ABORTION/ADOPTION

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  • Scroll down for information on euthanasia and suicide.

BREAKING NEWS : INTERNATIONAL PLANNED PARENTHOOD (IPPF) RELEASES THEIR 2008 FINANCIAL REPORT

IPPF released their financial report from last year detailing the government funding they received and where it was used. Roughly 80% of IPPF's income comes from government funding world-wide, and Canada gives about 6 million tax dollars a year to IPPF to support their 650,000+ abortion and abortion-related clinics globally. Brad Trost has started a petition to de-fund IPPF: download this petition and get everyone you know to sign it, then mail it in (no stamp necessary) to Brad Trost @ House of Commons, Ottawa Ontario, K1A 0A6. GOAL: 100,000 signatures by the time Parliament opens in the fall!

GENERAL ACTION POINTS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW:

ABORTION FACTS: WORLDWIDE

  • Number of abortions per year: Approximately 46 Million
  • Number of abortions per day: Approximately 126,000 (this is a small city a day)
  • Where abortions occur: 78% of all abortions are obtained in developing countries and 22% occur in developed countries.
  • Legality of abortion: About 26 million women obtain legal abortions each year, while an additional 20 million abortions are obtained in countries where it is restricted or prohibited by law.
  • Abortion averages: Worldwide, the lifetime average is about 1 abortion per woman.
    © Copyright 1999-2000, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (www.agi-usa.org)
  • Click here to visit Abortion Changes You, a site where women and men are sharing their stories about how abortion has changed them and turn statistics into people.

ABORTION FACTS: CANADA

  • Canada is the only western nation that has no laws or restrictions on abortion. This means a baby can be aborted right up until the moment of birth.
  • According to the most recent numbers from Statistics Canada, 103,768 abortions were performed in Canada in 2003. This is a decrease of 1% from 105,154 in 2002. The rate of abortion fell slightly from 15.4 abortions per 1,000 women in 2002 to 15.2 abortions per 1,000 women in 2003. The number of induced abortions per 100 live births was 31.0 in 2003, down from 32.1 in 2002. Induced abortions continue to be most common among women in their 20s, with that age group making up more than half of women seeking an abortion. In 2003, 2.6 % of Canadian women in their 20s had an abortion.
  • Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Canadians surveyed in 2003 said they would support Consent Laws in Canada that require a woman's physician to provide her with certain information before she has an abortion procedure. Such information could include details on the stages of fetal development including an ultrasound scan, possible complications and side effects following an abortion, and various alternatives to abortion.
  • Among women, 34% supported legal protection from conception on, versus 24% among men. Nineteen percent of women and 20% of men supported legal protection after three months of gestation and 11% among men and women supported legal protection after six months gestation.
  • A Focus Canada poll conducted in October 2005 by Environics Research found that 64% of Canadian women support legal protection of unborn children before birth.
  • Once again, 70% of those polled support informed consent legislation for women considering abortion. This would include telling women about stages of fetal development and all possible side effects and complications and an ultrasound scan. There is currently no such legislation.
  • Respondents were also asked about parental consent for girls under 18 prior to an abortion being performed. Fifty-six percent of Canadians supported a law that would require such consent. At present in Canada, there is no parental
    consent required for abortion at any age.

    (These stats found at: http://www.lifecanada.org/html/resources/polling/PressReleaseSeptember23_2004.pdf)

Ontario taxpayers paid $400,000 last year to send 56 women to the states for late term abortions.
The Ontario Ministry of Health admitted these figures after stories last week claimed only 15 women were sent from Ontario and 30 from Quebec.

New information shows that each abortion costs taxpayers an average of $7000.00.

Click here to read more about the history of abortion in Canada.

In 2001, BC enshrined a law that censors information about abortion, click here for more information on the stop censorship campaign.

MOTION 386: FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR ADOPTION

MP Jeff Watson has introduced a Motion that calls on the government of Canada to report on the federal and provincial supports and benefits available to parents who adopt. This would identify the areas where Canada is lacking, and help to springboard programs and benefits to bring the benefits for adopting to an equal level as current parental benefits, and to recognize that becoming a parent through adoption is as significant as giving birth.

The Motion states:

Private Member's Motion M-386
That the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development, and the Status of Persons with Disabilities be instructed to examine current federal support measures that are available to adoptive parents and their adopted children, recognizing and respecting provincial and territorial jurisdictions in this regard, and following completion of its study, report back to the House with its findings.

Jeff Watson, MP
Essex
Submitted May 26, 2009

Please contact your Member of Parliament and the Prime Minister's Office and ask them to support this Motion when it comes up for debate and vote. This motion is scheduled to be voted on October 30th.

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EUTHANASIA/SUICIDE

BILL C-384: DYING WITH DIGNITY

Francine Lalonde, Bloq MP, has re-introduced her Private Members' Bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.

What does this bill say? Briefly, C-384 (Dying With Dignity) allows euthanasia or assisted suicide for anyone who has chronic physical or mental pain, or a terminal illness, and appears to be in their right mind (or if they are not in their right mind, by their power of attorney's request). It does not specify how the euthanasia or assisted suicide should take place (for instance, with a gun, with poison, etc) and the person requesting it does not have to be Canadian, meaning people could come to Canada from other nations specifically to die. It has no safeguards for preventing people from disabilities from being targeted by doctors or family members to die, and should it pass, the safeguard protecting people under 18 would be struck down as unconstitutional. Click here to read the bill.

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Mme. Lalonde has the support of the Bloq caucus for this bill, meaning that the Bloq will vote in favour of the bill in second reading. If the bill passes second reading and goes to Committee, with a few adjustments it could win over enough votes to pass and become law. It is imperative that this bill does not pass second reading.

Click here to go to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition's website.

EUTHANASIA FACTS: WORLDWIDE

  • Definitions of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide
    a. The terms "physician-assisted suicide" and "euthanasia" are often used interchangeably. However, the distinctions are significant.
    b. "Physician-assisted suicide" involves a medical doctor who intentionally provides a patient with the means to kill him or herself, usually by an overdose of prescription medication.
    c. "Assisted suicide" involves a layperson providing the patient with the deadly means for suicide.
    d. "Euthanasia" involves the intentional and direct killing of a patient by a physician, most commonly by lethal injection, or by another party. Euthanasia can be voluntary (at the patient's request), non-voluntary (without the knowledge or consent of the patient), or involuntary (against the patients wishes).
    e. It is important to note that a person can reject medical treatment at the end of life without committing euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide.
  • Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal and widely practiced in the Netherlands where:
    a. About 9% of all deaths were a result of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia in 1990.
    b. Dutch doctors practice active euthanasia by lethal injections (96.6% of all deaths actively caused by physicians in 1990). Physician-assisted suicide is very infrequent (no more than 3.4% of all cases in Holland of active termination of life in 1990).
    c. For patients who die of a lethal overdose of painkillers, the decision to administer the lethal dose of drugs was not discussed with 61% of those receiving it, even though 27% were fully competent.
    d. The Board of the Royal Dutch Medical Association endorsed euthanasia on newborns and infants with extreme disabilities.
    e. Well over 10,000 citizens now carry "Do Not Euthanize Me" cards in case they are admitted to a hospital unexpectedly.
    f. Cases exist where doctors administer assisted suicide for people determined to be "chronically" depressed.
  • 3. Oregon is the only state that has legalized physician-assisted suicide where:
    a. A recent Health Division report of assisted suicides reveals that not one patient had documented uncontrollable pain. All of the patients who requested assisted suicide cited psychological and social concerns as their primary reasons.
    b. "Although numerous studies in the Netherlands and elsewhere report an assisted-suicide failure rate up to 25%, Oregon has yet to report even one complication in over four years. This failure to report complications has led even euthanasia advocates themselves to call the credibility of Oregon reporting on assisted suicide into question."
  • 4. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1997 in Washington v. Glucksberg that there is no federal constitutional substantive right to assisted suicide. In a 1997 companion case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Vacco v. Quill that there is no federal constitutional equal protection right to assisted suicide.
  • 5. Virtually every established medical and nursing organization in the United States declares physician-assisted suicide is unethical.
  • 6. There are no laws, medical associations, church denominations, or right-to-life groups who insist that unnecessary, heroic, or truly futile treatments be provided to prolong life and all recognize the right of competent patients to refuse medical treatment.
  • 7. 95% of cancer pain is controllable and the remaining 5% can be reduced to a tolerable level.
  • 8. The states of California, Washington, Michigan and Maine rejected ballot referenda questions to legalize physician-assisted suicide in their respective states. The Supreme Court of Alaska in Alaska v. Sampson declared there is no state constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, as did the Florida State Supreme Court in McIver v. Kirscher. The Hawaii State Senate voted down a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

Nightingale Alliance, http://www.nightingalealliance.org/

EUTHANASIA FACTS: CANADA

EUTHANASIA IN CANADA:

One of the most famous cases in Canada regarding euthanasia is the case of Tracy Latimer. She was a 12 year old severely disabled girl who's father, Robert Latimer, killed on October 24th 1993 by putting her in his truck and piping the exhaust into the vehicle as a "mercy killing". He was convicted with murder, and in a series of appeals and re-trials, his conviction was changed to second degree murder. He is serving a life sentence and was recently denied parole. The courts in Sasketchwan wanted to give Latimer one year prison and one year parole, however the minumum sentence for a murder charge in Canada is life, and for a second degree murder charge the minimum sentence is 10 years. The Supreme Court of Canada over-ruled the sentencing of the Sasketchwan court.

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition : Tracy Latimer - Some Of The Facts

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ASSISTED SUICIDE IN CANADA:

In Canada there was recently a case in Montreal where a man was acquitted of charges in an assisted suicide case. He was mentally handicapped and his uncle abused him until he agreed to help his uncle hang himself. He was charged with assisted suicide, and later acquitted in court. This is a huge oversight from the court system, as this man should have been found unfit to stand trial for a number of reasons, only one of them being his handicap. However, because he was charged and tried for an assisted suicide charge, and then acquitted, there is a danger that a precedent is being set in Quebec for assisted suicide charges (much like Morgentaler was acquitted three times for performing illegal abortions in Montreal before his case went before the Surpreme Court and all restrictions were taken off of abortion in Canada).

In the 39th Parliament, Bill C-562, a Private Member's Bill came out of the Bloq called "An Act To Amend The Criminal Code (Right To Die With Dignity)" that would have made assisted suicide legal in Canada. Click here to read the bill. Although this bill died with the 2008 election, it is expected to resurface in the 40th Parliament.

NOW is the time to raise a voice on the issue of assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada and prevent it from being legalized. Please contact your Member of Parliament and local newspapers and raise a voice against euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Click here for a recent article about the assisted suicide court case taking place in Montreal

Click here for Montreal Gazette article explaining the implications of the assisted suicide case

MOTION 388: ONLINE SUICIDE PREDATORS PASSED UNANIMOUSLY IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS NOVEMBER 18th!

Harold Albrecht, MP from Kitchener-Conestoga, tabled a Motion that would clarify the Criminal Code to include using any form of electronic messaging to counsel, aid, or encourage someone to commit suicide a Criminal Offense.


SUICIDE PREDATORS: Last year Nadia Kajouji, an 18 year old at Carleton University in Ottawa, was befriended online by a middle aged man (who was a nurse) who was pretending to be a young woman. He made a "suicide pact" with her, and tried to convince her to hang herself on webcam so that they could watch each other die. Instead, Nadia put ice skates on and threw herself into the Ottawa river, where she then drowned. Following an investigation, this nurse is suspected of counselling at least 50 teenagers to hang themselves on webcam, some under 13 years old, and has been linked to multiple suicides.


He has not been charged with anything yet relating to Nadia's suicide, even though according to the Criminal Code what he did is completely illegal. The Government of Canada needs to respond to this and clarify that counseling, aiding, or abetting someone to commit suicide, using ANY kind of communication including msn, chat sites, text messaging, emails, etc. is illegal so that a case like Nadia's (and the other victims of this nurse) never happen again without serious charges being laid.


Motion 388 states "That, in the opinion of the House, for greater certainty, the government should take steps to ensure that counselling a person to commit suicide or aiding or abetting a person to commit suicide is an offence under section 241 of the Criminal Code, regardless of the means used to counsel or aid or abet including via telecommunications, the Internet or a computer system." Australia passed a similar law in 2005 in order to protect vulnerable people from suicide predators.


Now that Motion 388 has passed, it is up to the Government whether they will table a bill reflecting the support in the House that counseling someone to commit suicide over the internet is an offense.

ACTION POINTS:

  1. ENCOURAGE: Please write to Harold Albrecht and thank him for tabling this Motion. His email is AlbreH@parl.gc.ca.
  2. WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Write a letter to the editor and submit it to your local, national newspapers on online suicide counselling.
  3. BE A VOICE: Contact the Justice Minister and ask him to table a Justice bill addressing online suicide predators, and protect young people from suicide predators. Click here for Hon. Rob Nicholson's contact information.

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M388 UPDATE - MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY TO STOP ONLINE SUICIDE PREDATORS! Last spring, Carleton University student Nadia Kajouji committed suicide by drowning herself in the Ottawa river after an online chat with a man who pretended to be a girl her age. He befriended her and made a "suicide pact" with her that they would commit suicide together. He asked Nadia to hang herself on webcam so that he could watch, and it is believed that he has done this multiple times on internet chat rooms. Harold Albrecht, MP from Kitchener-Conestoga, has introduced a motion (M-388) in the House of Commons calling on the government to ensure that online suicide counseling be considered an offense. On November 18th it passed unanimously in the House of Commons, a clear message to the Justice Minister that this is an issue that Parliament wants addressed in future bills.

Your Life Counts is a suicide prevention strategy that, with government funding, could become a National Suicide Prevention Strategy. Check it out at www.yourlifecounts.org and ask your Member of Parliament to support it.

VIDEOS

EXCELLENT EYE OPENER: 1ST DEGREE MORGENTALER

    PERSONAL STORY OF LINDA FROM EDMONTON ALBERTA

    PERSONAL TESTIMONY OF FLIPSYDE (RAP ARTIST) "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" MUSIC VIDEO

    PERSONAL STORY OF NICK CANNON (RAP ARTIST) "CAN I LIVE?" MUSIC VIDEO (Get Quick Time)

    Watch the full film 'Volition' by clicking here.

    "EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS WILL NOT WORK" CLIP FROM OPRAH

    Morgentaler and the Order of Canada Video From the Streets

    C-484 Unborn Victims of Crime Bill from 39th Parliament (did not pass prior to the election call).

    VIDEO: EUTHANASIA