Students performing at Defund Abortion RallyThe week of October 16th to 22nd was a busy one on the OLSWA Pro-Life front. Students spent lots of time getting ready for the first ever Defund Abortion Rally which took place in Toronto on Saturday, October 22nd. To prepare for the rally, Rebecca Richmond from National Campus Life Network (NCLN) visited the Academy to lecture on effective communication of the Pro-Life message.  She generously gave of her time so that as many students as possible were able to attend and benefit from the talks. She spoke about the logical presentation of Pro-Life apologetics and how to engage in positive discussion with others whose views might be clouded by their emotions.

Thursday evening, thirteen OLSWA representatives attended the annual Renfrew County Right to Life dinner in Pembroke, at which Rebecca Richmond also gave a speech about the importance of getting involved in Pro-Life activism. Later that night, St. Hedwig’s church was open overnight for Eucharistic adoration so that people could come and offer prayers for the success of the rally. Both staff and students came to spend an hour or two with the Lord over the course of the night, from 9:00pm until 7:45am Mass the next morning.

Defund Abortion Rally

Alissa Golob ('08) addresses the crowd.It is a great travesty that Ontario taxpayers pay a minimum of $30 million annually to cover the cost of abortions performed in our province, leaving some other health care needs unmet.   A group of youth in Ontario banded together to protest this injustice in front of the Provincial legislative buildings at Queen’s Park in Toronto.  Alissa Golob, Campaign Life Coalition Youth Coordinator and OLSWA alumna, was the leading organizer of the rally.  

Fifty students and several staff participated in the rally, heading down to Toronto by bus following an early Mass by Fr. Hattie.  There they stood in solidarity together with over 2,000 others, while listening to speeches given by pro-life doctors, young people, and post-abortive women.   OLSWA alumna Sharon Milan spoke movingly about her mother, OLSWA art instructor Patricia Milan, and her struggle with mouth cancer. Sharon highlighted the injustice of the situation in which Mrs. Milan had to pay out of pocket for many necessary treatments that were not covered by OHIP, whereas unnecessary and harmful arbortion procedures are fully subsidized. 

A petition to defund abortion in Ontario was also signed by all the participants, to be sent subsequently to the provincial legislature. The band Survived ’88, made up of OLSWA students Kathleen Dunn, David Groves, Rory MacIntyre, Tereza Smith and Elliott Warner as well as alumnus Patrick Wilson provided upbeat music before and after the rally. 

After another successful Pro-Life week, the Paul Sanders and Janine Lieu Pro-Life Club considers itself blessed to have a community who supports their cause, and wishes to express their thanks to Fr. Shalla and St. Hedwig’s for their charity, generosity and prayers.

OLSWA band "Survived '88" performs at Queen's Park, Toronto.

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NCLN Symposium

NCLN 2011 - photo by Andrew GrantThe first weekend in October, a handful of pro-life leaders from OLSWA attended National Campus Life Network’s annual symposium in Toronto. NCLN is an organization that coordinates and guides campus pro-life clubs from universities across Canada. This conference welcomed leaders from these groups as they came together for a weekend of leadership training and inspiring talks, while sharing valuable information on how to improve their campus pro-life clubs. OLSWA students John D’Agostino, and Ashton and Matt Hatchen were present to promote “Crossroads”.  Marie-Claire Bissonnette and Sarah Wilson, part of the executive team OLSWA’s pro-life club, attended on behalf of the Academy, and have returned from the symposium with enthusiasm to continue spreading the pro-life message.