British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life
British Columbia Teachers for Life started about 1985 as an informal group of teachers drawn together by their attitude of respect for human life and their concern about the issue of teachers' organizations officially supporting abortion. The original name was "British Columbia Teachers for Life." After operating for some years with a steering committee, they organized on a more formal basis in 1990. BCPTL has expressed its support for freedom of conscience for pro-life teachers whose dues are used to support "anti-life" policies, for parents whose rights it sees as threatened by the permission of pro-abortion counselling in the schools, and for students who are given pro-abortion messages. BCPTL has opposed the introduction of school programs that would promote a favourable attitude towards homosexual behavior. In March 1998, in recognition of parent support, and in view of the fact that the organization saw itself as supporting parents' rights, the organization became "British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life." [1]
The first president of BCPTL was Lila Stanford, a teacher-librarian.
British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life (BCPTL) describes itself in the following words: "We are a group of parents, teachers, and other concerned residents of British Columbia who have a common interest in the education of youth. We seek to promote a positive attitude towards human life and to have schools support universally applicable principles of morality. We recognize the rights of parents as the prime educators of their children. We share with other pro-life organizations a commitment to use only non-violent methods in the pursuit of our objectives." [2]
Membership in BCPTL is open to any resident or former resident of British Columbia who supports the purposes of the organization.
British Columbia Parents and Teachers for Life publishes a Newsletter for members, and has in the past published a magazine-style publication called Parents' Alert, sent to members and various organizations. It has a page on Facebook under the title "B.C. Parents and Teachers for Life." It sends a free E-Mail Bulletin to like-minded subscribers no matter where their location in the world.
