Brian Jenkins

Dear Friends of Life,

Please respond negatively to the The Calgary Herald survey on assisted suicide.

You will find the the poll under the heading "The Question of the Day," on the right hand side of the page, mid-way down.

The question reads: Are you in favour of Canada legalizing assisted dying?

Please VOTE NO. The NOs were ahead but only marginally.

Dear Friends of Life,

I would like to begin by thanking you for your on-going support - both in prayer and financially, of this pro-life work, particularly to those who responded to QLC President Georges Buscemi’s urgent appeal of this past month. Your donations have allowed us to maintain our current staffing levels, and for this we are grateful.

Earlier this month, I experienced the proverbial “Day that I will long be remembered,” a day filled with experiences typical of why we at the Quebec Life Coalition exist.

In reverse chronological order, I would like to share these with you. First, in late afternoon I learned that Bill 52, the so called “Medical aid in dying” legislation became law. MNAs voted 96-22 in favour of permitting physicians and medical staff, for the task will befall the nurses whom the doctors will ultimately coerce, to euthanize our fellow citizens.

We had laboured long with other groups both within and outside of Quebec to thwart the bill’s passage. In February of this year, we had won a minor victory as an election call had gutted its implementation. Yet the new legislature picked up where the old left off. We will continue to fight!

Earlier that same day, I was at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital witnessing another drama in this battle for life, one involving life at its earliest stage. In the pediatric wing, I sat in wonder as technician and doctor performed an ultrasound on a five-month pregnant friend. For thirty minutes, I watched spellbound the unborn child resting in the mother’s womb.

Yet, during this scene of nascent life, death’s shadows crept in on two occasions. First, as the medical staff cautiously used its instruments to examine the child, mother and father asked whether the child was “perfect’” if there were any signs of trisomy.

On hearing this, I felt uncomfortable, wondering silently “What if there are? and “Does it matter?”

The technician’s response was negative, but had it come back Yes, what would be the child’s fate? Would it be loved?

No sooner had I gained some modicum of composure that I was startled a second time.

The staff adroitly moved the sonic probe over my friend’s abdomen gradually revealing on the video monitor the clitoral lips: it’s a girl.

The joy was obviously subdued. Mother said that she had hoped for a boy yet quickly reconciled herself. Father, on the other hand, remained unreconciled; His displeasure was palpable. Eventually, he asked “Could you be wrong?” His sullenness remained as we left the hospital and walked along Côte-des-Neiges, until we parted company.

Our expectations about life and how fragile it is were more evident from an experience earlier in the day. I had traveled to the hospital from the Morgentaler mill on Saint Joseph Blvd. There I had witnessed upwards to a dozen young ladies enter the building during my hour-long prayer vigil. That is, a dozen terminations of life over a sixty minute period in a mill open 8 hours per day, 5 days per week.

Is the battle to form a civilization of love a losing one? Amid these victories of death, you’d think so.

Yet, a different answer emerges from an event earlier on the same day. I began this day, as every other one, with the Eucharist. Here, I participate in the greatest act of sacrifice done anywhere by anyone, for all time. I witness the ultimate sign of victory, victory of life over death, of love over hate.

I then carry this victory with me and share it with those whom I meet.

Regardless of the arrival of euthanasia legislation, of the visceral reactions of parents, of the tens of women who present themselves daily at the Morgentaler mill, Christ has shown us the way to victory, to our salvation.

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Cor 15:55

Once again, thank you for your on-going support - both in prayer and financially, of our pro-life efforts on behalf of the unborn and the vulnerable.

Yours respectfully,

Brian Jenkins,

Outreach Coordinator, Quebec Life Coalition

A workshop on post-abortion healing will be offered this coming October, 2014, and registration for the twelve available spots is underway.

The faith-based association Centre Regina Pacis is coordinating a five-day retreat set to run from Sunday, October 5 through to Thursday, October 9, 2014.

The setting will be at the Marian shrine in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Qc - Notre-Dame-du-Cap.

The facilitator, Dr. Benedetta Foa, an Italian national, has led similar workshops in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovenia, and will be flown in for this event.

The registration fee for the workshop is $300. An additional $300 will cover lodging at the shrine, breakfast included. A cafeteria is available on site for the additional meals. (The registration charge for medical doctors is $400.)

To receive further information or to register, contact either:

• Ms. Lise Dufour (418) 456-0743, [email protected]
• Dr. Benedetta Foa: [email protected]

The workshop will be in the language of the majority with translators provided for the others.

A registration form is available here.

Dear Friends of Life,

What kind of prayer warrior are you?

Pictured below are three important warriors participating on a daily basis in the prayer vigil for the end of abortion – the 40 Days for Life.

We see John, Charlotte (seated) and Sr. Leah. Each represents a different and essential component of the team praying outside the Morgentaler abortion mill on Saint-Joseph Blvd.

John shows up three times each day. First, he arrives at about 8:30 a.m. and immediately dons two signs about his neck and proceeds to pace along the sidewalk for up to forty-five minutes. He returns for a second 45 minute stroll in mid-afternoon and yet another just before closure at 7 p.m. He represents a first type of prayer warrior.

A second type is personified by Charlotte. Less peripatetic than John, she comes at the beginning of each day, seating herself, keeping a firm hand on the vigil banner and providing a joyful banter to one and all. She spends a few hours at the site before heading out, though when called upon, longer.

Yet, a third type of warrior is Sister Leah. Member of a local Franciscan community of sisters whose convent is nearby, she spends much of her time in the community’s chapel praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Like John, she enjoys her walks and so visits those of us at the vigil a couple of times each day, offering words of encouragement. She also provides me with a daily bowl of warm soup.

So, what kind of prayer warrior are you?

I suspect that you are your own personal and unique type.

We are unique one from the other. Every child knit in his mother’s womb represents something intrinsically new and never to be replicated. As this child grows and develops, such is done in a never seen way, before or ever after.

How this child matures in his or her relationship with God is unique as well. Whether a John, a Charlotte, or a Leah, we all will blossom at our rate as along as we remain open to God’s will for us on a daily basis.

I have seen as much during this and past vigils. Yesterday, for example, Qui’An came to join me at the vigil location, bringing along a devotion that I had never seen before – the chaplet of Saint Gertrude. For the next thirty minutes she coached me through its recitation. I considered this blessing.

I’ve been graced with the same from others. Here’s a sampling:

• Margarida: Devotion to the Sorrows of Mary
• Maria Pilar: Way of the Cross
• Andre: Chaplet of the Precious Blood
• Carole: Chaplet of Rosa Mystica The graces are flowing.

On a Thursday mid-afternoon, I was approached by a young woman. She told me that she had made the momentous decision to keep her baby. She was scheduled that afternoon to abort her eleven week old unborn child at the Morgentaler mill but instead had a change of heart. She got up, left,and crossed the street to tell me about her decision. May God be praised.

The results of our prayers are not always as tangible. Yet in faith we continue to ask God to heed us.

So, what kind of prayer warrior? Let me know.

Until then, thank you for your on-going support of our ministry, both in prayer and financially. It helps to promote values important for our society and to come to aid in a very concrete manner, outside an abortion mill in a very impious sector of Montreal.

Wishing one and all a Blessed Easter,

Brian A. Jenkins, Outreach Coordinator

This past weekend, we in the Montreal pro-life movement received a very special grace; Ms. Lia Mills spent three days with us.

Seventeen year-old Ms. Mills gained international attention five years ago as a video of hers, taken by her mom and a friend, and placed on YouTube went viral. To date over 1.5 millions viewers have seen her pro-life six minute video.

//www.youtube.com/embed/wOR1wUqvJS4?list=PL7QafMgCIrZr6Db_aOhF2dcYbMkldSWdb

We invited Ms. Mills as preparation for the upcoming 40 Days for Life prayer vigil for the end of abortion which begins on Ash Wednesday - March 5, 2014.

During her time here in Montreal she made three speaking engagements: Holy Name of Jesus church (Laval), Loyola High School (Montreal), and Montreal Cathedral Mary queen of the World.

At holy Name of Jesus, Pastor peter Sabbath invited the young woman from Ontario to address the congregation at the end of each of the weekend masses.

sevena young pro-life advocate

Dear Friends of Life,

Blessed Lenten greetings to you and your loved ones.

Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are integral elements to our Lenten observance. Dare I suggest two more: advocacy and education.

ADVOCACY - I wish to encourage you, during Lent, to acts of advocacy against an all too long provincial governmental practice of funding abortions In this mail out you will find three inserts aiding to this end.

First you will find a poster. This may be conspicuously placed so to inform your neighbours about this hideous policy.

Second, you will also find a defund abortion letter. Addressed to the provincial finance minister, we invite you to read, sign, and mail it to the Honourable Mr. Nicolas Marceau expressing your disagreement with governmental paid in full abortions.

Finally, also included herewith is a petition for you to invite friends, family, and like-minded persons to sign. Mailing this will also strengthen our position.

Remember, a unified voice has clout. No better example of this is the recent interruption of the euthanasia legislation, bill 52 – also known as Medical Aid In Dying. A vocal, unified front of physicians, non-professionals, disabled person groups, and others, both within and outside Québec, expressing disapproval for this piece of law-to-be thwarted its acceptance in the National Assembly.

(Another Lenten deed you may wish to get involved with is the April 10, 2014, day of protest. Whether meeting with your MNA on that date or gathering outside his or her local riding office, it is important to bring you our opposition to this unconscionable practice of funding abortions.

EDUCATION - In addition to advocacy, we also believe that education is fundamental to rid the blinders that are obscuring Quebecers about the harm of abortion.

To this end, we are making available a small yet powerful little booklet entitled “Sharing the Pro-Life Message.” Though published in the US and containing many facts and figures from south of the border, the booklet is helpful, nevertheless for us as it touches on generic information about the pro-life movement such as how to share the message, life in the womb, addressing pro-choice arguments, among others.

With a small financial gift, I would be delighted to mail one to you.

A second educational tool is our yearly congress.

In 2010, the Quebec City congress garnered much media attention and brought much attention to our work. Our invited guest then prelate of Quebec City, Mgr. Marc Ouellet, spoke powerfully about the sanctity of life in the womb and the inherent harm of abortion, irking the sensitivities of many within the culture of death, particularly the media.

Likewise our 2012 congress in Sherbrooke, Qc, did not go unnoticed either. Occurring during the “printemps érable” period, many disenfranchised college age youth attempted to disrupt the proceedings but were met with vigilante congress attendees, thwarting their plans.

This fall, as the leaves turn into their fabulous hues, we will meet once again and discuss how to bring colour back to the pallor that characterises much of Quebec culture. The theme remains to be determined, yet our speakers will undoubtedly discuss such topics as: abortion defunding, obstructing the euthanasia agenda, the education of our youth, among others.

There you have it: advocacy and education, two bulwarks that we at the Quebec Life Coalition foster in our efforts to maintain the values on which our province was founded and which today have been deemed “passé” by Quebec’s intelligentsia.

Thank you for your on-going support in these and other projects and have a blessed Lenten period.

For life,

Brian A. Jenkins, Outreach Coordinator

(Date)

Minister Nicolas Marceau

Minister of Finance, Province of Quebec

12, Saint-Louis Street, 1st Floor

Quebec, Qc G1R 5L3

Honourable Minister Marceau,

Kindly be informed that I oppose the funding of abortions by the RAMQ. As the latter is a promoter of health and life and as a pregnancy is not a disease, I refuse to be complicit in the death of innocent and defenseless human beings by the levying of my taxes.

Are you aware that Quebec taxpayers pay at least $ 26 million annually for surgical abortions? This is not an insignificant amount and it does not include the related costs due to complications such as perforations, uterine bleeding, pelvic inflammatory disease, sepsis, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, infertility and breast cancer. All these indirect costs can easily drive up the annual charge resulting from abortions to hundreds of millions of dollars!

Further, for $ 26 million per year, Quebec could hire 121 family doctors or 360 nurses, thereby allay the severe lack of personnel in our health care system. Or again that money could provide therapy for the 328 autistic children per year or purchase 17 MRI units. In so doing, taxpayers' money would then indeed be used to address real health care ... instead of killing babies.

So I ask you to stop funding abortions with public money.

Also, with this letter, I wish to inform you that I heartily associate myself with the campaign against the public funding of abortion launched this February 17 in Montreal (You can find all the details on this campaign WWW.CQV.QC.CA ).

Thank you for your attention,

____________________

Dear Friends of Life,

I trust this letter finds you and your loved ones well.

At this time of year, we are moving along with various projects – welcoming guest speakers to Montreal, coordinating the 40 days prayer vigil for the end of abortion, planning the Triduum for Life including the day trip to the National March for Life in Ottawa, and more. See this month’s bulletin and subsequent ones as well as our web site for on-going details.

There is also an all new initiative, one closely aligned with our organization’s political aim, one which has taken root elsewhere across the country -  the defunding of abortions from our provincial financed health care system.

Yes, abortion on demand is covered by our tax dollars.

• FACT: Quebec taxpayers fund at least $26 million every year for the killing of children in the womb.
• FACT: There is a shortage of family doctors and nurses, and funding for elder care and for treating autistic children sorely lacking.
• FACT: Abortion is an elective procedure that is not medically necessary.
• FACT: Over 96% of abortions are performed for convenience, as a back-up birth control method.

$26 million is a conservative figure. This past December the deVerber Institute in Toronto published a scientifically rigorous examination of the impact of abortion on women’s health. Its findings show how abortion adversely impacts physical health, both immediate and long term, contributes to intimate partner violence, and more.

$26 million is a conservative figure, representing only the direct costs. The TRUE cost rises significantly when accounting for the indirect charges due to abortion’s complications. These latter, as per the deVerber study, include breast cancer, infertility, autoimmune disease, mental health, and more.

So, figuring in both the direct and indirect costs, the TRUE price tag of abortion from these complications easily drains our health care system of upwards to $100 million annually!

Are you ok with that?

Also, the business school at the Université de Montréal came out with its annual evaluation of Québec’s productivity and prosperity and the conclusions were not good. The bottom line stated that we are living well above our means. Many of us believed as much, yet to have the prestigious École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal corroborate our intuition is affirming.

Is it not time for Quebec legislators to treat our money with respect!

To use our funds for Health Care and not some medically unnecessary procedure - i.e., abortion?

The cash windfall from defunding abortion can either be used to spruce up our ailing health care system. For $26 million per year, Quebec could hire 138 family doctors or 360 nurses to help alleviate the shortage crisis. Or purchase 17 life-saving MRI machines every year. Or provide crucial therapy to 328 autistic children each year. All theese uses of taxpayer dollars would present genuine health care… rather than killing babies.

It’s one thing for an individual to make a personal choice to kill a baby in the womb. It’s quite another to expect the rest of us to pay for it.

So we urge everybody to join us on Monday, February 17, 2014, outside the CLSC des Faubourgs, 1250 Sanguinet Street, (between ste. Catherine and René-Levesque), site of late-term abortions in Québec, at 11 a.m. to inaugurate this defund campaign.

For life,

Brian A. Jenkins, Outreach Coordinator

Tuesday, February 11, 2014: Day of Prayer and Fasting

Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine is calling all faithful to a day of prayer and fasting to commemorate the World Day for the Sick.

The day also holds special significance, said the archbishop in an open letter, as the Quebec legislature reconvenes tomorrow and will be voting shortly on legislation which will permit physicians ot euthanize their patients.

The archbishop concluded his letter by inviting all persons to come to the Cathedral tomorrow evening for a Eucharistic celebration. The purpose of the celebration is to "celebrate in solidarity with those who are sick and suffering."

The following video is the archbishop's invitation to participate tomorrow:

//www.youtube.com/embed/pFWoiZSUpKc