National Campus Life Network

September 27th, 2010: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CALGARY – Despite warnings from the University of Calgary administration, members of the Campus Pro-Life (CPL) student group found guilty of “Non-Academic Misconduct” for having set up a pro-life display on campus this past April are once again displaying the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) on the U of C campus. The controversial display compares abortion to past historical atrocities, such as the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. The display is scheduled to be set up between the MacEwan Student Centre and Science B buildings today (September 27th) and tomorrow (September 28th).

“The images are difficult to look at admittedly, we don’t like looking at them either, but the images are only upsetting because abortion is upsetting,” stated CPL President Alanna Campbell.

After the display was previously exhibited last April, members of the group were charged and found guilty of a ‘Major Violation’ under Section 4.10 of the University of Calgary’s Non-Academic Misconduct Policy for “failure to comply with a Campus Security officer or University official in legitimate pursuit of his/her duties” by refusing to turn their display inward. Other major violations in this category include sexual assault, the use of explosives and firearms, and selling illegal drugs.

The guilty verdict was “a formal written warning” that if the students “fail to comply with directives of Campus Security staff in the future” it will “result in more severe sanctions,” wrote Acting Associate Vice-Provost Meghan Houghton, who was the sole decision-maker in the guilty verdict. More severe sanctions can include the possibility of expulsion. The University’s Appeal Board refused to hear the students’ appeal, and members of the student group will appeal the guilty verdict to the Board of Governors.

“This will be the tenth display of GAP on campus. We have always found that this display has a large capacity for healing, educating, and raising awareness,” said CPL Vice-President Cameron Wilson. “That makes this display, without a shadow of doubt worth the cost that the university seeks to exact from us individually.”

The group has displayed its Genocide Awareness Project on the University of Calgary grounds, without incident, nine times since 2006. In 2006 and 2007, during the first four Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) campus displays, the University defended the students’ right to expression under the Charter, but in 2008 the University reversed its policy without explanation. In 2009, the University charged six students with trespassing in relation to the display, but the Crown Prosecutor stayed these charges prior to a trial scheduled for November of 2009. Since then, members of Campus Pro-Life have been threatened with Non-Academic Misconduct upon each display, and the University has found eight students guilty of Non-Academic Misconduct.

“We believe in the effectiveness of the display and we believe in our right to display it. For these reasons, we will not give in to intimidation and will challenge all attempts at censorship. We are proceeding now just as we have in the past,” stated Peter Csillag, CPL Vice-President.

For further information, contact Club President Alanna Campbell at (403) 690-5217, Vice-President (External) Cameron Wilson at (403) 668-9624, Vice-President (Internal) Peter Csillag at (403) 465-1777, or lawyer John Carpay at (403) 619-8014.

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by Theresa Gilbert, NCLN President

High school pro-life activism is growing in Canada and we`re excited to see the enthusiasm! As a result of hearing from and working with so many high school teachers and students, we have partnered with Toronto Right to Life to create a club manual for high school pro-life clubs.  It`s in the final stages – stay tuned to find out when you can order yours!

In the meantime, there are many groups taking on the very important responsibility of promoting the pro-life message in their high schools and Priests for Life Canada decided to issue a challenge to these groups: make the best and most creative pro-life video. The winning club received $500 for their group.

Priests for Life Canada recently announced the winning club: Crusaders for Life from Assumption Catholic Secondary in Burlington, Ontario. Three cheers for them! I know the group and they have been great at getting the word out in their school, community and country.

Check out their video below.  (You will also see the NCLN Person Poster make an appearance!)

by Rebecca Richmond, Executive Director

I had the pleasure of getting to know an amazing young woman named McKenzie this summer.   She shares her story of abortion and healing in the video below, produced by the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.

With the overwhelming amount of abortions in Canada each year, there are an equal number of men and women who are impacted by the consequences of their “choice”.

September 9th, 2010: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CALGARY – The University of Calgary upheld an earlier decision finding eight of its students, who set up a controversial pro-life display on campus in April 2010, guilty of “non-academic misconduct”. A five-person Appeal Board wrote to each member of Campus Pro-Life indicating that they will not conduct a hearing, and that the Appeal Board affirms the “guilty” verdict imposed in May 2010 by Vice-Provost Meghan Houghton.

“We are astonished that they will not even give us a hearing with the Appeal Board to present our case,” stated Alanna Campbell, CPL President.

In April, after setting up the pro-life display on their campus for the ninth time since 2006, members of the group received notification that they were being charged with a ‘Major Violation’ under Section 4.10 of the University of Calgary’s Non-Academic Misconduct Policy for “failure to comply with a Campus Security officer or University official in legitimate pursuit of his/her duties” by refusing to turn their display inward. Other major violations in this category include sexual assault, the use of explosives and firearms, and selling illegal drugs.

“The letters from the Appeal Board do not say who was actually on the Appeal Board or even when they met. It demonstrates the same top-down, unaccountable, closed doors approach that we’ve been dealing with for years,” said Peter Csillag, CPL’s Vice President (internal).

The group has displayed its Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) on University of Calgary grounds, without incident, eight times since 2006. The display compares abortion to past historical atrocities, such as the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. In 2006 and 2007, during the first four Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) campus displays, the University defended the students’ right to expression under the Charter, but in 2008 the University reversed its policy without explanation.

In 2009, the University charged six students with trespassing in relation to the display, but the Crown Prosecutor stayed these charges prior to a trial scheduled for November of 2009. Since then, members of Campus Pro-Life have been threatened with Non-Academic Misconduct upon each display, but only now has the University carried out its threats. The recent guilty verdict was “a formal written warning” that if the students “fail to comply with directives of Campus Security staff in the future” it will “result in more severe sanctions,” wrote Acting Associate Vice-Provost Meghan Houghton, who was the sole decision-maker in the guilty verdict. More severe sanctions can include the possibility of expulsion.

“This is simply viewpoint discrimination and has no place in any institution committed to higher education,” said Cristina Perri, CPL’s Secretary.

The students and their lawyer will issue a statement and be available for comment at 10:30 AM on September 9th, outside of the MacKimmie Library building on the University of Calgary campus.

For further information, contact Club President Alanna Campbell at (403) 690-5217, Vice-President (Internal) Peter Csillag at (403) 465-1777, Secretary Cristina Perri at (403) 808-8142, or lawyer John Carpay at (403) 619-8014.

By Rebecca Richmond, Executive Director

To be honest, I’m not surprised by the news that aid ends up supporting organizations that perform abortions, even where abortions are illegal.  It’s terrible, but not surprising.

These organizations are motivated by a concern for the well-being and the safety of women in difficult circumstances.  But sentiment is not the same as doing what is right.

Yes, women do die from illegal abortions, and we can all agree that illegal abortions are terrible.  Illegal abortions are not safe for women.  (I would argue that legal abortions are also not safe for women.)  But every abortion, whether illegal or legal, is not safe for the child.  Some women, desperate and afraid, die from illegal abortions, but babies die regardless of the legality of the act.  I hate what some illegal abortions do to women, but I hate more what all abortions do to their children.

So instead of making the murder of one party safer for the other, these organizations should provide the support these desperate women need to make decisions that both parties can live with.

By Sara Hall, Maritime Campus Coordinator

Below is the new video created by Lia Mills, a popular young woman in the pro-life community. In this video campaign she explains how some choices are wrong and some are a matter of personal preference. She goes on to show the humanity of the unborn by revealing the illogic of common pro-choice arguments. Lia completes her video by asking the question “Is it possible to be a human but not a person.” She is currently working on a video to answer that very question.

By Rebecca Richmond, Executive Director

A great column by Susan Martinuk appears in the Calgary Herald today on the stem cell debate and the media hype that is clouding the issue.

As she astutely points out,

The debate has indeed resurfaced but, based on reaction by the American media, any hope for real discussion is lost. The debate is still being fought on the basis of erroneous perceptions and, without the facts, there can be no intelligent resolution.

And the facts seem to be that a) embryo stem cells haven’t seen much in the way of successes; b) embryos have to die in order to get the stem cells; and c) these are human embryos we are talking about.  How do they differ from any of us?  (Check out uOttawa Students For Life’s analysis of the differences between the unborn and the born based on Size, Level of Development, Environment and Degree of Dependence).

On the other hand, adult stem cells a) have been highly successful in treatments; and b) are ethical.  No one has to die to harvest adult stem cells.

I’m all for scientific progress, but not when that “progress” costs innocent lives.

By Sara Hall, Maritime Campus Coordinator

The Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS) is encouraging doctors to advise adolescents to use the abortifacient morning-after pill as a “safe” and confidential birth control method. In the statement released by the CPS this month they claim that, “emergency contraception (EC) is an effective way to prevent an unintended or unplanned pregnancy. Teens should also be counselled that the progestin-only method is widely available without a doctor’s prescription across Canada.”  Their statement goes on to say that, “paediatricians, family physicians and advanced practice nurses should consider having EC available in their respective clinical settings to give to teens at risk for unwanted pregnancy.”

The CPS also defends the provision of emergency contraceptives to adolescents and pre-teens in a private and completely confidential manner. They even urge medical practitioners to begin discussing the availability of the drug to girls as young as twelve years old.

Alissa Golob from Campaign Life Coalition Youth called their approach “a recipe for enabling child rapists to continue sexually assaulting young girls behind their parents’ backs.

The approach of the CPS also gives these young boys and girls the false impression that they can continue having sexual intercourse without consequences and/or without their parent’s knowledge.  There is also very little information given to these minors on the side effects, such as an ectoptic pregnancy, blood clots, and the possible abortifacient effect this drug can have. Also, without parental consent, parents will be unable to give their young children appropriate counsel and support concerning this serious issue.

There are two forms of emergency contraception available in Canada.  Plan B, the recommended method of EC for teens, is a high dose of progestin.  It is used up to a few days after sexual intercourse to either prevent ovulation or to prevent a newly conceived human being from implanting in the uterus. To learn more about the Morning After Pill visit: http://www.morningafterpill.org/index.html

By Sara Hall, Maritime Campus Coordinator

If any of our readers follow Sarah Palin, you have probably seen the video, Sarah Doesn’t Speak for Me,  from the group EMILY’s List. The video, though clever and well done, contradicts itself. You will notice they claim to protect their young when threatened, but directly after that condone the murder of unborn children in the name of “choice”.

In Sarah Palin’s response to this video she writes, “The sad part is that the attack comes from other sisters who happen to be on the other side of an issue that has been of great importance to American women from the time of our feminist foremothers, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, down to today. I’m speaking of the issue of life.”

The pro-abortion group who created the video worry that their “cubs” would be denied healthcare under a Palin administration.  Apparently healthcare includes the “right” to kill their own children. So much for protecting their “young”, or particularly their grandchildren.

By Rebecca Richmond, Executive Director

Earlier this summer, Theresa Gilbert and I spoke at a large youth retreat outside of Cornwall, Ontario.  Over the course of two 1-hour workshops on what it is to be pro-life we spoke to about 300 high school students.  The feedback we received following the workshops was very positive.  I remember speaking to several people, both high school students and chaperones, who told us they had never heard the pro-life message communicated in such an effective way, where they felt equipped to defend the truth.  Still, I can never help wondering what happens to some of the young people who hear our presentations.

About two weeks ago I heard from one high school student who attended the talk.  Prior to the talk, she told me, she had been ‘on the fence’ about abortion.  But not anymore. “I know now,” she wrote in a message, “that being pro-life isn’t about denying a woman’s right to her body but instead to fight for the most vulnerable people in our society.”

Here’s her story:

“The reason my mind was 100% changed was because of your talk. I was on the fence about being pro-life because my mom is not. She’s not totally pro-choice either, but she believes that there are some gray areas concerning abortion (such as rape and incest), and that it cannot be as black & white as the pro-life message makes it. I was ignorant about abortion and even as I learned more about it and decided it was wrong, I told myself that I can’t make decisions for other people. I’ve also told myself that even if abortion wasn’t legal anymore there would be more women dying from unsafe abortions. I kept on telling myself anything that would justify not being pro-life, but deep down I felt as if I was lying to myself.

In your talk you addressed all the justifications I had told myself and undermined each one, until I realised that the excuses I had been feeding my conscience were not valid, and weren’t even based on the facts. I decided then that I needed to tell people. I didn’t know what I was going to do, or how I was going to do it, or if I’d even have the guts to tell my mom my plans, but I felt God telling me that this was something I needed to do. When I told my mom, she respected my decision.

When I thought of how I was going to tell people about what abortion really is, I wanted to have it somehow made a part of a subject in school. I figured since the developing of a human life is taught in science class, so should the absolute destruction of that same being. I was planning on talking to my principal to see how I could even get that started. The more I thought about it, however, the more I wasn’t sure how that would work. Would I be able to start that in my school? My school board? Or would I have to reach the really big people: the government? As my answer was leaning to the hardest people to reach, I decided I would have to start smaller. I thought about maybe writing a poem about abortion and reading it to my school at an assembly, but what ended up happening was instead of a poem, a whole play was emerging. The script is evolving into not just a play about abortion, but about teen pregnancy and the many challenges pregnant teens face. It’s still in the works, but… I’m hoping it will be completed soon. “