Presentation by Right to Life President at 2025 Prayers for the Unborn – May 12, 2025, St. Anthony Church.

I want to begin by acknowledging that the National March for Life was held in Ottawa, last Thursday, May 8th. As always it began with a rally and speakers at Parliament Hill, then the many thousands of people there, marched through Ottawa. Upon returning to Parliament Hill, the Silent No More presentations were given by women and men who shared their story of how abortion impacted their lives, and their subsequent healing journey, often through the Rachel’s Vineyard program. Many people took part in the Rose Dinner featuring renowned pro-life speakers, and on Friday, there was a full day youth conference. Despite what the media, politicians and society in general say about the pro-life movement, it is alive and well. You can watch the highlights of this year’s March for Life on Youtube – search for “Ottawa March for Life 2025 highlights”. You will be impressed and inspired.

Now a few words about Right to Life Association of Thunder Bay and Area. Last month, we held our 52nd Annual General Meeting. This year’s keynote speaker was Angelina Ireland of the Delta Hospice Society. Her presentation is posted at our website thunderbay.life.

Angelina’s topic was MAiD. MAiD deaths have been steadily increasing since it was first legalized so that now, 4% of all deaths in Canada are by MAiD. While we were preoccupied with the pandemic, MAiD was expanded to those who are not terminally ill, and whose death is not reasonably foreseeable. There was an attempt to expand it solely for mental illness, but that has been delayed until 2027. However, with the recent re-election of the Liberal government, and Quebec’s update of its law to allow advance directives, I am afraid we are going to see an increase in deaths by MAiD in Canada, which are already happening at an alarming rate. In fact, the world is watching in horror as Canada euthanizes its vulnerable people. Canada’s current Euthanasia law is not protecting the vulnerable, and MAID is an option for consideration by people experiencing poverty, homelessness, loneliness, and for non-life-threatening illnesses or whose death is not imminent. In her presentation, Angelina informed us that MAiD is being regularly offered, even pushed – on people who find themselves in the hospital. As Alex Schadenberg of Euthanasia Prevention stated at Parliament Hill during last week’s March for Life, “it is easier to get MAiD than healthcare in Canada”. Angelina spoke of the trends in Canada of increased access to MAiD, including funeral homes having a room to administer MAiD for one-stop shopping – from the MAiD room to the coffin. Delta Hospice Society has created a card and a kit that people can use to protect themselves and their loved ones from being “MAiDed”. Angelina described the MAiD procedure. First they are given a paralytic. Other drugs in the cocktail cause the lungs to fill with fluid. So the person being “MAiDed” may look peaceful, but that is because they are paralyzed and cannot scream for help as their lungs fill with fluid, the impact much like being waterboarded, sometimes for hours. What might look like a peaceful death probably feels like torture.

Infants are also at risk. Canada has NO ABORTION LAW and with abortion not being illegal in Canada, up to 9 months in the womb, it is not a far stretch to allow parents to euthanize a child that was defective or ill for up to a year after birth. This has been proposed by some Canadian politicians.

In September, we brought in Angelina Steenstra from the Silent No More program for a presentation similar to what she does each year at the Ottawa March for Life. 100,000 Canadian babies are lost to abortion every year – almost the entire population of Thunder Bay EVERY YEAR. One in four do not make it out of the womb. It is like an infant holocaust. This should cause us to lose sleep and do everything we can to bring awareness to the situation from all areas in society. A belief in the sacredness and dignity of all human life from conception to natural death is an underlying belief of our Christian faith, so one could argue, churches and church groups must play a critical role and their voices should be among the loudest in defending life.
A recent study commissioned by Alliance for Life Ontario, showed that 60% of the abortions in Canada are coerced – They are against the values and wishes of the mother. 10% are outright forced. That means that of the 100,000 babies killed by abortion in Canada every year, 60,000 of those abortions are not freely chosen.

Last month’s Right to Life AGM saw the election of the new Board of Directors who will meet later this month. We have room for more Board members as well as volunteers. This summer we will install some new and updated billboards on the highway, and I am sure our sign installers would appreciate some help.

Our Newsletter is posted at our website thunderbay.life and will be mailed to members, churches, and organizations this summer.

We will organize the annual Life Chain for Sunday, October 5th, and it is more important than ever to be a public witness for life. Please come out. Our daily ads on UCB Christian Radio will continue to educate the public about life issues. We will continue to support pro-life initiatives by other organizations.

Thank you to all of the Knights of Columbus groups, other organizations, and churches and each of you who support us. We cannot do this important work without your financial and prayer support. We encourage each of you to become a member of Right to Life.

THANK YOU.