While George Orwell’s ‘1984’ was a warning, it has become a ‘how-to’ manual of sorts for cultural Marxists. Telling the truth requires knowing the facts and being free to talk about them openly.
The STOP CENSORSHIP TOUR will be hosting events throughout Ontario and you are invited to learn about how the Government of Ontario is actively hiding abortion statistics in order to frustrate the ongoing work of helping women and advancing pre-born human rights.
This event is free to attend and will feature John Sikkema, a lawyer with ARPA (Association for Reformed Political Action) Canada and Mike Schouten, Director of WeNeedaLAW.ca. The event will also feature Pat Maloney, a pro-life blogger from Ottawa who has been fighting for access to abortion data in Ontario.
There will be a financial appeal to support the ongoing efforts of WeNeedaLAW.ca.
Check below for a full listing of events, head to our Facebook events page for more details and to RSVP, or email Cassy Knegt at cassy@test.weneedalaw.ca for more information.
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Local parades are one great chance to spread the message that we need a law to protect pre-born children in Canada, and they happen all over Canada!
A talented and committed group of volunteers up in Smithers, B.C. recently put together an Asterix and Obelix-themed parade float displaying a message of life. They also handed out lollipops with precious feet on them, along with postcards and infographics along the parade path.
This is a beautiful example of seizing an opportunity to engage with the culture. Perhaps this will inspire you to start planning your float for the next parade in your town? We’d love to hear if you’ve done something similar, or have another great idea for grassroots involvement that can spread the pro-life message and open up the conversation about life in your community!
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While valid arguments can be made on both sides of the debate about the use of graphic images depicting aborted children, this article focuses on non-graphic visuals, and words. This could be a sign on the side of the road or a display of crosses in a local farmer’s field. It could even be a window decal on the vehicle in front of you, which, interestingly enough, recently raised the ire of someone who took the time to message us as to the inappropriateness of exposing the truth of abortion to “young readers”.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, it’s going to take a lot of words for us to convey the horror of abortion adequately to our children.
Or is it? We drove past a display of crosses shortly after I began working in the pro-life movement, before we had talked much with our young children about what “pro-life” even meant.
“What are all those crosses for?”
I suppose I could have made up anything, but if our children can’t count on us for truthful information, who will they count on? So I said, “Those are to remember babies who were made but then never born because their parents didn’t want them.”
“What do you mean they weren’t born?”
“Some people aren’t ready to have a baby, or don’t want to have a baby, or don’t want a baby that might have something wrong with it, so when they find out they’re going to have one, they go to the doctor and have it killed so they aren’t pregnant anymore.”
Silence from the back seat of the van.
Tentatively, “Why? Why would a mom want to kill her own baby?”
And then, “Did you do that with any of your babies? Did you want to do that with any of us?”
And then, “Can you still decide you don’t want a baby anymore? Like if you didn’t want Theo anymore, would you bring him to a doctor and he would be killed?”
This isn’t easy material.
But as I stated last week, children understand abortion very easily, and very well. They understand that it is essentially a story of disposable children, and that understandably horrifies them. Talking about abortion with our children is a wake-up call to stop lying to ourselves. I had worked quietly in the pro-life movement for months before I had this conversation with my children. It took only 10 minutes in the car with the music turned down to make me understand the issue more than any book, article, or legal history ever could.
]]>While we all continue to ponder who those other uterus owners might be, exactly, it is important to note that the local newspaper tied the event to a free speech debate. The flags represented the approximately 100,000 abortions happening every year in Canada – not a small number, and something we all contribute to with our tax dollars, so why the reluctance to talk about it?
The focus on appropriate free speech, and the related pro-censorship attitude of staunch pro-choicers, is a familiar paradox. The pro-abortion view can be spread freely and loudly, while the pro-life view is something to be quickly silenced. This shows the lack of confidence pro-abortion activists have in their position, as they are not even willing to talk about it openly and reasonably. If they really thought about it, how could a common, publicly-funded medical service possibly fall under something questionable to talk about, especially at a university which encourages debate and the open exchange of ideas?
I cannot think of any other common medical procedure that would be considered inappropriate for discussion on a university campus, or anywhere else for that matter. There are heated debates in some forums about, for example, the value or vaccinations for children, yet no one fights to silence those debates or threatens action based on stigma or discrimination. We have major community and national events organized around our hearts, breasts and colons, among other things. Surely our uteruses are not so different.
It is great to see the UFV administration firmly promoting intellectual liberty as well as UFV Life Link standing up so openly for the human rights of children in the womb.
]]>As we drive, speak, rally and pray our way through the last week of lifeTOUR, we are struck again and again by the continued lack of awareness regarding Canada’s position on abortion. We’ve said repeatedly that Canada has no laws, but this complete lack of regulation is not yet fully understood by most Canadians. At presentations and flag displays, people are continually surprised to find out what “no laws” really means for Canada.
No laws means babies can be aborted because parents wanted a boy, not a girl. It means babies can be aborted past the point when they would be able to survive outside the womb, as many premature babies do. It means pre-born babies killed in violent crimes are not counted as victims. In relation to the recent Planned Parenthood outrage in the U.S., it means it’s ok to partially abort a baby, harvest tissue and organs, kill the baby completely, and turn around and sell those tissues for profit. It means we can plant 100,000 flags and every.single.one represents a baby lost to abortion in Canada this year. This is what NO LAWS around abortion means, and this is why we tour.
Canada needs to reopen the abortion debate, and make laws that reflect the morality of a majority of Canadians. We need to make a start in recognizing and protecting pre-born life in a way that benefits and values us all. Outlawing sex-selective abortion echoes Canada’s claims to want gender equality. Ending late-term abortions recognizes the personhood of premature babies and the scientific humanity of life in the womb. Recognizing pre-born victims of crime validates the worth of all victims.
We are so thankful we have been able to meet and talk to so many people over the course of this tour, both pro-life and pro-abortion. We look forward to our last few events, and we hope you, our supporters and our voice throughout Canada, can keep the momentum going long past the tour, long past this election, right into the next, and the next. It is only through grassroots mobilization that we can convince our elected leaders first to talk, and then to act. Together, we will make a difference for pre-born children in Canada.
As Life TOUR continues, we get to do it all again with a fresh crew of passionate volunteers, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
These flags represent the great loss of lives to abortion annually in Canada, and their impact can be great. Many conversations are had between volunteers and passers-by, and too many are completely unaware of the total lack of protection for pre-born children in Canada. There is nothing like a visual for people to realize exactly how many babies are dying each year. As long as we as a nation, our leadership in particular, continue to avoid the issue, this will keep happening.
We need to speak up. We need to grow awareness and outrage. We need to build support and understanding. And ultimately, we need a law.
One of our volunteers in Burlington took the time to pen a poem about the experience, which he gave us permission to share here:
It’s Not About Rights
It’s not about Rights
And it’s not about choice.
It’s all about Life…
All those, who have no voice.
Pro-choice has no bearing
On what we see here,
It’s all about Life,
Which we celebrate dear.
These flags that are flying,
Shall commemorate,
Those small Pre-Born’s dying…
How horrid this state.
The scene was arresting,
I’m sure, all who saw,
To this we’re attesting
That “WENEEDALAW”
Then, speak to your neighbour
And urge your MP,
For life’s truth to labour,
That justice might see,
A foothold in Burlington
That you might lead,
Your daughters and sons
To God’s Justice, indeed.
A. Blokhuis
Sept. 30/15
If you’re interested in coordinating a flag display in your area, we’d love to hear from you.
]]>In advance of a flag display last Saturday Fraser Valley East ARPA (Association for Reformed Political Action) sent out a media advisory with some details of why they were planting 10,000 pink and blue flags in the grounds surrounding the Chilliwack Museum.
The Chilliwack Times published an article on their website on Friday afternoon with the headline, “Anti-abortion protest in Chilliwack could face million-dollar fine.” The article, written by Times reporter Paul Henderson, did not address the points brought up in the media advisory but rather was an attempt to discredit the display due to phantom bylaw infractions.
Upon reading the Times article Mike Schouten checked with local organizers to confirm that proper procedure had been followed. Indeed, it had. Fraser Valley ARPA followed all the rules. When contacted late Friday afternoon by Mr. Henderson, Mike confirmed to him that permission had been granted to use the Chilliwack Museum grounds on Saturday, November 1st from 7:00am-1:00pm. Rather than clarify the online article the Chilliwack Times chose to leave it online the entire weekend with the erroneous facts.
The display was set up on Saturday morning and it was a great event! Many excellent conversations took place and nearly all passersby felt it was a respectful display bringing attention to a serious injustice in Canada. Interesting to note that Mr. Henderson did not attend the event.
On Monday, WeNeedaLAW.ca (spokesperson for the Chilliwack event) contacted the Chilliwack Times and requested that the above mentioned article be updated or removed as it was incorrect in its assertions.
Late that afternoon, an updated article appeared and it too is erroneous. The second line states that no fines were issued because bylaw officers do not work on Saturday. We can’t corroborate this, but
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Action Item: Click here to send an email to your MP telling him or her that 100,000 is too many!
Watch this short video and get a sense of what was accomplished.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG9CXyooicg
Check out more photos here and here.
We have provincial displays of 10,000 flags ready for you! Please email us at info@test.weneedalaw.ca and we will get you started on doing this in a community or capital city in your province!
]]>Early bird tickets are on sale from now until September 15, you can save $35 if you register early! Scroll down for the poster and to download your own copy to register.
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This event is for anyone interested in pro-life work, for people who live in (or want to travel to) the Okanagan Valley, for those affected by abortion and for all Christians in the area to get involved and bring about an end to this injustice and healing to those adversely affected.
Tickets are available at:
Tickets for conference admission and lunch are $25 and available at the above locations until September 30. Alternatively, you may pay at the door for $15 (however this will not include a lunch). Youth 19 and under will be admitted at no cost.
Join the facebook event here and let your friends know you’re going. You can also share the poster by clicking on the link at the end of this article and saving a copy to your computer.
