The pro-life fight in East London continues. Last Saturday (10th November) the Helpers of God's Precious Infants held their second vigil outside the Bpas abortuary in Stratford.

The campaign against Bpas in Stratford has been going since August 2011 (see the links at the bottom of this post). It has involved several pro-life groups, local residents, Catholics, Evangelicals, Muslims, and people of no religious affiliation, consultant doctors, paediatricians, GPs, nurses, medical students, barristers, the retired, retail assistants, tradesmen, office professionals, mums, dads, grandparents - people coming from every walk of life. It has received wide coverage in the Guardian, the Newham Recorder, Islamic news outlets, blogs, websites, and Christian Radio.

We learnt a week before that a pro-abortion counter protest had been organised by a casual group under the name "Newham: Abortion, a woman's choice". This group began with a Stratford street stall in support of the Bpas centre, and was later advertised at an Abortion Rights meeting in Westminster. Emails were sent by pro-lifers encouraging people to make a special effort to come to the vigil for the unborn and their parents. It was short notice but the turnout was good.

I set off early on Saturday morning, and headed to Stratford via the DLR and tube. I learnt by the end that one woman had travelled all the way from Southampton! The day started with Mass (the Helpers group is a Catholic pro-life apostolate). After Mass we set off. We processed through the street, praying the rosary. The procession was headed by a very large image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

We were about 50 in total. When we arrived at the Bpas abortion facility, the pro-abortion demo was already there outside the Bpas, which was closed that day. However, a handful of pro-abortion demonstrators were standing behind a police van in the location agreed for our vigil, so we had to stand further away down the road.

One of the pro-life vigil organisers informed the police that a counter-demo had been organised. On the day, the police were asked whether the pro-abortion demonstrators had applied and received an official permit to hold the demo. The policeman replied "that's none of your business". Make of that what you will. If the pro-abortion group didn't ask for a permit, it wouldn't surprise me, as we witnessed a whole series of very unprofessional and ill mannered displays by them on the day.

The prayer vigil was conducted peacefully, calmly, and without fuss. The footpaths were always kept clear for passersby. The police didn't stand anywhere near us the whole time. Instead, they stood by and around the pro-abortion demonstrators for the entire time, and even parked their police van in front of them. There was 25-30 of them in total, so we managed to outnumber, and certainly out-pray, them.