Image Sources: (L) Envato | (R) Google Earth
An unborn child in Canada has reportedly been saved from abortion after the baby’s father encountered a pro-life demonstration organised by a parish church and subsequently changed his mind about ending the pregnancy.
The incident was recounted by Father Brenton Cordeiro, parish priest of St Timothy’s Catholic Church in Toronto, and shared by Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the Canadian pro-life organisation responsible for coordinating the annual Life Chain demonstrations.
According to Father Cordeiro, the couple had initially planned to abort their child. However, after hearing the baby’s heartbeat, the mother decided that she could no longer go through with the abortion.
Despite her change of heart, the father continued to insist that the pregnancy should be terminated, resulting in a prolonged disagreement between the couple.
“For days and maybe even over a week, they were fighting,” Father Cordeiro explained.
“They were at odds with regards to this child and his future.”
The situation changed on 4 October, when the father happened to drive past a Life Chain demonstration organised by parishioners from St Timothy’s.
Participants had gathered beside a busy junction, holding signs opposing abortion and praying silently for unborn children and their mothers.
After witnessing the demonstration, the father reportedly returned home and told his wife that he had changed his mind.
“So, he goes home and tells his wife, ‘Let’s have the baby’”, Father Cordeiro recalled.
The priest, who belongs to the Companions of the Cross, attributed the change of heart to the witness of those participating in the demonstration.
He said the incident demonstrated the “power of prayer, the power of peaceful resistance to this awful evil of abortion”.
Life Chain is an annual international pro-life initiative in which participants gather along roadsides and at junctions to oppose abortion through peaceful demonstrations and prayer.
The Canadian movement began in 1991, when Campaign Life Coalition introduced the initiative from the United States.
SPUC branches up and down the country hold similar yearly Pro-life Chains, witnessing to the dignity of the unborn child on British roadsides.
In Canada, demonstrations took place on 4 October, with thousands of participants holding signs bearing messages including “Abortion Hurts Women”, “Jesus Forgives and Heals”, and “Abortion Kills Children”.
According to CLC, nearly five million abortions have taken place in Canada since abortion laws were first liberalised in 1969.
SPUC’s Communications Manager Peter Kearney says: “We at SPUC would like to congratulate Father Cordeiro and CLC on their initiative. This story proves that the pro-life fight is not only waged in the corridors of parliament, but that grassroots campaigning is effective and saves babies. The pro-life movement is growing and will soon become impossible to ignore. This baby will be the first of many alive because of life-saving witnesses like this. They may be peaceful, but are getting louder.”
