Praying with 40 Days for Life

Today a friend and fellow pro-life group member and I travelled up to London to take part of the 40 Days for Life vigil outside of the BPAS centre in Bedford Square. For those of you who don't know or have never been 40 Days for Life is a peaceful campaign of prayer outside of abortion clinics and centres, like BPAS, that refer women for abortions which takes place in various locations across the country as well as all over the world. One thing that I have found is that people assume that this sort of pro-life outreach is very aggressive, lots of shouting and banner waving and generally trying to force their view upon others but this couldn't be further from the truth. The vigil is peaceful and prayerful, those volunteers who come along do so out of a love for those who are going through a crisis pregnancy as well as their unborn children (as well as those who have previously had abortions) and do not want to cause them any additional distress. What we have discovered as a group from talking to people who have had abortions is that they, more often not, felt as though they had no choice; their partner/boyfriend/husband was pressuring them to do it, their parents were ashamed and wanted them to abort, they were faced with difficulties at work which pushed them to do it. They had no one listen to what they wanted (sometimes they weren't even asked!) and even though they know that things like adoption exist, in that time of stress and panic they chose what felt as though it was the only way out, a decision they now regret. What the campaign aims to do is to show women that there are other options; if they don't want the baby they can choose adoption, if they feel that they can't financially support a child there are many, many ways to do this now, if they are facing abusive situations they can be helped to get out of them, if they are alone then there are lots of people who can help support them and if they have had an abortion in the past or have been affected by one they can be put in touch with a counsellor to help them to deal with this loss. The volunteers don't approach people as they enter but stand quietly over the road, praying the rosary and similar prayers. If someone comes up and speaks to us we do, of course, speak to them but we don't try to stop people entering the centres. We pray for them amongst ourselves. There are the odd hecklers (there were three when I was up there on Friday) but mostly people look but pass on by.

I feel I now have to blog about something that happened later on which is not part of the campaign but does worth mentioning. I apologise for my poor retelling of this but I hope you can see why I wanted to relate it. After our hour there my friend and I had lunch and after we'd warmed up we started back for the train station. To do so we walked past the vigil again and we saw that the local pro-choice group had set up their table behind them and one young woman had sellotaped a banner to the ground a short distance in front of them that read "These people tell LIES about abortion." I slowed my pace and we both read it as we walked by and the woman herself then said that the pro-lifers spread lies about abortion. I told her I didn't agree, she said that was my opinion, I then pointed to her slogan said and that this was simply hers. To my shame I was going to carry on walking but my very courageous friend stopped and we had what then became a very interesting and worthwhile conversation. I owe my friend a great big thank you! What was so good about this conversation was that we each took the time (albeit briefly as we did, alas, have a train to catch) to listen to each other's point of views (one of the other pro-choice group came over to talk to us too) and discuss them. Had we had more time we could all have had a coffee together and had a very fascinating discussion I'm sure!! My friend spoke about her own abortion, the pro-choice lady had had one too, and she said how she deeply regretted it as she knew that that action had ended another life. The pro-choice lady (sorry, I don't want to use names or descriptions of people without permission) said she felt the pro-lifers were intimidating, we responded to that by saying we want to highlight there are other options; both my friend and other people we both know have, as I previously said, felt pushed into it, no other options were given in any of the stories we told her which she agreed was wrong. She also said she felt that, on both sides of the argument, it was male-dominated; men telling women to abort or not abort and she thought too that the pro-life movement was mainly men; we told our group is all women and we are not anti-woman in any way. My friend said she'd become involved in this peaceful movement due to her own abortion and I told her that I had because I did not believe that anyone, under any circumstances had the right to take the life of another which is why I would also never support euthanasia or the death penalty (if there were ever a push for it to be legalised once more). What we both found quite interesting is that she agreed with me totally in this view, we were coming from the same starting place but she didn't consider an unborn baby a baby. I wish we'd had longer to talk about this as we did start talking about when life begins and it really was good to discuss it. What we all agreed before my friend and I dashed off for the train was that the two sides should talk more as we'd all got something out of our brief and polite exchange.

After we left I did feel very bad that I would have just carried on walking and I have no excuse as to why. Perhaps I let my own fear or misguided bias of what the other side might have to say but what I discovered is that we actually do have a lot of common ground but differ on some very key and essential points (I didn't see the common ground side of it before) and we should really engage with each other more often. Even if ultimately we agree to disagree we can't expect to make a difference, to change minds and hearts without properly listening to one another, hearing what we each have to say and explaining our points of view. And how can we properly witness to the truth if we don't take up the opportunities to do so?! Thank you so much, again, to my fellow pro-life as she did a great thing today and I won't just walk on next time!!

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in 2013

We wish our readers a very Happy New Year and simultaneously make a resolution to update this blog a little more often...

Today, of course, is the Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God.  Could there be a better day on which to pray for pro-life causes; for a change in the modern world's attitude to the dignity and sanctity of human life from conception to natural death and to its approach to human sexuality?

Today many hold very different concepts of "human rights" and "self-fulfilment" to those proposed by Christianity.  Crucially, they also hold different concepts of "compassion" and "solidarity".  For Christians, all the aforementioned are found in obedience, humility, self-sacrifice and carrying the Cross. They are also found in the true love of neighbour which walks with others and supports them in challenging circumstances, rather than encouraging them to simply opt out - an option which may seem the easy solve-all, but which rarely is and often brings ultimately more destructive consequences in its wake.

It is all about Love which is linked to Truth, because without this essential link Love becomes denatured and no longer allows us to help others towards what is truly best for them.

Our Lady in her motherhood is, with Christ Himself, our ultimate model of these virtues and in a way which speaks particularly obviously to those facing the challenge of unplanned pregnancy.  At the same time she is our ultimate model of strength combined with gentleness and kindness, qualities needed not only by every parent but by those who seek to support them.  As "pro-lifers" let us ask Our Mother's intercession for all those facing difficult situations with regard to pregnancy, fertility, disability, illness and old age, and for ourselves that we may have the self-sacrificial courage to be with them all the way in helping them choose and carry through the life-affirming options amongst the many they will be presented with.

Our Lady, Mother of God and Queen of the Family, pray for us!

The bad news and the good news

Mr Lansley discovers some appalling facts

Today in the news we read that abortion clinics have undergone unannounced spot checks by order of Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary; out of a sample of 250 clinics, about 20% were found to be "non-compliant" with legal regulations.  Following the Telegraph's revelations earlier this month about clinics which agree to perform gender-selective abortions, it now emerges that some clinics are allowing doctors to pre-sign abortion certificates without knowing anything about the women concerned.  Whilst there is no obligation for the doctors to have personally seen a particular patient, it is illegal for them to sign forms authorising abortion without having read and assessed the patient's clinical case notes taken by a medical colleague.  You can read the story here and here.

We should not be surprised that this sort of practice is taking place.  It is merely confirmation that abortion on demand is, in reality, the situation we now have in the UK, arising from the pro-abortion lobby's largely successful attempts to convince women that they have a "right" to abortion.  Mr Lansley himself sums the situation up pretty well.  To quote from the Telegraph article:

"[Mr Lansley] said yesterday that the regulator had found that a number of clinics may be acting beyond the 'spirit and letter of the law'. 

" 'I was appalled,' he said. 'Because if it happens, it is pretty much people engaging in a culture of both ignoring the law and trying to give themselves the right to say that although Parliament may have said this, we believe in abortion on demand.'

"He said it was not just a matter of enforcing the law. 'There is the risk that women don’t get the appropriate level of pre-abortion support and counselling because, if your attitude is that, "You’ve arrived for an abortion and you should have one," well actually many women don’t get the degree of support they should,' said Mr Lansley."

And yet this type of clinic may shortly be advertising itself on TV with no obligation to mention that it has a financial interest in offering abortions...?  With reference to our earlier post on the topic, is this really "safe" for women and their babies?

This is all a prime example of our society's muddled thinking when it comes to life issues.  Whether through misguided compassion or just not wanting to see a truth that is hard or inconvenient, we have allowed ourselves to fall into all sorts of illogicalities with regard to the issue of abortion.  The BBC news website quotes the Health Secretary as saying, "Abortion shouldn't be undertaken lightly and the right checks and balances should be in place."  Does he ask himself why it shouldn’t be undertaken lightly?  Because either the foetus is not a human being/is part of the woman’s body and therefore she has a right to choose whether it stays there/abortion has no negative psychological effects, or the opposite things are true... there isn’t really some sort of indeterminate middle ground.

And yet... we can find hope in these revelations, because at least the truth of what is happening in many abortion clinics is finally surfacing and perhaps prompting some to think the issues through again.  Grumpy old woman that I am, I would never have thought of looking at it that way, and therefore am very grateful to a wise priest of our diocese who remarked earlier today, "It would be easy to despair as we read more and more about the issues but I believe that the Holy Spirit is fighting back by making these abhorrent practices more public. By bringing them into the 'daylight' the beginning of a cleansing is happening. No more is it being performed 'in the dark,' where the devil lives, but, increasingly, in the light where Christ's redemptive power is seen to be at work so visibly."

He added, "I am sure the devil will want to stop these articles 'asap' so it is up to us to keep them in the public forum."  It may not be New Year but I think that would be a pretty good resolution to make anyway, right here and now.  So help us God.

Pre-abortion ultrasound scans

Another hat-tip (or maybe twitch of the mantilla?) to Annie at The Arundel & Brighton Latin Mass Society blog who draws attention to this report from the Telegraph.  The state of Texas is enforcing a law which requires doctors to show a mother an ultrasound of her foetus before proceeding with an abortion (or as the Telegraph rather loadedly titles its article, "Texas forces mothers seeking abortions to view image of unborn child"). 

Of course various rights groups are up in arms about this, with US Federal Judge Sam Sparks (who originally blocked the law until it went to appeals court) stating, "There can be little doubt that (the law) is an attempt by the Texas Legislature to discourage women from exercising their constitutional rights by making it more difficult for caring and competent physicians to perform abortions."  But hey, if abortion is so OK and straighforward and legal, what's the problem with the ultrasound?  Annie quotes "Nigella" who comments, "Why is everyone so 'shocked and appalled'? You are shown the xrays when you break your leg; if abortion's so easy, common place, risk and consequence free, and run of the mill, and you have free choice, why complain about being shown an ultrasound of your baby before the abortion?"

I was cheered however when I took part in the poll on the Telegraph page in which readers were invited to vote for whether or not doctors should be required to show a woman pictures of her unborn foetus before she can have an abortion.  72.32% agreed they should, with only 27.68% saying "no".  (Why not pop over and vote yourself.) Maybe the results would have been a bit different if the readership of a paper followed by a different political demographic had been polled, but even so.

If seeing an ultrasound makes a difference to a woman's choice, then that choice was not originally a fully informed one.  Measures like this blow apart all the double-speak and brushing under the carpet which the abortion industry depends on - by showing the simple, tangible truth.  Way to go, Texas!

When is a Baby not a Baby?

When it’s a “product of conception”...

Saturday was the Memorial of St Thomas Aquinas and our Assistant Priest, the marvellously erudite but incredibly youthful looking Fr Aaron Spinelli (I just have to ask him what face cream he uses), gave us a good homily on Thomas and his lifelong quest for Truth. Truth, Fr Aaron reminded us, does exist in an absolute and objective sense and therefore it gives rise to certain laws.  These laws do not shackle us and restrict our freedom but, by illustrating to us the truth of our human nature and of creation, liberate us from searching down dark side paths and dismal dead ends for what will make us happy.  In short, they enable us to be fully who we are.  Let off from the burden of deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong and essentially “so”, we are released to live life to the full.  Our dignity lies in freely applying the rules of ethics to certain situations, not in making them up in the first place.  We were never designed to do the latter and we fall apart under the strain.  (In fact we’ve been falling apart ever since Adam and Eve ate that apple and sought their autonomy from God.)

One doesn’t have to have a religious faith to instinctively realise the above.  “Natural law”, as the Church calls it, means that the laws of Truth are written into our very natures, into the way our minds are structured, into the way we see the world. As Pope Benedict put it, "Human freedom is always a freedom shared with others. It is clear that the harmony of freedom can be found only in what is common to all: the truth of the human being, the fundamental message of being itself, exactly the lex naturalis” (address to the International Congress on Natural Moral Law in 2007). One of the tragedies of our modern world is that we are increasingly overriding that instinctive knowledge of truth in favour of a personal autonomy of conscience, causing an inner tension both within individuals and within society which is tearing us apart.  In the case of abortion, it is literally tearing us apart.

The video above is a brilliant take-off of the way we manipulate language in order to avoid the truth about human nature and ethics in the area of abortion.  I remember pouring over pregnancy books when expecting my first child and lapping up information like “Your baby now has a rudimentary nervous system”.  OK, it’s a baby then, but a few weeks later when it is fully formed with a beating heart and tiny, perfect fingers and toes, it can be a “product of conception” for the purposes of “terminating the pregnancy”.  Arnold Schwarzenegger did a lot of “terminating” in the films bearing a similar name and it wasn’t pretty.  People died.

Women who have abortions often do so in the face of much anguish and emotional pressure and in very difficult circumstances.  But here as in so many other situations, we do not help them by attempting to obfuscate the truth about what they are planning to do.  They will have to live for the rest of their lives with a knowledge, deep down and denied perhaps, that they have flown in the face of human nature and of right and wrong in what they have done. We are not freeing these women from a burden, but shackling them for life to a bigger one. If we act against the truth about ourselves and others, the outcome is never liberation.