Calgary
Infanticide (7 incidents) and Violation of Civil Rights (7 incidents)
Guidelines set out by the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons allow mothers at any stage of pregnancy — even days or hours before birth — to undergo an induced abortion, particularly if a doctor predicts that the infant might die within 30 days of birth.
Nurses at Calgary's Foothills Hospital were horrified that "genetic terminations" — eugenic abortions — were carried out at Foothills, and that babies born alive after the procedures were simply allowed to die in agony. They were also outraged that they were being forced to participate in these horrible procedures regardless of their personal or religious beliefs.
Infants are not expected to survive a genetic termination. However, a Foothills hospital nurse said that "Lots of babies are born alive. Doctors hope the baby dies before being born, but not all babies do." The nurse added that, although genetic tests are "based only on probabilities, not a guarantee of problems," few women can withstand the pressure to abort which doctors often exert. She said that doctors frequently use powerful arguments to persuade women that a genetic termination is the only possible option.
The nurse cited an example published in The Calgary Herald in June 1999 to illustrate her point. A mother told the newspaper that she underwent a genetic termination at Foothills Hospital in 1998. A routine ultrasound had revealed what appeared to be an abnormality in her fetus. "I was carrying a baby with a death sentence on it," concluded the woman. She apparently felt that her child was definitely doomed, with only the date of its death left within her control.
However, said the nurse, the diagnoses are often wrong. Foothills Hospital's management asked nurses last winter to submit their concerns surrounding genetic terminations after the incident of a "distressing" six-day eugenic abortion. One memo said "When another genetic termination 'had' to be accommodated, this effectively tied up two LDR [labor and delivery] rooms, for an indeterminate period of time, to the possible detriment of women and families with normal pregnancy." The aborting mother was given what was "perceived to be very fragmented care," writes the administrator, adding that since November 1997, the number of genetic terminations has increased dramatically from "one to two per month, to sometimes one or two per week."
Furthermore, hospital memos reveal that nurses "doubt the accuracy and confidence in the prenatal diagnostic methods." One document states, "7 nurses felt there was a huge issue around lethal vs. serious anomalies. They are often willing to participate in lethal anomalies, but not in the 'serious' category. These nurses also identified that the current policy and procedure is woefully outdated, and only discusses lethal, not serious anomalies. There is also considerable anecdotal evidence of cases that have been 'diagnosed' as lethal anomalies that have been born with no anomalies at all." Nurses are uneasy about the "amount and kind of counseling offered" to mothers contemplating genetic termination, a memo reports. "It was felt by a number of nurses that there might not be enough time between diagnosis [of a potential abnormality] and making the decision to terminate the pregnancy."
An article in BC Report Magazine reported that staff nurses reported that some infants survived for minutes or even hours after abortion, with medical staff forbidden to give them even fluids or oxygen. "There is considerable anecdotal evidence that babies [who] have been diagnosed [before birth] as [suffering from] lethal anomalies have been born with none at all," said a hospital memo, obtained by The Alberta Report in June of 1999.
Before leaking the incriminating documents to The Alberta Report, Foothills nurses had tried to discuss their concerns with hospital administrators. They were instructed that all staff must participate in genetic terminations without exception, regardless of personal beliefs or faith. The hospital memorandum, written by a senior administrator early in 1999, stated "It was made quite apparent in the [previous] memo I sent to them [nurses] that the unit must at this time participate in this procedure. Not to do so at this time was not an option."
What was the response of the pro-abortionists to this ghastly revelation? Why, they tried to shut the press up, of course.
In April 1999, the Calgary Regional Health Authority (CRHA) secured a broad publication ban after the BC Report 'blew the whistle' on the horrors at Foothills.
Alberta Report publisher Link Byfield attached copies of the memos to his court affidavit so that the uncensored versions of these documents would become public. Even then, the officially released memos were censored. Blocks of text were deleted, including details of the prolonged six-day genetic termination.
As usual, pro-aborts cited patient and staff privacy as the basis of their censorship. But the hospital memos had no names in them at all, either of patients or staff. A June 1999 news story in The National Post pointed out that "significant information — including the nurses' concerns about potential misdiagnoses — which had nothing to do with confidentiality, was held back" in the documents released. The CRHA's then tried to justify its censorship by saying that the "credibility of doctors" might be harmed. The National Post criticized the CRHA's verbal "acrobatics" in an editorial. It pointed out "At first, CRHA spokesman [Dr. Ian Lange] declared that "therapeutic abortions" are not performed at Foothills, but "genetic terminations" are. Later he corrected himself: No "genetic terminations" had been performed, just "induction of labour for infants with a lethal abnormality." Initially the CRHA admitted to 40 such, er, procedures last year; then they denied them altogether. Then they admitted to 51."
Roman Cooney, public relations spokesman for the CRHA, tried more damage control and diversion. First he accused The Alberta Report of being inaccurate. He charged "Frankly, what most of AR has reported has not been, from our perspective, an accurate reflection of the situation." Mr. Cooney denied that staff are forced to participate in genetic terminations if they find them morally questionable, insisting nurses "have not been forced to do them and they are not being forced to do them."
This is typical of the pro-abortion mentality — everyone must fall into line and think as they do, or suffer the consequences.
In July 1999, the suppression of the press was finally corrected by a new court order, which allowed the media to publish information about eugenic abortions at Foothills, provided that patients, doctors, or staff were not identified without their consent.
But the blustering and threatening of the pro-abortionists did not stop. Foothills hospital administrators and the CRHA have made it clear to nurses that when the informants are found, they will lose their jobs, be labelled "squealers" by colleagues, and face a formal complaint charging breach of confidentiality with the Alberta Registered Nurses Association. The complaint is a serious one; it results in immediate license suspension. So nurses take serious risks when they reveal what goes on behind closed doors on Unit 51 at the Foothills Hospital.
As one hospital staffer explains, "Anyone who gets caught will never work as a nurse again. The CRHA will make sure of it."
Reference: Marnie Ko. "`Kill It to Be Safe:' Foothills Hospital Nurses Warn that Genetic Test Procedures are Unreliable." BC Report, July 26, 1999.
Assault Causing Bodily Harm
Patrick William Coulthard's ex-girlfriend Tia Grahn was pregnant by him, and he did not want the bother of having to support a child. So, like any other pro-abortionist, he attempted to take the easy way out. He demanded that she have an abortion, and she refused.
So, on November 16, 2004, he put on a ski mask and lay in wait outside her apartment in Lethbridge. Coulthard attacked her from behind, striking her at least ten times in the head and kicking her hard in the abdomen three times in his attempts to induce a miscarriage. Tia needed six stitches after the attack.
Coulthard pled guilty to assault causing bodily harm and, on October 24, 2005, the Alberta Court of Appeals sentenced him to prison. Justice Bryan Mahoney said that "She was pregnant with his child and refused to have an abortion. The attack caused great risk to the victim and child."
Tia's baby survived and was born healthy.
References: "Jail for Man Who Beat Pregnant Ex-Girlfriend for Refusing an Abortion." LifeSite News, October 25, 2005; Steven Ertelt. "Canada Man Jailed for Beating Girlfriend Who Refused Abortion." LifeNews.com, October 25, 2005.
Malpractice
In 1996, Lisa Boucher underwent a "routine" abortion at Calgary's Kensington abortuary. After returning home, she felt new contractions, and delivered the head of her child, which the abortionist had not removed. She called the abortuary, but a staffer told her what had happened was "impossible." Kensington executive director Celia Posyniak claimed complications are not common, and that the risks of abortion are explained to potential clients.
Reference: Tony Gosgnach. "Cases Reveal a Path of Destruction Through Women, Children, and Society." The Interim, September 1998.
Edmonton
First-Degree Murder
On November 23, 2005, Jared Eugene Baker shot 19-year-old Olivia Marie Talbot to death in her home. Olivia was six and a half months pregnant, and her baby — already named Lane Junior — was due on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2006.
Baker was charged with one count of first-degree murder, but was not charged in the death of Olivia's wanted and viable preborn child.
Tammy Brownlee, the sister of Olivia's boyfriend, Lane Griffith, was at the same stage of pregnancy when she gave birth to her healthy son. She said "Olivia was over 27 weeks pregnant. To me that baby was more than viable. To me that baby was a human being. I just can't fathom they're not charging him with two counts of murder. "To me, they're getting away with murder. That baby had rights as well. To me, they're getting away with murder. That baby had rights as well."
A few Canadian politicians echoed Tammy's disappointment and anger. Maurice Vellacott, a Conservative Member of Parliament representing Saskatoon and co-chair of the Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus, said that "We cannot continue to exclude vulnerable children from the law's protection."
Vellacott and other pro-lifers will have a hard road in Canada, where pro-abortionists are even more fanatical, heartless and uncompromising than they are in the United States.
Reference: Kristen Vernon. "Charges Called for in Death of Unborn Baby." Edmonton Sun, November 27, 2005.
Second-Degree Murder and Abusing a Corpse
Liana White was four months pregnant with her second child, and was eagerly looking forward to giving birth, but her husband Michael was not so thrilled. On July 11, 2005, Michael White stabbed her repeatedly, dumped her body in a ditch, and then reported her missing. The picture of a concerned husband, he organized a massive search effort that found Liana's partially decomposed body six days after he murdered her.
On July 18, 2005, Michael White was charged with second-degree murder and offering indignity to the human remains of Liana White by dumping her body in a ditch. Police had found two garbage bags at the end of the White's driveway that were placed there by Michael White for pickup. The bags contained blood-soaked cleaning materials Michael White had used to clean up the mess he made, and also contained some of his bloody clothes. Police also found blood in the White's bedroom and in the back of Liana's car.
Michael White spent a few months in jail and then was released on bond in October 2005. A public outcry led to the Court of Appeals placing him back in jail. As always, the judicial system acted with only the highest motives, stating in the decision that "This is one of those rare cases where it is necessary to deny bail in order to maintain public confidence in the justice system."
In Canada, children receive absolutely no protection from the law until they have been fully born alive, because the Canadian Criminal Code defines "homicide" as the act of causing the "death of a human being," and it defines "human being" as a child who has "completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother."
Maurice Vellacott, a Conservative Member of Parliament representing Saskatoon and co-chair of the Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus, was one of many upset by the preborn child being treated as invisible by Canadian law. He cited American and Canadian studies and said that "A pregnant or recently pregnant woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide than to die of any other cause and that's a very scary statistic. "This is about women. This is about children. At the point where women and their pre-born children are most vulnerable of all, we need to do something. ... This was a tragic and violent crime, and my heart goes out to Liana's family, especially her surviving 3-year old daughter. If there is any good that can come out of all of this, maybe it is that it has helped to shed some light on the social and criminal injustices that exist in Canada today. Maybe it will move us to action, to take the necessary steps to bring about greater protection for Canadian women and their children."
One of the studies Vellacott referred to was published by the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System in February 2004. This report showed that women abused during pregnancy are four times more likely than other abused women to experience more serious violence, including being beaten up, choked, threatened with a gun/knife, or sexually assaulted.
He also cited a March 2001 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association which concluded that "a pregnant or recently pregnant woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide than to die of any other cause."
However, as always, pro-abortionists stood ready to challenge even protection for pregnant mothers in their relentless and heartless drive to protect the abortion "right" at all possible costs. Evelyn Reisner, executive director of Planned Parenthood Saskatoon Center, said "My only concern is that it would be the beginning of a slippery slope and that it had potential to lead us down a path that would reduce a woman's right to choose."
Reference: "Police Officer Laments Inability to Charge in Death of Unborn Baby — Canada's Laci Peterson." LifeSite Daily News at http://lifesitenews.com, July 20, 2005; "Liana White Murder Leads to Call for Canadian Unborn Victim of Violence Law." LifeSite Daily News, July 22, 2005; "Pro-Life MP Calls for Change to Law in Wake of Slaying of Pregnant Edmonton Woman." Edmonton Journal, July 23, 2005; "Court Revokes Bail in Liana White Murder Case." CBC News [Edmonton, Alberta], February 22, 2006.
Forced Abortion (3 incidents) and Aggravated Assault
In July 1998, James Gill threw his wife from a third-floor balcony. She suffered broken vertebrae in her lower back and pelvic bone injuries in the fall. Mrs. Gill testified that her husband had dangled their child from the balcony several times. She also testified that during several pregnancies with female unborn children her husband pressured her to have abortions. She went for abortions but didn't want to in late 1997 because she was in poor health. Once, her husband told her if she didn't go for an abortion, she shouldn't return home, she testified.
References: "Husband Made Wife Abort Female Unborn Children." Edmonton Journal, February 10, 1999; Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, February 14, 1999.
Incest and Sexual Assault
A 67-year-old pro-abortionist was charged with incest after demanding an abortion for his pregnant 13-year-old daughter. The man, who can't be identified to protect the identity of his daughter, sexually assaulted the girl in February 2000, police said.
An investigation was launched after staff at a city hospital informed the child welfare office that they had been approached by a man demanding an abortion for his daughter. The accused is charged with sexual interference, sexual assault and incest. Police say he faces a maximum of 14 years in prison if convicted of incest.
References: "Canadian Man Charged With Incest After Demanding Abortion." Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, April 30, 2000; Edmonton Sun, April 30, 2000; "Father Who Sought Abortion for Daughter Charged with Incest." LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, May 1, 2000; Edmonton Journal, April 28, 2000.
Grand Prairie
Destruction of Property
On April 18, 2000, the Campaign Life Coalition Youth (CLCY) sponsored prayerful candlelight vigils outside abortion-performing hospitals across Canada. In many locations, pro-abortion counter-demonstrators screamed, cursed, and used megaphones to shout directly into the ears of pro-lifers. In Grand Prairie, Alberta, a male pro-abortionist threatened to beat up the youths and tore up their signs.
Reference: "Hospital Vigils by Pro-Life Youth Meet with Protest." LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, April 27, 2000.
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