And then there was this, November 2025

Dr. Balfour Mount, 1939-2025

Dr. Balfour Mount, often dubbed the Father of Palliative Care in Canada, died on Sept. 25. He received his medical training at McGill University in Montreal. As urologist and surgical oncologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, he conducted a study in 1973 on the care provided to terminally ill patients and found that they often received inadequate care at the end of their life. This led him to London, England as a one-year visiting professor under Dr. Cecily Saunders and her team at St. Christopher’s Hospice. Returning to Montreal, Dr. Mount established the first palliative care service in North America at the Royal Victoria Hospital. He delivered a model of excellence, including a home care program, inpatient ward, consultation, and bereavement services in addition to teaching and research. His team produced a Manual in Palliative/Hospice Care that became the recognized text book for palliative care services in Canada. When MAiD was introduced in Canada, he made many statements against euthanasia. In one interview he said that “the very name … ‘medical aid in dying’ is misleading rhetoric. MAiD is legalizing killing people.” In a 2014 article by Barbara Kay, he is quoted saying that “medical aid in dying is a cowardly distortion of language.” His own alma mater, McGill University Health Centre tarnished his work saying “the principles of improving the quality of care and dying without discomfort today echo the spirit if not the letter of his holistic voice and value.” He received many awards for his work, including the Order of Canada and he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Tributes poured in from across the country when he died in the palliative care unit that bears his name at the Royal Victoria Hospital. May he rest in peace. 

Scotland’s ‘Safe Access Zones’ draws controversy

The 2025 Munich Security Conference debated the key foreign and security policy challenges in today’s world. Into the discussion, U.S. Vice President JD Vance waded. He made headlines and sparked strong criticism from Scottish lawmakers and politicians for his comments regarding Scotland’s Safe Access Zones Act. He commented on what he called “the retreat of Europe” from “our shared democratic values.” He described the situation in Scotland where the previous October “the Scottish government began distributing letters to citizens whose homes lay within so-called safe-access zones [i.e. near abortion facilities], warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law.” Gillian Mackay, a Green Party member of the Scottish Parliament and author of the abortion buffer-zone bill, declared that the bill under consideration mentioned no specific behaviours and the word “prayer” did not appear in the legislation. However, official documentation that had not yet accompanied the proposed legislation admitted that the proposed new law anticipated criminalizing “praying audibly” and “silent vigils.” And the documentation would also prohibit certain conduct within private homes and schools situated within the designated buffer-zone. The buffer-zone law came into effect in September 2024. Official documentation admits that the new law anticipates criminalising “praying audibly” and “silent vigils” that had been proposed. Bishop John Keenan, spokesperson for Scotland’s Bishops’ Conference on life issues lamented: “This is a chilling day for fundamental freedoms, including a basic right as citizens of Scotland, to manifest our beliefs in public—religious or otherwise.” Pro-lifers have already been arrested for praying silently in England and Northern Ireland. Will the same action happen in Scotland? Vance was right to admonish Europe for retreating from democratic values that it previously shared with the United States, and which rights Canada is in great peril of losing. (See John Carpay’s column in this issue of The Interim.)

Mom challenges judge’s bias in Northern Irish ‘buffer zone’ case

Claire Brennan, a pro-life activist and Catholic mother of four was silently praying the rosary, on her knees, outside a hospital abortion zone in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. She was holding a sign that read “Pray to End Abortion.” She neither spoke to nor approached anyone. She was arrested and found guilty under Northern Ireland’s new ‘Safe Access Zone’ law. Brennan appealed the decision, and in a stunning moment at Ballymena Court challenged Judge Ciaran Moynagh to recuse himself of the case because of bias. The judge, appearing visibly upset, “reluctantly granted Mrs. Brennan two weeks to submit a formal application for his recusal. If successful, it would mark an unprecedented moment in Northern Ireland legal history” Accordingly, Brennan submitted a formal complaint, citing “judicial rules requiring judges to recuse themselves, if their public activism creates a perception of bias in the eyes of a fair-minded and informed observer.” What is Judge Moynagh’s background? He received the Humanist of the Year award in 2018 for campaigning on abortion; he represented a mother denied an abortion; he publicly criticized the criminalisation of abortion pills; he represented a same-sex couple who sued a Christian couple for declining to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan; he has described his legal work as “challenging the status quo” on abortion, same-sex marriage, and trans rights Judge Moynagh was appointed to the bench in early September. Brennan’s counsel, the Christian Legal Centre, stated, “A judge who has very recently made repeated public statements in support of abortion rights cannot be perceived as neutral in a case that centres on the censorship of pro-life and foundational Christian beliefs.” A decision on the judge’s recusal had not been decided when The Interim went to press.

Euthanasia ‘scam’ in Australia

12A business owner in Australia used a fake charity to secure euthanasia drugs for his “business.” Brett Daniel Taylor, age 53, has been charged with two counts of aiding suicide and several drug offences, including trafficking a dangerous veterinarian drug, pentobarbitone (which he sold it for “significantly more” than its wholesale price). Taylor is not a veterinarian, nor a medical doctor. Instead, as the business owner of End of Life Services, he allegedly secured access to drugs through a “front charity” set up to euthanize whales, a business that he never operated. He also allegedly provided “suicide kits” for his customers, and, on the side, arranged their wills. Police were alerted to the death of a 43-year-old man after a postmortem showed that his death was the result of ingesting the veterinary drug. In their investigations going back to 2021, the police suspect that Taylor may have been involved in 20 or more suspicious deaths. Alex Schadenberg, director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, wrote in his Sept. 17 newsletter that police should widen their investigation to pre-2021. He records that Philip Nitschke had also promoted the use of veterinary euthanasia drugs for years, going back to, at least, 2010. Schadenberg reported that, “In March 2010 I published an article on how Nitschke encourages people to purchase veterinary euthanasia drugs online. The same article commented on a report from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine that researched 51 people who died from Nembutal in Australia. The report found that young people and depressed people were more likely to die by Nembutal than terminally ill people.” (The Sept. 17 and the 2010 reports cited above are both available on-line.)

A Polish boy thrives despite removal of a large part of his brain

Tomek was diagnosed with hydrocephalus (also know as water on the brain). It is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the baby’s brain, which can lead to increased pressure and potential developmental issues. Doctors advised his parents Alom and Michal that they qualified for an abortion, since Tomek was missing large parts of his brain and had no chance of survival. They refused the abortion and Alom continued with her pregnancy. Tomek was expected to die in the womb or at birth, but he survived.  At birth he was put in a neonatal palliative care unit where he would remain comfortable until he died naturally. But after a month he was still alive; he was able to survive outside his mother’s womb. Alom and Michal had not purchased a crib for him, because they didn’t want their other children—Laura and Mazius—to be disappointed when he didn’t come home. Fortunately, the Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo, who run a baby bank, urged them to take home a crib, “because you never know.” Tomek went home and began to develop. “His body grew and he became stronger, he played well, recognized objects, just like a ‘normal’ child, only at his own pace and with his own abilities.” Tomek learned to walk and is able to speak certain words. Alom credits her husband’s continued support and strength in keeping the family strong. Michal responded that “I just walked step by step together with Alom. We are going in the same direction, just like a married couple should, so supportive of each other.” He added, “I definitely wouldn’t give Tomek back … this is the fullness of life and we have everything in abundance. God also took care of all of our needs here … Yes, the yoke is sweet and the burden is light.” A video accompanying the article (Live Action, Sept. 17) is in Polish, with no English sub-titles. However, the beautiful video still gives a vivid picture of Tomek and his family, from his birth to today. It shows him playing with toys, learning to walk pushing a tricycle, at the beach, on a seat behind his dad riding a bike. He is always with his family and he is always laughing, smiling, a happy little boy surrounded by those who love him unconditionally. Preborn babies diagnosed with hydrocephalus are often killed by abortion because the condition is considered terminal.

Read original article