Parents Sue BC Hospital for Refusing to Kill their Daughter
The Story: St. Paul’s Hospital, a Catholic healthcare institution in British Columbia which does not permit assisted suicide, is being sued by the parents of a former patient who transferred to a different facility to be euthanized. The parents claim that the transfer violated their daughter’s “constitutional right” to her “choice of religion” and to suicide.
St. Paul’s recently entered into an agreement with their health region to transfer patients who wish to end their lives to a different facility, but her parents say that is not enough as it still “stigmatizes” patients because “you’re being told what you’re requesting is sinful.”
The Significance: Nothing stings the guilty conscience more than the witness of one who refuses to join in their sin. All the laws of the land bend to them, the celebrities and art celebrate them, and the media plays the cheerleader. Nevertheless, a single witness of goodness, truth, and beauty condemns them—not in a court of law but in the court of their own conscience.
In Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky said, “the man who has a conscience suffers whilst acknowledging his sin. That is his punishment.” Much like Raskolnikov, the main character of that masterpiece, all of us sinners quickly learn that there is no escape from conscience and the moral law that informs it. We, like the parents of that poor woman, are left to choose between hiding our shame with a fig leaf or embracing the Cross and all it represents. Let us choose wisely.
Read More: Susan Lazaruk, The National Post, “Parents sue after B.C. hospital transfers daughter to hospice for assisted death”
Italian Prime Minister Prevents G7 Abortion Commitment
The Story: Overtly pro-abortion language will not appear in the G7 summit communique after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni won a diplomatic showdown. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron spearheaded efforts to include a commitment to ensuring “safe and legal abortion” in the communique, but Meloni, who openly ran on her Christian identity in the most recent elections, stood alone against its inclusion.
The final wording instead makes references to “reproductive health,” a term that is often used as a euphemism for abortion but is also more generally used for pregnancy and pre-pregnancy healthcare.
The Significance: Christians should celebrate Meloni’s stand as a victory, but with the understanding that it bears more resemblance to the heroism of Horatius at the bridge than Julius Caesar’s Gallic conquest. We have gained no significant ground and changed few if any minds, but Meloni did hold back the advance of anti-life ideology.
As Canadians, we ought to be ashamed of the leading role our country has taken in the promotion of modern-day child sacrifice. Like the ancient Israelite sacrifices to Moloch, this is a mark against all of us. We each bear some degree of responsibility to ensure it is brought to a swift end before a swift end is brought to us.
Read More: Cosmin Dzsurdzsa, True North, “Meloni scraps “legal abortion” from G7 declaration to dismay of Trudeau, others”
Toronto School Board Approves “Racism” Motion
The Story: The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has voted to accept a report adding “anti-Palestinian racism” to a list of recognized forms of discrimination.
While the report did not signify exactly what the addition will mean, Jewish students spoke outside the meeting about how they have been told to stop wearing necklaces with Stars of David. Jewish students, or any students, could also face discipline for wearing symbols associated with the state of Israel or simply voicing opinions that support Israel’s right to exist or its historical significance as the ancient homeland of the Jewish people.
The Significance: Despite the report’s language, “Palestinian” is not a race. In fact, the term is often used discriminatorily by Arab nations to explain their refusal to accept Palestinian Arabs into their own countries. In reality, Palestinian Arab students are—and should be—protected through policies that already exist. Instead, the new language is simply an effort to stop Jewish students from voicing their opinions or opposing statements like “from the river to the sea,” a Palestinian slogan that communicates their active desire to eliminate Israel.
By ignoring the legitimate concerns of their own students, the TDSB has chosen virtue signaling over student safety. When school boards say that affirming Israel as the historical home of the Jews—a basic historical fact—is discriminatory, they have sent a clear message that the school system is not a safe place for Jewish Canadians or truth tellers of any kind.
To be fair, this is the same school board that has replaced the word “women” with “people with a uterus” in its primary school curriculum. Parents hoping their children will learn basic history and basic biology—let alone be permitted to speak the truth freely—should look elsewhere.
Read More: Rahim Mohamed, National Post, “TDSB’s ‘anti-Palestinian racism’ plan is unnecessary and troubling”
Edmonton Prolife Sues City Organization
The Story: Edmonton Prolife is suing Explore Edmonton, the City-owned organizer of Edmonton’s annual KDays festival, after the festival rejected Edmonton Prolife’s application for a booth at the festival—something the group has done since the 1980s. According to documents obtained through an access to information request, Explore Edmonton searched for reasons to deny the application, stating that the booth had made attendees feel uncomfortable in the past. As a result of the denial, Edmonton Prolife is suing the organizers over a violation of their Constitutional right to free speech.
The Significance: Explore Edmonton’s denial of a booth to Edmonton Prolife is both a violation of constitutional protections for free speech and an explicit revelation of the organization’s “itching ears” (2 Tim. 4:3-4) and unwillingness to hear the truth. Sadly, this should be expected: unregenerate hearts do not delight in God’s law because they cannot do so in the flesh. A spiritual second birth is needed to bring them to repentance and faith. By trusting in Christ, the perfect substitute who kept the full law on our behalf, all who once hated God may come to delight in the true freedom of His law—recognizing its goodness rather than canceling anyone who would seek to tell them its truth.
Read More: Lee Harding, The Western Standard, “Pro-Life group sues Explore Edmonton Corp for denying booth at KDays”
A Truth To Consider
