Pro-Choice Violence and Illegal Activities in Manitoba

Winnipeg, Manitoba
Murder (3 counts) and Theft Roxanne Fernando, affectionately known to her friends as "Apple," moved to Canada with her mother from the Philippines in 2003. Roxanne worked as a banquet server at the downtown Radisson Hotel. She was pregnant, and her "pro-choice" boyfriend, Nathaniel Mark Plourde, had demanded that she have an abortion, but she refused. So he decided to eliminate both her and their preborn child. Roxanne and Plourde had met when they both worked at a McDonald's restaurant in Winnipeg, and she thought that he was the man of her dreams. When she became pregnant, he pressured her to have an abortion. At first she agreed, but then changed her mind. As Crown attorney Brent Davidson said, "It would be the fetus that would drive the planned and deliberate killing of Ms. Fernando." On February 15, 2007, Plourde, Jose Manuel Toruno, and a youth unnamed by the courts put their plan into action. Plourde offered the teenager $500 and a TV set to murder her. Roxanne had expected to exchange gifts with Plourde. She wrapped up a box of chocolates for him and got into his car, not knowing that her killer was hiding under a blanket in the back seat. Plourde told her that there was a surprise waiting for her in Little Mountain Park on the northwestern edge of Winnipeg. There certainly was a surprise waiting, but not the kind she was expecting. When she got out of the car, Plourde and the teenager beat her with a large wrench about twenty times, bound her with tape, wrapped her in a blanket, and stuffed her in the trunk of the car. But then the killers heard movement and moaning from the trunk. The two men picked up a third man and paid him $120, stolen from Roxanne's purse, to help murder her. The three then drove to a remote area in Northwest Winnipeg, dragged Roxanne out of the trunk and dumped her on the ground, then beat her to death with a hockey stick. Then her murderers buried her battered body in a snow bank, went to McDonald's to eat, and stopped for some cleaning supplies for the vehicle. Roxanne's family and others searched desperately for her for several days until her body was found. On October 23, 2007, the first of the killers, a 17-year-old boy whose name was not revealed due to his age under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was sentenced to only six years in prison and four years on

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probation for the brutal murder. He did not receive any jail time for killing Roxanne's preborn baby because Canada's primitive laws do not recognize even a full-term preborn baby as anything more valuable than a slab of meat. In fact, if the boy had stolen the television he was offered to kill Roxanne, he would have received punishment for theft but none for killing a preborn child. Although he pretended to be remorseful in court, he had told another prisoner following his arrest that he should have raped Roxanne after murdering her. Provincial Court Judge Marvin Garfinkel said that the unnamed youth's crime was nothing more than a "callous, well-planned execution. ... The circumstances of this crime are extremely aggravating. [The teen killer's] conduct is completely inexplicable." Roxanne's mother Elisa said My life will never be the same again. I feel as if I have died with her, too. One will never know until it happens to them. I have gone through a tough life, being poor, and raised five children on my own. I didn't have a good life until my daughter sponsored me and Apple to live with her here in Canada. I thought it would be the beginning of a new and good life, and not the end of it. I didn't have the chance to say goodbye. She looked so happy when she left the house that night, all dolled up and carrying a Valentine present that we wrapped together. I jokingly asked if I can have one of the presents she had. I thought that was going to be one of the happiest days of my daughter's life. She even asked me to look out the window to see if I could see the car that was waiting for her outside. I said I could only see the headlights. I didn't know that would be the last time I was going to see and talk to my daughter. I feel so betrayed by this and regret that I let her go out that night. She had no idea she was in danger. I have so much regret and always the question of "What if?" My feelings of hurting are beyond imagination. I could write and speak about being hurt, but it will never end. Roxanne's sister Ana Maria Deluz said that I remember when she was born. It was a very special date because I was celebrating my birthday. I was with my aunt, cousins and brothers celebrating when I found out my mom had given birth to a healthy baby girl. It made my birthday extra special because I found out I had a baby sister. I will never, ever forget that day because that's how my life of being a big sister began. I became a second mother to her. I took her under my wing, took care of her from the very beginning, since our mother had to work a lot. I have so many loving memories of her, from registering her first grade of school until graduating from elementary. I watched her grow up and that became part of my life and now that she's gone, it's like losing a part of myself. I miss her so much that I'm still hoping one day she'll walk through the door with a big beautiful smile on her face. She was the kind of person that would brighten up the house, always dancing and singing. She was a very caring person, too, always ready to lend a helping hand to those she loved, especially her family back home who she supported financially. There are absolutely no words to describe how it feels when someone you truly love is unjustly taken away in an instant. I am not who I used to be and probably never will be. There is a big hole in my heart, and my family's heart. I am now left with only memories of my sister and no words to adequately describe the depths of my sorrow. I not only lost a sister, but an irreplaceable friend. We knew each other like no one else does, and had an understanding that only sisters can provide each other. I have this feeling of regret because I brought her to Canada. I remember crying in front of a judge for permission

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for her to be able to live here so that she could have a better life. Now I am crying in front of a judge because her life was taken. On October 8, 2009, in a surprise move, Plourde pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and Toruno pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The next day, Plourde was given a life sentence with a mandatory minimum 25-year imprisonment and Toruno got life with 10 years in prison, but the judge agreed to the Crown's request for a minimum of 15 years, saying that he deserved every minute of it. Reference: Mike McIntyre. "Price to Kill: $500 and a TV: 17-Year-Old Boy Gets 6 Years after Killing Woman Who Refused Abortion." The Winnipeg Free Press, October 24, 2007; Patrick B. Craine. "Two Men Plead Guilty to Murder of Woman Who Refused to Have Abortion: Killing of Unborn Child not Prosecuted because Fetus not Recognized in Canadian Law." LifeSite Daily News, October 9, 2009. Attempted Murder Like so many other spoiled pro-choice men, Barry Neil Godwin got his girlfriend Melinda Morin pregnant, and then he demanded that she get an abortion. As you can see from this database, the story usually ends with the boyfriend or husband murdering his pregnant girlfriend or wife, or at least beating her severely; but this story ended differently. Godwin demanded that Melinda get an abortion, but she refused. She describes what happened next on November 10, 2009; I told him I didnt want to go for an abortion. Id keep the baby and I wouldnt bother him. Id take care of it myself. But he didnt want to know there was a kid out there that was his. He was upset and he wanted me to have an abortion. No way around it. So I was trying to leave. When Melinda tried to leave the apartment, Godwin kicked her in the stomach and blocked her from leaving, then threw a kitchen knife at her and attacked her with another knife. She said that He was coming towards me. I was scared. He was attacking me. Ive never seen him so angry, the look in his face. He kicked me in the stomach. I was at the bottom of the stairs. Thats when I looked at him, saw the knife in his hand. He grabbed me by the hair and he was pulling me up the stairs. I ran to the kitchen. Thats when I grabbed the knife. I stabbed him and he collapsed. Melindas story was just one of many that Members of Parliament heard later that year as they considered the private members bill C-510, also known as Roxannes Law, named after Roxanne Fernando, whose boyfriend attempted to force her to have an abortion and then beat her and left her to die in a snowbank (this story is described in this document, above). Canadas primitive laws protect all abortion, even coercive abortions, so it was no surprise that all Canadian pro-choice groups attacked Roxannes Law, and it was easily defeated. This shows that these groups value the availability of abortion far more than the lives of pregnant women or their babies. How is this pro-choice, we wonder? References: Steven Ertelt. Canadian Woman in Forced Abortion Ordeal, Parliament Votes on Bill Soon. LifeNews, November 26, 2010; Woman Killed Boyfriend after He Attacked Her for Refusing Abortion. Christian Telegraph, November 30, 2010.

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Vandalism (3 incidents) and Death Threats (12 incidents) On March 23, 2001, pro-abortionists vandalized the Crisis Pregnancy Centre of Winnipeg. They spray-painted over the windows of the building in huge yellow letters various pro-abort slogans and the words "Anti-Choice Fers." They also threw at least a gallon of blood-red paint on the wall and surrounding area, making for a gruesome looking scene.

The director of the Centre, Juergen Severloh, said that this is the third such hate-motivated incident directed toward the CPC in the past year. Ten months ago he saw a similar graffiti attack with "pro-child, pro-choice" as the slogan and the next, a few weeks later, pro-aborts splattered paint all over the CPC. The centre has received dozens of threatening phone calls, forcing the Severlohs to remove their name from the phone book. References: "Canadian Crisis Pregnancy Center Vandalized." LifeSite Daily News, March 23, 2001; "Canadian Crisis Pregnancy Center Vandalized." Pro-Life Infonet, March 25, 2001.

End of Manitoba Listing

(updated March 31, 2011)

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