Monday November 5, 2001
See today’s LifeSiteNews stories
ALBERTA POLITICIANS CONSIDERING DEFUNDING ABORTION
EDMONTON, November 5, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Alberta’s standing policy committee on health is looking at deinsuring various procedures in order to save health care dollars for the more serious health concerns. The Edmonton Journal reports today that several of the province’s MLAs are considering defunding abortion. Alberta cabinet ministers Lorne Taylor and Victor Doerksen, are among the MLAs who strongly disapprove of the current spending of $5 million a year on abortions.
Even MLAs supportive of abortion are against funding. The paper quotes Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Ian McClelland saying, “I think abortion should be available, but I don’t think it should be paid for out of the public purse. I mean we don’t pay for braces on a kid’s teeth, but we pay for abortions. That doesn’t make sense.”
The measure is being backed by the Committee to End Tax-Funded Abortions. Alberta Report magazine has reported that defunding of abortion has the support of roughly 50 per cent of doctors, about 67 per cent of Albertans and likely a majority of MLAs. (The Edmonton Journal Mon 05 Nov 2001)
(with files from Pro-Life E-News)
HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE COURT CHALLENGE HEARD IN ONTARIO
Interfaith Coalition Defends Heterosexual Nature of Marriage
TORONTO, November 5, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice began hearings today in a homosexual-activist orchestrated challenge to traditional marriage. Despite having virtually all the financial benefits of marriage and even adoption rights, homosexual activists are seeking to divest marriage of its tradition restriction to opposite sex couples. The case is expected to last 5 days.
Eight homosexual couples were selected by the homosexual activist group Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE) to go ahead with the court challenge. The couples are Barbara McDowall and Gail Donnelly, Tom Allworth and Al Pittman, Hedy Halpern & Colleen Rogers, Michael Leshner & Michael Stark, Michelle Bradshaw & Rebekah Rooney, Dawn Onishenko & Julie Erbland, Carolyn Rowe and Carolyn Moffatt, Alison Kemper & Joyce Barnett. The 8 couples are represented by Martha McCarthy and Joanna Radbord of Epstein Cole.
An EGALE release notes that a challenge by the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto (MCCT) is being heard simultaneously. After publishing banns for two homosexual couples, Kevin Bourassa & Joe Varnell and Elaine & Anne Vautour, the MCCT “married” the couples in a double wedding ceremony on January 14, 2001. The Church is suing since the Ontario Government refused to register, or recognize the “marriages”. The MCCT argues it is protecting its constitutional rights to freedom of religion and equality.
The Interfaith Coalition for Marriage is an intervenor in the case defending the traditional definition of marriage. The Coalition includes the: Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, Archdiocese of Vancouver, B.C. Council of Sikhs, B.C. Muslim Association, Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops, Islamic Society of North America, Ontario Council of Sikhs, Catholic Civil Rights League. The Interfaith Coalition is represented by lawyers Iain Benson and Peter Jervis.
A similar EGALE sponsored marriage challenge was rejected in the BC Supreme Court last month and another one is to commence hearings in Quebec on November 8.
The submission from the Interfaith Coalition is available on the Evangelical Fellowship website at:
https://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/resources/resource_viewe…
Related LifeSite coverage:
HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE BILL DEBATED IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT
https://lsn.ca/ldn/2001/oct/011029.html#1
PROVINCIAL SUPREME COURT RULES OUT HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE
https://lsn.ca/ldn/2001/oct/011003.html#2
NEW SMALL POX VACCINE MAY USE ABORTED FETAL CELL LINE
WASHINGTON, November 5, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Children of God For Life, the Internet’s most reliable source for information on vaccines tainted by the use of aborted baby tissue in their manufacture, has warned that a new Smallpox vaccine may use aborted fetal cell lines.
A contract for development of a new smallpox vaccine was awarded to the Oravax/Acambis Corporation. The pro-life group checked the proposed ingredients through the CDC and found the company intends to use aborted fetal cell line MRC-5 as the cell substrate for growing the virus. The group also notes that animal substitutes exist to create the smallpox vaccine.
The FDA verified the reports in a phone call from Children of God for Life, according to a news release from the group. The FDA also said they would most likely use more than one manufacturer and no final decisions have been made. Testing has already begun using MRC-5 in Phase 1 smallpox vaccine trials.
Children of God for Life urges pro-lifers to express their concerns over the use of aborted fetal tissue in vaccines, and urge the use of alternatives. “Consider the outcome if the only vaccine we have next year is derived from aborted fetal tissue and hundreds of thousands of Americans refuse it,” says the group.
An official Centers for Disease Control document verifies that “Recently, MRC-5 was used as a cell substrate for the preparation of an experimental smallpox vaccine under a Phase 1 trial.” See the CDC document:
https://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no6/rosenthal.htm
Contact:
The Honorable Tommy Thompson
Department of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Room 615-F Washington, D.C. 20201
Email: [email protected]
See the Children of God for Life website at:
https://www.cogforlife.org/
US SENATE CANDIDATE COMPARES PRO-LIFE POLITICIANS TO TALIBAN
CHICAGO, November 5, 2001 (LSN.ca) – Republican businessman James Oberweis, who announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in Illinois yesterday, is in hot water with the Catholic League after remarks comparing pro-life politicians to the Taliban.
On two occasions recently, Oberweis, who is Catholic, explained that the reason he is not a pro-life candidate is because that would put him in the same camp with the Taliban. He was quoted in last Sunday’s Springfield Journal Register as saying, “I think the Taliban is the best example that we’ve ever had about what is wrong about my trying to impose my religious views on you.” On the “Steve Dahl Show” (WCKG-FM) on October 24, Oberweis said, “I think that right now we’re getting a very, very strong symbol in the Taliban of what can happen if we try to impose our religious beliefs on others.”
Catholic League president William Donohue commented saying, “James Oberweis compares those who want to stop the killing of innocent babies to those who routinely stone to death women and starve little children. He said this not once, but twice. This was deliberate, calculated and designed to smear his opposition.” When the League demanded an apology Oberweis refused comment and said later in a newspaper he had no intention of apologizing. The League has promised to “commence a media campaign providing free advertisement for his despicable comments.”
See coverage in the Chicago Tribune:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0111050212nov05…
LIFESITE NEWSBYTES
CLONING SCIENTIST ASKS TO PRODUCE HUMAN CLONES IN ENGLAND
The controversial Italian fertility doctor, Severino Antinori, who has vowed to produce human clones has asked for permission to carry out his cloning experiments in Britain. Britain has been criticized by most other countries for having allowed human cloning, but only for “therapeutic” purposes (to produce embryos for stem cell experiments). Antinori says he wants to allow fathers with fertility problems the chance to have genetically linked progeny.
https://www.sundayherald.com/19882
US NEWS ROUNDUP
FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMPARES ABORTION TO TERRORISM
Two-time former U.S. presidential candidate Alan Keyes spoke at the annual West Virginians for Life fund-raiser Thursday. During his keynote address Keyes said, “The violation on innocent human life is the same whether you commit terrorism or commit abortion.”
https://www.dominionpost.com/a/news/2001/11/02/ae/
CLINTON-APPOINTED SURGEON GENERAL SATCHER TO STEP DOWN
Surgeon General David Satcher, who riled the Bush White House by slamming abstinence-only education, says he’ll be stepping down in three months when his four-year term ends Feb 13, 2002.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/printedition/bal-te.satcher…