LEGAL BATTLE COST $200,000 TOTAL Reaction mi.ed on court’s abortion appeal decision THE SUPREME Court dismissal of an appeal requesting that abortions be outlawed at Lions Gate Hospital has evoked reactions of relief and disappointment. LGH board chairman) Hilary Clark applauded last week's ruling that stated former GH board members George Carruthers and Michael Whelton did not have status to take the issue to court, The two men were appealing a B.C. court appeal ruling, which defeated their request to outlaw therapeutic abortions at the North Vancouver hospital. “T am delighted it is finally over,’’ Clark said Monday. ‘We won.”* But she added she was not delighted that it took $100,000 for the hospital to defend its doctors, “money that could have better gone into B.C. health care.” UNNECESSARY CASE Clark said the hospital was grateful to the Ministry of Health for setting up a special fund for New pol By BARRE FISHER News Biluor the hospital’s defence, “sa we didn’t have to take money out of our own operating costs, but that doesn’t change the fact that public money was used in a toully un- necessary case." Disappointed with the decision, Carruthers said) Tuesday: ‘The abortion policy at LGH cannot be justified on medical, legal, ethical or moral grounds, Protest through legal action or political activity at the hospital board level is the least concerygd members of the com- munity can do to protest abortions at the hospital.” Carruthers said he Whelton's legal costs, paid through private donations, came to about $100,000. Carruthers said he is unhappy and for also with “the apparent inabilicy of cit ivens in B.C. to challenge the courts without the consent of the Attorney General" “Legislation should be troduced by the Attorney Cre: lo remedy this apparent delicien- ey." he said. in: LGH board chairman Hilliary Clask...°'I'm delighted it is finally over...we wonl!”’ itical party urges .C. to join United States ABOUT 30 people met in North Vancouver Monday night to extol the virtues of the American Dream over its Cana- dian counterpart. Led by party founder Albert Ritchie, the America-Canada Uni- ty Association of B.C. (ACUA) held its inaugural meeting at the Lynn Valley Library. Ritchie told the small crowd of disillusioned residents that the ACUA stood for a single issue: B.C.’s, and ultimately Canada’s, unification with the United States. The 52-year-old North Van- couver chemical engineer and former Western Canada Concept ante oe a a ee By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter (WCC) candidate for North Van- couver-Seymour said WCC theories of Western Canadian ruin at the hands of government’s bas- ed in the country’s east still held true, “But after a year in that party I realized the solution was not through separation with Canada, ee ; SRE see we eS oh NEWS photo Tom Burley MEMBER Albert Ritchie sings the Stars and Stripes ducing the first meeting of the American Canadian Unity Party. The new political group met Monday at Lynn Valley Library to consider the benefits of a British Columbia union with the United States. but through unification with the United States,’ he said. The ACUA, he said, was laun- ched with a classified ad in the North Shore News. Reaction from that February ad, which listed local problems and _ his unification solution, had resulted thus far in 200 calls, Ritchie said. In an interview before the meeting, Ritchie said B.C., with its proximity to U.S. borders and its high unemployment, was a prime candidate for American statehood. Immediate benefits to the State of Hsitish Columbia, according to Ritchie, would be duty-free access, lower gasoline prices, a 30 per cent rise in B.C.’s standard of living and greater political repre- sentation. Admitting the ACUA concept would take time to catch on, Rit- chie said he expected it to become a national party: ‘It’s an idea whose time has come. People are totally disillusioned with Mulroney, a.:d I don’t think they'll vote for the Liberals again, so where do you turn?’’ In a question period following Ritchie’s introduction of ACUA directors Richard Dauphinee, Audrey Spallin and Biljana Hegedus, audience members voic- ed their dissatisfaction with life under Canadian rule. Tony Chandler, who traveled from Sumas to attend Monday night’s meeting, said Canada was a great country: “I'd die for it tomorrow, but it's the idiots runn- ing it who are screwing it up.” But other audience members questioned the ACUA directors on how such Canadian institutions as Medicare would fare under American = rule. Dauphinee, an unemployed con- struction worker originally from Quebec, said American states ineld individual responsibility for health care. He predicted that, as a state, B.C. would retain Medicare. Achievement of the ACUA ob- jective would depend upon public response to the unity concept, Rit- chie said. While sympathizing with the ACUA and the frustration it rep- resented, audience member John Whitehead said, ‘Canada remains a great country. We should not desert it at this time.” "3 + Wednesday, March 26,' 1986 -/North Shore News “The use of pubhie dacilittes and public funds for public execution of unborn children is a frightful and seandalous situation,’ Car- tuthers said, in the country which professes to be founded on the Principles that recognize the su- premacy of God and rule of law." Clark said she is opposed to the Pro-Life group's belief that its opinions should supersede medical opinion: “This type of controversy should be decided politically in the parliament of the land —- which, thank God, is still governed by the majority — and not on the election floor of LGH,"' BROAD DEFINITION The criminal code — prohibits abortion unless a pregnancy is like- ly to endanger the health of the expectant mother, but Carruthers said the definition of health is too broad for haspital committees to use. But Health Clark said: **The World Organization's definition EX-LGH board member George Carruthers..."the use of public fa- cilities and public funds for public execution of unborn children is a frightful and = scandalous — situa- tion...”* of health should have been good enough. “The Pro-Life people should put the money and energy they've spent attacking our hospital into sex education as a form of preven- tative medicine,"* she said. “Do we really want people in the community, who have sued our doctors and cost LGH to defend them, running on the board of LGH? A person cannot serve two masters — Pro-Life and LGH."* The Supreme Court dismissal ended the four-year Carruthers and Whelton suit, but Carruthers said he will continue to *‘work for increased knowledge of and ap- preciation of the unique human being and respect for its life."’ meta % &. 4 4 & aa z i , a NEWS photo Mike Waketietd NORTH met West this weekend as two North Shore communities bettled head to head at the local playoffs of the Olympics of the Mind competition. Above, nine-year-old Haddon Bush of the Hollyburn Elementary Technocrats team puts his mind to work creating a project on an assembly line. The Olympics challenges teams made up from locaf schools in a battle of Technocrats won the local playoffs. Weather: Heavy rain, Wednesday. Thursday, mestly cloudy with showers. Highs near 10° C. brainpower and innovation. The INDEX Business Doug Collins. Editorial Page.... Entertainment.... Food ..... Bob Hunter......... Lifestyles...........25 Mailbox ....