News

The Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, this past Sunday, August 2, 2015, called Canadians to the polls for this October. For additional coverage on Election 2015, click here.

In mid-June I traveled to Niagara Falls in order to attend a conference dealing with the impact of abortion on men. Not only was this good opportunity for professional development but also to meet old friends. I had met Lynn and Scott two summers ago, separately, on the other side of the country while attending workshops dealing with the impact that abortion has on families.

Lynn lives in the Hamilton area and is doing graduate studies in psychology. She brings a passionate perspective to the topic of abortion in that as an adopted child, she vehemently encourages me to do my utmost to help mothers keep the child they are bearing.

Scott, seen here with me, is a Pentecostal pastor and addictions counselor in Winnipeg. His own experience of abortion lead him to start a ministry whose focus is to bring men to fuller restoration in the various areas that abortion has affected them.

An important area of his work came about unexpectedly. He began prison visits, sharing with the detainees his faith as well as his life experiences, including his part in the abortion of his child. To his surprise, his testimony resonated with many. He subsequently learned that many men have a personal experience of abortion, having coerced a woman to abort or standing passively quiet as the woman aborted their child. Many men remain wounded from the experience.

A month later, I was able to renew other ties, this time travelling to Chicago to attend the fifth annual National Sidewalk Counseling Symposium. Two years ago I participated for the first time when it was held in the Minneapolis/Saint-Paul area, meeting Fr. Frank Pavone, founder of the Priests for Life ministry and Mr. David Bereit co-founder of the 40 Days for Life prayer movement for the end of abortion, persons committed to ending abortion.

At that time I had traveled with Enza Rattenni, the director of the Toronto Aid to Women pro-life organization operating in Toronto. It was a blessing to see her again this year in Chicago and to share about our respective battles to defend life.

AUGUST OUTREACH

As to the next gathering I didn't have to travel as far. Our yearly and quite popular corn roast was on Sunday, August 16 at 12 pm at our offices (3330 Rivier St. Montreal, H1W 3Z9), on the grounds of St-Émile church. This yearly event consists of partaking on some fine fare, sharing stories, and listening to a conference. On this latter point, the Rev. André Blais will shared his reflections on the topic of the upcoming Synod of the Family set for later this year in October. His thirty minute presentation was appreciated and after a dessert break we reconvened for a question and Answer period.



I wish to thank you for your on-going support. Doing so helps us to network with other groups and persons across the country and in other countries to build a culture of life.

Yours in Christ Jesus,



Brian Jenkins
Outreach Coordinator
Quebec Life Coalition

P.S.
We have yet to hear from Judge Chantal Lamarche. On Tuesday, June 16, 2015, her honour presided the judicial hearing to determine whether an injunction will be set concerning our sidewalk counseling ministry. As Judge Lamarche did not render a decision on that day, she has up to six months to do so. Please invoke Saint Michael on her behalf as undoubtedly she is under a lot of spiritual and worldly pressure to decide according to the ways of the world.

Dear Friends of Life,

You may have heard that we were at the Montreal courthouse this past Tuesday, June 16, 2015.

Quebec Life Coalition President Mr. Georges Buscemi, our lawyer Me. Robert Reynolds, and I spent the day defending our position – we have the right to be on the sidewalk - the public right of way, so as to offer alternatives to women and men who are thinking of aborting their unborn child.

Three Montreal abortion facilities had petitioned the Quebec Superior Court this past spring for an injunction barring us from being outside their establishments.

It was quite a learning experience - listening to the proceedings, witnessing the application of the rule of law, testifying. By day’s end, I felt drained.

OUTCOME

The presiding magistrate, Judge Chantal Lamarche, ended the day by ordering us to stay away from these abortion facilities until she submits a written judgment. She has six months, maximum, to render her decision.

There are several judicial outcomes. The June 16 proceedings were to determine whether a temporary injunction be set. A second trial shall be held to determine if a permanent injunction be applied. Following this second hearing, either party can appeal; and then after, if I am not mistaken, the Supreme Court, if it deigns to hear the case.

So much for the judicial process.

MEDIA RESPONSE

As you may have thought, our efforts to save lives upset many in our society. The very next day, an article regarding our day in court appeared in the Montreal French daily La Presse on its front page. It was sensational, disparaging and biased.

Consider its headline: Abortion Clinics Seek Protection. From the outset we are presented as a menace, one requiring protection.

This theme of needing “protection” runs through the twenty paragraph article, as the writer attempts to associate us with those who have acted violently in the name of saving life.

The first 3 paragraphs recount an incident involving a man entering the clinic hooded and making intimidating demands to the point where the employees felt the need to call the police. The writer then subtly links us to this intruder, both as menaces to the operation of this facility. One wonders how we who are praying outside on the pavement similar to this intruder !

Then the article misquotes QLC President Georges Buscemi. When asked to comment about the violence done against abortionists, Mr. Buscemi stated “I am against all violence against abortionists, as I am against the violence done to women during the abortion as well as violence against the unborn child.” Yet, the reported quote misinterpreted the second and left out the last of these three. Our society, including the media, is quick to delete any reference to life in the womb.

Finally, the article ends as it began, attempting to associate us with the violent. The journalist gives statistics on how abortionists and their facilities have been the object of some violence over the past 20 years. Hence, we who are praying on the sidewalk and offering alternatives to abortion are portrayed as being guilty by association. “Blessed are you when you are reviled and persecuted for my sake ...”

Quebec Life Coalition can only continue its work with YOUR help. Donate today ! « Please help us defray our court costs, click here. Either way, do keep us all in your prayer intentions... as well as those who oppose us for we are all in need of salvation. »   --Brian Jenkins, Outreach Coordinator, Quebec Life Coalition Donate to Quebec Life Coalition

Yours in Christ Jesus,


Brian Jenkins

Outreach Coordinator

Quebec Life Coalition

(Here is a gem I came across in my travels across the diocese. It is dated, yet timeless.)

EVERY LIFE IS WORTH LIVING: Let no one tell you otherwise

By Bishop Leonard J. Crowley (1921-2003)

Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal 

Pope John Paul II has issued a new encyclical letter entitled Evangelium vitae. The directives that he focuses upon, regarding the sanctity and inviolability of human life, are not something new; they are at the very heart of our identity as children of God. For we have always taught and have been taught that God alone is the author and dispenser of life. The pope has taken on the very difficult issues of abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia because these increasingly popular means of terminating life are fast becoming part and parcel of the legislative domain of many generations.

There is no question that many convincing emotional arguments can be made for the termination of hopelessly painful or unwanted life. But each of these pleas for understanding fails to understand that there is a God who initiates, sustains and brings life to its fulfilment. That initiation is a mystery of God’s creative grace; its sustenance is a mystery of his paternal love, and its fulfilment is an integral part of his providential wisdom – all of which are beyond the scope and understanding of medical science, genetic engineering and government control.

Publicity of high-profile cases of assisted suicide, and persuasive arguments on television talk-shows and popular serial dramas do not take away from the fact that our society has lost its basic respect for life. Our young people treat life as an expendable commodity for both their own (witness the high rate of teenage suicide in Quebec) and that of others (witness the extraordinary number of abortions performed upon teenagers, and the very recent horrendous murder of an elderly minister and his wife by three young teen). We have no one to blame for this cavalier attitude towards the termination of life but ourselves and our attempts to justify, on whatever emotional grounds, the direct termination of an innocent life or even one’s own. We are not masters of our own destiny! We are children of a providential God, who has placed us in the “vale of tears” to work out our salvation, to learn the mystery and the wonder of love and to serve humanity by being faithful to the beatitudes. It is the responsibility of each of us, whether we are liberal or conservative in our political and philosophical views, to instill these values in our youth. And there is no better way to instill these precious ideals than by sustaining them in our won outlook on life and living.

The horribly painful suffering and death of the Son of God were not part of the plan of a perverse God who enjoys agony. Jesus’ destiny was and is intended as a model for all of us to recognize the suffering brought on by our sinful condition. We cannot escape that condition in this. But we can try to embrace the saving grace of a God who will always provide for us, even in the darkest, the most lonely and the most agonizing of moments.

Indeed the advances and technological wonders of science and medicine have done much to alleviate the painful conditions suffered by humanity. That is as it should be. But neither science nor government will ever have the right or responsibility to rip away the rights of divine providence. How paradoxical it is that we condemned with justifiable horror the agonizing genetic experiments of Nazis who sought the ubermensch, - the superman, but we condone the governments that have no more respect for life with their abortion legislation, their euthanasia proposals and their discussions supporting legislation for assisted suicide. Whatever the motivation, be it selfish or humanitarian, the termination of innocent life is morally abhorrent. It is this immutable truth that the Holy Father heroically addresses in his most recent appeal to the moral dignity of mankind. We need the voice of spiritual reason to remind us that, left tour own devices, we are far more inclined to selfish destruction than to selfless creation.

My dear friends, life is all we have. We cannot ever justify or support anyone who would systematically find ways of throwing away the one means we have of proving ourselves worthy of the kingdom that the Father has prepared for us, that this Son has died to open to us and that his spirit continuously leads us towards. However strong or weak we are – however rich or poor, however healthy or sick – our life is worth living. Let no one seductively lead us to think otherwise.

 p.s. The Rosary Walk is set for this Saturday morning, July 11, 2015. Meeting after the 10 am mass at Saint-Joseph's Oratory - 3800 Queen Mary road, we will leave there and walk towards and end at the cathedral Mary Queen of the World on René-Lévesque blvd, where a community pic-nic will be held. Bring a hat or a parasol as sunny skies are forecasted. JMJ

Our 40 Days for Life prayer vigil for the end of abortion took an unexpected turn this spring.

This our 13th vigil was all set to go when not one but two court injunctions forced its cancellation.

The first came a week prior to the start of the event on Ash Wednesday, February 18, when a bailiff visited our offices, serving a court document petitioning the Quebec Superior Court for an injunction. The injunction was against both me and the QLC.

The plaintiffs were two abortion facilities – the Morgentaler and Femina, along with the proprietors of the two buildings in which these separate businesses are located, buildings adjacent to each other.

The four plaintiffs were petitioning the court for a buffer zone the size of a square block preventing us from entering and thereby carrying on our work of peaceful prayer vigil and sidewalk counselling.

By sidewalk counseling I mean communicating and advising abortion-bound women and men about alternatives to ending the lives of their children, as well as the serious complications resulting from having an abortion.

The plaintiffs were requesting an immediate temporary injunction and secondly, sought to begin a process to establish a permanent injunction.

They justified their request on the basis of the harmful effect we were having on their welfare, and the welfare of their clients.

The second injunction occurred a week into the vigil. As we were prevented to hold the vigil outside the Morgentaler facility, we located another mill several blocks away on Saint-Hubert Street and moved the vigil there. Well, a week of peaceful prayer did not conclude before a second bailiff and a second court document, alleging similar charges as the first, was served at our offices.

The long and short of it is that due to time constraints in the court schedule, the judge would only be available to hear our arguments for both instances on June 16, 2015. In the interim, we ask you to keep us and our lawyer, Mr. Robert Reynolds, in your prayers. We are diligently preparing our arguments.

We believe that challenging these injunctions, however costly this might be, is important for the pro-life movement in Canada, particular for those seeking to stand outside abortion mills to lend their moral, spiritual, and material aid to women lacking support and feeling the need for an abortion.

Therefore, your financial help would be particularly appreciated at this time. Please give today.

"Brian Jenkins and other representatives of Quebec Life Coalition have given me furniture, diapers, clothes, basically everything I needed both before and after the birth of my daughter Maria Monalissa."

"Today, I am very happy that QLC was there, across the street from the Morgentaler Clinic on that day in March 2014 where I was going to abort Monalissa. If I hadn’t met them, without a doubt I would have lost my child."

- Paula with her daughter Maria Monalissa

Thank you for your prayers and your financial help. In so doing, we are accomplishing something much greater than ourselves.

Please give today.

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Brian Jenkins

Outreach Coordinator, Quebec Life Coalition

On January 27th, 1945, the Russian army liberated the prisoners at the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of this liberation, Radio-Canada presented on RDI a very moving documentary called “Nuit et brouillard” (Night and Fog). It is difficult to imagine that these events happened in the 20th century.

It is difficult to understand how those who planned and carried out these Machiavellian schemes could have done so, over many years, as if their hearts had become hardened as stone. As well as those who knew and acted as if ignorant or indifferent toward these brutal massacres.

On January 28th, 1988, following a relentless push by Dr. Morgentaler, who said he was a survivor of Auschwitz, the Supreme Court of Canada decriminalized abortion. Since this very sad day, close to three million innocent children have been aborted in Canada. The mutilated bodies of these children who died violently in the womb of their mothers do not bring many tears in Canada, not yet… Our hearts are not easily moved, much like those of so many Germans during the war.

The only difference between the dismembered bodies of these unborn children and the victims of Auschwitz is the relative size. You only have to look at the pictures of aborted children to see the same horrors. Some children survived a failed abortion but were never reported even though well documented. Some were born with an amputated arm (Ana Rosa Rodriguez, New-York 1991) or without a leg (Alexandre Karl, Châlons-sur-Marnes, France 1981), others cried for such a long time in the garbage pails they were thrown in (Gianna Jessen, Los Angeles 1977) that they were miraculously saved by someone who decided to give them a chance of survival and to give them a chance to survive and get appropriate care.

Like many Germans who remained indifferent to those atrocities, Canadians are acting in the same manner. We have not built crematorium ovens but we accept that our taxes be used to pay the rooms, equipment and the personnel working to eliminate the most vulnerable human beings of our society. In Canada, nearly 100,000 abortions are recorded annually. On average we kill 274 innocent and living children per day. The Final Solution… is preferred to promoting adoption.

Just like in the German camps, these aborted bodies are discarded or burnt just like garbage. Some parts of the bodies of these little angels can be used for research, making vaccines, cosmetics and even food products. A quick search on the internet can inform us of these shameful practices. In 2014, the media revealed that in Great-Britain, the bodies of aborted children were even used to heat hospitals!

Auschwitz, Montreal: is there really a difference? Not to 23% of unborn children.

In Canada there are near to 30 abortions to every 100 births.

Solange Viau, January 28th, 2015

Our sidewalk counsellor, Brian Jenkins

On Tuesday, February 10, at 3 pm, a bailiff came to our Montreal, QC offices, in order to deposit a legal document (60-70 pages in length, containing 17 pages of argumentation, 19 supporting documents, and 11 affidavits) convoking our organisation, Campagne Québec-Vie / Quebec Life Coalition, and Brian Jenkins, our sidewalk counsellor, to court.

The four plaintiffs - the Morgentaler and Femina abortion facilities, and the owners of the buildings that house them - do not want us to continue the life-saving sidewalk counselling work that we do in downtown Montreal. They are petitioning the courts for a temporary injunction (aka a "bubble zone"), and are also requesting to argue for a permanent injunction against any pro-life presence within a city-block radius of the abortion facilities.

We have decided to fight this unwarranted suppression of our right to inform women of the dangers of, and alternatives to, abortion. To buy some time to prepare a rebuttal of their arguments, we have agreed to a provisional temporary injunction against us, lasting until March 10, which is the date for the hearing where we will challenge the temporary injunction.

Please help us fight this injunction, by pledging as much as you can. We have retained the services of a competent, 100% pro-life lawyer. We need to pay him, plus we need funding for the March 10 hearing which will, among other expenses, possibly require us to lodge and to pay the travel expenses of expert witnesses. We also need to build up our reserves to neutralize any eventual attempt to instate a permanent injunction against pro-life sidewalk counselling in that part of Montreal.

Do not let abortionists silence the only voice that charitably warns women entering Montreal abortion facilities about the harm abortion causes to women, to men, and to unborn babies.

Please give generously.

Georges Buscemi, president

The following Garth Brooks' song came recommended to me this morning. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Isabelle and Ward O'Connor of the Vivere Group offer questions to ponder about Quebec's new Euthanasia legislation.

1. Do euthanasia and palliative care go together?

The palliative care philosophy is based on respect for the natural process of death. Matching induced death by euthanasia ("medical aid in dying") with palliative care in a "continuum of end of life care" is it logical? Doing so risks creating conflict and confusion. This is the view of, among others, le Réseau de soins palliatifs du Québec (RSPQ), as recorded in its deposition regarding the subject legislation. The RSPQ affirms that "Euthanasia is not a treatment." Further, it is important to know that the Fédération du Mouvement Albatros of Québec (FMAQ) adopted unanimously a resolution in support of the RSPQ position.

2. Is End of Life Care Legislation valid?

It is important to know that induced death, either by euthanasia or assisted suicide, is a crime in Canada, although the authors and promoters of the legislation on end-of-life care categorically deny that "medical aid in dying" means "euthanasia", hoping that their semantic game will evade Canada’s Criminal Code. You should know that Canada’s Attorney General announced that he will challenge the 

validity of this legislation, pending the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the case Carter-Taylor case heard October 5, 2014, with a decision expected within six months – i.e., no later than April 2015. The Carter-Taylor case challenges the validity of criminalizing death induced by euthanasia or assisted suicide.

3. Would government induced death jeopardize the right to personal security?

Consent and intent are difficult to prove, and the weak, vulnerable, disabled, elderly, depressed, illiterate or otherwise physically or mentally vulnerable are very easy to manipulate. Their consent can also be difficult to interpret. Substituted consent is another important issue, appearing in the Quebec law (Articles 47, 48, 55) as does presumed consent (Articles 57 and 58 ). The mistreatment of these large segments of the population, especially from relatives and institutions, being widely and well documented, as are discrimination and other social exclusionary pressures of exclusion, is such a precarious secure environment in our health care facilities acceptable?

The Quebec legislation in no way restricts euthanasia for people diagnosed with terminal illness. It is applicable to anyone with a chronic degenerative disease, whether that person is dying or not.

In addition, each year in Quebec, more than 350,000 medical errors are reported, the vast majority of which are injection errors (Ménard report). As euthanasia is done via an injection, do not the number of medical errors argue against the practice of euthanasia?

Finally, the end-of-life care legislation leaves it to the physician to ensure that consent to euthanasia is not the result of undue pressures arising from different sources. What training in psychology and police detection methods will the doctor receive for this purpose? What budget he will have to conduct the needed investigation? Abuse is both pernicious and very clever thing to detect for he seeks to detect it.

Blessed New Year greetings,

I trust that in 2015, God will richly bless you and your loved ones as he has with us here at the Quebec Life Coalition.

First, many of you have remembered us with your prayers and financial support. Thank you.

Second, on Tuesday, January 13, 2015, we were blessed to welcome a few distinguished guests to our office.

These had come from across the country – Quebec City, Toronto and one as far away as Smithers, BC. No surprise, we discussed the fate of the unborn and how best to act to protect them, from a political perspective.

CHRISTIAN HERITAGE PARTY

Among these guests was Mr. Rod Taylor, newly elected leader of the Christian Heritage Party.

2015 is an election year. The Federal Conservative Party was elected in 2011 - May 2, 2011, with a majority government. The next federal election will be no later than October 19, 2015 – “the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following the polling day for the last general election.”  It may be sooner.

As the Quebec Life Coalition works to promote the Culture of Life, the political process is an important tool for championing the plight of the unborn. So several of us gathered on this winter afternoon are considering becoming candidates for the Christian Heritage Party in the next election.

WHY THE CHRISTIAN HERITAGE PARTY?

The CHP is the only pro-life federal party in Canada.

Justin Trudeau, leader of the Federal Liberals, made headlines this past May 2014 stating that anyone vying to become a liberal party candidate in a federal election MUST be pro-abortion.

The Bloc Québécois and the NDP likewise endorse the pro-abortion position.

Finally, what about the party of Stephen Harper? Haven't a few of its elected members - Stephen Woodworth, Mark Warawa, among others, presented pro-life motions in the House of Commons? Hasn't the federal conservatives subtly promoted internationally right to life measures for developing countries?

On the surface it appears that the federal conservatives are the voice for the unborn.

Yet, Mr. Harper has time and time again refused to open debate on the rights of the unborn. As such Canada is the only democratic nation in the world without any law protecting unborn children for the full nine month term. In fact, Canada shares this distinction with only two other nations worldwide - China and North Korea; a infamous fellowship if ever there was one.

So, we respectfully ask your support, in both prayer and financially, as we plan to run and/or support candidates in the forthcoming election. We wish that the voice of the unborn be heard loudly and clearly not only by the Conservative Party of Canada but also by all citizens of our ridings.

May the seven of us gathered on this January day be attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as we deliberate on what exactly is our role in the year ahead.

May our Lord bless all those considering becoming candidates in the next federal election with a wisdom to speak up, debate, and defend the right of the unborn.

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Brian Jenkins

Outreach Coordinator

Quebec Life Coalition

In 2001, drug trials for the abortion inducing drug RU-486 was halted after protests and the death of a woman from septic shock.

Renewed efforts to make this drug available in Canada began this past November. At this time, the Canadian Medical Association Journal featured an article critical of the lack of surgical abortion facilities in rural Canada, a slight that can be alleviated via chemical abortions such as RU-486.

Then Society of Family Planning chimed in, announcing that based on a 2012 survey, increasing availability to chemical abortions would save women from travelling and from undergoing surgical abortions, and would increase accessibility to abortion services.

Yesterday, the Journal de Montréal, in two separate features, sung a similar tune. Isabelle Maher and Lise Ravary argued separately that since this abortifacient is available in well over 60 countries, why then is it not available in Canada?

What these articles fail to note is the harm that RU-486 has had on women. According to the Campaign Life Coalition, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) reports that there have been 14 deaths associated with this drug. Further, the FDA notes that there have been 2000 cases of adverse side effects including hospitalization, significant blood loss, severe infection and blood transfusions.

Corroborating much of this information about RU-486 is a fact sheet published by the group Real Choices Australia. Based on a Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists study, the fact sheet notes the extent of excessive bleeding, the pain, and other adverse effects after using this abortifacient.

Let's pray that Health Canada does not give in to this new wave of pressure, but rather contributes to ensuring the health integrity of women.

p.s. See a couple of recent stories on this topic. First, the National Post published a letter by Mike Schouten entitled "Another skipped abortion debate." Also, the CBC reports that Health Canada will delay its decision until the Fall 2015 as additional information is sought from the manufacturer - "Abortion drug decision pushed back by Health Canada."