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OTTAWA - When Ottawa Auxiliary Bishop Christian Riesbeck became the pastor of a parish in Houston, he came face to face with a difficult pastoral challenge — the pregnancy of a young girl.

OTTAWA - After failed attempts in the past by Conservative MPs to reopen the abortion debate, the Liberals and New Democrats have re-ignited the issue with policy initiatives that promote an abortion agenda.

TORONTO - In an open letter to Justin Trudeau that upholds the important role of faith and conscience in politics, Cardinal Thomas Collins has urged the Liberal leader to rescind his party's unprecedented ban on pro-life supporters.

DUBLIN - Pro-life campaigners in Ireland vowed to work for the repeal of a controversial abortion law introduced in 2013.

Pro-life activists are branding Justin Trudeau as a pro-abortion, anti-family Catholic politician committed to maintaining a legal vacuum around abortion.

RICHMOND HILL, ONT. - The pro-life movement is spreading in the halls of St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School.

Trent University������Ƶapp student union has denied club status to the pro-life student group Trent Lifeline.

TORONTO - Armed with graphic posters depicting abortion, information pamphlets and unified voices, about 20 pro-lifers gathered on the sidewalk outside Innis Town Hall on the University of Toronto campus Jan. 28 to protest the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court������Ƶapp Morgentaler decision.

For the second consecutive day pro-life supporters in Sudbury, Ont., are protesting the Dec. 21 appearance of Liberal leadership hopeful Justin Trudeau at St. Charles College.

OTTAWA - For pro-life activists Ruth Lobo Shaw and her husband James Shaw, a new baby last August only strengthened their willingness to put even their livelihoods on the line.

In the face of an impending lawsuit, the student union at Langley, B.C.'s Kwantlen Polytechnic University has relented and will confer club status on a campus pro-life group.

DUBLIN - Thousands of pro-life demonstrators held a candlelight vigil outside the Irish parliament Dec. 4, calling on the government not to introduce abortion legislation.

DUBLIN (CNS) -- An Irish bishop and pro-life activists insisted that any legislation to provide abortion in limited situations would inevitably lead to widespread abortion.

A new study by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom (JCCF) found that many Canadian university campuses may embrace the principle of free speech but in practice give it a rough ride.

Some campuses received an “A” for their written policies and statements about free speech, but a far lower grade for implementing those policies and settling disputes. To anyone who has watched the treatment of university pro-life clubs in the past decade or so, the findings were not surprising but only confirmed the extent of the problem and pointed to where it could lead.

The JCCF������Ƶapp Campus Freedom Index rated the policies of university administrations and student unions based on whether they supported and protected free speech on campus. The study also reviewed human rights policies and anti-discrimination policies to determine if they were being used to censor politically incorrect speech. Higher grades went to universities that had a clear anti-disruption policy that prohibited students and others from blocking, obstructing, suppressing or interrupting speech with which they disagree. The Index also examined policies governing the imposition of “security fees” as a means to discourage groups from inviting controversial or unpopular speakers to campus.

Among incidents with religious overtones, members of Carleton University������Ƶapp pro-life club were arrested, handcuffed and charged with “trespassing” for attempting to express their views in a high-traffic area on campus. Simon Fraser University and the University of Calgary were both censured in the report for condoning the physical obstruction of pro-life displays on school property after campus security watched passively as the peaceful expression of opinion was made meaningless by obstructers using sheets and blankets to cover the message. The University of Western Ontario, University of Toronto and Carleton demanded that campus pro-life clubs confine their messages to isolated rooms, a restriction not placed on any other campus club, while St. Mary������Ƶapp University forced the cancelation of a pro-life lecture by failing to provide adequate security to allow listeners to hear the presentation.

The survey also studied university policies on Israel Apartheid and inviting controversial political speakers on campus. In a National Post report on the findings, study co-author John Carpay, president of JCCF, said that while pro-life groups seem to be a “current target” on campus, in future it could be some other group that doesn’t fit with the popular view of the day.

An incident not included in the study suggests that day may be closer than we think. As reported in the Oct. 28 issue of The Catholic Register, a Catholic chaplaincy program at Brock University has faced harassment due to ties to the Sodalit movement, which a women������Ƶapp studies professor claimed was affiliated with “far right” and “cult-like” Catholic organizations in Peru. Despite a ruling from Brock������Ƶapp administration that the accusations are unfounded and the relationship between the university and SEA has been beneficial to the university, incidents of harassment continued, including an episode where a fundraising event was shut down by hecklers. The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal subsequently dismissed a claim of religious discrimination against the professor, ruling that her actions fell within the realm of academic freedom. (The CCRL had an advisory role in the case at the request of one of the volunteer chaplains.)

The tribunal������Ƶapp assertion that the professor������Ƶapp actions do not constitute religious discrimination is certainly arguable; harassment took place and it������Ƶapp impossible to see any basis for it other than religious affiliation. Some of the academics who opposed the chaplaincy initiative stated their case more plainly when they declared point-blank at a rally in 2011 that they don’t want organizations with religious ties offering any work programs or volunteer experiences on campus.

Given the very strong relationship between religious belief and philanthropy, it������Ƶapp hard to imagine where those volunteer opportunities will come from if organizations with religious ties are excluded. We have been witnessing an ongoing marginalization of religion in public life for several decades, so it������Ƶapp quite possible that religious groups will be deemed to no longer fit with popular notions of who belongs on campus. Only a vigourous defence of campus free speech now — including the right to express ideas Catholics may dislike — will help prevent that from happening.

TORONTO - Political lobbying is not just about what you say, it������Ƶapp how you say it, according to a pair of Conservative MPs. That was just one of the tips Stephen Woodworth and Brad Trost gave to those attending the National Pro Life Conference.

“Although I am in Parliament, I happen to believe that the world does not stop and end inside the House of Commons,” said Woodworth, MP for Kitchener Centre. “The real important work that needs to be done is outside the chamber of the House of Commons.”

Much of this has to do with language and scope, Woodworth told those attending the third and final day of the conference hosted by Alliance for Life Ontario in Toronto Oct. 25-27.

Woodworth said too many MPs are pre-occupied with the word abortion. By adjusting the language and widening the scope of the message, the pro-life movement will garner more support by avoiding sensitive words — something Woodworth admits is easier said than done.

“People don’t necessarily take away from words the meaning that I take away from them,” Woodworth said. “We have members of Parliament who are actually suggesting, in relation to Motion 312, that the Prime Minister should have a veto over the independence of backbench MPs.”

Woodworth said some MPs “couldn’t see the democratic tradition and the value of backbench independence” and “they were willing to sacrifice because of their pre-occupation with the word abortion.”

Although Motion 312 — Woodworth������Ƶapp motion for a debate on when life begins — did not mention the word abortion, it led to its failure.

But Woodworth does not completely blame the failure on those MPs pre-occupied with abortion — pro-lifers are at fault too for not being able to adapt how they communicate their message.

“If you simply go in with your truth and you fail to recognize the truths that others are concerned about, you won’t make that connection, you won’t develop that relationship and you won’t be listened to,” he said. “If you cannot convince someone that a child is a human being before birth you are not going to convince them about abortion.”

While Woodworth focused heavily on how to convey the message, Trost addressed how to understand a politician������Ƶapp position on the pro-life cause.

“The weakest link in Canada������Ƶapp pro-life movement has been political,” said Trost, MP for Saskatoon-Humboldt. “In Canada we know the political aspect is very important and the political aspect needs to change and evolve and we need legislation to start moving it forward.”

As a Liberal turned Conservative, but a constant pro-life supporter, Trost cautioned the audience to never assume which way a politician will vote.

“People don’t actually know what they’re voting for or what they’re voting on (when electing politicians),” said Trost.

“Politicians can do one thing in Ottawa and another thing in the constituency. People are shocked when they find that out.”

He continued by stressing the importance of checking an MP������Ƶapp voting records to see who stands strongly on either side of the issue, but also exposes those in the middle who’d be easier to influence.

“If you don’t know where your MP has voted, get involved, talk to them. A lot of these people who have come in from professional careers may not have fixed views. "