A pro-lifer in Canada has described how a pro-life sign he held helped change the mind of a young mother who was about to have an abortion.

Barney Sullivan, 71, was participating in a pro-life vigil outside Saskatoon City Hospital when a pregnant woman in her twenties approached him on her way to have an abortion.

Mr Sullivan – who was holding a pro-life sign that read, “Unborn babies matter” – was stood outside the hospital, where abortions take place.

“I was just standing there by myself”, he explained. “And this lady wanted to talk to me. And usually, it’s pretty negative…

“And she said, ‘Well, I saw your sign and I’m keeping my baby… I was going in for an abortion, but this is a sign to me that I’ve got to keep my baby’.”

The pro-life Canadian man, who stands outside the hospital every day, believes that his sign and vigil played a crucial role in helping the mother to change her mind.

But the Premier of Saskatchewan, Scott Moe, has recently launched an attempt to introduce abortion buffer zones in the same province, legislation that would have prevented Mr Sullivan from helping to save the life of an unborn child.

“This is not good and something has to be done about it”, said Mr Sullivan.

SPUC comment

A SPUC spokesperson said: “SPUC has been battling against buffer zones for many years, and Mr Sullivan’s story is a prime example of just why this fight matters – most of all to mothers and their unborn children.

“Pro-life vigils save lives by providing women with a choice: a last-ditch intervention and offer of help, an alternative to abortion.

“Anti-women, anti-child buffer zones would stop all that, robbing mothers of any other choice but abortion.”

You can find out more about SPUC’s campaign, Say NO to Buffer Zones, here.

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