Take 500 people from across Canada representing a cross-section of society and various parts of the cultural mosaic. Bring in a number of experts from fields including law, medicine, pharmacy, politics, media, social research, international affairs, disabled rights, counselling and spirituality to speak to them on a number of cutting-edge topics including new reproductive technologies, euthanasia and the RU-486 abortion pill. Have it all happen in Canada's largest city and, arguably, its media capital.

A newsworthy event? You would think so. At least, that was the case when the 1999 National Pro-Life Conference: Save the Planet's People First, took place in Toronto in November. Nonetheless, and perhaps to no one's surprise in the pro-life movement, the conference garnered absolutely no - that's right, no - coverage in the mainstream media.

Oh, the usual suspects were there as before - the religious press and some of the smaller pro-family publications. But when it came to those outlets that had the real ability to relay what happened to the masses at large - the Stars, the Globe and Mails and the CBCs of the world - they were nowhere to be seen.

The pro-life movement seems to have become enured to such occurrences. Perhaps it has happened so often and been so blatant that no one really notices - or cares- anymore. Perhaps there is a sad resignation to the fact that the mainstream media have in recent decades been shockingly anti-family and anti-life (as numerous scholarly studies have proven), and relief is nowhere in sight.

Nonetheless, its worth keeping in mind that it wasn't always this way. As Marvin Olasky so brilliantly recounted in his book on the history of abortion coverage and the media, at one time abortionists and their cohorts were seen by, and depicted in, the press as just the sort of people pro-lifers now see them as: criminals, takers of human lives, usually on large scales, and bottom-feeders in the medical profession. It really wasn't until the massive social and cultural upheavals of the 1960s that the pendulum swung way in the other direction, and abortionists - as opposed to being ostracized as they should have been - were now seen in the press as quasi-heroes, warriors and pioneers in a relentless battle against the "oppressive" forces of morality, church, family and responsibility.

That it is has become so doesn't mean it always has to be this way. If the pendulum swung in one direction it can, sure enough, swing back to where it started. However, that won't happen until pro-lifers, people of conscience - indeed, common Canadians - take the initiative and call the media to account, just as surely they do politicians.

The media can hide behind the skirt of "freedom of the press" for only so long. In the end, they will have to be told to come out, come out from wherever they are, and be accountable for what they do. And that is as it should be.

A couple of weeks prior to the National Pro-Life Conference, the Globe and Mail ran a sickeningly self-aggrandizing and egotistical piece by none other than the grandstander and hypocrite par excellence, Henry Morgentaler himself. In it, he congratulated himself on why he will not back down in the face of alleged threats and terror waged against him.

Somehow, this emotional tirade was deemed more newsworthy than a reasoned and intelligent examination of real issues related to human life by numerous experts and conscientious Canadians at the pro-life conference. Is it any wonder that the Globe and Mail is on the ropes in the face of intense competition from the upstart National Post?

A man once said, "No news is better than lies." To which we can only respond with a hearty "Amen." Let's not allow ourselves to be resigned to the fact that there will always be a media blackout on pro-life issues. It wasn't that way before and it doesn't have to be that way in the future. Our silence in the face of distorted and biased coverage will only encourage more of the same.

Write that letter to the editor, or better yet, call him or her up. Take them to task when they give the pro-life and pro-family viewpoint the short end of the stick once again.

Maybe they'll think twice the next time around. And maybe, when the National Pro-Life Conference 2000 comes up, they won't be able to ignore it - even more, maybe Henry Morgentaler won't get another puff piece.