Both parliament and the judiciary are historical products of the human spirit, designed by political and social man to serve man. The state is for the man, not the man for the state. When the life of any human being, born or unborn, innocent of any crime, is threatened by direct unprovoked attack, the judiciary must intervene to serve man…

David Dehler, Forward, The New Canadian Ethic: Kill our Unborn Canadians, 1980

In 2024 it seems that in politics and in the judiciary this service has been reduced to the service of some men to the detriment of the many others, the preborn child, the vulnerable and frail, the elderly, those with disability and those whose lives are deemed not worthy of living, by the individual or others, or the growing number of those who for socio-economic reasons are at the end of their tether trying to cope with life or unmet medical needs.  In the Forward to David Dehler QC’s book above, the Honourable Lionel Choquette, QC describes David Dehler in the following way;

“There are only unique individual persons, untitled, who live and die without fame or fortune, but who still know and value the gift of life and its mysterious Divine Author, because willy-nilly, they, the salt of the earth, still value in their minds and hearts the Judeo-Christian ethic which affirms the intrinsic value of every human being.  Mr Dehler pleads for those who cannot plead for themselves. He is the voice of the voiceless. He challenges the death dealing system of so-called law that encourages further violence in our society by entrusting to the medical doctor – now for a fat fee guaranteed by provincial medical insurance plans – the killing of unborn persons, the destruction of unborn human beings. Yes, killing it is. And the doctors engaged in this sordid affair are indeed as Mr Dehler say, Killer Doctors.”

Over the last 35 years Alliance for Life Ontario has been the voice of its affiliate member groups standing in solidarity with the vulnerable, pleading for protection the preborn, for the little ones destroyed in reproductive technologies and embryonic stem cell research, fetal tissue harvesting and in more recent years on behalf of the frail, frightened suffering who are being made to believe that having a doctor kill them is the only option left to them. We have watched in horror as politicians embrace killing as the answer to everything under the Sun, whether it be fear of pregnancy or abandonment, of disability, loneliness, or disappointment. We have endured as the medical profession abandoned the honour of its profession to embrace killing, via abortion, embryonic and fetal tissue research, or euthanasia. We have stood by as insane ideologies have gripped our society, destroying families, harming our young and confusing and betraying parents. I am certain I am not the only one who believes this insanity must end.

Recently, our Prime Minister more or less told women that he again had their back and would provide birth control pills for free, intimating the same old ideology that women are not strong enough to handle children and a profession. It may be more difficult, but we are women and live life as a balancing act normally. I wonder if it ever occurred to him to ensure “flex times” and “workshare programs”, which are favoured by the majority of working women it appears. Possibly, he could address the systemic discrimination which affects women rising in their chosen profession, precisely because there is a chance a woman might get pregnant? Instead, we are promised free options to have drugs which alter our natural processes. We do not need to be provided with free hormones which negatively impact the integrity of our bodily environment, nor indeed do we require a medical assassin hired by our provincial government, to kill our children by abortion, a “choice” Canadian women do not make freely. In a commissioned 2024 study Alliance for Life Ontario found that 60% of women who had undergone an induced abortion in Canada were either forced or coerced against their own values to have an abortion. It is time that politicians stopped imposing their views on us and listened.  One if five pregnant women may undergo abortion, yet the overwhelming majority of those women did so against their will!  What about their choice to have pregnancy support, oh I forgot our Prime Minister is, it seems, hell bent on closing down the centres who might provide that help.

I wonder if we will see millions of tax dollars poured into unexpected pregnancy help centres, which offer women the options and support they need. Personally, I would not count on that anytime soon given the millions sunk into the Contraception and Abortion Research Team in Canada which we can “thank” for the free contraceptives! A summit held in February 2024 outlined the massive abortion access juggernaut funded by the Government of Canada and Health Canada. It showcased the dubious collaboration between different medical disciplines in an effort to “normalize induced abortion” in nursing, pharmacy and medicine across Canada setting up 5 hospital hubs, creating questionable abortion information, all of course to expand access to what is euphemistically called “abortion care”. I will leave the rest of this discussion for another day, but I feel sorry for any student with integrity and ethics, currently wishing to enter nursing, medicine or pharmacy in Canada.

We can add euthanasia to the medical and political betrayal of human life and note that in just 8 years 60,000 Canadians have been killed by a medical professional here in Canada. In the latest Ontario data regarding what is euphemistically called MAiD 20,828 Ontarians have died. 20,825 by the hands of, as Mr Dehler would describe it, “killer doctors” and 3, by their own hand. In another medical innovation, In Vitro Fertilization, a questionable modern reproductive procedure, circumvents infertility and results in 98.3% of the new living human beings created annually in Canada, via this process, actually die at sometime during the whole process in order that 1.7% may live! Any “spare” human embryonic children may, with consent of the “gamete donors” be used for research or for practicing or teaching the In Vitro technique! Of course we have guidelines in the Tri-Council Policy Statement https://ethics.gc.ca/eng/policy-politique_tcps2-eptc2_2022.html so let us not worry, we only allow experimentation on a human being up to 14 days after fertilization and there are guidelines for using the tissue of embryonic or fetal children.

“In Canada, for an institution to receive research funding from the federal government, a research ethics board must determine that the research meets federal guidelines. The 2018 Tri-Council Policy Statement requires that research dealing with fetal tissue must adhere to standards regarding the collection of the tissue, handling of associated personal information, and consideration of the tissue’s significance to the donor’s belief system. Similarly, research in the U.S. must meet a set of U.S. federal guidelines in order to receive funding. However, these guidelines have become politicized.” https://impactethics.ca/2021/06/11/fetal-tissue-research-and-abortion-related-and-conflated/

We also have guidelines for the use of cell lines which can be accessed via https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/39580.html

  • Giuffrida D, Rogers IM, Nagy A, Calogero AE, Brown TJ, Casper RF. Human embryonic stem cells secrete soluble factors that inhibit cancer cell growth. Cell Prolif. 2009 Dec;42(6):788-98. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2184.2009.00640.x. Epub 2009 Sep 1. PMID: 19732065; PMCID: PMC6495992.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6495992/

 “hESC lines (CA1 and CA2 hESCs) were derived from two separate human embryos at Mount Sinai Hospital, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The International Stem Cell Initiative has characterized both cell lines”

 Also see https://www.science.org/content/article/canada-gives-ok-new-cell-lines

“Canada Gives OK for New Cell Lines

New guidelines permit novel stem cell lines from leftover embryos and aborted fetuses, but stop short of therapeutic cloning”  My highlight

I cannot believe that David Dehler would have foreseen how very far Canada would fall in the 44 years since he detailed his fight to protect the preborn in Ontario, in his book. He quotes Mr Justice Robins on page 45 who noted:

“The law has set birth as the line of demarcation at which personhood is realized, at which full and independent legal rights attach, and until the child en ventre sa mere sees the light of day it does not have the rights of those already born.” This situation must not be allowed to stand, and it is my hope that the entire Canadian pro-life movement will stand with Alliance for Life Ontario to demand that Section 223 of our Criminal Code be struck down and the lives of all Canadians be protected by our law from their biological beginnings to death.

As a final comment, I would like to show you how differently we treat, mammals, mollusks, lichen, birds, flora which are on the endangered list, given that our tiniest of human beings, can be researched upon, body parts sold, lives destroyed for research and actually be created just to train or practice the Invitro fertilization procedure!  I would like us to look at the Ontario Endangered Species Act – there is also a Canadian Act, but I will refer to Ontario for this exercise.  Immediately below you will see section 9 of the Act regarding “prohibition of killing etc.”

Endangered species Act 2007 (Ontario)

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/07e06

Protection and Recovery of Species

Prohibition on killing, etc.

9 (1) No person shall,

(a)  kill, harm, harass, capture or take a living member of a species that is listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List as an extirpated, endangered or threatened species;

(b)  possess, transport, collect, buy, sell, lease, trade or offer to buy, sell, lease or trade,

(i)  a living or dead member of a species that is listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario List as an extirpated, endangered or threatened species,

(ii)  any part of a living or dead member of a species referred to in subclause (i),

(iii)  anything derived from a living or dead member of a species referred to in subclause (i); or

(c)  sell, lease, trade or offer to sell, lease or trade anything that the person represents to be a thing described in subclause (b) (i), (ii) or (iii).  2007, c. 6, s. 9 (1).

For clarity, the list designating endangered, extirpated, or threatened species includes, but is not limited to a Fowler’s Toad; a Greater Prairie Chicken; a Cutlip Minnow; Hungerford’s Crawling Water Beetle; White-Rimmed Single Lichen: Tri-Coloured Bat; Striped White Lipped Snail; Downy Yellow False Foxglove; Four Leaved Milk Weed: Wood Turtle. https://www.ontario.ca/page/species-risk-ontario   https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/species-risk-public-registry.html

We need to find the courage to stand in solidarity with every single human life, never retreating, never compromising and constantly witnessing to our Federal and Provincial politicians, the Judiciary and Canadian and Provincial Medical Associations, challenging them to halt this “unprovoked attack” on humanity and reverse course in fact maybe just treat us the same as an endangered species and quote section 9. Surely, pre-born human beings deserve the same protection as White-Rimmed Single Lichen?

Let us find a new “Solidarity” and “Be Not Afraid”

 References:

 Try-Council Policy Statement on Human Research

https://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/tcps2-eptc2_2022_chapter2-chapitre2.html

Research Requiring Research Ethics Board Review

Article 2.1

The following requires ethics review and approval by an REB before the research commences. Research involving:

  1. living human participants;
  2. human biological materials, as well as human embryos, fetuses, fetal tissue, reproductive materials, and stem cells. This applies to materials derived from living and deceased individuals.

“For the purposes of this Policy, human biological materials include tissues, organs, blood, plasma, serum, DNA, RNA, proteins, cells, skin, hair, nail clippings, urine, saliva, and other body fluids. Materials related to human reproduction include embryos, fetuses, fetal tissues, and human reproductive materials. Embryo means a human organism during the first 56 days of its development following fertilization or creation, excluding any time during which its development has been suspended, and includes any cell derived from such an organism that is used for the purpose of creating a human being. Fetus means a human organism during the period of its development beginning on the 57th day following fertilization or creation, excluding any time during which its development has been suspended, and ending at birth. Fetal tissue includes membranes, placenta, umbilical cord, amniotic fluid, and other tissue that contains genetic information about the fetus. Human reproductive materials mean a sperm, ovum or other human cell, or a human gene, as well as a part of any of them. The term “human biological materials” may be considered, for the purposes of this Policy, to include materials related to human reproduction. The last section of Chapter 12 discusses ethical issues specific to these materials….”

  1. Research Involving Materials Related to Human Reproduction

Researchers who conduct research involving human biological materials related to human reproduction shall follow applicable guidance expressed in other chapters of this Policy. This section provides further guidance for research involving embryos, fetuses, fetal tissue, and reproductive materials. For the purposes of this Policy, the following definitions apply:Footnote 4

  • Embryo means a human organism during the first 56 days of its development following fertilization or creation, excluding any time during which its development has been suspended, and includes any cell derived from such an organism that is used for the purpose of creating a human being.
  • Fetus means a human organism during the period of its development beginning on the 57th day following fertilization or creation, excluding any time during which its development has been suspended, and ending at birth.
  • Fetal tissue includes membranes, placenta, umbilical cord, amniotic fluid, and other tissue that contains genetic information about the fetus.
  • Human reproductive materials means a sperm, ovum or other human cell, or a human gene, and includes a part of any of them.

While research involving materials related to human reproduction has great promise for assisting the development of healthy pregnancies, curing illness, and repairing or rebuilding tissue, it raises special ethical considerations. Accordingly, this research has provoked vigorous debate. Discussion and reflection should continue as our scientific understanding develops.

Significant ethical issues include consent to research involving materials related to human reproduction, privacy concerns, the risk of harm to those who provide reproductive materials, an embryo or fetus, and potential commodification of reproductive capabilities and materials related to reproduction. Researchers and REBs have a continuing duty to remain mindful of the public interest in these issues, and to respect policy, legal and regulatory requirements. In particular, researchers and REBs shall be aware of the detailed requirements and prohibitions set out in the Assisted Human Reproduction Act.

Article 12.6

In addition to requirements in this chapter that apply to all research involving human biological materials, the following guidelines apply to research involving materials related to human reproduction:

  1. Research using materials related to human reproduction in the context of an anticipated or ongoing pregnancy shall not be undertaken if the knowledge sought can reasonably be obtained by alternative methods.
  2. Materials related to human reproduction for research use shall not be obtained through commercial transaction, including exchange for services.

Application

Because of the risk of harm to the woman or the fetus, Article 12.6(a) requires that the use of these materials be avoided where pregnancy is anticipated or ongoing, if research goals may be accomplished in some other way.

Article 12.6(b) reflects concerns about the commercialization or commodification of human reproduction. Exchange for services refers, for instance, to trading a service, such as a medical treatment, for an in vitro embryo or gamete.

Research Involving Human Embryos

Article 12.7

Research on in vitro embryos already created and intended for implantation to achieve pregnancy is acceptable if:

  1. the research is intended to benefit the embryo;
  2. research interventions will not compromise the care of the woman, or the subsequent fetus;
  3. researchers closely monitor the safety and comfort of the woman and the safety of the embryo; and
  4. consent was provided by the gamete donors.

Application

Research potentially altering the embryo by chemical or physical manipulation shall be distinguished from research directed at ensuring normal fetal development. For example, the evaluation of potential teratogens and their effects on certain cell lineages may use early embryos, but those embryos must not be implanted for an ongoing pregnancy.

The Assisted Human Reproduction Act prohibits the creation of a human embryo specifically for research purposes, with the limited exception of creating an embryo for the purpose of improving, or providing instruction in, assisted reproduction procedures.

Article 12.8

Research involving embryos that have been created for reproductive or other purposes permitted under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, but are no longer required for these purposes, may be ethically acceptable if:

  1. the ova and sperm from which they are formed were obtained in accordance with Article 12.7;
  2. consent was provided by the gamete donors;
  3. embryos exposed to manipulations not directed specifically to their ongoing normal development will not be transferred for continuing pregnancy; and
  4. research involving embryos will take place only during the first 14 days after their formation by combination of the gametes, excluding any time during which embryonic development has been suspended.

Application

Research on embryos requires the consent of the gamete donors. The REB may not waive the requirement for such consent. In particular, researchers and REBs should be aware of the Assisted Human Reproduction (Section 8 Consent) Regulations under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act.  https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2007-137/page-1.html