‘Stop being bashful’ and stand for life: ex-abortion doctor at Coquitlam talk

My latest for the BC Catholic weekly newspaper

Christians of all denominations need “to stop being bashful” and instead act boldly to turn the tide on abortion, a leading U.S.-based pro-life advocate told a Coquitlam audience last week.

Dr. Haywood Robinson, a spokesman for the Texas-based 40 Days for Life campaign, spoke to nearly 200 people at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Feb. 23, calling abortion “the greatest genocide in history.”

With Canada accounting for over 100,000 abortions a year and 200,000 lives lost every day, he said “The whole abortion holocaust offends God more than it does us.”

Formerly a physician who performed abortions in California and Texas, Robinson said he believed he was simply providing a medical service and making easy money in the process. But as the years passed and his faith deepened, he could no longer ignore the human reality before him. That awakening changed his medical practice and ignited his Christian faith.

With his wife Daphne Robinson listening, he told his audience that pro‑lifers are not the radical activists of the abortion debate, as their opponents argue. “We are the ones standing up for 2,000 years of Christian history,” he said.

Although being anti-abortion may place the audience in the minority, he offered them a message of hope from Deuteronomy 32:30: “How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?” God, he said, does not need large numbers to accomplish great things, he only needs faithfulness.

Likewise, he said, God’s work can be seen in the hundreds of 40-Days for Life vigils launched worldwide last week, including near the B.C. Women’s Hospital and Health Centre. That physical presence is a key part of the campaign and something God builds on.

“When you guys are out there, they know you’re out there,” he said. “We are telling them, ‘We aren’t going anywhere until you go. We aren’t going anywhere because we serve the risen King.’”

Robinson spent time with attendees afterward, including Kimberly Bromley, executive director of the Pregnancy Concerns crisis-pregnancy centre in Coquitlam. She told him that with financial assistance from the Knights of Columbus, the centre will soon purchase an ultrasound machine — a tool proven to help mothers choose life. 40 Days organizer Heather Thompson said Robinson’s speech could not have come at a better moment. “It was a night of conviction, courage, and renewed resolve,” said the St. Clare of Assisi parishioner. “It felt like the beginning of something bigger.”

Vancouver 40 Days for Life organizers were pleased by the large and enthusiastic audience, having only had a week to organize and publicize the event.

“On very short notice, 175 to 200 people came to listen to this talk tonight,” said Father Larry Lynn, Our Lady of Lourdes pastor and pro-life chaplain for the Archdiocese of Vancouver. “It was inspirational and galvanizing. People want to step in, to do their best to stop the killing. And it’s growing."

Feds have made 'no decisions' about advance request for MAiD

On Nov. 28 of last year, I wrote an email to the federal minister of health, asking what the minister intended to do in response to Health Canada's report on the extensive public consultation it did into possible legalization of advance requests for Medical Assistance in Dying. (My story on that report is below.) At the same time, I also wrote to Health Canada itself asking what its next steps would be. Health Canada responded quickly, saying essentially it would continue studying the issue. The minister's office did not respond until this afternoon, almost three months later! Like the response from Health Canada, the minister's response--which actually came from the "Care Continuum, Aging and Equity Directorate, Health Policy Branch, Health Canada"--is that the government is "carefully considering" the issue and that "no decisions" have been made about allowing advance requests for MAiD. Here is the complete response I received today:

Thank you for your correspondence of November 28, 2025, regarding medical assistance in dying (MAID), addressed to the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, on whose behalf we are responding. We apologize for the delay in our response.

Please know that we appreciate you taking the time to share your views with us on the issue of advance requests for MAID.

In Canada, provinces and territories are responsible for the organization, management and delivery of health care services, including MAID, as part of end-of-life or complex care. The federal legal framework for MAID is set out in the Criminal Code and includes stringent eligibility criteria and safeguards for the safe and appropriate provision of MAID in Canada.

The provision of MAID based on an advance request is not allowed in Canada. That is because the Criminal Code requires a practitioner to obtain a person’s express consent immediately prior to administering MAID, with a narrow exception for persons whose death is reasonably foreseeable and who have already been found eligible for MAID (known as a “waiver of final consent” – more information about this can be found here:

We recognize that the issue of advance requests is sensitive and complex. That is why, from late November 2024 to February 2025, the Government undertook a national conversation to hear views from the public, provincial and territorial officials, patients, health care providers, Indigenous representatives, experts and stakeholders. Over 47,000 people across Canada participated in this consultation through an online public questionnaire, regional and national virtual roundtables, and public opinion research.

As you know, in October 2025, Health Canada published a “What We Heard Report” summarizing the key themes from that consultation. It reflects the range of perspectives expressed during the national conversation but does not include recommendations or commitments. ...

The Government is carefully considering the findings from the national conversation. No decisions have been made about expanding eligibility to allow for advance requests.

The Government of Canada remains committed to ensuring that the federal legal framework for MAID reflects the needs of people in Canada, protects those who may be vulnerable, and supports autonomy and freedom of choice.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to write to us.

Threads of Compassion Stretch from Port Moody to the World

I'm happy to report that Freshet News has just published this story that I wrote. Enjoy!

When Chris and Val McKinnon sit at the dining room table of their Port Moody condominium, it’s more often to share their passion, for helping girls in developing areas of the world, than to share a meal.

That’s because the table is home to two sewing machines that the couple employ to sew reusable sanitary kits for underprivileged girls around the globe.

Chris, 72, and Val, 69, volunteer under the umbrella of the Days for Girls program, an international non-profit that provides reusable menstrual‑health kits and education to help eliminate barriers associated with menstruation in many developing countries.

The retired teachers report that the Port Moody chapter they now lead produced 1,300 such kits in 2025 alone—exceeding the 1,000-kits-a-year target they set five years ago.

Both Val and Chris, who have been married for 51 years, smile with obvious satisfaction about that output, and enthusiastically thank not only the volunteers who are part of their chapter, but also a group of women they lead on Monday evenings at Talitha Koum’s Society’s Starr House in Coquitlam—a residential, addiction-recovery facility for women.

Their relationship with Talitha Koum began in 2017 when Chris’s sister, society president Mary O’Neill, suggested they collaborate with TK’s clients to not only teach them new skills but also to show them a way of giving back to society.

The McKinnons arrive at Starr House with an hour’s worth of sewing, ironing, or serging tasks. The evening starts with a prayer written by one of the women and then the instruction and sewing begin amidst a gentle of whirring sewing machines and friendly chatter.

Over time, the sewing circle has become a place not only of peace and purpose, but also of celebration. For the past several Decembers, Val and Chris have led the women in a Christmas pageant that includes traditional carols and a narrative first written and staged by Chris’ broader McKinnon family 40 years ago.

“Every Monday when we come home, we say, ‘Wasn’t that a great night,’” Chris, who taught middle school students in Coquitlam before retiring, said. “It’s been really special. A lot of the women say the work makes them feel good, gives them a sense of peace.”

“I remember the very first night,” said Val, who taught at Coquitlam’s Queen of All Saints elementary school. “I didn’t know anything about the world these women came from. I’d lived a protected life. And then you meet them — they are so sweet and so polite. I’ve seen tears running down their cheeks when they watch the Days for Girls video. It’s been a huge eye‑opener.”

Today, she’s thankful that she had the opportunity to bring the project to the women. “Marrying the two charities has warmed my heart,” Val said. Their commitment to the project is laced into the fabric of their faith. “Our hope, as Catholics, is that the pillars of our faith are interwoven into our actions,” the couple said. “The call to help one another has been our guiding light.”

They are confident that putting those words into action through Days for Girls is having a positive impact. “Whenever women thrive, it has been found that the entire community is raised up,” they said.

The McKinnons first learned of Days for Girls 10 years ago when they stumbled upon a group sewing the sanitary kits in the common room of their Newport Village condominium building. That team was led by Vida Peterson, a Port Moody Rotary member and the driving force behind establishing the chapter and helping Days for Girls become a registered Canadian charity.

“We just happened to wander in,” Chris recalls. “And there she was.”

The chapter had been operating for three years when the McKinnons joined, and by the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they had taken over leadership. Today, with Chris as the formal head, their chapter includes about two dozen local volunteers, plus a group on Mayne Island, where the McKinnons have a vacation cabin, and the Talitha Koum women’s group.

Val laughs when she describes the scale of their operation: “We pretty well do it every day of the week,” she said.

She’s not complaining, though. “As a retired teacher, I do like to keep busy,” said Val, who has enjoyed sewing since she was a child. “I wake up every morning, surrounded by piles of fabric, and it does put me in my happy place.”

Chris, on the other hand, faced a steep learning curve. His passion was sports, and he had never sewn until Val taught him when he was 63. Moreover, even though he grew up alongside four sisters and three brothers, he admits he had complete ignorance of women’s menstrual issues.

All that changed after he viewed a Days for Girls’ educational video that explained how, in poverty-stricken parts of the world, girls often have to miss a week’s worth of schooling every month because of their periods. They also face discrimination and, far too often, pressure for sexual favours to allow them to return to class.

“They suffer terrible abuse,” Chris said.

Their chapter receives strong support from the Catholic Women’s League, All Saints, St. Nicholas, St. Anne and Joachim Catholic parishes, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society at All Saints. The chapter also received a grant from the R.R. Smith Memorial Fund Foundation last year.

It all supports an important cause, the McKinnons say. Indeed, it seems clear that in the quiet hum of their sewing machines, dignity is stitched, community is built, and hope travels farther than either of them ever imagined.