December 27, 2024
December 27, 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.
I'm going to do something special in this end-of-the-year edition of the News Bits. Below is my list of the biggest stories that CLC was involved in that defined 2024.
Each story showcases something of the collective impact we made in advancing the great and noble cause of life.
From helping elect pro-life politicians, to running a record-breaking Life Chain, to boldly advocating for Life at the UN, we've made incredible strides.
Without any further ado, here are my TOP 10 stories in chronological order.
Buckle up; it’s going to be a ride!
(Hey Maureen, if you've benefited from the News Bits this year and would like to see them continued in the new year, please donate to help us reach our crucial Christmas fundraising goal. We're about two-thirds of the way there, but need your help to fund us into the new year!) Click here to help CLC reach its goal.
The over 1-hour documentary, directed and produced by Kevin Dunn of DunnMedia & Entertainment, featured our own Josie Luetke and Ruth Robert as principal investigators. The film shows them travelling to both the US and Canada to find answers to their questions about ending abortion in Canada.
The documentary explores what it would take for Canada to experience a Dobbs-like victory, which led to the overturning of Roe in 2022. The film was shown across Canada and is currently being adapted for showings in schools.
2024 began with a big push for “free,” that is, taxpayer-funded, contraception in provinces and at the federal level. We campaigned hard against an NDP bill on this with a letter-writing campaign (AEE).
We also wrote various pieces against this, including an op-ed that was published in Epoch Times. Ultimately, the NDP successfully blackmailed the Liberals (under threat of withdrawing support for the minority government) into passing a Pharmacare bill that included free contraception.
Our vice president, Matthew Wojciechowski, boldly told the UN at a side event in New York that the West cannot eradicate poverty by eradicating the poor and the preborn.
Matthew accused the UN of supporting Western nations in promoting sexual ideologies that redefine marriage, parenthood, procreation, and what it means to be male and female. He called upon Western nations to rediscover the natural family unit as the model for security and prosperity.
Matt returned to the UN in May to mark the International Day of Families with a message defending the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society and marriage as a sacred union between a man and a woman.
“This union reflects the divine plan for the creation and nurturing of children. It is within the family—the first school of love and responsibility—where mothers, fathers, and children learn to love and serve each other, and by extension, their communities,” he said.
We wrote an exclusive report on the over 100 Canadian women who have been severely harmed by the abortion pill protocol since it first became available in Canada in 2017. We found evidence of the harms, including the tragic death of a 19-year-old along with her baby, in Health Canada’s “Vigilance Program.”
We called upon Health Canada to ban abortion pills.
In July, the City of London abandoned plans for a bylaw that would limit the display of graphic images in public spaces after strong pushback from various pro-life groups, including CLC. The real target of the bylaw was abortion victim photography. Our president, Jeff Gunnarson, had written a letter to city councelors some months previously, warning that the city could expect legal action if the by-law proceeded. The letter was featured in media reports about the matter. It was a free-speech victory for all pro-lifers and showed what can happen when the pro-life community flexes its muscles.
Similarly, in August, the city of St. Catharines repealed a bylaw that restricted pro-life speech by banning “fetal” images. This came in the wake of a legal challenge to the bylaw from another pro-life group.
CLC, teaming up with Defend Our Voice, successfully pressured the cities of Toronto, Oakville, and the Region of Niagara to abandon plans to pass bylaws restricting pro-life speech.
Jack Fonseca, our fearless director of political operations, spearheaded a bold postcard campaign in New Brunswick to help the beleaguered Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs in the lead-up to the October 21 provincial election.
Starting August 20, CLC used Canada Post to blanket households in the province with 615,000 postcards (there are only 765,000 people in the entire province) that had either a pro-parental rights or a pro-life message.
Corporate media was outraged, writing dozens of hit pieces against the campaign, which only amplified our message. The campaign caused the PCs to surge in the polls for a time until “healthcare” became a more important issue for the people of the province than “parental rights.”
The 2024 Life Chain was a record-smashing success. We met our goal of bringing this pro-life witness to 350 locations across Canada, which is quite impressive given that there were more than 100 fewer locations in 2020.
Our director of education and advocacy, Joise Luetke, did a phenomenal job of organizing the successful event.
When one of our supporters reached out by email to Pierre Poilievre to chide the CPC leader about his “pro-choice” stance, Poilievre, surprisingly, responded, laying out what he, as Prime Minister, would do for the pro-life movement. Our supporter shared this response with us, giving us permission to make use of it.
We wrote an op-ed about the whole matter, which was accepted for publication by the National Post. We outlined how Mr. Poilievre is no champion of the preborn, but that, nevertheless, he would still accomplish some good for the pro-life movement, including promoting adoption and defending pro-life pregnancy centres.
The publication of our op-ed in a widely recognized outlet amplified the pro-life cause on the national stage and generated additional news from other outlets.
The Trudeau government announced its plan at the end of October to introduce legislation that would force pregnancy care centres to disclose that they do not commit or refer for abortions – or risk losing their charitable status.
The proposal was not only unnecessary but misleading, as the majority of these centres are already transparent about the services they offer. No other charities are required to disclose what services they do not offer.
Our president, Jeff Gunnarson, wrote a public letter to CPC leader Pierre Poilievre, urging him to fulfill a promise to stand up against attempts by the government to attack organizations that help pregnant women. “I respectfully urge you and the entire Conservative party to oppose this legislation,” he wrote.
Jeff also wrote a letter to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ President William McGrattan, in which he urged the bishops to come out strongly in public defence of these pro-life charities.
We also relaunched our petition in support of these fantastic centres, which was signed by more than two thousand people.
Christian pro-life grandmother Linda Gibbons began her pro-life witnessing in front of a Toronto-area abortion mill again this summer after a few years of hiatus.
She was eventually arrested and charged with the criminal offences of “mischief” and “interfering” with the operation of a business. She was also charged separately with breaking the provincial "bubble-zone" law.
We were there for Linda, rallying outside the courtroom for her, attending her court appearances and trial, and writing exclusive reports about her entire case. We also launched a petition in support of her that garnered more than 4,000 signatures.
A woman who Linda had helped years ago showed up at the trial in a show of support. The woman now has a daughter and grandchildren who are alive because of Linda’s pro-life witness. We wrote an exclusive report about this.
Linda eventually wrote a letter from jail which she sent to CLC and in which she shared an inspiring and encouraging message to the entire pro-life movement. We wrote an exclusive report about this, too.
We broke the news on Dec. 5 when Linda was found not guilty of any of the charges against her and released from jail. This good news was picked up by national and international press.
Close of Clinic 554 in January;
Alberta introduces groundbreaking policies that keep parents at the centre of their children’s lives and protect children from harmful sexual ideologies;
Federal Government pauses expansion of euthanasia to the mentally ill with Bill C-62;
National March for Life in May a huge success;
CLC welcomes Trump win in US election;
CLC blacklisted as "hate" group by CAHN;
Canada’s fertility rate drops to lowest-ever rate of 1.26;
Alberta scraps “effective referral” policy after massive pushback;
First annual march for life in Quebec, government worried.
Maureen, thank you for journeying with CLC through these flash points that defined our year. None of our achievements would have been possible without you—our supporters, volunteers, and advocates.
While we've achieved so much this year, our work in the pro-life movement is far from over. With your continued support, we can build on this momentum and create even greater change in the coming year.
Together, we are a voice for the preborn who have no voice!
Thank you for standing with us and defending life!
And, Maureen, we're really counting on your support this Christmas to reach our crucial fundraising goal. If you appreciate how CLC is making a difference for LIFE in Canada, can you please help us out? Thank you!
Together, let us be bold and daring for life in the year to come!
Pete Baklinski
Director of Communications
Campaign Life Coalition
Follow Pete on X: @petebaklinski