Why the pro-life movement needs YOU
Posted by Rhoslyn Thomas on 28 July 2014
Timothy Stanley, a blogger for The Telegraph, recently wrote about Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill. He noted that,
"We have witnessed an extraordinary, highly emotional campaign in favour of the so-called right to die ... This might seem obvious, but conservatives have a habit of trying to do something, being defeated and then accepting that the public simply doesn’t agree with them anymore - and moving on. By contrast, liberals will push and push and push until they get their way. The right to die campaign has been going for years: the last Lords vote was in 2006. If they lose this vote, they will hold another. And another. And another. Until it wins by sheer strength of will alone."
One need only observe the relentless campaigns which are underway in any number of countries. In recent weeks Poland has been rocked by the dismissal of Dr Bogdan Chazan from the Holy Family hospital in Warsaw. Dr Chazan refused to perform an abortion on a baby with a deformity. Instead, he offered medical and practical support during and after the pregnancy. The hospital has subsequently been fined 70,000 zloty (approximately £13,400) for his refusal to participate in the abortion, a refusal which is protected by a conscience clause in Polish abortion legislation which allows abortion in cases of babies with disabilities but has not created a right to abortion.
LifeSiteNews have written that:
"Chazan seems to be the victim of a "sting" by those who would love to challenge Poland’s strict abortion laws in the European Human Rights Court. Chazan is a well-known pro-life icon, and no Polish woman would have gone to him for an abortion unless she had been specifically directed by someone trying to discredit the doctor. Additionally, although there is no official list of abortionists, it is hardly top-secret information for those who seek it."
How long will it be, as in the Irish case of Savita Halappanavar in October/November 2012, until worldwide calls flood in for abortion on demand in Poland? A mere 8 months after the case of Mrs Halappanavar, where it was concluded that there was considerable confusion regarding what Mrs Halappanavar requested, that she died of septicemia and that claims that an abortion would have definitely saved her life have no basis, what amounts to abortion up to birth was legalised in Ireland.
To give credit where credit is due, those who call for the heads of the unborn, the disabled, the mentally ill, the poor and those who are generally deemed to be ‘unwanted’, pursue their goal with dogged determination.
I recently took part in the third 40 Days For Life campaign in Cardiff, near to my home village. I have been blessed to be very involved with numerous 40 Days For Life campaigns, where I have witnessed changes of minds and hearts which I thought were impossible. I have also witnessed shocking, almost unbelievable, behaviour on the part of pro-abortion campaigners. I have never seen such vitriol as I saw in Cardiff in March of this year, during their prayer campaign.
What was amazing was the commitment of those people confronting the volunteers who silently and peacefully prayed outside the abortion clinic on St. Mary’s street, Cardiff from 8am until 8pm everyday for 40 days. Throughout the entire day, for most of the campaign, the pro-abortion protestors could be seen and heard with their banners, making as much noise as possible, screaming obscenities at prayer volunteers and inciting hatred against them amongst anyone passing by. Indeed, they even turned up before 8am, to ensure they were ready to go as soon as the prayer began.
On the last day of the prayer campaign this Easter, the screaming and shouting from the pro-abortion opposition in Cardiff was so bad throughout the whole day that the prayer volunteers could not stop at all, not even for a minute. They estimated that they prayed about 1,400 Hail Marys - about 28 rosaries.
What zeal, what determination, albeit for an evil cause. If only, if only, we could motivate the pro-life youth of today to attack the culture of death with the same passion and perseverance, but instead of spreading lies and hatred, spreading a love of truth, a love of our neighbour, a love of true equality no matter one’s age, ability or situation.
My parents are now 71. They have been fighting the good fight for over 40 years and they are still going, but they are past the age when they should have to collect names for petitions or stand in the wind, rain and hail. They point out to me that they would like to pass on the baton to the next generation but that when the call goes out for volunteers to do the menial tasks which are the backbone of pro-life work (leafleting, pro-life chains, lobbying MPs and the House of Lords, giving school talks and so on), it is the weak and the elderly who volunteer because there are precious few young people willing to do so.
This April, not content with organising pro-life chains in the Vale of Glamorgan, they also organised and participated in pro-life chains in Bridgend and Swansea. At the pro-life chain in Swansea (where there were 40 m/hour cross-winds), I spoke with a very elderly lady who had turned up to silently protest against the slaughter of the unborn. She told me that it was her 60th wedding anniversary that day (her husband was also present), that she had two shattered arms (she could just about hold on to the banner), but, she said to me,
"God is good to me: I can still walk."