Young people are key to pro-life

A lot of people thought I was crazy when I moved from Los Angeles to take the executive directorship of Campaign Life Coalition Youth at CLC headquarters in Toronto. I may agree with them when the snow comes, but that remains to be seen.

I made the move to Toronto because I feel strongly that youth will be playing an important role in the pro-life movement in Canada and the world in the next few years. CLC offered me a unique opportunity to be a part of that.

Activism is the key. Currently, Canada has no abortion law. This is a fact that most Canadians never think about. Not only have people forgotten the abortion question, they don't even know what it is. We in the pro-life movement have to wake people up.

CLCY is dedicated to reminding people of the humanity of the unborn and the inhumanity of abortion on the local and the national level. CLCY took part in picketing Joe Clark and the Thomas More Society at the Red Mass reception on Sept. 19 and will be part of the Life Chain on Oct. 6. We will also be present at the CIBC Run for the Cure in Toronto that same morning to supply information on the link between abortion and breast cancer.

We need each and every pro-life young person in Canada to get involved. One of the ways you can do so is to attend a conference sponsored by CLC Oct. 24-26. All of the speakers are exciting, but those in the Saturday sessions will be especially interesting for young pro-lifers. They include Anna Halpine and Sam Singson, both important pro-life influences at the United Nations, and Stephanie Gray, founder of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Reform. All three of these women are well-known and effective activists, despite the fact that they are under 25 years of age. Dr. Chris Kahlenborn's lecture, "Breast Cancer, the Pill and Abortion: The Pharmaceutical Abuse of Women" is an important topic for young women who want to protect themselves and their friends from abortifacient and possibly carcinogenic "medications" that are pressed on them by under-informed or greedy physicians. A special youth session in the evening will provide pizza, an excellent speaker and a chance to network with other pro-lifers from across Canada, followed by a Celtic concert by Ceili Rain.

Another excellent chance to get involved is the March for Life in Ottawa on May 14. Start planning now to attend. The march is a wonderful way to show Canada and our politicians that young people have not forgotten the abortion issue, and aren't going to let it go away. We would like to have as many young people from as many provinces as possible attend, so contact us if you need help find sponsors to help you attend.

I think everyone can appreciate and agree with the words of Pope John Paul II in his homily at the recent World Youth Day Mass. He encouraged the youth of the world to be involved in changing their culture: "The world you are inheriting is a world which desperately needs a new sense of brotherhood and human solidarity. It is a world which needs to be touched and healed by the beauty and richness of God's love. It needs witnesses to that love. It needs you - to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world."

Be witnesses to the love of God and show your solidarity with our unborn brothers and sisters by joining in our life-saving work.

If you are interested in setting up a chapter of CLCY in your school or community, please contact me at (416) 204-9749 or 1-800-730-5358.