National Campus Life Network

National Campus Life Network is pleased to announce that we have hired additional staff for two new positions within the organization.  The new full-time Central Campus Coordinator will work directly with the Ontario campus clubs and the part-time Western Assistant will strengthen our Western Office. These positions will allow us to more effectively support the pro-life message on Canadian campuses and have a greater impact on Canadian campuses.

Clarissa Luluquisin, who graduated from the University of Toronto in 2011, will be taking on the new Central Campus Coordinator position.  As the former President of the U of T Students for Life, she is enthusiastic about her new role supporting students across the province.  Since graduation she has also been active in volunteering for Toronto Right to Life and NCLN.

Kathleen Dunn, a recent graduate from Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, is our new Western Assistant, and will be working part-time in B.C. with Anastasia Pearse, our Western Campus Coordinator.  Kathleen was the President of the Academy’s Pro-Life club for the past two years and also assisted in the coordination of last year’s De-Fund Abortion Rally in Toronto.  A recording artist, she has performed for events across Canada, including the National March for Life.  This upcoming school year Kathleen will be studying Theology at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C.

The Assistant position was created to support Anastasia Pearse, who, along with her position as Western Campus Coordinator, will be starting a Masters in Leadership at Trinity Western University.  The Masters in Leadership program will equip Anastasia to support the continued strategic growth of NCLN.

Your help is needed

Both new positions are dependent on successful fundraising on the part of the new staff, and Kathleen and Clarissa will be looking for individuals to join them in their work as part of their support teams.  Please consider joining their support team by making a donation today.  Your support will lead to a stronger pro-life presence on campuses across Canada!

Filmed at NCLN’s 4th Annual Life & Justice Pro-Life Student Dinner on May 10th.

The video pretty much speaks for itself.

Last fall, we wrote about ‘the Pridgen Precedent’, or the ruling made by Madam Justice J. Strekaf in Pridgen v. University of Calgary.  John Carpay’s recent article gives a good refresher on the case.  This ruling was not about pro-life students or even abortion at all, but the ruling would, we wrote, set a positive precedent for our pro-life students.  Why?  Because the ruling stated that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms DOES, in fact, apply to universities.  And this means that the freedom of speech of students is protected on campus.

The University of Calgary appealed the decision but, last week, the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the ruling.

John Carpay, who is also the lawyer for the University of Calgary’s Campus Pro-Life group, wrote a column in the National Post regarding the decision.  He wrote:

If universities were private, they would not be engaging in “government action” so as to invite the Charter’s application. But when the University of Calgary obtains over $600 million from taxpayers each year by claiming to be a forum for free expression for all people and for all views, it forfeits its right to censor speech it dislikes. Holding the U of C to account, as this court ruling does, is good news for students and for taxpayers.

In particular, this precedent will help the students in Ontario and Alberta who have taken Carleton University and the University of Calgary to court in regard to the censorship of pro-life viewpoints. But that is a subject for another column.

This is certainly a victory for not just the Pridgens, but also for students nationwide.

This post was written for uOttawa Students For Life by uOttawa Students For Life. It does not necessarily represent the views of NCLN.

Not according to the evidence:

A peer-reviewed study published last week examines 50 years of data and concludes that the trajectory of maternal mortality in the South American country has consistently declined, decreasing from 293.7 in 1957 to 18.2 in 2007 (per 100,000 live births). That’s a decrease of 93.8%, which constitutes a major success story measured in women’s lives.

Yet Chile outlawed abortion in 1989.

Chile didn’t just place small restrictions on abortion — it outlawed abortion without exception, including in instances of rape or for the health of the mother. And since many neighbouring countries also restrict abortion, there’s no real reason to believe Chilean women are travelling outside Chile to get abortions.

Even so, maternal mortality continued to decline after the abortion ban, including deaths related to abortion.

Read the comments at the uOttawa Students For Life website.

This post was written for uOttawa Students For Life by uOttawa Students For Life. It does not necessarily represent the views of NCLN.

Not according to the evidence:

A peer-reviewed study published last week examines 50 years of data and concludes that the trajectory of maternal mortality in the South American country has consistently declined, decreasing from 293.7 in 1957 to 18.2 in 2007 (per 100,000 live births). That’s a decrease of 93.8%, which constitutes a major success story measured in women’s lives.

Yet Chile outlawed abortion in 1989.

Chile didn’t just place small restrictions on abortion — it outlawed abortion without exception, including in instances of rape or for the health of the mother. And since many neighbouring countries also restrict abortion, there’s no real reason to believe Chilean women are travelling outside Chile to get abortions.

Even so, maternal mortality continued to decline after the abortion ban, including deaths related to abortion.

Read the comments at the uOttawa Students For Life website.

Pro-Life Rally in Victoria to “Speak for Life.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On May 10th, Pro-Life British Columbians from across the province will march to the Legislature in the 5th Annual March for Life in Victoria.  With the abortion issue receiving such prominent attention in the media lately, organizers expect a large turnout this year.  This year’s theme, “SPEAK UP FOR LIFE,” challenges all British Columbians to raise their voice for the protection of the lives of the unborn.

Recent news stories about gender selection abortion and designer babies, and the current Parliamentary Motion calling for a committee to review the Criminal Code’s definition of a human being, have all drawn much needed attention to this issue. “The attention these issues have received, and polling data results, clearly show that Canadians are concerned by the complete lack of restrictions on abortion,” said March for Life media spokesperson, Anastasia Pearse.

“Our intention here today is to peacefully and prayerfully bring attention to the victims of abortion in our province,” she added. “We want to raise awareness and ask people to think before they choose abortion. They need to know the facts and be fully informed of all of the risks before they make these life changing decisions.”

The March for Life is organized to be a celebration of lives saved as well as a commemoration of lives lost. In BC, despite a severe lack of transparency in abortion record keeping, it is estimated that over 14,000 abortions are performed every year. “As tax-paying citizens, our money is being used to fund these abortions,” states Pearse. “We are marching today to speak out against this atrocity, to speak up for those 14,000 British Columbians who never had the chance to speak for themselves. We cannot remain silent when so many lives are at stake.”

This year’s March for Life is part of a national day of marches across the country. The BC March is co-sponsored by the Knights of Columbus BC & Yukon State and Campaign Life Coalition British Columbia. The March begins at 2:00pm in Centennial Square.

For more information, contact:

Anastasia Pearse,

March for Life Media Relations

westerncanada@ncln.ca

604-365-3484

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Tomorrow, tens of thousands of pro-lifers from across Canada will march for life, assembling at their provincial and national legislatures in protest of the injustice of abortion. NCLN and its students will be at many of these events.

There were over 15,000 gathered at last year’s National March for Life in Ottawa, and NCLN hopes to see even more at this year’s event. You can find the NCLN group on the right lawn – look for our banner or that of uOttawa Students for Life! After the March there are many other events to be involved in. NCLN is hosting our annual student dinner, which is SOLD OUT! If you didn’t get a ticket this year, don’t worry, there is always next year! Executive Director, Rebecca Richmond is also speaking to hundreds of students at the youth conference on Friday.

If you are unable to attend the National March, there are regional Marches across the country that may be closer to home for you. Visit Campaign Life Coalition to find out where the March for Life is taking place in your community.

NCLN will also have a presence in two other locations. Sara Hall, as the Maritime Campus Coordinator, will be in Halifax to speak at their March, and at the other end of the country, Anastasia, our Western Campus Coordinator, will be speaking to the crowds at the March for Life in Victoria, BC. If you can find us at any of these three locations come say “Hi” – we would love to meet you!

http://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/index.php?p=Regional_marches

This post was written for uOttawa Students For Life by uOttawa Students For Life. It does not necessarily represent the views of NCLN.

Be there:

If you would like to march with us, we will be meeting at noon on Parliament Hill on the right lawn (in front of East Block) by the Centennial flame. Watch for our big banner!

The full schedule of events is available here.

Also, hurry up and buy your tickets for the NCLN dinner.

And for budding videographers:

Read the comments at the uOttawa Students For Life website.

This post was written for uOttawa Students For Life by uOttawa Students For Life. It does not necessarily represent the views of NCLN.

Be there:

Drop us a line at uottawastudentsforlife@gmail.com if you would like to march with us!
The full schedule of events is available for download as a brochure.
Also, hurry up and buy your tickets for the NCLN dinner.

And for budding videographers:

Read the comments at the uOttawa Students For Life website.

This post was written for uOttawa Students For Life by uOttawa Students For Life. It does not necessarily represent the views of NCLN.

by Angela Hardy

“Le foetus n’est pas un parasite” – “The fetus is not a parasite,” our professor reminded us over and over again during the pre-natal lecture of our life cycle nutrition course here at the University of Ottawa.

This parasitic notion of pregnancy is disconcerting at best, but the fact remains that there have previously been misunderstandings surrounding the distribution of nutrients and energy to the fetus during a pregnancy. The medical definition of parasite is compound, i.e. a definition with two necessary parts. It implies not only that an organism is “living in, with, or on another organism” – a point that would apply in the case of a fetus, but also that that existence entails a degree of harm or is a detriment to the host, i.e. a parasite as a cause of disease.1 The parasitic notion of pregnancy is based on the misconception that the needs of the fetus take precedence over those of the mother, thus putting the mother at risk of inadequate amounts of energy and nutrients. For any human being, an inadequate absorption of nutrients is at the root of many diseases and health complications. If the precedence of the fetus were the mechanism at play during pregnancy, there would be a possibility that the presence of the fetus were causing a degree of harm to the mother, and the argument for a parasitic notion of pregnancy could be re-assessed. However, this phenomenon has been scientifically disproven.

The nutritional status of a pregnant woman is determined first and foremost by the foods and supplements that she ingests. Her needs are fulfilled prior to the allocation of nutrients to the fetus. Some very interesting studies on this topic have been conducted based on the statistics of the Dutch famine of 1944-45. The disruption in the nutritional status of the mothers was, on average, no more severe than that of other non-pregnant women who lived through the famine. However, the adverse effects on the fetuses carried by these pregnant women had long-term consequences which are under study to the present day. Even at critical windows of fetal development, the required nutrients were not delivered to the fetus until the mother’s requirements had been fulfilled. Many consequences have been identified as a result of the allocation of nutrients to the bodies of pregnant mothers before the children in their wombs.2, 3

So what does all this mean to the pro-life cause? Is the fact that the fetus is not a parasite one more set of attestable facts we can add to our reserve of pro-life apologetics? Does it boil down to the reassurance that science is “on our side”? Although these and many other compelling facts about fetal development are invaluable to the movement, the bare truth remains that abortion is not only about facts. It is about people. It is about human beings. Most specifically, it is about two human beings – a woman and the child within her womb. When a woman finds herself in a crisis pregnancy situation, it is not likely Dutch famine statistics and nutrient battles that overwhelm her thoughts. It is the stress of her present situation, the undeniable attachment to her child, and the questions about the future of herself and her child. She may be struggling with very real personal difficulties, to which we may or may not be able to relate. As pro-lifers, we must not judge and condemn, but rather offer our compassion and support. The real and ultimate goal of our efforts is that mother and baby will both make it through those nine months – alive!

1 Parasite. Merriam-Webster Dictionary online
2 Prenatal nutrition and the human fetus. Nutr Rev. 1971 Sep;29(9):197-9.
3 Effects of prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine on adult disease in later life: an overview. Twin Res. 2001 Oct ;4(5):293-8.

Read the comments at the uOttawa Students For Life website.