November 7, 2006

To: Letters Editor, The Daily Gleaner

Re: "Reader has questions for Right to Life director" (Nov. 3)

In a letter to this paper Daniel Stewart asks what New Brunswick Right to Life actually wants.

I wish provide him and other readers with some idea.

We want everyone to respect human life and not to discriminate based on age (e.g. the very young, the very old), size (e.g. the very small), condition (e.g. the sick and disabled) or place of residence (in or out of the womb).

We want our customs and laws to protect the right to life of all human beings equally, including the unborn, disabled, elderly, sick and impoverished.

We want parents, educators, doctors etc. to explain to young people that at the age when abortions occur there is, not a clump of cells, but a developing baby with a beating heart, brain waves, etc.

We want pregnancy counselling, adoption and maternal support services to be much more strongly assisted by all levels of government.

We want women considering abortion to be legally entitled to receive from their doctor information about fetal development, abortion risks, and alternatives.

We want it to be socially acceptable for post-abortive women to grieve their loss. We want more programs of counselling and healing for such women.

We want public policies to recognize, welcome and support children and mothers from the moment of a baby’s conception, and to acknowledge that an abortion is a human death.

We want doctors to respect the Hippocratic Oath not to destroy life.

We want health care professionals to inform the public how chemical birth control means can destroy a newly conceived human life.

We want effective, abstinence-based sex education programs in the schools.

We want much more accessible end of life care, which can reduce demand for assisted suicide.

We want governments to make it one of their prime goals to reduce abortion rates.

We want the demographic connection between "fertility deficits" and abortion to be admitted.

We want the media to fairly report both pro-life and pro-choice viewpoints.

We want everyone to discuss issues like abortion and euthanasia with sincerity and respect for others’ viewpoints.

We believe all the above are reasonable, not just faith-based values. Others may disagree. We exist to further the discussion and / or debate.

Sincerely,

Peter Ryan, Executive Director

New Brunswick Right to Life, Fredericton NB

Tel. (506) 459-8990