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1)    When does human life begin?

a)    At the moment of fertilization

“Human development begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an oocyte to form a single cell, a zygote(original emphasis). This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual,” (Moore and Persaud, 2013, Page 13)

b)    At birth

c)     When the child is no longer physically dependent on the mother

d)    When the child is conscious and self aware

e)     Other______________________________________

2)    When does the fetal heart start beating?

a)     At birth

b)    Somewhere between the 24^th and 25^th week of gestation

c)     Somewhere around 22^nd day of gestation

“Major changes in body form occur during the fourth week…. The heart produces a large ventral prominence and pumps blood.” (Moore and Persaud, 2013, Page 76)

d)    Fertilization

e)     Other­______________________________________

3)    During prenatal development, the pre-born human…

a)     Is a part of the mother

b)    Is completely independent of the mother

c)     Is a unique individual, but completely dependent on the mother until around 22 weeks gestation

“Human development begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an oocyte to form a single cell, a zygote (original emphasis). This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual,” and “There is no sharp limit of development, age, or weight at which a fetus automatically becomes viable or beyond which survival is ensured, but experience has shown that it is rare for a baby to survive whose weight is less than 500g or whose fertilization age is less than 22 weeks.” (Moore and Persaud, 2013, Pages 13 and 94)

d)    Is simply a parasite

e)     Other_______________________________________

4)    The Canadian Law on abortion states…..

a)     All clinical abortions are illegal

b)    Only clinical abortions in performed in the first trimester are legal

c)     There is no abortion law in Canada. Though few doctors will perform late term abortions, abortions are legally permitted during all 9 months of gestation (Morten, 1992)

d)    Clinical abortions are legal only when the mother’s life is in danger

e)     Other_______________________________________

5)    Every year in Canada there are approximately…

a)     2 000 000 clinical abortions

b)    200 clinical abortions

c)     No clinical abortions

d)    100 000 clinical abortions

Statistics Canada 2005

e)     Other________________________________________

References:

Legal Abortion in Canada. AbortionInCanada.com. Retrieved from http://www.abortionincanada.ca/history/legal_abortion_canada.html.

Moore, K., & Persaud T.V.N. 2013. The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology (9^th ed.). Elsevier Saunders. Canada.

Morton, F.L. 1992. Morgentaler v. Borowski: Aboriton, the Charter, and the Courts. McClelland & Stewart Inc. Canada.

Induced abortions, by age group, Canada, provinces, and territories. Statistics Canada. Retrieved from http://www.abortionincanada.ca/stats/Annual%20abortion%20rates%20pdfs/Canada%20abortion%20rates,%201988-2005.pdf.

They shared with us stories of the women they work with and walk with, and gave beautiful insight on how they go about their ministry.

What struck me most was their love. These women radiate love for everyone with whom they come in contact. And so, I have a message for you from YPY, which reiterates our very first blog post, but which cannot be said enough:

You are loved. You are loved regardless of your actions, regardless of your circumstances, regardless of your views on abortion or your opinion of us. You are a person of value and dignity simply by nature of being. Whoever you are and wherever you go, you are loved.

http://martlet.ca/martlet/article/offended-not-harassed/

“We must challenge ourselves to examine the truth of any claim made. Let us ask if ideas are true, not if they’re offensive, and debate ideas in an open, intellectual fashion. This way we will find out false ideas and dismiss them. The truth may sometimes be offensive, but speaking truth isn’t harassment, and suppressing it doesn’t make it any less true.”

University of Victoria Pro-Life Club Censored Once Again

Victoria B.C.-The University of Victoria Student’s Society (UVSS) Board of Directors passed two motions to publicly censure the pro-life club on campus, Youth Protecting Youth (YPY) last night, February 6^th. The first motion was put forward in response to complaints stemming from an event the club held last November called “Choice” Chain and charged the students with violating the UVSS Harassment Policy. The second motion was passed in response to a poster the club put up on campus in October. As a result, YPY will be denied their ability to book public space on campus for their events and is forbidden to hold “Choice” Chain or other similar events. The club is also banned from putting up posters until a new policy is written by the UVSS to govern poster content. The board also ordered YPY to write a letter of apology to groups who were offended by the poster.

“Choice” Chain is a project developed by the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR) and consists of volunteers holding three by four foot signs with graphic images of first trimester aborted fetuses. The volunteers engage passers-by in dialogue about abortion. More information about the project can be found here: http://www.unmaskingchoice.ca/projects/choicechain

“This is a disappointing development,” said Cameron Côté, YPY Vice-President and coordinator of the “Choice” Chain event. “People may have felt offended by the images but that in no way constitutes harassment. If you merely have to claim your feelings were hurt or you disliked someone’s message or way of expressing themselves to find that person guilty of harassment, freedom of speech ceases to exist. While we recognize that some people do not like our message, that doesn’t mean we should be censored.  ”

Campus Outreach Director for CCBR, Alanna Gomez, stated, “The charges of harassment have no grounds. There were no complaints made about the conduct of the students, because they acted respectfully and peacefully. The only complaints were based on the negative feelings people had because they didn’t like the pictures the students were holding. Just because someone doesn’t like a picture doesn’t mean they have been harassed, which is what the UVSS is trying to claim.”

The poster that resulted in the second motion was developed by National Campus Life Network (NCLN), and compares the current denial of legal personhood to the pre-born in Canada with similar treatment of other groups in the past. The poster can be viewed here: http://www.ncln.ca/resources/print-resources/person-poster/

“I thought the UVSS had moved past this type of discrimination and censorship since the settlement of YPY’s lawsuit in July 2010,” said Anastasia Pearse, former YPY president. Pearse currently works as the Western Campus Coordinator for NCLN. “Censorship of the abortion debate at a university is shameful and unacceptable.”

“YPY will not tolerate this ideological discrimination,” said Côté. “We must all demand that our   society be free of discrimination and censorship of minority or unpopular viewpoints. If there is a right not to be offended than we cannot have freedom of speech in this country or on campus.The legal killing of so many innocent human beings is a disturbing topic, but it is far too serious to suppress or ignore.”

###

For further information:

Cameron Côté (YPY Vice President) – 778-678-4275, youthprotectingyouth@gmail.com

Alanna Gomez (CCBR Campus Outreach Director) – 403-690-5217, acampbell@unmaskingchoice.ca

Anastasia Pearse (NCLN Western Coordinator) – 604-365-3484, westerncanada@ncln.ca

I am a clump of cells. I am tissue. I happen to be a collection of cells that comprises an entire individual of the human species. And you know what? So is an embryo. From the moment of fertilization, we are each human individuals. This is a biological fact.

I am a product of conception. So are you. Had our respective parents not conceived us, we would never have existed. Because we were conceived, we began to grow and develop, were born, and continue to grow and develop as we move throughout our lives.

I was once the contents of my mother’s uterus. But saying where someone or something is located doesn’t tell you who or what it is. The contents of my backpack might be a change of clothes, books for school, or any number of other things. We are humans regardless of where we are.

I am pro-life, but that doesn’t mean I’m against the termination of pregnancies. After all, it’s unnatural to be pregnant permanently. Ideally, a pregnancy terminates after about nine months with the birth of a healthy baby. We recognize that some children are born prematurely or with health problems, and that while this may cause challenges for them and their families, it in no way makes them any less human than you or I. Some pregnancies terminate in miscarriage – a tragic but natural occurrence. The only pregnancy terminations I oppose are those that involve the direct, intentional killing of the unborn child.

Calling the unborn “clumps of cells”, “blobs of tissue”, “products of conception”, or “uterine contents” does not adequately explain what they are. What they are is human beings at early stages of development. In simple terms, they are very little babies. But it’s easier to talk about terminating a pregnancy than to think about ending the life of a baby. I want to live in a society where we don’t need euphemisms for “baby.”

(Inspired by this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOm41wZN9C4)

So the big question must be: do we think it was worth it? Yes. Absolutely. Because among all those responses, there were countless people who were open to discussion. Some quite openly disagreed with us, but were nevertheless willing to ask and answer questions and generally carry on a very rational conversation. Some came up and said something along the lines of “Ok, give me your pitch, tell me why you’re out here.” And some of the people we spoke to had never really thought about abortion before. Whether they knew about the issue but had not put enough thought towards an informed decision, or if they hadn’t really though about what abortion really was in the first place, they left having seen the truth, and having been encouraged to spend more time thinking about abortion. Good, interesting, challenging conversations were had throughout both days.

To those who were offended and upset by the display, we can only stress that while we recognize that it is controversial, we also see it as a legitimate way of sharing the truth with people. We believe in judging actions, not judging people, and thus we value people just as much whether or not they agree with us, and regardless of the choices they may have made.

To those who stopped to talk: thank you. It was so good to see openness to considering views outside the mainstream and a willingness to discuss things even though we may have strongly disagreed.

We share with you some quotes that occurred throughout the two days:

 “Wow. I never really thought about this before. These pictures really make you think. I need to think about this more. Thank you.”

“These pictures really put it into perspective. I never thought of it this way before. We’re killing a child.”

Images of aborted human beings AREN’T something we are generally confronted with on a daily basis, but abortions happen nevertheless, at a rate of about three hundred per day in Canada alone. To those who think our tactics are the wrong way of going about things, I ask: if you honestly believed that three hundred human babies were being legally killed in your country on an average day, what would you be doing about it?

http://martlet.ca/martlet/article/language-choice/

If you’re on campus today or tomorrow, you may see YPY members standing with signs displaying images of aborted babies, as well as images of healthy developing preborn babies. More information about the project, “Choice” Chain, is available on the CCBR website.

It would be much easier not to do “Choice” Chain. It would be easier not to stand outside and encourage dialogue on such a controversial issue. It would be easier to keep hidden the images that we know will upset and offend our classmates and peers. It would be easier, but it would be irresponsible.

If someone you cared about believed a lie, what would you do? Would you let them go on believing that lie, even if it was the cover up of the deaths of your fellow human beings, or would you tell them the truth, and face the hostility that might cause? What would you want someone to do for you? Would you rather believe a lie, or have someone love you enough to tell you the truth, even if the truth was shocking and perhaps overwhelming?

Why are we doing this? Why are we standing outside with images that we know are disturbing to look at? Ultimately, because we care about you. We care enough to tell you the truth, even though this truth is one that’s easier to ignore. The truth is that when we talk about “choice” in the context of abortion, we are talking about the choice to kill a human being. This is a choice that ends the lives of around three hundred preborn babies every day in Canada. The idea that abortion is in any way justice is a lie. We hope that you will feel comfortable coming to talk with us about the truth.

Sincerely,

Youth Protecting Youth

Update: A report on the results of the display: http://www.unmaskingchoice.ca/blog/2011/11/09/changed-hearts-and-minds-simon-fraser-university