May 2008
Newsletter May 2008Respect Life DESSERT & COFFEE evening AND SILENT AUCTION
WHEN: Thursday, May 29
WHERE: ST. Ambrose Church
TIME: 7 P.M. Cost is $10
SPECIAL GUEST: Theresa Matters, Director of NCLN (National Campus Life Network)
Please join us for this informative and fun evening. Theresa will tell us about her work as Director of NCLN, equipping university students in pro-live apologetics.
Remember, there will also be a silent auction.
Entertainment: ~ HAWP ~ a great Celtic band!
Please call our office to reserve your tickets 623-1850
THURSDAY, MAY 22
Place: St. Ambrose Church, 210 South St., Cambridge
Time: 7:30 p.m.
This is an interdenominational prayer service for respect for all human life. Fellowship will follow.
“Then Jesus spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” Luke 18:1
Promoting the Sanctity of human life from conception to natural death
From the President’s Desk
Dear Members,
It gives me great hope for the future, when I see bright and engaging young people take up the cause for life as a full-time job. This is the case with Theresa Matters, who will be the guest speaker for our annual Dessert & Coffee Evening. Please make a special effort to come out to hear her speak, and enjoy what promises to be a great evening all around. Hers is just one of the groups that CRTL has helped financially this year. Another area where we feel that your dollars are best used to educate the public, is in advertising. This year, we have decided to continue with ads on bus benches. Presently, there are two benches, one in Hespeler, near Zehrs and the other on Elgin St. S., near Myers Rd. Your prayers and support, give the Board of Directors the moral boost we need to continue to be your voice. THANK-YOU!
Isabel Smith
Annual MARCH FOR LIFE Ottawa
THURSDAY, MAY 10 - Theme: ‘Life, the First Human Right’
A CHARTERED BUS WILL LEAVE CAMBRIDGE for Ottawa at 6:30 a.m. from Smitty’s Furniture parking lot to attend the March For Life. Leaving Ottawa at 4 p.m., it will return the same day around 11 p.m.
TICKETS $60.00
As in previous years we are teaming up with K-W Right to Life to fill the bus. Please don’t let the cost deter you from coming; Help us and BOOK NOW! If you are unable to attend the MARCH, would you consider sponsoring someone? Call our office (519-623-1850)
FRIDAYS – APRIL 25, MAY 30, JUNE 27 - (please mark your calendars)
Place: Hespeler Rd. (opposite Applebee’s Restaurant)
Time: 6 p.m.
Join the Life Chains as a witness for the unborn. In one hour, hundreds of people will see the pro-life message and hopefully, one heart will change.
ALLIANCE FOR LIFE PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE – JOIN US! “Reaching Further: The Way Ahead”
When: April 18 & 19, 2008
Where: Rehoboth United Reformed Church, ANCASTER, ONTARIO
This conference offers pro-life people solidarity, as well as the opportunity to learn new strategies in the struggle for life.
Some of the speakers include:
Vicki Thorn: Understanding the Aftermath of Abortion; Doug Scott: Planned Parenthood Worldwide; Mary Ellen Douglas: The Canadian Political Scene – An Update; Jakki Jeffs: Championing Life in the Schools; Steven Mosher: How Canada Promotes International Abortion
If you are interested in attending, please call our office for more information. 519-623-1850
PEACEFUL PROTEST
To mark the 20th year since the protection for unborn life was taken away by our courts, a peaceful protest was held outside the offices of our MP and MPP in Cambridge, January 25. Although, on that day, Mr. Martiniuk and Mr. Goodyear were away from their constituencies, the sentiments of Cambridge Right to Life members were expressed in the letters written to them. Below, is the letter written to our MP.
Dear Mr. Goodyear,
We join together today to wish you a New Year that will be happy personally, for you and your family, and progressive nationally, as all of us and our representatives in Parliament work towards making Canada an ever better and safer place to live. It is in this latter regard, that we pro-lifers are very excited today. Specifically, the Unborn Victims of Crime Bill C-484, introduced by Mr. Ken Epp, fills us with hope. This Bill indicates to us a commendable defense of two innocent and precious lives worthy of protection, in the tragic case of violence perpetrated against a pregnant woman. We applaud this Bill for recognizing the worth of the other real, yet unseen victim of violence, namely, the unborn child who should be entitled to safety in his mother’s womb until natural birth. Mr. Goodyear, we sincerely hope and ask that you will show strong support for this Bill, both in discussion at upcoming reading(s) and again when it comes up for a vote in the House of Commons. Carrying this Bill to legislation will definitely extend the parameter of justice to include more victims who should be entitled to it. When voting time comes, please vote “YES!” On a more somber note, we again wish to bring to your attention the dark anniversary which will be marked on January 28, 2008: twenty years since the Supreme Court lifted all restrictions on abortions in Canada. Although the Court urged politicians to establish a new abortion law to regulate the procedure, no such law has yet been put into place. More than two million babies have been killed in-utero as a consequence of this neglect. Since you represent all of us present here today, we plead with you to instigate, to the best of your ability, any activity in Parliament, that would lead to the eventual correction of this tragic failure to protect the unborn (yet fully human) beings living within our borders. Until the laws of our country reflect our pro-life convictions we feel compelled to continue our annual “protest walk” near the office of our Member of Parliament, carrying the signs that plead “STOP ABORTION.” The four-year-old grandson of one of our members described our activity like this: “Lots of people are going to be throwing away their babies at the end of January, so Grandma’s going to use her stop signs again…Lots of people …will stand in a long line. And the people who have thrown away their babies will stand in front of them. And they will see the stop signs that say ‘Stop throwing away your babies’ and they will go and get their babies and will never ever throw them away again.” His commentary tugs deeply at our heartstrings. Through the understanding of a child, Canada’s failure to protect the unborn sounds even more outrageous and painful. We hope it will help motivate you and others to do what is necessary. May God bless and empower you for your huge task in Ottawa.
With our heartfelt thanks,
Sincerely,
Cathy Miedema, Board Member, Cambridge Right to Life
Silenced Pro-Life Students Need Your Support by Theresa Matters, Director NCLN
University campuses are touted as being the haven of freedom of speech where diverse views are welcome. The pro-life view is held by many students attending schools across Canada which has resulted in the formation of pro-life campus clubs. National Campus Life Network (NCLN) works with these students to help them in various ways. NCLN recognizes the importance of having a pro-life voice on every campus. The majority of women choosing abortion are university age, therefore it is imperative that a pro-life club demonstrate life-giving alternatives to abortion. Recently, NCLN’s time and energy has been directed towards helping a few groups, who are being directly opposed by their radically pro-abortion student unions. Although the vast majority of pro-life campus clubs have operated smoothly, without direct silencing, there are currently four student unions who have denied pro-life students official club status. They are Capilano College, BC, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Lakehead University and Memorial University of Newfoundland. In the most recent situation at Lakehead University a startling intervention came from the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) Ontario. At a CFS-Ontario meeting in January an emergency motion was presented and accepted which read: “member (unions) that refuse to allow anti-choice organizations access to their resources and space be supported.” This came shortly after the Lakehead University Student Union (LUSU) also accepted an emergency motion that declared LUSU officially pro-choice stating that, “the Lakehead University student union withhold any and all funds, space, resources and services within its control from any group…if that group holds any aim, principle, belief, goal, etc. that is anti-choice in nature, explicit or implicit”. The fact that CFS has now gotten involved and is supporting student unions that silence pro-life groups is alarming. CFS is a national student lobby group, with over 80 member student unions across the country. It is therefore important to address the current cases vigorously to ensure that CFS does not encourage student unions to ban or hassle pro-life clubs. This is where you come in. What happens on these few campuses can set a precedent for the rest, especially if CFS continues to exert its influence. In order to properly address this discrimination there must be active support from all Canadian pro-lifers. There is a great need to consider legal avenues to stop the silencing of the pro-life voice. This will require legal funding. While student unions have unlimited resources because of mandatory students union fees, pro-life students have only your generosity. Please consider donating to this legal fund so that we can continue to spread the message of life on university campuses. Please make your legal support payable to National Campus Life Network re: Legal fund.
Contact NCLN for more details: Theresa Matters director@ncln.ca, 1-416-483-7869 or visit our website: www.ncln.ca.
WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN HELP OTHER PRO-LIFE ORGANIZATIONS
• ZEHRS TAPES are still appreciated; we collect them and redeem them through the office
• Please consider the Cambridge Right to Life as you prepare your WILL. CRTL is a tax exempt charity. Your WILL ensures that the institutions you care about receive a portion of your estate.
• A GRATEFUL ‘THANK-YOU’ TO ALL WHO ANSWERED OUR CHRISTMAS APPEAL