CLC Blog

Lori Mallett | Pierre Elliott Trudeau

March 14, 2023 (Campaign Life Coalition) – In 1977, a 12-year-old prairie girl wrote a powerful letter to then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, pleading with him to do something, anything, to stop the killing of children in the womb by abortion.

“Dear Mr. Prime Minister,” the March 16 letter began. “I am 12 years old and in Grade 7. I have 2 brothers who are 9 and 11.”

“My brothers and I are very upset and concerned and would like to bring to your attention the number of unborn babies killed and being killed.”

“You mustn’t know, or you would have done something about it!”

The letter was written by Lori Mallett of Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

Lori’s father Jack Mallett recently sent a copy of the letter to Campaign Life Coalition, telling the pro-life organization about the story of his daughter’s short, but impactful life.

Lori Mallett's 1977 letter to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Lori was four years old when, in 1969, Liberal leader Pierre Trudeau decriminalized abortion, what pro-life advocates call Canada’s “day of infamy.” Prior to this, anyone, including the mother, who deliberately intended to “procure the miscarriage of a female person” was “guilty of an indictable offence” and was “liable to imprisonment for life.” Pierre Trudeau oversaw the passage of a bill that made exceptions to the law, allowing a doctor to kill a woman’s preborn child in an “approved hospital” with the prior approval of a “therapeutic abortion committee.”

By 1977, abortion had claimed the lives of over 350,000 preborn Canadians.

“Abortion is murder,” continued Lori in her letter.

“How could anyone kill a baby or anyone! Babies are wonderful! I know. I have a 5-and-1/2-month baby brother. My third brother.”

“Thou shall not kill is the 5th commandment. How many have disobeyed!”

Lori Mallett, centre, with her brothers Rick and Mark in 1981, four years after she wrote her letter to the Prime Minister. They are dressed in traditional Ukrainian dance costumes. 

Lori went on in her letter to express her sense of injustice that murderers of visible people are punished while murderers of non-visible people in the womb are not.

“Abortion is wrong. No one can change that. So, why don’t you try to do something about it,” she wrote. “As our Prime Minister, it’s in your hands,” she concluded her letter.

In Lori’s 12-year-old mind, it was inconceivable that an adult in a position of political power like Mr. Trudeau senior would have used his authority to betray the right to life of humans in the womb. Lori rightfully assumed that with power comes the responsibility to protect and defend the vulnerable. She innocently assumed that Pierre Trudeau’s inactivity on this matter could only mean that he was ignorant about what was happening. In decriminalizing abortion, Pierre Trudeau betrayed the preborn, he betrayed women, and he betrayed the trust placed in him by precious people like Lori.

Lori never received a reply to her letter.

Lori’s dad Jack shared with Campaign Life Coalition that Lori lived only 10 more years after writing this letter. She was making great strides towards her goal of becoming a respiratory therapist when she died tragically in a car crash in an Alberta winter storm at the age of 22.

Jack recounted how his daughter, his eldest, was so “independent,” “responsible,” and “disciplined.” She was musically gifted, playing the guitar. She was active in her Brownies club and her local Catholic youth group. “She loved family time. If it was a birthday or any event, she would decorate streamers and get some wine and put up balloons. She loved family time.”

Lori's father Jack Mallett.

When Jack’s wife Mary began volunteering at the local pro-life organization Birth Right, little Lori began to be aware of the plight faced by preborn children.

“Lori picked up on the ministry her mom was involved in and knew that something was terribly wrong that was going on,” said Jack. “And, she, just in her own little way was horrified that this was actually happening. And, in her own childish way, and in her own freedom, said, ‘I’m going to write to The Prime Minister.”

“So, without any coaching from us, she wrote her letter. And, it was totally her composition. We didn’t coach her. But, she did allow all of us to keep a copy,” he said.

Jack, who is now 82 and lives near Saint Walburg, Saskatchewan, said that if he had the chance to speak to Mr. Trudeau junior in person, he would tell the Prime Minister that women, along with their children, are hurting from abortion.

“I’d sit him down and I tell him, first of all, that I know someone who's had an abortion. And, I know what post-abortion syndrome has done to that woman. It's damaged her in so many ways…psychologically, physically, mentally, spiritually,” he said. “The next thing I would do after informing him about the horror of abortion is I'd open up my binder. I have some graphic pictures, real pictures of aborted fetuses. And if that doesn't jar a man, nothing will…They never got a chance at life.”

Jack related that the last thing he’d tell the Prime Minister is that “God is merciful” and it’s “not too late” to turn away from evil.

Lori Mallett in 1977, age 12.

Lori’s 1977 letter to the Prime Minister has a message for all Canadians today, 46 years later. Babies are still being killed in Canada today by the tens of thousands. Abortion remains the leading cause of death in Canada, killing some four million people since 1969. Lori’s letter reminds us that we must remain “upset and concerned” about this until the killing of babies is brought to an end. Yes, as Lori writes, “babies are wonderful.” Babies are our future. Every single baby is a sign that God has not abandoned the world, that he is still with us, and that future generations will one day, with God’s help, make right all the wrongs of our present age.

Since Mr. Trudeau senior did not take Lori’s advice to “do something about” this matter, let all of us take up the cause on behalf of the preborn, for, as she writes, “it’s in your hands.”