New Brunswick is at a crossroads. The people of this province must decide whether or not we will embrace the practice of killing our unwanted young before birth. By "embrace" I mean not just tolerating the practice but actively supporting it through our institutions and government, including paying for it through our tax dollars.

The question of destroying innocent human life has been a primordial test for humanity since the dawn of history. Thus in Gn 9 we read how God warns Noah, his sons and descendants not to shed human blood, "for in the image of God has man been made."

Historians tell us the ancient Jews stood apart from surrounding cultures by their refusal to sacrifice innocent life by such practices as abortion or infanticide. So too Christians from earliest times were set apart by their reverence toward human life and caring for the unwanted others had abandoned.

While the Judeo-Christian tradition has had its ethical failures, the concept of the inalienable dignity of every human life is one of its enduring hallmarks. That tradition shaped the whole of Western culture through the last two millennia. It has long underpinned our New Brunswick way of life.

The deep-down reason why New Brunswick has resisted pressure to publicly fund abortion on demand at private clinics is because killing our unwanted unborn has never really caught on here. Respect for life is in our bones. There’s something about what people like Henry Morgentaler are into that instinctively repels us. We know it’s very, very wrong.

But those who have no scruples about taking unborn life are out to change us. Abortion advocates believe New Brunswickers are stuck in the past, that we must be forced into modern ways. Under the guise of euphemisms like "choice" and "women’s rights" their cause has acquired a beguiling political correctness that easily intimidates some of us. So while prenatal murder - for once, let’s call it by its real name - is promoted all around us, many of us hesitate to let anyone know we are (shh!) pro-life. No one likes to be thought of as, well, not-with-it or some sort of religious nut.

Meanwhile, two developments in recent months have thrust the abortion issue upon New Brunswickers. As a result, no place in Canada is the issue so lively - or should I say, deadly - as in this province (see "Abortion’s Hot Season" article). I submit that how we as a people respond to the issue will effectively determine whether we choose life or death for us and our descendants (see biblical quote above). Around us a culture of death runs strong: in Canada as a whole, one unborn child is aborted for every three born; almost all are killed with public funds. Will we go the same way?

This we must believe: through us, and people like us, New Brunswick can yet choose life! But if we do not fight for this choice, there is every danger the opposite choice will be made for us. Will the New Brunswickers of tomorrow kill their young just as others do? How we act - or do not - now will affect the answer to that question. Your choice, New Brunswick: life or death?

For the last few months New Brunswick has been the hottest place in Canada for the abortion issue. Here is a summary of events that have kept the temperature up.

We are troubled by much of what we have read in the province’s dailies on abortion. Some have hammered away for abortion "access." Before we decide if that’s a good idea, don’t we have to stop and think? If the question were increased access to handguns, few would be in favor. Why is ABORTION access such a good thing?

Abortion advocates want the public health system to provide, and pay for, a woman to end the life of her unwanted unborn child any time she wishes. Is that wise public policy?

In today’s cultural climate we are in danger of forgetting what abortion is. We’ve dressed it up in euphemistic language - the "right to choose." We need "the rest of the story." No reputable scientist would deny that human life begins at conception. Before a woman knows she is pregnant her baby is all there (in miniature, of course) heart beating, pumping blood through his / her tiny body. Abortion, plain and simple, is the destruction of a defenseless child in his / her mother’s womb.

Abortion proponents cry out for women’s rights to her own body…fair enough. As a woman, or as a human being for that matter, we have always understood that our rights stop the minute they infringe on the rights of another; in the case of abortion, my unborn baby. Certain groups receive public funds to advocate for women and their health issues. But their silence on the effects of abortion on women is deafening.

On the day of the abortion there is more than one death…something dies within the woman as well. Many face a daily internal battle between condemning themselves and defending their choice. Just a few symptoms of post-abortion syndrome: self-destructive behavior, lowered self esteem, bouts of crying, anger/rage, depression, suicidal urges, nightmares, flashbacks… any wonder? She has just been robbed of part of the very essence of who she is in the name of "freedom."

Let’s all do our homework. Let’s get beyond all the rhetoric.

Many people seem under the impression that New Brunswick has a legal obligation to provide for unrestricted abortion. The fact is Canada has no abortion law. The Criminal Code, the Charters of Rights, the Canada Health Act are all silent on abortion. Women may be free to obtain abortions, but there is no established legal right to do so. Therefore a province has no legal obligation to provide abortions.

Similarly, physicians and hospitals have no obligation to perform them. That is as it should be. Those who have decided to stop doing abortions are respecting medicine’s Hippocratic tradition that life should never be taken, before or after birth.

One of our prime concerns is youth, those under 25. Is abortion a healthy choice to offer them? From our experience, young people want help in making the right choices. We must give them the information that will support and promote a healthy and safe lifestyle. If there are risks or consequences to the choices they make we support and promote a healthy and safe lifestyle. If there are risks or consequences to the choices they make we must make them aware.

The voice of reason inside each of us says "do no harm." We teach children from an early age to "play fair, don't hit, don't take what is not yours, respect others..." The same principles apply to abortion.

Abortion causes real harm, and not only to a tiny human child. To imply that deliberately ending a child’s life will somehow liberate his / her mother is a tragic distortion of the facts.

What about the teenager suffering unspeakable trauma following her abortion? Her pain and regret may last a lifetime. Some young women try to dull the pain with alcohol, drugs, or other destructive methods. None of these will liberate her.

There may be two sides to every story. But there’s also the truth. In today’s climate, will our young people have ready access to that?

They need the truth about pregnancy prevention as well. That means understanding abstinence as a healthy choice. It means separating fact from rhetoric. For instance, so-called "emergency contraception" - a.k.a. the "morning-after pill" - sometimes works by ending, rather than preventing, pregnancy, expelling a newly conceived baby a few days after fertilization. It causes an early abortion. Not exactly harm-free. We are also disturbed by calls to abandon provincial requirements that hospital abortions be performed by an ob-gyn after certification by two MDs. Dropping such requirements would place women’s health in greater jeopardy.

Similarly, public funding of private clinics is the wrong way to go. Such clinics have far less safety provisions than hospitals. For instance, abortions are done with no prior MD exam, and complications are not treated on-site (they are sent to hospitals). That hardly seems safe.

For the good of our province, women, and future generations, we believe it is time for everyone to act responsibly on this issue. Let us strive to "do no harm." Let us use our energies to build a welcoming and safe environment for all, born and unborn.

Why not start by redoubling efforts to help pregnant women? Government funding for the private centers offering counseling, support, life-giving programs, and healing for the broken could enable these agencies to expand services and reach more women in need.

Let us all take this opportunity to stop the tragic cycle of abuse and violence which abortion represents. Let it be said that the people of New Brunswick truly care for and respect all.

Culture of Life Monument Unveiled. Moncton Right to Life unveiled its Culture of Life monument on July 1. The monument is located beside Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral on St. George St. The monument was blessed by Archbishop André Richard, csc. Pictured above left to right: Maurice Arsenault, Moncton RTL president; Richard Doucette, State Deputy of the NB Knights of Columbus who supported the project; Archbishop Richard; NBRL executive director Peter Ryan. The front of the monument says, "All Life is Sacred" and shows images of an unborn child, handicapped person and elderly couple. The back reads, "In memory of God’s loved unborn victims."

Premium Quality, Classic Religious Art
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Call NB Right to Life toll-free 1-888-796-9600. Help support the pro-life cause.

Ottawa Poised to Take Action on NB Abortion Policy

From Bobby-Jean McKinnon, "Federal Health Minister Says Ottawa Will Wait Till After N.B. Vote to Address Access to Abortions," Telegraph-Journal August 22, 2006. Reprinted with permission.

CHARLOTTETOWN - New Brunswickers will have to wait a while longer to find out what, if anything, the federal government plans to do to improve access to abortions in the province, says the federal health minister.
    Tony Clement blamed the provincial election for the "additional hangup.
"We'll have to wait for the conclusion of that and see whether we've got the current government or a new government and see where we're at," he told reporters Monday during the Canadian Medical Association's annual general meeting in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
    Asked whether the federal government plans to restart the dispute-avoidance resolution process, started by the former Liberal government over New Brunswick's restrictive abortion policies, Clement said, "The process is still a process and we're not starting a new process, but it hasn't come to any conclusion."
    He rejected describing the process as "stalled." I wouldn't characterize it that way "... it's continuing," he said. "Certainly we're committed to a resolution of this process."
    New Brunswick has come under fire in recent months after the Fredericton-based Region 3 health authority announced plans to stop making the procedure available by the end of June.
    The Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton was the last New Brunswick hospital regularly performing abortions. It performed 400 of the 404 abortions covered by Medicare in 2005-06.
The regional health authority cited "manpower issues" for its decision to cancel the service. That would have left the private Morgentaler Clinic in Fredericton as the only place in the province providing abortions. And the province refuses to pay for abortions performed there.
    But Health Minister Brad Green assured access to publicly funded "medically necessary termination of pregnancy procedures" in New Brunswick would be improved.
    He found two gynecologists in two different cities willing to perform the procedure, but has declined to reveal the location, citing safety concerns for the doctors and patients.
    The rules under which a woman can receive a publicly funded abortion haven't changed, though.
    For a woman to receive an abortion in a public hospital, she must be less than 12 weeks pregnant and have two doctors deem the procedure medically necessary.
    New Brunswick is one of the few jurisdictions in Canada that refuses to extend Medicare coverage for private clinics.
Women who use the private clinic don't need a referral, but have to pay between $500 and $750.
Leading abortion advocates in North America contend New Brunswick's access to abortions is unacceptable and have taken to comparing the province to South Dakota, the American state where abortions have been banned.
Dr. Henry Morgentaler wrote Clement last May, urging the federal government to intervene to ensure N.B. women have access to universal health services.
    He contends the policy violates the 1998 Supreme Court ruling that struck down Canada's abortion law, which allowed abortions only when a woman's life or health was in danger. New Brunswick and Ottawa were headed toward a showdown over the province's refusal to fund private-clinic abortions before the last federal election.
    Ottawa launched the dispute-avoidance resolution process to settle the matter, but the process was stalled during the January campaign.
A spokeswoman at Health Canada, Carole Sandoin, has been quoted as saying Ottawa was reviewing whether it would proceed with the process spearheaded by former Liberal health minister Ujjal Dosanjh.

Special Guest Speaker: Stephanie Gray - Stephanie Gray is one of Canada’s outstanding young pro-life advocates. Executive director of the
Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, she has given pro-life presentations throughout North America. She has debated and spoken at
numerous universities and high schools, and appeared on many radio and TV programs in Canada and the United States. She has debated abortion
advocates including Ron Fitzsimmons, director of the U.S. National Coalition of Abortion Providers. One person who heard her presentation
said, "I came in choice, I’m leaving life." Come and hear a dynamic speaker who’s turning heads!

8:30 a.m. Registration & Reception (coffee, juice, muffins, donuts)                                       Please visit our Display!

9:00a.m.Welcome                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 - Kelly & Lauren Peters, Co-Presidnts,
                                                                                           Sussex Area Right to Life (host chapter)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                - Susan Leger, President, NB Right to Life

9:15 a.m. President’s Report for 2005-2006                                                      Susan Leger

9:30 a.m. Executive Director’s Report for 2005-2006                                              Peter Ryan

9:45 a.m. Questions and Discussion                                                            Susan Leger, Peter Ryan

10:00 a.m. Helping Women to Choose Life                                               Tanya McRae, Director, Sussex Crisis Pregnancy Centre

10:30 a.m. "Defending the Pro-Life View on Abortion:                                            Stephanie Gray
         Adding Persuasion to Your Passion"

11:45 a.m. Invitation to Silent Auction                                                         Sandra Hayes

12:00 p.m. Lunch (provided)

Luncheon Talk: "This One Will Live"                                                         Pastor Roger Smith, Sussex

1:30 "Making Abortion Unthinkable: How the Pro-Life                                          Stephanie Gray
       Movement Can Triumph"

2:30 p.m. -Silent Auction Results

-Break

        - Minutes of 2005 AGM
    - Acceptance of President and Executive Director’s Reports
    - Chapter Reports
    - Financial Report
    - Appointment of Board of Directors; Nominations for Executive
    - Budget for 2006-2007
    - Life Canada Report
    - New Business

4:45 p.m. Closing Prayer

Following the talk, pro-life organizers handed out cookies to attendees. Pro-abortion students were taken aback at the kind gesture. The host's outreach and Gray's composure showed the abortion supporters that pro-lifers are respectful and kind even when abortion supporters treat them with hostility.

New Brunswick Right to Life invites you to a
Benefit Dinner
Monday, Oct. 23, 2006 6:30 p.m.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Hall, Rothesay