HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1989-10-10, Page 5Writer replies to abortion letter
Dear Editor:
In response to the letter of Oct. 3,
1989, (Is abortion legislation needed ,
in Canada?) by Judith Allen Q.C.
(?). Judie, please be informed that a
fertilized ovum is a distinct and
separate human being from the
moment of conception.
If you need more enlightenment
on the preceding sentence, just
enquire from your mommy and
daddy. So, Ms. Allen, when you
Kingston group
opposed to
jet -training base
Dear Editor:
We are writing on behalf of an
ad-hoc group in Kingston. We are
opposed to Canadian and NATO
plans to build a permanent base for
low -altitude, supersonic jet combat
training in Labrador. Although this
may seem far away, the issues and
dangers are important for all of us.
NATO's purpose in flying close
to the ground at speeds faster than
sound is to penetrate Warsaw Pact
air defenses. The goal is to attack
communication, transportation and
supply centres in Eastern Europe.
However, the Communist coun-
tries of this region, including the
Soviet Union, now are undergoing
very dramatic, but very fragile and
unstable changes toward democra-
cy, free -enterprise and disarma-
ment.
People on both sides of the crum-
bling Iron Curtain are very hopeful.
Now is not the time for NATO to
prepare new threats against the
people and governments of Eastern
Europe. Such threats only support
the militarists and the hardliners in
Eastern Europe and divert scarce
economic and political resources
from reform to preparation for Warr.
_,�>�,t is ;probably for these very` rea-
sons that NATO is planning to do
this training in Canada: out of
sight, out of mind. However, the
forests of Labrador are not empty
wilderness. About 10,000 native
people called the Innu live there.
They have never given up or signed
away their sovereignty, their land
or their traditional culture.
They have been going to jail and
to court to stop the tree -top NATO
flights that have been terrifying
their families and damaging the
natural environment upon which
they depend and upon which we
depend.
in economic terms, the Innu are a
very poor people. All they have is
the determination that comes from
knowing that they have a natural
human right to belong in the place
where they always have belonged.
They know that their justice is
being trampled by economic and
political interests, but they stand by
the strength and hope of justice.
With only that, their determination
and faith in justice, the Innu must
oppose NATO, the Canadian gov-
ernment,
overnment, the provincial govern-
ment and all their combined legal,
financial, political, rhetorical and
police powers.
The Innu urgently need help if
they are to stop a military base that
threatens their peace, security and
very existence, a base that ultimate-
ly threatens us all.
Our government has been disre-
rding the Innu and ignoring their
rights and wishes for their own
lands and their own lives. For what:
for a military strategy that threatens
reform in Eastern Europe and
world peace generally? for a local
economy that is unstable and
dependent upon political decisions
in another continent?
We ask your help in this David
and Goliath confrontation. Please
urge your government representa-
tive to oppose the NATO base in
Labrador. Rnandal supppe�rt can be
sent to the Innu Defence . Fund,
Atrium Building, 3rd Ploor, 47
Clarence Street, Ottawa, KIN'9g1.
Sincerely,
Ross Hermiston
Eleanor Zegers
Morris issues
building permits
Gerald War4has received a
building permit m Morris ibwit-
p to a new residence at Lot 4S,
on. 1.
George Hamm, Lot 1, Con. 8 and
iI
-Alen Palmer, Lot 3(l, Con.Co
itioth 'relived demolition permits
for editing structures...
state, "Abortion is properly seen as
a matter of health,' whose health
do you have in mind?
The National Association of
Women and the Law had better be
wary if your knowledge of "the
law" equals your procreative
knowledge!
Thanks,
Richard Campeau,
Wingham,
Father and Grandfather
Right to
still requestin
Dear Editor:
In a letter in the Oct. 3 edition of
The Advance -Times, Judith Allen
writes that Canada does not need
an abortion law. Her "pm -choice"
argument that, "Women should
decide for themselves the fate of
their own bodies; their own lives,"
rests on the pre -supposition that
the foetus is not a human being
entitled to protection by the law.
She seems to suggest that abor-
tion is merely a "medical proce-
dure" akin to having a tooth
extracted. In fact, as another lawyer
has recently said, "Genetics and
embryology prove the essential
humanity of life from its embryonic
stage."
Scientific evidence indicates that
the foetus, although dependent on
the mother in several respects, is a
distinct individual whose heart
begins beating about three weeks
after conception and who has all his
or her organs and body systems in
place at eight weeks.
In view of facts like these, this
issue surely goes beyond "a
woman's choice". The unborn child
should be considered as well.
I believe we heed a law protect-
ing
rotecting the foetus. But I agree that law
is not enough. We need programs
that support single parents and
provide adequate day carc for
working mothers and that help
pregnant women in the workforce.
Above all, we need to the
way we perceive the unborn. t
Canada needs is not merely an
abortion law, but a new consensus
that all human life is sacred and
therefore precious.
Yours truly,
Rev john�Viau
8
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