August 9, 2024
August 9, 2024
Dear Maureen, I’m Pete Baklinski and this is your Canadian Pro-Life News Bits where I let you know what’s happening on our country’s pro-life and pro-family front.
There was a major pro-life victory in Ontario this week. The Court of Appeal upheld a judge’s decision that ordered an Ontario pro-abortion activist and her allies to stop sabotaging 40 Days For Life pro-life campaigns. The court said that free speech rights demand that pro-lifers have the right to run their campaigns without being disrupted by those who oppose them.
I will quote you one powerful line from the decision as it relates to pro-life expression: “A free and democratic society is one that is committed to permitting everyone to speak what they understand to be the truth about the most profound questions of being and flourishing, and to advocate for laws and policies that reflect this.”
Could not have said it better myself.
In other news, a Quebec study has confirmed that babies are born alive in Canada after failed abortions and many of them are left to die. The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, found that 1541 abortions in the province of Quebec resulted in live births over a 32-year period.
Chillingly, the report found that “second-trimester abortions commonly result in live birth, and that feticidal injection is underused to prevent this outcome.” In other words, doctors should kill the baby first to prevent a live-birth abortion from happening. Sickening.
A study from Cardus has found that euthanasia of the sick and elderly in Canada (MAiD) is now the fifth leading cause of death in the country. The conservative-leaning think-tank is sounding the alarm that the normalization of euthanasia has been a disaster for the country.
And, speaking about euthanasia, a wonderful pro-life initiative is starting up to provide vulnerable seniors with faith-filled, in-home caregivers who will only help to care for them, not offer to kill them via euthanasia. Life Care Network, started by my friend Lino DeFacendis, is now raising funds to begin this crucial and timely work. Please consider donating to help make this a reality here.
Finally, don’t miss my reflection at the end about why Catholics and non-Catholic Christians are encouraged to pray together and how the pro-life movement is a beautiful example of Christian unity.
Top Canadian pro-life stories you need to know about
Campaign Life Coalition on X: Big pro-life and free-speech win in Ontario!
“This is a big win for pro-life advocates who simply want to be a voice in the public square for those who have no voice – namely the preborn targeted for abortion,” said Jeff Gunnarson, National President of Campaign Life Coalition. “Those who want to disrupt pro-life prayer vigils, demonstrations, and rallies had now better think twice.”
Pro-life victory covered by other news outlets:
Rebel News: Ontario judge defends pro-life prayer vigils, opposes silencing speech
LifeSiteNews: Ontario judges rules in favor of 40 Days for Life, says suit against pro-abortion TikToker can continue
National Post: Anti-abortion group can sue activist after Ontario court rejects anti-SLAPP defence
Blacklock’s Reporter: Cannot Silence Speech: Judge
Western Standard: Ontario court rules pro-life Christian prayer vigils can’t be silenced on social media
LifeSiteNews: Quebec study reveals over 10% of babies aborted in second trimester are born alive
“A Quebec study has revealed that over one in ten babies aborted in the second trimester are born alive, but only 10 percent live over three hours.”
Run with Life: CTV misleads Canadians on late-term born alive abortions
“There's nothing misleading about these born alive abortions. They happen. Every year. In Canada. In every province. Not just Alberta.”
CLC Youth: Abortion activists claim abortion pills are ‘life-saving’: they’re wrong
“How many women must be brutally injured and killed by abortion pills before abortion activists admit they're wrong?”
We Need a Law: Abortion pills aren’t safe for anyone involved
“After reviewing government reports of adverse reactions to the drugs, national pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition is asking Health Canada to pull the abortion pill Mifegymiso off the market.”
LifeSiteNews: Help protect vulnerable seniors from being targeted by Canada’s euthanasia regime
Life Care Network is a “pro-life organization which aims to protect seniors from being targeted by Canada’s euthanasia program, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).”
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition: UK researcher concludes Canada’s euthanasia regime may enable ‘healthcare serial killers’
“Professor Christopher Lyon, who teaches at the University of York in the UK, researches and concludes that Canada's (MAiD) euthanasia law enables healthcare serial killers (HSK).”
Cardus: From Exceptional to Routine: The Rise of Euthanasia in Canada
“MAiD in Canada is the world’s fastest-growing assisted-dying program.”
True North: Research group calls for Canada to rethink its stance on gender-changing treatments
“A new study is calling for Canada to reconsider its stance on gender-affirming treatments, asking the country to ‘protect our youngest and most vulnerable patients.’”
Live Action: Olympic archer competes while 6 months pregnant: ‘Fighting together with my baby’
“A second Olympian competed while expecting a baby.”
Live Action: She spent her teen years raising her sister with Down syndrome, and has no regrets
“Sarah Francati is sharing the story of how she raised her sister with Down syndrome after their mother was diagnosed with cancer.”
Associated Press: After the end of Roe, a new beginning for maternity homes
“On the wall of the maternity home, painted in large letters, is the motto: “Saving Babies, One Mom at a Time.” For founders Randy and Evelyn James, the home started with one baby — their own.”
Campaign Life Coalition
Live Action:
Campaign Life Coalition
“During the rally before Linda Gibbons' court appearance, CLC Youth representatives were interviewed on her silent and peaceful pro-life witness, the issue of free speech, and the unjust bubble zone laws. Here's what they had to say!”
1. Sign our new petition to free Linda Gibbons. Sign here.
2. Sign our petition to Health Canada demanding that it ban the abortion pill. Sign here.
Maureen, a recent hit piece against pro-life Catholics was published in Crisis Magazine in which the author insinuated that it was “mortally sinful” for Catholics to pray with non-Catholic Christians at pro-life events.
Well, I took a good hard look at Catholic teaching on this issue and realized pretty quickly that the author was simply wrong in his claim.
I combined the findings in an article that was published on Thursday in the same outlet. You can read it here.
In the article, I highlight the history of the Catholic Church’s development in her praxis of allowing, and now encouraging, Catholics to pray with non-Catholic Christians.
“The pro-life movement, in which Catholics and non-Catholic Christians unite in common prayer in the public square to call on the name of Jesus to end violence in the womb and the scourge of abortion, is the kind of ecumenical work the Church has called for,” I wrote in my piece.
When pro-life Catholics and non-Catholic Christians pray at 40 Days for Life campaigns and marches for life, they begin to realize the Catholic Church’s desire for unity among all baptized followers of Christ.
After all, it was Christ himself who prayed, as related in the Gospel of John, that all his followers “be one.”
All followers of Christ must actively pray and work to achieve this. The pro-life movement is really at the vanguard of a movement of unity among Christians.
As I wrote in my piece, when pro-life Catholics and non-Catholic Christians “pray together in the name of Jesus at vigils, rallies, and demonstrations across North America, they embody the unity of believers desired by Christ and his Church.”
May his Kingdom come!
Be bold and daring for life!
Pete Baklinski
Director of Communications
Campaign Life Coalition
Follow Pete on X: @petebaklinski