Pro-lifers need to express compassion for women in crisis pregnancies or who have had abortions as much as we express our commitment to the right to life of the child in the womb, said Dr. David Reardon of the Elliott Institute to the 2010 Alliance For Life Ontario conference.

That was the essence of his talk, entitled “Ending abortion with compassion.” He did not suggest that pro-lifers lack compassion for the women in crisis pregnancies, but by concentrating on the rights of the baby in the womb, we sometimes fail to express sufficiently our concern for and sensitivity towards women in difficulty.

He presented his talk in four themes:

1. The pressure women feel to abort
2. The effect of abortion on women
3. The need for healing
4. The pro-life agenda

Click here for a review of his talk.

One hundred students from Halton Catholic secondary schools went by bus to join 12,500 other pro-lifers in Ottawa for the March for Life. On the way back, some wrote their impressions of the march and the Youth Conference, where they heard Melissa Ohden speak about how she survived an abortion attempt and what it has mean tot her life. Here are their impressions, just as they wrote them. (Some preferred to remain anonymous, others are identified by first names only.) Congratulations to the teachers and chaplains who organized the trip. To read the students’ comments, click here.

 ”I believe that the most serious problem we face as a modern-day society is our inability to distinguish the value of a life,” : Samantha Pettinato, who has graduated this year from St. Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School, Oakville, wrote in an essay for an English class this year, which she gave her Mary Muller (a past president of Halton Pro-Life) permission to send to us. Samantha decided for herself which side of the abortion fence she would be on. Her essay should be read by all young people struggling to determine whether they are pro-life or pro-choice. To read her essay, click here.

The recent Alliance For Life Ontario provincial conference certainly lived up to the promise of its theme: “Facing a changing world - making the case for the future of humanity.” This intensely educational conference delved into issues that underpin the culture of death, abortion and calls for legalization of euthanasia, and ended with a message of hope. Read more . . .

While most of us will be enjoying summer, Linda Gibbons will still be in prison in Milton, incarcerated for peacefully demonstrating outside the “Scott Clinic” abortion facility in Toronto for the right to life of children in the womb. A big date for her is August 10, when her case comes to court. Click here for more details and advice on how to stand by her.

For a commentary on how Linda has served more than half the time a well-known convicted killer served, please go to the Executive Director’s blog.

 (Picture of Linda being arrested, courtesy of Lifesitenews)

Sexual sabotage — how Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s promotion of sexual experimentation and ‘freedom’ has subverted morality and unleashed a plague of corruption on Western society — is one of a series of provocative papers to be presented at the Alliance for Life Ontario’s Provincial Conference to be held on Friday and Saturday, June 11 and 12, in the Delta Meadowvale Resort & Conference Centre, Mississauga. The conference, with its theme of Facing a Changing World — Making the Case for the Future of Humanity, will explore issues that underlie the prevailing Culture of Death and will show the way forward to building the Culture of Life.  For a summary of speakers and papers, click here.

For details and registration information, call AFLO at 1-866-588-2684, or 519-824-7797, or access www.allianceforlife.org.

The pledge by Stephen Harper not to include funding for abortions in his agenda for maternal and child health, which he will propose to the G8 meeting in June, has caused confusion in Canada where, of course, most abortions are publicly funded. Many people, it seems, are under the illusion that abortion access in the developing world will improve women’s health. The opposite is true. For the facts, as outlined in an expanded version of a Letter to the Editor submitted to The Hamilton Spectator, click here . . .

The CBC reported 9,000 to 10,000, CTV’s Question Period with Craig Oliver reported 15,000 and both showed video clips of the 2010 March for Life in Ottawa, May 13. The Hamilton Spectator gave the tally at 15,000 but the official count from Campaign Life Coalition of the number at the March was 12,500, which was an increase from last year. You can’t make them out from this Lifesitenews.com picture, but among the thousands were a group of Halton Pro-Life members and a contingent of 120 students from the pro-life clubs of the eight Halton region Catholic high schools. For more, click here . . .

Two hot abortion topics are occupying the minds of politicians and pro-lifers as several Halton Pro-Life members make the trip to Ottawa for the March for Life on May 15:

• A bill is proposed to protect women against being coerced into abortion. As many as 64 per cent of women who abort could have been coerced by other people. Read more here.
• The Prime Minister refuses to include abortions in funding for maternal health initiatives in the developing world, but abortions are publicly funded in Ontario. He’s getting opposition but facts show that where abortion is restricted, maternal deaths are down. Read more here.

The picture from Campaign Life Coalition illustrates the theme of the 2010 March

Halton Pro-Life continues its educational work in the Catholic high schools across the region with booths at pro-life weeks and a series of Pro-Life 101 training sessions. 

Theresa Gilbert has presented two four-session Pro-Life 101 training classes to students at Notre Dame Secondary School, Burlington, and St. Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School, Oakville, on behalf of HPL. Students who attended at least three of these sessions have been designated “Ambassadors for Life.” On May 10, HPL ED Tom Kelly presented certificates to seven new Ambassadors for Life at Notre Dame. Soon, we will be presenting certificates to students at Loyola.

 Other recent activities:

• We presented information from a booth for three days of the recent pro-life week at Assumption Secondary School, Burlington (pictured).
• We did the same from a booth for two days at Christ the King, Georgetown.
• Tom Kelly gave a talk on pro-life, drawn from his own experiences, to students at Corpus Christi secondary school, Burlington, where teacher Mike Macdonald said they are forming the “Longhorns for Life” pro-life club.