Sep 2008
Newsletter September 2008Walk for Life
Join Us! On Saturday, September 27, 2008
for our annual Walk for Life
Purpose: To foster a greater awareness and respect for all human life and to raise funds for pro-life education.
Registration: 9:30 a.m. at St. Louis Adult Learning Centre 82 Beverly St., Cambridge – (enter from Kerr St.)
Every $10.00 turned into the Cambridge Right to Life after the walk-a-thon will entitle walkers under the age of 18 to a chance to WIN $100.00 and other prizes!
LUNCH will be provided at the end of the walk
Sponsor Sheets & Information Available at: Cambridge Right to Life 519-623-1850
Refreshments and First Aid will be provided along the route. Mail your pledge along with this form to our office. For pledges of $10 or more, a tax receipt will be issued. Thank-you!
Promoting the Sanctity of All Human Life From Conception to Natural Death
From the President’s Desk
Dear Members,
We have heard the following quote used many times by reasonable folk: “Everything happens for a reason.” So, I have to believe that much good will come from Henry Morgentaler having been given the Order of Canada this past July 1st. We have already seen a strong response against it from all quarters, which is heartening. We also see that human life has become a cheap commodity in Canada, and so much educating needs to be done to change this outlook. This reaction also gives me hope that the propose Bill C-562, which would legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, will receive much opposition when Parliament begins its Fall session. Please know that your donations to our organization, are truly an investment in hope for life, and for the future of Canada.
Isabel Smith
L I F E C H A I N
Sunday, October 5, 2008
2 to 3 p.m.
Hespeler Rd. (from Bishop Street northwards)
on both sides of the road
Gather and pick up a sign in the parking lot by Sleep Country Canada. Join us in this peaceful, public witness against abortion, which is observed nation-wide.
ROCKTON WORLD’S FAIR
October 10-13 Rockton Fairground, Rockton, ON
Volunteers are needed to staff our booth there; please call our office to lend a hand.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – Cambridge Right to Life
Date: Thursday, November 20, 2007
Time: 7:30 P.M. Election of officers, refreshments.
Where: Knights of Columbus Hall- 333 Speedsville Rd., Cambridge
DVD - ‘Women’s Health After Abortion’ – Dr. Deb Zeni
NATIONAL PRO-LIFE CONFERENCE “Creating a Culture of Life Around the Globe”
October 2-4, Mississauga, Ontario; Speakers: Dr.Jack Willke, Fr. Alphonse de Valk, Fr. Gerard Wilberforce, Stephanie Gray, Tom Wappel and many more.
2nd INTERNATIONAL EUTHANASIA SYMPOSIUM – "Death - Making"
October 24-25 Winnipeg, Manitoba. Please pray for God’s blessing on all of the conference attendees and if you would like to participate, do call our office.
** MEMBERSHIPS ** - $20 for individual or family per year
We need new members! Thank-you to those who have renewed their membership. Also, we do not receive any government funding, so in lieu of flowers, please consider naming Cambridge Right to Life in the obituary notice when a loved one passes away, or as a remembrance in your estate planning.
A summary of Bill C-562: An act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity)
by Alex Schadenberg
On June 12, 2008 Francine Lalonde MP (Bloc Quebecois) from LaPointe-de-l’Île introduced Bill C-562: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity). Euthanasia is a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending the life of another person to relieve that person’s suffering where the act is the cause of death. (Of Life and Death - 1995) Assisted suicide is the act of intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of another who provides the knowledge, means or both. (Of Life and Death - 1995)
Summary of Bill C-562:
• The bill legalizes euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. • The bill does not restrict euthanasia and assisted suicide to citizens of Canada. Canada could become a haven for American Suicide Tourists. • The person must be at least 18 years old. • A person may refuse appropriate treatments and still obtain euthanasia or assisted suicide. How can a physician determine that there is no prospect of relief if the person refuses appropriate treatments? • The person may be experiencing either physical or mental pain. The bill will allow death as a treatment for depression or other chronic mental conditions. • The bill does not define terminal illness and it is not limited to people who are terminally ill. • The bill measures competency based on appearing to be lucid. What does that mean? • The bill requires the person to submit two written requests at least 10 days apart. • The bill allows incompetent people to die by euthanasia if they have made the request within a valid advanced directive. It is not clear whether medical practitioners are the only ones who can carry out euthanasia on incompetent people. • The bill requires at least two medical practitioners to confirm the persons diagnosis in writing. • The bill requires that all requests for euthanasia and assisted suicide be made free of duress. • The bill requires the medical practitioner to inform the person of all alternatives. • The bill assures that the person may revoke their request at any time. • The bill requires the medical practitioner to provide confirmation of the diagnosis to the coroner. After-the-fact reporting systems only protect the medical practitioner and not the person. • The definition of medical practitioner is not limited to a physician.
Final comments:
Legalizing euthanasia and/or assisted suicide is always wrong because: • It directly and intentionally threatens the lives of the most vulnerable members of society. The lives of people with disabilities and chronic conditions, people who live with depression and mental illness, and others are directly threatened by euthanasia and assisted suicide. • It establishes euthanasia and assisted suicide as treatment options for problems that are properly solved by effective and compassionate medical care. • It changes the trust relationship between the medical practitioner and the patient. • Society cannot legislate autonomy and choice in relation to acts that intentionally and directly cause death. No level of safeguard will ever protect vulnerable people from the subtle pressure to “choose” death.
Canadians must reject bill C-562.
Canadians must promote the right of every Canadian to excellent end-of-life care and to guarantee that every Canadian is treated with respect and dignity until their natural death.
Reaching Minds Through Media – Update (pro-life TV ads)
The following is an update from Jakki Jeffs, Executive Director of Alliance For Life Ontario, reporting how your donations are saving lives!
To supporters of the Reaching Minds Through Media project in Ontario and those joining us for the first time: we, have done it again! Over 1,100, thirty second pro-life ads aired in homes on major television networks in Ontario in our 2007 campaign. This project harnessed the enormous power of television to impact both behaviour and opinion in Ontario. This did not happen simply and many important factors were aligned to attain the greatest effect. We needed creative messaging; we needed these messages aired within the right programs, on major TV stations for the recommended duration in order to bring about the desired impact. We then needed to have the impact monitored objectively. For the very first time, we commissioned pre and post surveys to ascertain the impact of a thirteen week campaign. We learned that the plight of mothers in crisis pregnancy – contemplating abortion- is almost invisible in both the secular and religious communities.
The Reaching Minds Through Media campaign will continue to try to change that reality in 2009. It It is our intent and purpose to reach these women with life-affirming help. Our ads carry the national crisis pregnancy help line number. There was an overall 25% increase in calls to the number while the ad campaign was running compared to 2006. In the survey area alone, calls increased from 10 in 2006 during this period, to 40 while the campaign aired. We also wish to encourage deeper thinking regarding abortion as an ethical choice for these women and promote greater pregnancy support options across our province.
Each commercial costs $300.00 and we need to raise at least $500 thousand dollars – preferably $750 thousand, for this campaign to have a greater chance of success. Since the year 2000, having aired four previous province-wide campaigns, we believe that in some small way we have been partially responsible for the decrease in annual abortions from 39,544 in 2000 to 35,183 in 2004. We have such a wonderful team of individuals, churches, businesses and organizations committed to seeing this campaign return in 2009. If you have not been involved before, please join the largest educational effort regarding abortion ever launched across the province. Let us show our province that we can love both mother and child.
Results of our surveys in a nutshell:
1. Abortion is only marginally less invisible in the church-going community than in the rest of society.
2. The religious community has great concern regarding abortion but appear not to have been given sufficient education or direction on ways to help the unborn.
3. Society is not settled on the abortion issue. 46% are undecided as to how they feel about abortion.
4. Young men have been moved by our campaign.
5. Of those who remembered seeing our ads, 82% agreed that the commercials made them think twice about the value of life.
6. Women access the national help-line in greater numbers while the campaign is airing.
7. The ‘Broad Middle’ of undecided people in our target area went from 42% in February, to 49% suggesting more education would be valuable.
Media campaign brochures are available from our office; the 2009 campaign drive information will be mailed out in October.