National Campus Life Network

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

by Kate Larson

Randy Alcorn’s ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments is a book I’d like to have on hand at all times. I think it should be required reading in high schools and in university ethics, journalism, public policy, and women’s studies classes. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Divided into sections by type of argument, it takes every common pro-choice statement or question and lays out all of the counter arguments. Alcorn doesn’t shrink from his subject matter, but his tone is calm and rational, not hectoring. He relies on a commendable variety of sources; the book contains 789 citations including both pro-life and pro-choice literature, secular media, congressional testimony, and personal conversations with former abortion providers. The last section of the book contains a variety of further resources – appeals to different groups of people affected by, supportive of, complicit in or working against abortion, a section on finding forgiveness after abortion, a list of pro-life resources, sections on chemical abortions and birth control, biblical passages and a bible study lesson on life issues, ways of giving practical help to the unborn and their mothers, ways of communicating the pro-life message, and a sermon and position statement on the sanctity of life that he delivered at his church. Alcorn is a former Protestant pastor and, now, a writer and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. In the book, he makes clear his background, beliefs and pro-life activities. He augments some of his arguments with his own experiences, but never substitutes subjective arguments for factual ones.

I have only two caveats about the book, and they are hardly even that. First, being American, the book refers to American laws, statistics and resources, though I noticed one Canadian pro-life organization in the resource list. That takes nothing away from the usefulness of this book to Canadian pro-lifers, but it would be great to have a Canadian edition with a list of Canadian resources.

Second, the book is difficult to read all at once because the subject matter and some of the information can be depressing. Of course, as the introduction states, it is not meant to be read straight through, but rather to be used as a reference.

All things considered, ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments is an excellent resource for everyone – those who may not have considered life issues at all, those who may have questions, and those who thought they had all the answers, whether pro-life or pro-choice.

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.

Thank you to all those who came to the debate and who helped make it happen. For those of you who weren’t able to attend, watch it here:

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(For more footage of past uOSFL events, see our Videos page.)

See also a recap of the debate, a few photos and a list of debate decliners, courtesy of ProWomanProLife, as well as another take on the Canadian Physicians for Life Students blog.

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 Alana Beddoe
So the school year is upon us and maybe this is the first year you aren’t going back to the grind. What is your role in the pro-life movement now?
Here are a few ideas:
-Get involved in projects with Action Life or Campaign Life Coalition; there are events that take place through the year that need planning and advertising.
-Volunteer to speak in front of high school students.
-Offer to mentor new members in the pro-life club that you were part of.
-Participate in the 40 Days for Life campaign taking place from Sept. 28 to Nov. 6 in Ottawa in front of the abortion clinic on Bank St.
-If you are involved with a faith group, volunteer to steer the pro-life committee.
-Support pro-life organizations financially.
Remember that the people you work with might need a listening ear and someone to explain the pro-life message to them. So stay up to date with pro-life apologetics!

Read the comments at the uOttawa Students For Life website.

This post was written for University of Toronto Students for Life by Blaise Alleyne. It does not necessarily represent the views of NCLN.

Yesterday, I highlighted the excellent advanced pro-life apologetics document from Scott Klusendof, but today I’d like to dig into the other link provided by that Brett Kunkle. Brett pointed out that Alan Shlemon from Stand to Reason posted an excellent resource on responding to common objections to the pro-life argument, including this chart and a video explaining it.

This reminds me of Scott Klusendorf’s five bad ways to argument about abortion (original article). Klusendorf’s article is more comprehensive, but it helps to more to identify the fallacies. Shlemon’s contains a short-hand for how to respond (though, I admit I need to look up some of the short-hand terms that Stand to Reason uses).

Another great tool to have in your Pro-Life Jedi bag of tricks.

Read the comments at the University of Toronto Students for Life website.

This post was written for University of Toronto Students for Life by Blaise Alleyne. It does not necessarily represent the views of NCLN.

Brett Kunkle says it better than I could:

Last week Alan posted an excellent resource on answering pro-life objections.  This week Scott Klusendorf, founder and president of Life Training Institute and pro-life Jedi Master, makes available a 2569 page PDF of his teaching notes on abortion.  Read it and you’ll be prepared to make an intelligent case for life.

Advanced pro-life apologetics training from Scott Klusendorf is something you don’t want to miss. As a side note, Toronto Right to Life is bringing him to town in the Spring as part of its lecture series. I’ll be sure to spread the word.

Read the comments at the University of Toronto Students for Life website.

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

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. “

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

by Dante De Luca

Perhaps some of you may recall a story that was in the news recently, the story of a lady in the small village of Villers-au-Tertre, France, who suffocated eight of her newborn children and hid their bodies in her garage in plastic bags, simply because she “didn’t want any more children” and did not want to get doctors involved.

This story has aroused the horror of the local populace, and rightly so. The lady in question’s next door neighbour has called the events “revolting” and “monstrous”. A lady down the street stated that “We’re really in a state of shock”. Another asked, “How could anyone do something like that?”

These sentiments have been echoed by people around the globe. You can see a slice of the online discussion here — notable comments include “I wanted to throw up a little bit” and “This goes beyond the inconceivable”… not to mention those which are too vulgar to quote on our blog.

What has me confused is that I thought the general populace approved of this sort of thing. Whatever happened to the right of a mother to choose whether or not to bring up her children?  Whatever happened to the right of a mother to kill her offspring if she doesn’t want them? After all, it’s just a baby; it can’t think or do anything on its own. Right?

Right?

Admittedly, the laws on abortion are more strict in France than they are in Canada. But the fact is, I have yet to hear a reasonable defense of abortion of any sort that does not also allow for infanticide. If you can kill someone immediately before birth, why can’t you kill someone immediately after? And if the death of eight newborn children causes such horror, why does the death of three hundred unborn go unnoticed?

So in the end, I have to agree with Fr Robert Meignotte, the curé of Villers-au-Tertre: “I’m thinking of all the children in the world… you just don’t throw children out like that in a garbage bag. It’s inconceivable.”

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 Reita S.

We live in a mixed up world. We always have. There has always been evil in this world. There always will be. But it seems to me that a large part of this evil comes from losing track of the important things in this life.

When people begin to think that their own socio-economic betterment comes above justice for their fellows, then oppression follows. When people forget that religion is meant to bring a message of peace and love, they force it on others with threats and violence. When people forget they were not destined to be kings of all the rest of the earth, then colonialism and slavery result.

Today, we think we have learned those lessons. Today, we don’t believe that anymore. (Or so we tell ourselves.) In Utah, a man faces years in prison over the (accidental) death of a kitten. Animal activist leagues are pushing for a jail term. One activist said, “I think people tend to not think of them [cats] as beings that have a soul and a nervous system. They can still feel.”

So, tell me what kind of society we are that wants to send a man to jail for the accidental death of a cat, but will applaud at the ‘woman’s right to choose’? Don’t people realise that the woman has the right to choose whether or not to kill her child?

How is it that the demonstrated living nature, genetic uniqueness, and ability to feel pain of the unborn child is brushed aside, yet the cat’s ‘soul and nervous system’ should be a compelling argument?

I don’t know why there are thousands of children languishing in inadequate foster homes and orphanages, but people will leave billions of dollars to dog shelters.

I believe strongly in responsible pet ownership. I believe in caring for animals. But at the end of the day, why is it okay to kill a human child at any point of pregnancy for any reason whatsoever, but a criminal act to harm a cat or dog? Why is the human child of such little significance? Can someone tell me the difference?

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 Marissa Poisson

As was announced in July, free infertility treatment will be available in Quebec starting this month, which leads one to believe that infertility is now considered a disease there. Paradoxically, pregnancy also seems to be classified as a disease in the province and throughout the country given the availability of publicly funded abortion. Are the definitions of any other diseases wholly dependent on the circumstances of the individuals they afflict?

As a young woman, am I to believe that if I were to become pregnant now, when it would interfere with my university studies, the sensible choice would be abortion and that if I were to find myself unable to start a family in twenty years, it would be reasonable to expect free IVF?

The incoherence is jarring. Quebec’s politicians stand behind aborting tens of thousands of future Francophones every year yet are poised to spend lavishly to enable women to try their luck at conceiving artificially. Adoption seems to be the forgotten component in this equation; it needs to be encouraged as a viable option for women facing unplanned pregnancies and infertile couples. In the multi-million dollar business of life and death, the cures are worse than the diseases.

Read the comments at the uOttawa Students For Life website.