ever been able to prove it has anything but an inalienable right to live?”

WASHINGTON, June 20 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An opinion poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times found that 57% of Americans believe abortion is murder. The poll results demonstrate that confusion is rampant regarding life issues. More than half of those surveyed said abortion should either be illegal in all circumstances or legal only in cases of rape, incest or when a woman’s life is in danger. At the same time, more than two-thirds said that, regardless of their own feelings on the subject, the highly personal decision to obtain an abortion   should be left to a woman and her doctor. […]

June 20 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Robert Spitzer, a well-known and highly influential psychiatrist, has changed his mind,  and now says he believes some homosexuals can change their sexual orientation. Spitzer is Chief of Biometrics Research and Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University in New York. Spitzer was a key figure in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) 1973   decision to remove homosexuality from its official list of mental health disorders. Even today, the APA decision continues to affect the social debate over homosexuality. The American Family Association reports that after studying the life histories of and then interviewing 22 ex-homosexuals, […]

OTTAWA, June 20 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Demonstrating the shallow ties of social liberals to the   Canadian Alliance, some have threatened to abandon the party if the party allows social   conservatives the freedom to actually act on their beliefs. Prominent yesterday was   Alliance leadership candidate Keith Martin who is heading for a fourth place finish in the race. “There’s no way I’m going to put up with that,” said Martin reacting to comments about the possibility of pro-life advances within the Alliance. “If the party strays [into   that territory], then I’ll have to reconsider my future,” said Martin, […]

UNITED NATIONS, June 20 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Friday, Sierra Leone announced its ratification   of the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), becoming the thirteenth   country to do so. The Court, which is to be a permanent judicial body with universal   jurisdiction over crimes committed by individuals, has now received 13 of the 60 ratifications   necessary to bring it into being (Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, San Marino, Italy, Fiji,  Ghana, Norway, Belize, Iceland, Tajikistan, Venezuela, France and Sierra Leone). So far,  97 countries have signed the treaty establishing the Court. The treaty remains open for   […]

LifeSite’s March of Women page has been updated to include a Calgary Herald article in which Msgr. Foy was quoted as saying the disagreement over the march is “the most profound public   rupture of episcopal collegiality in history.” (Page currently unavailable.) Fears of disruption of Catholic events in Rome by homosexual activists involved with the July 1-8   World Gay Pride event were compounded June 10 as a result of about 100 activists disturbing a Church service. A loud and irreverent protest in the piazza del Pantheon disrupted Church services taking place at the time. The noise was so […]

OTTAWA, June 19 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a revealing interview with the National Post, Canadian Alliance leadership candidate Tom Long was candid regarding his intention to forcefully sweep under the carpet issues of great concern to many Canadians. “Proposing new restrictions on abortion, or encouraging such a debate, is not on his radar screen. If voters want that, he says, don’t vote for him. He doesn’t want any ‘buyer’s remorse’ when he wins,” writes Norma Greenaway after an interview with Long. Long’s strategy on social issues appears to be identical to the Harris government where MPPs who acted to restore parental […]

Abortionist James Scott Pendergraft and his Orlando-based real estate adviser, Michael Spielvogel, were indicted in federal court Tuesday for conspiring to extort millions of dollars from Marion County government by making false and fraudulent statements in a civil lawsuit Pendergraft filed in December 1998. That city officials and a dozen pro-lifers as defendants, alleging that the city and county failed to provide adequate protection to the Ocala Women’s Center. (Pro-Life E-News)

MISSISSAUGA, ON, June 19 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Parents of grade school students in Mississauga are upset over a lesbian teacher’s discussion of lesbianism with her class. The Toronto Star reported last week that the Elmcrest Public School teacher told her two grade 4 classes that she was a lesbian and “answered questions from the 10-year-olds.” The school principal apologized to parents noting that the teacher acted without “clearing the announcement with her principal and the school’s parent council.” Peel District School Board spokesman Brian Woodland said that the teacher’s action “was no doubt a mistake,” but pro-family activists are not so […]

SPRINGFIELD, IL, June 19 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A recent government funded study in Finland shows that women who abort are approximately four times more likely to die in the following year than women who carry their pregnancies to term. In addition, women who carry to term are only half as likely to die as women who were never pregnant. “This is an impeccable, record-based study,” said David C. Reardon, Ph.D., who has authored a review of the Finland study and other related research in the latest issue of The Post-Abortion Review. “It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that abortion […]

DANGERS OF THE PILL – A New Zealand study published in the current edition of The Lancet found that Pill users were 9.6 times more likely to develop a fatal pulmonary embolism than those not taking the ‘contraceptive’. Women taking third generation pills containing desogestrel or gestodene were 14 times more likely to develop pulmonary embolisms. Brazilian bishops have reaffirmed the traditional Catholic Church position against using condoms, countering one bishop’s remarks. Brazilian church issued a statement saying, “The Church has not changed its position on this point. . . It is important to remind the young people that the […]

BUENOS AIRES, June 19 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Argentina, a staunchly pro-life country was misrepresented at the United Nations by its delegation which was unusually quiet and even hostile to the strong pro-life stand it was to represent. In reaction, the new Archbishop of La Plata,  Argentina, Hector Aguer, urged Argentinean delegations to maintain the commitment that this country has assumed with the defense of life. Church News reports that Archbishop Aguer asked that the commitment with the defense of life, from its conception until natural death, expressed by president Fernando de la Rua during his electoral campaign, be assumed “with no […]

* The Catholic bishops of the New England region issued a joint statement this week, expressing their opposition to Vermont’s recently passed “civil union” law which sets up a parallel system of same-sex partnerships that are the legal equivalent of marriage. The statement, issued by the   Archdiocese of Boston and signed by the sixteen New England bishops, said: “The legislature of the State of Vermont, by passing the civil unions bill, has attacked centuries of cultural and religious esteem for marriage between a man and a woman and has prepared the way for an attack on the well-being of […]

UNITED NATIONS, June 16 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Speaking at the United Nations at the conclusion of the United Nations General Assembly on Beijing +5, Canadian Secretary of State for the Status of Women, Hedy Fry, lamented the lack of language promoting homosexuality and abortion. “We would note that we have made no gains from Beijing on the inherent right of the person to make decisions about her sexual and reproductive life,” said Fry in a veiled reference to the pro-life forces at the conference which were successful in supporting developing countries to resist the West’s pro-abortion agenda. Fry also complained that […]

WASHINGTON, June (LifeSiteNews.com) – US Senate and House Republicans have proposed the “American Servicemen’s Protection Act” to stop the International Criminal Court (ICC) from impinging on US sovereignty. Since the ICC will claim universal jurisdiction over even the US, which has opposed the international court and refused to sign the statute, the proposed law will address eventualities that might lead to conflict over US sovereignty. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms spoke on the bill Wednesday saying it “will bar any U.S. cooperation with the ICC, so long as the U.S. has not signed and ratified the Rome Treaty.” […]

OTTAWA, June 16 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Tuesday, the House of Commons passed Bill C-19, which would institute the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court in Canada.  The bill was passed 224-36, strictly along party lines, with all parties in favour except the Canadian Alliance.  (See link to voting below) The legislation was sneaked through as the House was preparing to go into recess, thus giving little opportunity for careful consideration of this matter of monumental significance. Numerous problems with the legislation were pointed out during the final debate by Gurmant Grewal,  the Alliance’s chief foreign affairs critic. Grewal noted […]

* The Globe and Mail reports that citizen’s of Moncton New Brunswick will be subjected to the first Gay Pride parade in their community tomorrow. * ABORTION PROMOTING RADIO IN CHINA -In a partnership between the China Family Planning Association, IPPF and the BBC, Sexwise, IPPF’s radio broadcast series is due to be launched in China on the 18th July in Mandarin on the BBC World Service. It will provide sex education and cover a variety of issues regarding sex and reproductive health. * ABORTION PROMOTING RADIO IN AFRICA – IPPF’s first Sexwise project for Africa will be launched in […]

OTTAWA, June 16 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The soon to be released May/June issue of Reality magazine, a publication of REAL Women Canada, reveals that at least one Protestant church listed as supporting the feminist March of Women 2000 has questioned its endorsement. Reality reports that a pamphlet promoting the March 2000 reveals that it is endorsed by the Anglican, Presbyterian   and United Churches in Canada, in addition to the Catholic organizations previously mentioned in LifeSite. REAL Women sent a letter to the heads of the Protestant churches pointing out the conflict of the March’s objectives with Christian principles. While the […]

OTTAWA, June 15 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bill C-23 (the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act), which grants most of the rights of married and common law couples to homosexual couples passed in the Senate yesterday. Although the vote on the bill was not recorded, Progressive Conservative Senator Roch Bolduc asked for his opposition to be recorded in Hansard. During debate Liberal Senator Anne Cools spoke against the bill warning that it opens up the law to a constitutional challenge by homosexual activists for allowing homosexual marriage. Royal Assent is expected for the Bill today.

REGINA, June 15 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Government of Saskatchewan refused to proclaim June 24 “Saskatchewan Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Pride Day” as demanded by homosexual activists.  The government cited a policy to “stay away from issues of sexuality, a personal nature and religion.”  However the action has enraged homosexual activists who have filed a complaint against the province with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. In a strange development, the homosexual activists have received backing from the Saskatchewan Party, which has been considered pro-life and pro-family. The Regina Leader Post reports today that Sask. Party MLA June Draude said Wednesday that […]

* US Vice President and presidential candidate Al Gore was vetoed in his attempt to appeal to Catholics by campaigning at a Catholic hospital.  Bishop James C. Timlin refused Gore’s appearance due to Gore’s pro-abortion stance. “The Mercy Hospital has decided not to give Vice President Gore a platform, lest there be any misunderstanding about the hospital’s Catholic identity and its commitment to the sanctity of life,” Bishop Timlin said Wednesday.

UPI reports that Brazil has endorsed homosexual unions. The government of Brazil has extended de facto legal recognition to same-sex relationships by granting such couples the right to inherit each other’s pension and social security benefits. The final document for the Beijing +5 conference is available here. The editorial in the current issue of the BC Catholic describes the current moral shift in society. A shift to life and family values becoming ever more apparent in Canadian society. Catholic World News reported last week that a British court has ordered a 13-year-old girl to give up her baby for adoption, […]

YARMOUTH, June 15 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a letter clearly outlining the reasons against Catholic participation in the World March of Women, James M. Wingle, Bishop of Yarmouth, has said that his diocese “cannot support” the March.  The following quotes from the bishop’s letter are self-explanatory and prove the March as insupportable from a Catholic position. “Anything that compromises or clouds our witness to this utterly essential good of life and the inalienable right to it, must be rejected. It is radically inconsistent and mutually contradictory to espouse a defense of the dignity and rights of women, while refusing to defend […]

OTTAWA, June 15 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Robert Latimer’s Supreme Court appeal of his sentence for gassing his 12-year-old disabled daughter in 1993, began yesterday with his lawyer arguing that he murdered out of love.  Eddie Greenspan argued that it was “unforgivable” to suggest that “Bob and Laura Latimer ever acted out of anything but love.” Disability activists and their lawyers were incensed at the suggestion, pointing out that changes in law to allow for “compassionate homicide” (lesser penalties when murder is allegedly executed out of compassion) would lead to “open season on the disabled.” Pro-lifers emphasize that the open season would […]

* Pro-lifers in New Brunswick have asked the Premier to place the question of funding for abortion on a referendum ballot in May of next year. Peter Ryan, president of Campaign Life Coalition stated that the only place in Canada where such a question was asked of citizens was in Saskatchewan. There, 66 percent of voters were against provincial funding. (New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, June 12) * Reuters reports that the Maltese government and the Mediterranean island’s Catholic bishops reacted angrily on Wednesday to plans by the Dutch abortionist Rebecca Gomperts and Catholics for a Free Choice, to set up a […]

OTTAWA, June 14 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Today, Canadian Alliance MPs tabled petitions containing approximately 32,000 more signatures of people who are dissatisfied with the federal government’s inaction on child pornography. “The House of Commons is on the verge of going into its summer recess, and still we see no action from the Liberals to protect our children from sexual predators,” said Eric Lowther, Official Opposition critic for Children and Family Policy. “It has been almost a year and a half since the original Sharpe ruling in British Columbia, and it is disgraceful that the Liberals have not put a stop to […]

Yesterday LifeSite reported incorrectly that US Defense Secretary William Cohen WANTS “a totally independent international court that is not under the jurisdiction, supervision or is in any way influenced, obligated or accountable to a supervisory institution like the U.N.  Security Council.” The report should have read he DOES NOT WANT “a totally independent.”

TORONTO, June 14 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the last of six televised debates by Canadian Alliance leadership candidates Tuesday, clarity on pro-life issues was finally received.  In a heated exchange on the topic of abortion Tom Long exposed himself as no friend of pro-lifers claiming that “If this party decides that it is going to make abortion one of the top two or three issues we are going to run on in the next election, we are going to lose.”  However, Stockwell Day noted that the era of fear surrounding “political correctness” is on its last legs, sensing the culture shift […]

The U.S. attorney general has been asked to investigate AT&T’s new bid to carry hardcore pornography on its pay-per-view network. “Pornography is becoming more mainstream in America when a major national corporation can make a public announcement that it’s going to jump in with both feet,” said a American Family Association commentator.  The Atlanta District Court the has ruled that the National Abortion Federation has to be allowed to place its pro-abortion ads on Atlanta buses, subway cars and shelters. The Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority had originally denied permission for the NAF adds to be run under its policy […]

MONTREAL, June 14 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Report newsmagazine, in its just released June 19 edition, reveals the name of the representative of the Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP)  sitting on the Coordinating Committee for the World March of Women.  The fact that Marcelle Sinclair, of the CCODP Montreal office, sits on the committee is of importance since Diane Matte the official Coordinator for the March said in a letter that a “meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the World March of Women held on January 28th” decided “unanimously” that “the demand to have a «pro-life» contingent at the World […]

UPI reports that Brazil has endorsed homosexual unions. The government of Brazil has extended de facto legal recognition to same-sex relationships by granting such couples the right to inherit each other’s pension and social security benefits. The final document for the Beijing +5 conference is available here. The editorial in the current issue of the BC Catholic describes the current moral shift in society. A shift to life and family values becoming ever more apparent in Canadian society. Catholic World News reported last week that a British court has ordered a 13-year-old girl to give up her baby for adoption, […]

WASHINGTON, June 13 (LifeSiteNews.com) – US Defense Secretary William Cohen blasted the proposed United Nations International Criminal Court. Cohen told reporters that such a human rights court would be “intolerable” to the US unless it contained an exception for countries with a “respected judicial system” such as the US. United Press International reports that Cohen was concerned that “frivolous” charges could be brought forward. Cohen does not want “a totally independent international court that is not under the jurisdiction, supervision or is in any way influenced, obligated or accountable to a supervisory institution like the U.N. Security Council.” For more […]

A new study confirms that “safe-sex” programs don’t stop the spread of   sexually transmitted diseases. “‘Safe Sex’ and STDs” (Commentary) by Paul Reisser, M.D. A projected charter of fundamental rights for the European Union has aroused widespread alarm from critics who say it is just another step toward a federal ‘super-state’. Francis Maude, the foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition Conservative Party in Britain, said that if Britain does become part of the treaties, the charter would be “the most far-reaching transfer of power from elected national legislatures to unelected European judges yet.” The Conservatives note that the charter […]

VANCOUVER, June 12 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a precedent-setting ruling, the BC Supreme Court has made it illegal for employers to treat the fact that a person has undergone a sex-change as an impediment for employment. The National Post reports that Mr. Justice William Davies said human rights legislation prohibits discrimination based on sex, and that it cannot be interpreted to exclude someone “merely because that person or group is not readily identifiable as being either male or female.” The case involved a man who had a sex-change operation and then was rejected from a women-only rape counselling program. The ruling […]

The New York Post reported Friday that the death of a woman who had just undergone an abortion at Brooklyn’s Ambulatory Surgery Center is under investigation by city and state officials. (Pro-Life E-News) The (London) Times reports that New York State legislators are set to change state laws in order to establish the rights of the foetus from conception to birth and to make the unwanted killing of the foetus a crime that carries a murder charge. This change comes in the wake of a horrific case in which Stephen Pack, a New York doctor, and husband with two children,  […]

CALGARY, June 12 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons agreed last week to allow doctors to inject the hearts of late-term unborn babies with potassium chloride (a burning agent) thus making sure the babies are born dead. The college claims the procedure is reserved for seriously malformed children. (The Calgary Herald Sat 10 Jun 2000 News A1) (with files from Pro-Life E-News)

Pro-life Camp-outs are being offered in Barrie ON, July 7-9 & August 25-27. Hosted at CATHOLICLAND, the weekends involve faith, fun and fellowship for pro-life youth. Cost of $90 includes 5 meals and accommodation.  Publicly Funded Stripper Study – The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada has approved a grant of $50,000 for Professor Becki Ross of the University of British Columbia to study the history of the, “little understood but much maligned”, business of erotic dancing in Vancouver. Mark Mike, a spokesman for the Canadian Taxpayers’ Association was outraged, asking: “What, strippers don’t get ‘studied’ enough every […]

Pro-lifers who were arrested outside the Supreme Court last month, two hours after the high court changed regulations governing signs that protesters could carry outside its chambers,  have filed a lawsuit against the Court. The pro-lifers feel the rule change was aimed at only their posters, which depicted aborted babies. Due, in part, to a controversy over their withdrawal of advertising from a program which was to be hosted by popular radio talk show host, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the financial performance of the consumer goods giant Proctor & Gamble has taken severe blows over the past six months. When homosexual […]

VANCOUVER, June 12 (LifeSiteNews.com) – LifeSite has learned that the BC and Yukon provincial Catholic Women’s League (CWL) annual convention voted with a nearly 80% majority to disassociate from the World March of Women 2000. Moreover the Toronto archdiocesan CWL voted 68% against the March at their annual convention. In related news, the Western Catholic Reporter (WCR), which has formerly written articles in support of the World March, has come out today with an editorial against the march.  The editorial, “Time to Exit World March,” compares the Catholic support of the march to the discontinued Catholic support for United Way […]

NEW YORK, June 12 (LifeSiteNews.com) – News reports have confirmed long-standing warnings by pro-lifers about the abortion, homosexuality and anti-sovereignty agendas of UN conferences.  The Bejing+5 conference, which concluded Friday, was given the widest accurate media coverage of any such conferences thanks to the organized work and dedication of pro-life, pro-family lobbyists at the UN. Canada’s National Post, in reporting on the ongoing developments at the UN Friday, extensively quoted Campaign Life Coalition youth representatives at the conference. Together with other pro-life lobbyists from around the world, they were successful in stemming the forced social change agenda of the radical […]

OTTAWA, June 12 (LifeSiteNews.com) – All the Canadian Alliance leadership candidates except Dr. Keith Martin responded to a pro-family questionnaire issued by the Canada Family Action Coalition.  Questions on the uniqueness of heterosexual marriage, conscience legislation, religious freedom and pornography and more were answered. On retaining traditional marriage, both Stockwell Day and Preston Manning agreed to use the notwithstanding clause to guard against a Supreme Court revision of marriage but Tom Long waffled, not agreeing to use the clause unless such use was approved by referendum. On conscience legislation both Day and Manning supported it unequivocally. Mr. Long however qualified […]

NEW YORK, June 9 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Judith Reisman, the one who uncovered the truth behind the fraudulent sex-data of the infamous sex-researcher Alfred Kinsey, reported recently on the situation of young male prostitution.  Quoting sources, Reisman notes that the number of boys in prostitution in America is roughly half a million.  One source notes that “boy prostitutes in Times Square outnumber female hookers five to one.” Dr. Reisman asks “Why is the American public largely unaware that roughly 500,000 boys sell street sex to adult males of this great nation?” Dr. Reisman relates this boy prostitution prevalence to the […]

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The International Planned Parenthood Federation Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights was presented at the UN Bejing +5 conference this week.  The charter calls for among others, “the right to life; the right to liberty and security of the person; the right to privacy; the right to freedom of thought; the right to freedom of assembly and political participation.”  While noble sounding, the rights demands are revealed as farcical given the definitions of the “rights” which run counter to their normal definitions. “The Right to Life” in the charter is restricted to “human beings […]

MONTREAL, June 9 (LifeSiteNews.com) – For the first time in Canada the Canadian   Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) has released statistics on the nation-wide practice of in vitro fertilization. The released statistics allow for the calculations of the number of preborn babies’ lives lost as a result of the procedures.  An extremely conservative estimate based on the figures released finds that well over 9,000 human embryonic persons lost their lives during the in vitro procedures in 1999 alone.  Although exact figures have not been released the IVF procedures resulted in less than 2,000 live births. The determination of these […]

The US Food and Drug Administration has proposed to approve the RU-486 abortion drug in the US.  Catholic World News reports that a Methodist church in Washington, DC, had a church sign that advertised a sermon on homosexuality abruptly removed by the city which claimed the sign violated zoning laws.

ABORTION PUSHED IN PORTUGAL – A forum on “sexual and reproductive health in the context of development” took place last Tuesday in the Portuguese Parliament, hosted by the Parliamentary Committee for Parity, Equal Opportunities and the Family, and supported by the Portuguese Family   Planning Association.  Speakers included representatives from UNFPA and Planned Parenthood.  Catholic World News reports that Cardinal Thomas Winning of Glasgow publicly criticized the fledgling Scottish Parliament for the second time in a week, accusing it of declaring war on marriage and the family. Last Saturday, the cardinal said the parliament’s insistence on revoking Section 28, a […]

OTTAWA, June 9 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The same day as Vancouver Archbishop Adam Exner released his letter against Catholic support of the March of Women 2000, the office of Archbishop Marcel Gervais of Ottawa released a letter, signed by Bishop Gervais, supporting the March. The Ottawa letter seems to reflect unawareness of evidence that the march supports abortion and that it’s coordinators voted unanimously to forbid a pro-life presence. The Archbishop’s letter states, “It is much better for us to be present, promoting our pro-life message, than for us to stay away and leave the entire stage to our opponents.” The […]

VANCOUVER, June 8 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday, Archbishop Adam Exner of Vancouver issued a statement on the World March of Women 2000. In his letter the bishop writes that “the Archdiocese of Vancouver, with the full and strong support of its Presbyteral Council and its Archdiocesan CWL, does not support the World March of Women 2000 with its present international and national demands because some of these demands are ambiguous and some are directly opposed to essential and fundamental elements of Catholic teaching.” The letter requests that “the CCCB, the National CWL Council, and the CCODP review and reconsider their decision […]

UNITED NATIONS, June 8 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Beijing +5 conference with its radical push for abortion and lesbian special rights has generated a major protest by European and North American parliamentarians. Ambassadors and UN leaders have been receiving letters of protest from North American and European parliamentarians noting that they object to the radical proposals being brought forward supposedly on behalf of their countries by the UN delegations. While debate is raging in the United States over restrictions on abortion, the UN delegation representing the US at the Beijing +5 conference in New York has been unanimous in its call […]

OTTAWA, June 8 (LifeSiteNews.com) – LifeSite News has obtained a copy of a letter written by canon lawyer Monsignor Vincent Foy of Toronto regarding Catholic support for the March for Women.  Reports have come in indicating that various parish-level Catholic Women’s League (CWL)  groups have been rejecting participation in the march and some have even demanded the resignation of the CWL national executive over the fiasco. Msgr. Foy’s letter, submitted to Canada’s Apostolic Nuncio, points out in stark clarity the objections to Catholic participation and support of the march. “If the stated aim of the World March of Women were […]

The May 6 Toronto Star editorial says Prime Minister Jean Chretien spoke at a meeting of 14 leaders of centre-left governments, in Berlin last Saturday, congratulating himself on Canada’s reputation as a socially progressive country.  “‘I’m here because many of our ideas in Canada make President Clinton jealous of us,’ Chretien declared, pointing to medicare, gun control,  capital punishment and abortion as proof that Canada is more socially advanced than the United States.” – says the Star editorial.  (Toronto Star, May 6, 2000 pg. A22) New York Post columnist Rod Dreher points out that disagreeing with the pro-homosexual agenda is […]

OTTAWA, June 7 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The latest issue (June 5) of Report magazine presents the answers of the three top candidates for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance party to ten questions given them by the magazine. Several of the topics covered will be of interest to LifeSite readers. For more see today’s second Special Report.

OTTAWA, June 6 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Campaign Life Coalition New Brunswick president Peter Ryan, an expert on euthanasia, issued a press release on the Senate subcommittee report released yesterday entitled, Quality End-of-Life Care: The Right of Every Canadian.  Ryan notes that “the report deserves much credit for pushing for badly needed improvements in our current medical system.”  However, “too many Canadians suffer needlessly before dying,” says Ryan.  “Pain relief and other palliative care needs to be regarded as a right, not a matter of good luck. Poor care fuels a desperate demand for assisted suicide and euthanasia.” The key issues overlooked […]

American Family Association today criticized Hilton Hotel and Hampton Inn company chairman Barron Hilton for opening his New Orleans Riverside hotel to a conference of the world’s most prolific hard-core computer pornographers and webmasters. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York City is under fire because its ad agency refused a pro-life message to be advertised on New York subways. According to the New York Post, the ad agency “is staffed by either bigots or morons” who are in apparent violation of the First Amendment.  The state of Arizona’s refusal to pay for poor women’s abortions, except in cases […]

NEW YORK, June 6 (LifeSiteNews.com) – LifeSite News’s Special report today on the ongoing developments at the Beijing +5 conference comes straight from the floor of the United Nations in New York. The battle lines in the fight between those advocating abortion and homosexuality and those opposed are clearly drawn with the rich, Western countries led by Canada , the US and the EU pushing for a “progressive” agenda while developing countries have joined the Vatican fighting for family values. Pro-family groups have been very effective at the meeting, but unlike most previous meetings, the key negotiations have been going […]

CALGARY, June 6 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The controversy over the Foothills hospital infanticide cases where aborted babies were mistakenly delivered alive and then starved to death has led to a policy proposal to ensure the babies are dead on arrival. The Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons policy suggests that doctors should be able to inject the heart of the fetus with a fatal dose of sodium chloride so when it is induced it will not be born live.  The Calgary Herald reports that “the procedure known as feticide will be performed ‘in order to reduce suffering,’ says the college policy […]

WASHINGTON, June 6 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Ford Foundation has been promoting abortion in Mexico and Latin America subversively by donating millions to so-called “Catholic” organizations which promote abortion.  Crosswalk.com, a company which screens companies for pro-life and pro-family investors, reports that in 1998 the Ford Foundation contributed $875,000 (US) to “Catholics for Free Choice in Latin America” and “Catholics for the Right to Decide.” Ford was just as prolific in contributing to these pro-abortion causes in preceding years, donating $1,300,000 in 1996 alone. Crosswalk reports further that other foundations with corporate ties that have joined Ford in contributing to these […]

TORONTO, June 6 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Saturday, Terry Graham Jr. pulled his father our of Peel Memorial Hospital refusing further medical treatment for him.  Graham is suffering from a rare disease Mitochondrial Myopathy which has resulted in his blindness and severe pain.  The Toronto Sun reported Saturday that Graham Jr. has been campaigning on behalf of his father to obtain physician assisted suicide. However, specialists in the field have noted that Mr. Graham has been improperly treated since the traditional pain remedies are ineffective against the rare disease. Palliative Care Specialist, Dr. John Swift, who has been successfully managing the […]

TORONTO, June 5 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic Insight magazine, a monthly magazine of religion, culture and politics based in Toronto, is calling for Catholic voters to abandon the Liberal party and join the Canadian Alliance. “It’s change-over time for all Catholics,” the June 2000 editorial states.  “Many (Catholics) have clung for years to parties and Prime Ministers unwilling to defend the family, or preserve life, or defend the rights of Christians to have a voice in the public forum,”  says the magazine. It cites the April passage of Bill C-23 “providing equality of financial status for homosexual unions” as a recent […]

A Dear Abby column appearing in newspapers in the Los Angeles area a few weeks ago supported assisted suicide.  In response to Faye Girsh of the Hemlock Society, Abby wrote: “I am pleased to publish the Hemlock Society’s mission: “To maximize the options for a good death,  including   legalizing physician aid in dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults who request it,  under careful safeguards.” She then gave the Hemlock Society’s address for more info. The Dear Abby columnist can be reached by writing to Abigail Van Buren at P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles,  CA 90069 Last week US […]

OTTAWA, June 6 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-life forces were pleasantly surprised today with the Senate report released by the subcommittee to Update “Of Life and Death.” The subcommittee was set up to review the recommendations made five years ago by the Senate regarding the care for the elderly in its “Of Life and Death” report. Due to ongoing pressure to legalize euthanasia in this country as well as advances being made by the death agenda in many other countries including Britain and a few American states, many Canadians were concerned that today’s report might push us in that direction as well. […]

In the May 18 LifeSite News the National Post was quoted as reporting that Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Sault Ste. Marie opposed the funding of the march. Since then the Post has issued a correction written by Bishop Durocher himself.  In the letter, Bishop Durocher writes, “I stand with my diocesan bishop, Jean-Louis Plouffe, in solidarity with the decision of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. A decision supporting the March of Women.”

VANCOUVER, June 5 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Vancouver’s Archbishop Adam Exner has condemned the British Columbia government’s endorsement of the legalization of homosexual marriage.  In the current issue of the BC Catholic, the diocesan newspaper, he states “They began by redefining the legal meaning of spouse, then enlarged it to include same-sex couples. The next step was to promote same-sex spousal benefits. Now they seem to be moving further in seeking to legalize same-sex `marriage,’  which I think would be a tragedy for society and a step backward.”  Heterosexual couples, he added,  “make a very important contribution to society by bringing children […]

MANITOBA, June 5 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Annual General Meeting of the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association has adopted a policy that pharmacists may refuse to dispense certain drugs for reasons of conscience. Sean Murphy, administrator of the Protection of Conscience Project, informed LifeSite that it is believed that this is the first time a pharmacists association in Canada has formally recognized the importance of freedom of conscience. News of the development was conveyed to the Protection of Conscience Project in a letter from Ronald F. Guse, Registrar of the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association.  The Association rejected a clause that would have forced conscientious […]

NEW YORK, June 5 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Hedy Fry, Canada’s secretary of state for multiculturalism and the status of women, is the head of Canada’s delegation to the United Nations Beijing +5 meeting which commences today.  Fry, confirmed in an interview with the National Post published today that Canada will be lesbian rights at the United Nations.  The revelations have confirmed what Campaign Life Coalition has said for years with regard to the Canadian involvement at the UN meetings. The Post reports that “Canada will use its negotiating clout as the chair of a committee representing Japan, the U.S., and […]

LONDON, ON, June 5 (LifeSiteNews.com) – LifeSite has just completed a comprehensive page devoted to the March of Women controversy.  The page outlines the chronology of events and provides many articles, documents and other evidence on the controversy. In the latest news on the March another bishop has come out in favour of the March of Women and again bashed pro-lifers.  In a statement, much of which seems similar to comments recently made by Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary, Bishop John Michael Sherlock of the Diocese of London, Ontario,  said “If the pro-life people had their way, we would all […]

UNITED NATIONS, June 2 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan opened a meeting at which actress Jane Fonda, estranged wife of Ted Turner, unveiled a 15-minute documentary focusing on three Nigerian projects involving youth and “sexual and reproductive health”. The short film, which was researched and narrated by Fonda, shows adolescent girls and boys in sex education classes and job training programs. “Realities of Girls’ Lives: How We Can Act Now”  also featured one teenager who announced that “no girl in her program had become pregnant or had an unsafe abortion in five years,” drawing applause from […]

TORONTO, June 2 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the election date for the Alliance leadership nears social liberal columnists appear to be panicking over the possibility that Stockwell Day might actually win.  The non-issue of a few lines in the candidate analysis on LifeSite continues to be dragged out by various reporters desperately trying to tag Day with anything that might be skillfully manipulated to cast him as an extremist. In today’s Globe and Mail, regular columnist Jeffrey Simpson goes so far as to state that Day must “ditch the social conservatives joining his campaign. The anti-abortion crowd, REAL Women,  the evangelicals—he’s […]

HOME SCHOOL TOPS – The Washington Times reports today that home-schooled students Thursday won the top three spots in the National Spelling Bee, one week after the first-place winner had placed second in the National Geography Bee.  MORNING-AFTER PILL WARNING – Even radical promoters of the morning-after pill in New Zealand are warning that it would be a danger to have the abortifacient drugs dispensed without a prescription.  ACP-EU ADOPTS IPPF POLICY – International Planned Parenthood reported that the ACP-EU (African,  Caribbean and Pacific states / European Union) Partnership Agreement has taken the advice of abortion providers IPPF and Marie […]

These items on the Canadian Alliance, from the June CLC National News, follow up on the previous May analysis on the leadership race. CLC National News – June 2000   CAMPAIGN LIFE COALITION AND THE CANADIAN ALLIANCE   CA LEADERSHIP RACE  MANNING, DAY ANSWER CLC SURVEYS   LONG BEHIND MEDIA ATTACKS ON CLC? CAMPAIGN LIFE COALITION AND THE CANADIAN ALLIANCE   CLC’s mandate within the pro-life movement is to act as a lightning rod to stimulate pro-lifers to join a political party of their choice and become active in the public forum. Over the years, CLC’s efforts have succeeded in […]

OTTAWA, June 2 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A poll on the Sun Media website asks “Should provinces pay for abortions?.”  The results thus far confirm the fact that most Canadians oppose public funding for the choice of abortion.  Of nearly 3,500 people polled thus far 60% are against the funding of abortion.  The results correspond exactly to a 1995 poll showing fifty-seven per cent of Ontario residents opposed tax-payer funding of abortion and confirm other similar polls taken in other provinces. The 1995 survey, conducted by Environics Research for Campaign Life Coalition, asked the respondents whether a variety of health services should […]

NEW YORK, June 2 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Delegates from the developing, world known as the G77, at the United Nations’ Beijing+5 conference this week, have fought to include guarantees that “food and medicines must not be used as a tool for political pressure” exerted by the West for population control.  However, World Life League reports that the motion is being opposed by JUSCANZ, the powerful negotiating block of Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Rather than sever the strings of population control tied to humanitarian aid, JUSCANZ would merely “discourage the adoption of coercive measures.” In related news, […]

ROME, Italy, June 2 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In striking similarity to Canada’s BC provincial court, which recently ruled possession of child porn to be legal, Italy’s highest court of appeal has ruled that pedophiles can take pornographic photos of children as long as they are not sold for profit.  The Times reports that the Court of Cassation in Rome upheld the acquittal by a court in Turin of Antonio B., 45, over photographs that he took when he forced a youth of 13 to carry out sexual acts. In a similar decision in Oregon, courts have ruled that a law that […]

CLINTON BACKS CHINA PROSTITUTION – The Clinton administration will push for Senate approval of a United Nations treaty used to promote legal prostitution in China, Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala said yesterday. A U.N. committee recently ordered China to allow women to sell their bodies as “sex workers.” The order, issued by the body that will oversee the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, calls prostitution a “reproductive right” over one’s body.

See Michael Coren’s Sun Media column on the Tom Long campaign controversy in today’s LifeSite Special Report: Long’s Coming Up Short Sun columnist Allan Fotheringham writes that a US political specialist known for negative attack strategies to help campaigns in trouble was behind the Tom Long campaign’s attempt to slam Stockwell Day by manipulating comments on LifeSite.  American Life League reported yesterday that it has confirmed allegations that the dissident group,  Catholics for a Free Choice (CFC), “is endorsing a plan to circumvent national laws by performing abortions in international waters.” A staff member called CFC, asking them: “Are you […]

WASHINGTON D.C., June 1 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Right to Life’s daily commentary on Tuesday discussed the priority American voters place on candidates’ views about assisted suicide and euthanasia. Despite mainstream claims that life issues are secondary in relevance, NRLC noted that according to a May l9-23 Wirthlin poll of 1001 people 18 years of age and older, 64% said that a candidate’s views on euthanasia and assisted suicide were important to them. They were “Very Important” for 31% of respondents and “Somewhat Important” for 33% “in determining their vote.” Furthermore, “By more than a 2-1 margin – 65% to […]

OTTAWA, June 1 (LifeSiteNews.com)  Leading Canadian abortionist, Dr. Henry Morgentaler, is trying to piggyback on the current health care controversy raging throughout the country by calling on the federal Liberals to address the problem of “two-tiered” abortion access in the country. Objecting to the different levels of access to abortion in each province, he said that “this is a situation which should not exist.” Stretching the rhetoric surrounding health care, he claimed that “women in this country look to [Health Minister] Rock as the defender of medicare” to provide equal access to abortion across Canada. The Montreal Gazette, reporting on […]