Same-sex unions 'penalize' traditional marriage

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Same-sex unions “penalize” traditional couples and distort the true nature of the family, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The many crises that families face are “caused by the rapid social and cultural changes” in society, the Pope said Jan. 14 in a speech to officials from the city and province of Rome and the Lazio region of Italy.

Passing legislation or adopting policies that recognize “forms of unions, which distort the essence and purpose of the family end up penalizing those who, with much effort, commit themselves to living a life whose bonds are marked by stable intimacy, have juridical guarantees and are recognized publicly,” he said.

While same-sex unions or same-sex “marriage” is not recognized in Italy, a number of city and regional governments, including Rome’s Lazio region, have introduced registries for same-sex couples that are largely symbolic and have no legal consequences.

Pope Benedict also called on the government officials to help support married women who wish to pursue a career and build a family.

Too often, he said, women “are forced to wait” to have children.

“For this reason, it’s necessary to concretely support motherhood, including guaranteeing professional women the possibility of balancing family and work. Too often, in fact, women are put in the position of having to choose between the two,” he said.

He said local governments should promote and support maternity rights, including public or privately run child-care centers, to help make it so “a child is not seen as a problem but as a gift and a great joy.”

Link: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/i-do-gods-way/

Rates for abortion increased during U.S. recession

The Guttmacher Institute, a radically pro-abortion Organization, reported this week that there were 1.21 million abortions in 2008 and a rate of 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44. The institute, which periodically surveys U.S. abortion providers, says that the long-term decline in the U.S. abortion rate stalled as the recession took hold.

The figures were up slightly from the previous 2005 survey, ending a steady decline since 1990, when U.S. abortions peaked at 1.6 million and the abortion rate was 27.4.Every procured abortion is the taking of an innocent human life.

One possible factor for the increase was the U.S. recession in 2008, altering the financial prospects for many families.

"Abortion numbers go down when the economy is good and go up when the economy is bad, so the stalling may be a function of a weaker economy," University of Alabama political science professor Michael New says.

"If the economy does better, you'll see numbers trending down again," he added.

The Guttmacher Institute's surveys are considered by some to be the most comprehensive available. Federal agencies often rely on incomplete data from state governments.

Sharon Camp, the institute's president, used this sad news to promote another of the Institute's radical agenda items, government funded access to contraception. She said the stalled numbers should serve as an "urgent message" to policymakers that access to such contraceptive services, many of which are themselves abortifacent, should be increased to prevent 'unwanted' pregnancy.

Pro-Life activists insist that abortion rates can best be lowered through abstinence-only sex education and the elimination of legalized abortion which is the taking of innocent human life.

Many states have expanded abortion restrictions in recent years, and others will be considering such steps in the aftermath of Pro-Life gains in legislatures in the November 2 elections.

Lawmakers in several states would like to emulate Nebraska in outlawing abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy because unborn children can feel pain after that point.

The new Guttmacher report documented sharp variations by state - with abortion rates over 30 percent in Delaware, New York and New Jersey and at or below 6 percent in Wyoming, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Dakota and Idaho.

The report also documented a significant increase in early 'medication abortion', entailing use of the so-called abortion pill.

Source: http://www.catholic.org/hf/family/story.php?id=39924

Print Email Share Canadian commissioners must marry gay couples

A ruling by a provincial court in Canada could have wider implications across the country for same-sex marriages.

An appeals court says public marriage commissioners cannot refuse to marry same-sex couples on religious grounds.

Advocates for gays and lesbians say this case sets an important precedent that will help to deter discrimination against same-sex couples who want to marry.

The Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the validity of same-sex marriages in 2004.

But some marriage commissioners in the western province of Saskatchewan refused to conduct those marriages, saying it was a violation of their personal religious beliefs and they then launched a legal challenge.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110653.htm?section=justin

The province's Court of Appeal has ruled that those marriage commissioners cannot refuse because they are appointed by the government to perform non-religious ceremonies and on the suggestion that couples find another commissioner the court said that was contrary to the fundamental principles of equality in a democratic society.

Halton Catholic school board under fire for banning gay-straight alliances

A decision to ban student gay-straight alliances earned strong criticism for the Halton Catholic District School Board days after the board’s chair defended the ban by listing Nazi groups as another example of clubs not allowed in the district’s schools.

The chair, veteran trustee Alice Anne LeMay, apologized for her statements but also said her words were taken out of context. She and her fellow trustees will reconsider the ban at a board policy committee meeting on Tuesday evening.

Trustees voted in November not to permit gay-straight alliances shortly after Ontario’s Ministry of Education introduced a new inclusion and equity policy that required school boards to create such clubs if requested by a student. Ms. LeMay defended the decision last week when speaking with Xtra!, a gay and lesbian newspaper.

“We don’t have Nazi groups either,” Ms. LeMay was quoted as saying. “Gay-straight alliances are banned because they are not within the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

Reached on Monday evening, Ms. LeMay said she didn’t know yet whether she would vote to support the ban or to repeal it at Tuesday’s meeting. Several new members who were elected to the board in October didn’t participate in the November vote, including an openly gay trustee, 22-year-old Paul Marai.

Mr. Marai called the ban a divisive “waste of time” that distracted the board from the more important issue of education. He also expressed his support for Ms. LeMay.

“I do know her to be quite a tolerant and accepting individual,” he said.

Opponents of the ban formed a Facebook group, Fight the Halton Catholic School Board's Ban on Gay Straight Alliances, and an online petition has collected more than 1,000 signatures. The controversy even caught the attention of celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who posted a link to the Xtra! article and called Halton Catholic’s decision “not cool.”

This is the second time in less than a year that Catholic beliefs have clashed with education policies developed by Ontario’s Ministry of Education. Last spring, a new sex-education curriculum that introduced the notion of same-sex families in early grades was pulled for revision after religious groups raised objections.

“The church teachings teach our children to accept everyone whether they’re gay or lesbian, whether they’re poor, black, white, whatever,” said Nancy Kirby, president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association. “But the church teaching also says that we don’t condone the action of gays [and] lesbians.”

Early last year, the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario sent a letter to Catholic school boards raising concerns regarding the ministry’s equity and inclusion policy. The letter urged the boards to consider groups other than gay-straight alliances, which “imply a self-identification with sexual orientation that is often premature among high-school students,” according to minutes from the board’s November meeting.

A motion that the policy be approved with an amendment that gay-straight alliances or clubs not be permitted and that “other types of dialogue groups that remain in conformity with Catholic teaching” be encouraged instead passed almost unanimously.

Mr. Marai is hopeful that the new group of trustees will have a more thorough discussion of the issue this time around, and ultimately undo that decision.

He is familiar with the kind of thinking that led to the ban: One voter took down his campaign lawn sign after learning the then-candidate for trustee was gay.

“You can’t take it personally; people have their own ideas,” he said. “That said, I think the Catholic community in Oakville is a very accepting and tolerant one.”

Source : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/halton-catholic-school-board-under-fire-for-banning-gay-straight-alliances/article1864793/

High Court Says No Right to Abortion in European Law

(The following article for C-Fam)

STRASBOURG, December 23 (C-FAM) Europe’s highest human rights court says there is no human right to abortion in Europe’s human rights convention, and that abortion laws are the purview of sovereign states.
The European Court of Human Rights made the statement last week in its conclusion of “A, B, and C v. Ireland.” Three anonymous plaintiffs claimed that Ireland’s strict abortion laws violated their human rights to privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The women claimed that they had traveled to Britain for abortions with the belief that they could not secure abortions in Ireland given their circumstances.
Pro-life advocates had been concerned that the court would hand down a European version of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 decision that interpreted the right to privacy broadly and strike down all state laws restricting abortion in any way. The European court rejected that path, but found Ireland in violation of the right to privacy in one of the three cases.
The situation involved a woman who said she was unsure what the effects of her pregnancy had on her remittent cancer, what effects medical tests would have on the unborn child, and whether an abortion would be legal in her situation.
The court found that even though article 8 on the right to privacy does not contain a right to abortion, Ireland nonetheless violated the woman’s privacy by the law’s “chilling effect” on obtaining sufficient information about her situation.
William Saunders said the court mischaracterized the Irish constitution which does not provide for a “right to abortion,” but rather it guarantees the right to life of both mother and child. The court was unduly intrusive, in effect telling doctors in Ireland when to “prescribe” abortion, Saunders said.
Critics also say that the court based their findings on the woman’s feelings of uncertainty rather than on proof that her health was at risk. If the woman needed a cycle of chemotherapy, she could have received it according to Irish law.
One senior EU official said that the facts of the case were murky because the case was never investigated for trial in Ireland. For that reason alone the court should have dismissed the case out of hand, he said, since the convention requires plaintiffs to exhaust remedies in national courts before bringing them to Strasbourg.
“While one must be glad about today’s judgment, the way the court operates today remains a reason for grave concern for anyone seriously and genuinely committed to the protection of human rights,” the official said, “But at least it did not succumb to the pressures of those who wanted it to ‘discover,’ hidden in the penumbral fringes of the convention, a ‘right to abortion’ that would oblige all EU member states to legalize the killing of the unborn.”
The court’s decision is binding only on the 47 European nations which are party to the European Convention on Human Rights and does not extend to international law outside Europe.

US Forces Vote on “Sexual Orientation” in General Assembly

(The following article us from C-Fam)

NEW YORK, December 23 (C-FAM) The United States made good on its promise to force a vote on “sexual orientation” in the General Assembly this week angering many delegations from the global south.
With support from the European Union, the Nordic countries and Canada, the US launched a massive campaign to re-insert “sexual orientation” into a UN resolution before final approval in the General Assembly. Reportedly, the US was working “at the highest levels” to push countries to support its amendment.
The US move followed in the wake of a vote in a lower level committee last month, when opponents of the “sexual orientation” language won their bid to have the language removed. The deletion of that term caught its supporters off-guard because “sexual orientation” had been included in the resolution on “Summary, Arbitrary, or Extrajudicial Executions” for the past 10 years.
The bid was successful and in a last-minute reversal, UN member states voted to reinsert of the contentious language on “sexual orientation.” An analysis of the vote shows that 23 countries, consisting mainly of small island states and countries from Latin America & the Caribbean, changed their positions from November’s vote that allowed the US motion to carry.
The fact that the US abstained from supporting the final resolution despite the passage of their amendment caused some to question the real motive of the US maneuvering.
Delegations who originally voted to remove the language reiterated concerns over the “undefined and controversial” term “sexual orientation,” citing the reality that there is “no foundation in any international legal or human rights instrument that justifies its inclusion” in the resolution.
The Islamic countries vowed that they “will continue to reject” the misinterpretation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights treaties to include notions that were “never approved by the general membership of the UN.”
One delegation blasted the US-led attempt to reintroduce “sexual orientation” into the text as “international legal adventurism.”
South Africa, who reversed its original position to support the US amendment, took the floor to assert that propagating the issue in such a manner did nothing to help advance the “sexual orientation” cause. South Africa called for an intergovernmental process to discuss a definition of the term.
Some observers expressed deep concern that at least three delegations quoted a recent controversial speech by UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon in support of the US amendment. Ban had claimed that “sexual orientation” was part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, although that document makes no reference to the term.
President Obama applauded supporters of the US amendment. In a statement, Obama said, “While today’s adoption of an inclusive resolution is important, so too are the conversations that have now begun in capitals around the world about inclusion, equality, and discrimination.”
The high-level political pressure exerted in this resolution caps an aggressive year-long campaign by the Obama administration to push “sexual orientation” issues at the UN and domestically. On Wednesday, President Obama signed legislation that ended the ban on homosexuals from serving openly in the US military.

Carleton student association bans anti-abortion club

Carleton University’s official student association has banned the Ottawa institution’s anti-abortion club, offering it just one way to get back into good graces: support abortion rights.

On Monday, the Carleton University Student Association (CUSA), decertified Carleton Lifeline for its anti-abortion views. It told the club that being against abortion violated CUSA’s anti-discrimination policy, but that it could get recertified in a day or two.

“We invite you to amend your constitution to create one that respects our anti-discrimination policy as laid out above,” wrote Khaldoon Bushnaq, CUSA’s vice-president of internal affairs. “If you are able to resubmit a constitution that meets our criteria by Thursday, November 18th we will be able to certify your club for this semester.”

Ruth Lobo, the president of Carleton Lifeline, said CUSA assumes all students are “pro-choice,” which is not necessarily the case. Its policy, she said, smacked of hypocrisy.

“It’s very ironic that they have a discrimination policy that allows them to discriminate against pro-life groups,” she said. “CUSA claims to be representative of all students. As a pro-life student I am not represented by an organization I am forced to pay dues to in my tuition. Either they should create a policy in which students can opt out of fees or get rid of the discrimination policy,” Ms. Lobo said.

“Pro-choice should also mean that a woman has the right to not have an abortion, so I think CUSA is being anti-choice by not allowing people to hear the other side.”

CUSA did not return phone calls on Tuesday. The Canadian Federation of Students, an umbrella group for student associations, said it does not get involved with local matters on specific campuses.

The letter from Mr. Bushnaq noted Carleton Lifeline believes in the “equal rights of the unborn and firmly believes that abortion is a moral and legal wrong.” Therefore, because of CUSA’s commitment to the pro-abortion-rights position, Carleton Lifeline can no longer promote its views on campus or lobby in any way that would oppose that position.

It can no longer book space for advocacy or events, nor is it eligible for funding.
Ottawa lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos, who is defending the Lifeline students, said CUSA’s “appalling” decision goes against all principles of free speech.

In a letter to CUSA, Mr. Polizogopoulos noted that CUSA’s own constitution, which overrides all bylaws and policies enacted by CUSA, calls for “maintaining an academic and social environment free from prejudice, exploitation, abuse or violence on the basis of, but not limited to, sex, race, language, religion, age, national or social status, political affiliation or belief, sexual orientation or marital status.”

Mr. Polizogopoulos continued: “Since the Discrimination on Campus Policy explicitly calls for the discrimination [against] individuals on the basis of their political belief that life begins at conception, [therefore] it cannot, according to CUSA’s Constitution, continue to be in effect.”

Late on Tuesday Carleton University said in a statement: “CUSA is an independent, incorporated organization; they operate independently of the university and the university plays no role in and has no standing with regard to CUSA’s decision making.”
The Carleton Lifeline became certified in 2006 after a failed attempt by CUSA to keep the club off campus.

Ms. Lobo said she can only speculate why CUSA decided to ban them now but she assumes that it is related to an incident involving the club last month.

On Oct. 4, Ms. Lobo and four other students were arrested on campus by Ottawa police for attempting to display graphic anti-abortion posters. The police were called in by the school administration and the students were charged with trespassing. The case is still pending.

John Carpay, a civil liberties lawyer from Calgary, who has dealt with similar bans on anti-abortion groups, said CUSA’s offer to reinstate the club if they agree to endorse abortion rights can only be laughed at.

“That’s awfully generous of them to offer an opportunity for repentance,” said Mr. Carpay. “But it is truly alarming that CUSA would so easily suppress free speech. It’s tragic.”


Read more: http://life.nationalpost.com/2010/11/16/carleton-student-association-bans-anti-abortion-club/#ixzz15drsRun3

Tax credits for fertility treatment

The new Fertility Treatment Tax Credit, which takes effect Oct. 1, will provide couples with 40 per cent credit on eligible expenses up to $20,000 a year for a maximum benefit of $8,000. Combined with existing provincial and federal tax credits, Manitobans could have up to two-thirds of their fertility treatment expenses reimbursed.

Refer to this link

Whats wrong with this?

1 - So much money is wasted when there are kids who need to be adopted.
2 - Invitro fertilization leads to the destruction of fertilized embryos this is abortion so these parents in a desire to have a child are willing to kill other kids.

Testimony of retired lawyer and blogger Dahn Batchelor:

Here is the fascinating testimony of retired lawyer and blogger Dahn Batchelor:

My mother was raped in January 1933 and as a result, I was born in October of that year. I wasn’t aborted and I didn’t end up dead on a rubbish heap and my mother didn’t abandon me. Had I been disposed of as a dead infant like thousands of infants who had mothers around the world who had unwanted pregnancies, certain events in history would not have occurred. For example, it was I that proposed in a UN crime conference in 1980 that a bill of rights for young offenders be created. That bill of rights was adopted by the UN five years later and has an effect on the lives of millions of children world-wide. It was I that suggested at a crime conference in Canada that Legal Aid should have 24-hour duty counsel on call so that anyone arrested in Canada at any time of the day or night has access to free legal advice while in the police station. I am mentioning these two events to point out that all human beings have some role to play in our society and shouldn’t be killed as infants simply because they are unwanted.

It’s ironic when you think about it. Many years ago I was driving home on a motor scooter early in the morning. I was on a highway heading south towards Toronto and the moon was out so I turned off my headlight as the moon lit up the countryside. Up ahead, I saw about a mile away, a turn in the highway. I remembered that turn when I was heading northward days earlier. There was a cliff at the beginning of the turn. Suddenly I saw a bright light in my face and heard the blaring of a loud horn. I stopped my motor scooter and much to my horror, I discovered that I had driven the mile towards the cliff while I was asleep. My eyes were open while I was driving towards the cliff but I was totally unconscious as to where I was or what I was doing. It was no different than sleepwalking.

A truck driver stopped his rig and he called out and asked me if I was alright. I told him I was so he climbed back into his rig and drove away. I realized that it was his headlights that flashed before me and his horn that I heard. He obviously saw me heading towards the cliff rather than continuing on the turn. If he hadn’t been at that location at that precise moment and warned me of what I was doing, I would have driven off the cliff and been killed. If that had happened, none of what I had accomplished after that would have come about. What is ironic about this event is that the truck driver has no idea that his actions had an effect on the lives of millions of children around the world who are protected by the UN bill of rights for young offenders. Had he been aborted or killed as an unwanted baby and discarded onto a garbage heap, I would have been killed that fateful night and nothing I did after that would have occurred.

I have said it before and I will continue saying. Everyone’s life has an effect on the lives of other people. If you doubt that, then ask yourself this rhetorical question; “Would I exist today if my mother or my father were killed as an infant because they were unwanted?”

National March for life 2010

This is the speech of the main organizer of the National March for life 2010

Cardinal Marc Ouellet speech at national March for life 2010

This is the speech of Cardinal Marc Ouellet



(Courtesy VideoMan Ottawa)

March For Life Day 2 Mass

What a Partial Birth Abortion Looks like

Dear Readers,

In Canada abortion is legal up to the ninth month, this is called a partial birth abortion. I shall let the pictures now speak


Is this really pro-choice? Is murdering and innocent baby a choice?

OH Canada at the National March for life 2010

OH Canada sung at the National March for Life 2010.

Will you stand on guard for Canada or will you just sing it on your lips but never stand for on guard for Canada against abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia.

Speech of Archbishop Terrence Prendegast SJ at the National March for LIfe 2010

The following is a speech by Archbishop Terrence Prendegast SJ of Ottawa



(Courtesy VideoMan Ottawa)

David Little imprisoned in Canada over tax funded abortion

National March for Life 2010 - The Globe and Mail

This is the coverage from The Globe and Mail.

Do read the comments, they will either make you laugh on the floor or weep buckets. Its so nice that we live in a country that has free speech, however lack of intelligence is a serious impediment to free speech.

Some words from our Clergy - March for Life 2010

We support this stance of the government not to finance abortion in countries of the Third World. But we would like some more courage, to do something more in Canada in defence of the unborn," Cardinal Marc Ouellet (*Source Montreal Gazette)


(Cardinal Marc Oulette )

Bishop Nicola de Angelis of Peterborough, also addressed the crowds, saying: “My message is very simply, my friends, just to remind you that God created life. God did not create death. We don’t own our lives.

"We are the custodians of our life. It is up to God to call our life back whenever he decides and nobody can anticipate for any selfish initiative to terminate life.

“Every child that is born is a sign that God is not tired of man. Remember this my friends: welcome children to life," he urged.

“I congratulate you dear friends, particularly young people, so many young people are here,” said the bishop. “Dear friends, and most of all young people, in promoting and defending life, you don’t count your personal costs. … You are always in the front line trenches, day by day, bearing witness for the cause of life.

"May God strengthen you and give you joy in your undertakings.” (* Source LifeSite News)

Some of the Shephers present at March for Life 2010 Include

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa,
Bishop Luc Cyr of Valleyfield, Quebec,
Bishop Stephen Chmilar of the Ukrainian Church in Toronto,
Bishop Michael Mulhall of Pembroke, Ontario,
Bishop John Pazak of the Canadian Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in Canada,
Bishop Brendan O’Brien of Kingston,
Bishop Terrence McGrattan, the auxiliary bishop of Toronto,
Bishop Ibrahim M. Ibrahim of the Catholic Greek Melkites of Canada, and
Bishop Car Reid of the Traditional Anglican Catholics. (*Source LifeSite news)

Pictures of Mrach for life 2010

These are pictures of the March for life 2010 from the Toronto Sun oddly enough the first picture is a pro-abortion picture. As I have said previously the main stream media does us no favours.
(Our Lady of Guadalupe - Pray for us now and at the hour of our death Amen)



(By the sake of Thy sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world)

March for Life 2010 - CTV Ottawa coverage

This is a little snippet from the CTV Ottawa web site:

Thousands of pro-life demonstrators gathered on Parliament Hill Thursday to voice their opposition to abortion and demonstrate the need to pass legislation governing the issue.

"There are no laws on abortion in Canada and we want the unborn to be protected," said Jim Hughes, president of the Campaign Life Coalition.

This article at least calls us by our correct name Pro Life. I do like the tone of this article.

(Jim Huges - Photo from CTV Ottawa website)