Yet another SPUC activist leads the way with 40 Days for Life

This year the first Welsh 40 Days for Life campaign was launched in Cardiff city, by a young woman called Rhoslyn Thomas, amongst others, who has been a longstanding activist of SPUC and a 2012 intern. Another SPUC activist, Kelechi, has also been proactive in setting up a 40 Days for Life in her hometown in Nigeria, and supporting the 40 Days for Live vigil in Milton Keynes. 

40 Days for Life Milton Keynes, with Andy (R), founder David Bereit (L) and Kelechi (L, centre)

 A little while ago Rhoslyn posted some good news on Facebook about a child spared death at the hands of an abortionist. Here is a fuller version below:

This year, we ran our very first 40 Days For Life campaign in Cardiff on St. Mary's Street. The abortion clinic is unmarked and, for the most part, unknown. It is a busy street with lots of shops, night clubs, cafes and restaurants and offices. Indeed, the clinic itself is above a restaurant and the building is shared with a number of offices. We were a few weeks in when we were approached one day by a young man who calmly asked us what we were doing. We replied that we were praying for an end to abortion, but specifically praying for everyone who entered that clinic, that they would choose life. He told us that his girlfriend was inside the clinic, discussing and planning her abortion.

He told us that she had aborted a previous baby and that they also had other children but that they were living in temporary accommodation and were being pressured by social services to abort the baby that his girlfriend was currently carrying though they wanted their baby. When I heard him say this, I was saddened but not very surprised.

Again and again we are told that this is a woman's 'right to choose', yet it seems to me that few women do choose. Yes, some do, but many do not. More often than not, there seems to be some source of coercion. As the suffragette, Mattie Brinkerhoff, wrote in 1869, "When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society - so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged" We told him that we knew of an organisation in London, the Good Counsel Network, who could help him. I told him what I knew to be the truth: if he phoned them and asked them for help, there is no way they would turn him down.

They would (not might) help them with anything they needed: money, clothes, prams, food, counselling, accommodation. He seemed glad to know this and we were hopeful that he would phone, though he declined our offer to use our phones on the spot. So, after he and his girlfriend left, all we could do was pray and pray.

Being a former intern at SPUC and having parents who have volunteered and worked for SPUC for many years, we had quite a network of people to call on for prayers! We had people up and down the country praying for this couple and many offers of a home and help for them from total strangers! I was sorry that I didn't ask for a telephone number from the couple but I felt that it was so important, at a time when they were being pressured from all sides, not to add to this pressure and to leave them in God's hands. I kept asking the people at Good Counsel over the following weeks if they had phoned or not.

Sadly, they had not but I didn't give up on them because I know that no prayer goes unanswered. 40 Days For Life ended on the 24th March this year. By then, we still hadn't heard but we didn't forget about that couple. We all slipped back into normal life until one day about a week ago I got an e-mail from a member of the vigil's 'core team' saying that they had some good news...the couple had phoned Good Counsel and they are keeping the baby!

To say this was the best news I had heard all year was an understatement! I was so thankful that we had been there so that we met that young man and gave him that little card. It was such a little thing but it saved a life! In fact, it not only saved the baby, but it saved their mother and father from another abortion and the repercussions of extinguishing that life.

I think that few reading this blog could imagine just how many people screamed and shouted at us saying that we were "intimidating women" by standing outside a building where human beings are killed and peacefully praying. I am glad that we were there and we will be back for another 40 days, so that when the next couple comes up to us needing support and love, we will be there.

Rhoslyn (L) with 40 Days for Life founders Shawn and David. Also pictured is Ann Howard, a former SPUC intern

Pro-abortion protesters oppose the prayer vigil in Cardiff

40 Days for Life vigil supporters praying

A baby is born, thanks to a young woman who talks the talk and more importantly, walks the walk

I received this email (below) from a friend, Kelechi. She has been a regular volunteer with SPUC in our London office, has attended several of our conferences and training days, including the conference on international development, maternal health, and abortion.

Through SPUC, Kelechi came into contact with 40 Days for Life (we went to the fundraising banquet in Westminster a few years ago). We also provided Kelechi with advice and some materials (foetal model set, leaflets etc). Since then Kelechi has been a regular member of the 40 Days for Life in Milton Keynes (an initiative that involves a public prayer vigil outside an abortion facility, prayer and fasting, and community outreach). She also went over to her home town of Abuja, Nigeria, in January. She spoke at several churches and halls, leading to the founding of the pro-life group "Save the Unborn Babies" Nigeria. She also helped to establish a 40 Days for Life campaign in Nigeria. As a result at least 6 babies have been spared abortion. In fact, Kelechi has made and will continue to make trips back to Nigeria to ensure Save Unborn Babies develops and keeps up its lifesaving and educational work. On top of all this Kelechi works full-time as a business studies lecturer at a college of further education.

In my opinion, Kelechi is a excellent example of a motivated young woman who has put her pro-life conviction into effective action - outward facing, bringing the message to wider society, not being stuck in a cycle of jumping from talk to talk, conference to conference - talking the talk but doing little else. We are honoured to be able to work with her.

Dear SPUC Family,

Please rejoice with us at Save The Unborn Babies Pro-Life Initiative Nigeria, as our first saved baby was delivered on Friday, 31st May at about 1:25 am. Mum and baby are doing very well, and we are pleased to affirm that it is through your kind support that this baby boy has been saved from the abortion her mother had intended for him.

This baby may not have been here today if you did not give me the opportunity to work with SPUC as a volunteer while receiving pro-life training, nor join 40 Days for Life at Milton Keynes and other pro-life activities in Luton Good Counsel. Thank you also for your kind support with educational materials and encouragement towards my visit to Nigeria for pro-life work.

In December when I visited Nigeria, this new mum (then pregnant) had made some money deposit for an abortion and was in search of the balance to undergo the procedure. After I spoke in Church, she met me crying as she unfolded her ordeal, telling how her fiance kicked her out of the house despite her pregnancy. We encouraged her to keep her baby while supporting with her ante-natal bills. A member also offered her an accommodation. On Friday, 30th May, the young lady called me with the good news that she has put to bed. All glory be to God.

I must thank you all at SPUC for your encouragement and support to embark on this mission which has helped save this baby boy from forced death. Many thanks to Andy Burton's 40 Days for Life, Milton Keynes and Luton Good Counsel for their inspiration. It is incident like this, that give us fulfilment and encouragement to keep on doing the work.
God bless you all.
Kind regards,
For: Save The Unborn Babies Pro-life, Nigeria
Kelechi Anyaghara

First baby born, and sleeping well by the looks of it

Kelechi (3rd from left) at the SPUC maternal health conference with speakers and SPUC staff

Kelechi with 40 Days for Life founders at the London banquet

Young adults hold a public pro-life display

Kelechi speaking to a local group, telling them about pro-life work

Kelechi gave a training session to a group of recent graduates

Missionaries to society

On the 25 May 2012 The Daily Telegraph reported that the Home Secretary Teresa May said "homosexuals will be missionaries to the wider society and make it stronger." She made this comment in relation to government plans to legalise same-sex marriage. 

In the same vein pro-abortion voices say they defend abortion because they take motherhood so seriously. Similarly, self-described pro-choice advocates present abortion as a means of exercising free choice and ensuring women's equality. 

What we have is a moral inversion - bad is called good. That which causes harm is called enhancing. 

What our society continually and urgently needs is for pro-lifers, those who believe in the dignity of the human person from conception, and the institution of heterosexual marriage as best for children born and unborn, to be missionaries to the wider society, and make it stronger. We can and should go to talks and conferences, read articles, and learn the arguments, but if we do not take the message to others we are not being effective. We end up creating a pro-life cottage industry where we talk to ourselves about what we already know and agree upon.

Pope Francis, in 2005 whilst still a cardinal in Argentina, gave a sermon to a group of pro-lifers. His sermon included the following message. Although it will have obvious relevance for Christians, especially Catholics, it's useful for us all in appreciating the spirit we need in order to be missionaries to the wider society:

But it is a road that is full of wolves, and perhaps for that reason they might bring us to the courts, perhaps, for that reason, for caring for life they might kill us.  We should think about the Christian martyrs.  They killed them for preaching this Gospel of life, this Gospel that Jesus brought.  But Jesus gives us the strength.  Go forth!  Don't be fools, remember, a Christian doesn't have the luxury of being foolish, I'm not going to repeat, an idiot, a fool, he can't give himself the luxury.  He has to be clever, he has to be astute, to carry this out.

Society, unborn children and their parents, need you to be a missionary right where you live - whether village, town or city. Taking the pro-life message to the public - leafleting, table displays, prayer vigils, pro-life chains, walks of witness, supporting pro-life pregnancy centres, writing letters to local and national press, calling into radio shows, objecting to BPAS and Marie Stopes abortion adverts in pub and club toilets etc etc - not only brings the message to a wider audience, but also strengthens our resolve to be actively pro-life.

Fr (Blessed) Miguel Pro, Mexican martyr 1927

White Rose movement - student resistance to Nazi atrocities

Greensboro Woolworth restaurant sit-ins 1960

Pakistani politician Shahbaz Bhatti murdered for opposing oppressive sharia laws

Pro-life street display table

Large pro-life prayer vigil

Pro-life display table at a local council festival


SPUC's Anthony Ozimic explaining the nature of marriage on national television

 Young adults March for marriage in Paris

Pro-life tour with the Olympic torch

Post-abortive mothers public witness

Email your name, address, and number of pro-life leaflets you want: danielblackman@spuc.org.uk

Pro-life in East London: a landmark occasion

Saturday 10th March was, in my opinion, a landmark occasion. It marked a new milestone for pro-life groups and local residents in Stratford, East London, who have been campaigning against a newly opened Bpas abortion facility since August 2011. If you're not up-to-date with what has been happening, please check out the links below:

• Oppose BPAS abortion facility in Stratford - SPUC blog 26/8/2011
• Opposition to latest London abortion clinic is growing- SPUC blog 25/10/2012
• Protests outside Stratford abortion clinic - Newham Recorder 2/11/2011
• Residents’ abortion clinic anger - Newham Recorder 14/11/2011
• Stratford abortion protest continues outside headquarter - Newham Recorder 13/1/2012

Saturday 10th March saw 170-200 people publicly witnessing to the dignity of human life from conception, and opposing the evil of abortion. The group was made up mostly of local residents from Stratford, East London, as well as 10 Catholic priests including the bishop's representative, 10 religious brothers and sisters, and people coming from as far away as Colchester and Bournemouth. Many people in East London - locals of all religions and none - want Bpas shut down, and replaced by real practical support offered to mothers and fathers in need. 

The procession and vigil was organised by the Helpers of God's Precious Infants UK, a Roman Catholic pro-life group, with the full support of local churches in the area, and SPUC. The day was open to all, which was reflected in the wide variety of people who joined us.

During the opening Mass, Monsignor John Armitage, the official representative of local Catholic Bishop Thomas McMahon, read out a special letter of support. Bishop Thomas told us we had his full support, and lamented the tragedy of more than 200,000 abortions in the UK every year. Monsignor Armitage also spoke, and reminded us that we have recently seen renewed attacks upon human life in the form of gendercide, articles promoting infanticide, daily abortions, and attacks upon conscientious objection. 

                                                                    Monsignor Armitage

After Mass we processed to the Bpas abortion facility, praying as we walked. The procession is lead by the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This image has special significance for many Catholic prolifers all over the world. Monsignor Armitage reminded us that this was a peaceful and prayerful act of witness, but also a political act. Not party-political, but political, because we are not only Christians praying, we are citizens and have a voice in the public square. Below are some photos of the procession and prayer vigil. Everything was cleared by the police and council beforehand. Stewards are used to guide the group, supervise road-crossings, and make sure no pavements or roads are blocked.

                                        processing from the church to the abortion facility

                        Kneeling in prayer opposite is the Bpas abortion facility (the facility was closed)

Participants prayed and there were moments of silence throughout the vigil. Others were on hand to explain what we were doing and why to any passersby that asked. They did a good job - the entire stock of literature was given out in the space of 2 hours. We then processed back to the church hall for refreshments, discussions, and made plans for the future.

The Helpers very kindly provide buffet and drinks after every vigil, which always goes down well. It was encouraging to chat to people afterwards - a real mix of longstanding prolifers and many who had come along for the first time. We heard short talks from people who had the job of talking to passersby who wanted to know what we were doing and why. I also had the opportunity to briefly explain the SPUC campaign up to now, and what we could do for the future. I also mentioned SPUC's new campaign around the 2012 London Olympics, which consists of educational and practical literature dissemination, and public acts of witness.

Group photo with the priests and religious brothers and sisters who joined us on the day, around the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Many thanks for their support and leadership!

So, there we have it. An excellent and very well attended event, with many more to come. There are plans underway to build on the commitments and good-will of local people, various pro-life groups, and the local parishes.

ACTION POINTS

• Send an email or letter of support to Bishop Thomas and Monsignor Armitage
• Join the Helpers at their vigils, and perhaps start one in your area
• Complain to One Housing CEO Mike Sweeny, who gave Bpas the lease. Ask One Housing to withdraw the lease: complaints@onehousinggroup.co.uk or send a letter to CEO Mike Sweeny at One Housing HQ Chalk Farm, London.
• If you like to be involved with the East London Campaign, email me danielblackman@spuc.org.uk There is so much more we can do to make an effective impact.

Undercover at a pro-abortion meeting: Part 1

On 22 September 2011 myself and Paul Smeaton attended the ‘Voice for Choice’ meeting hosted by Voice for Choice, a coalition of abortion advocates and providers. Voice for Choice includes: Abortion Rights, Alliance for Choice NI, Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC), BPAS (British Pregnancy Advisory Service), Brook, Doctors for a Woman’s Choice on Abortion, Education for Choice (recently saved from extinction), fpa, Marie Stopes International, Pro-Choice Forum, and Reproductive Health Matters. These are most of the leading anti-life groups in the UK.

The aims of Voice for Choice include: 

• Abortion to be available solely at the request of the pregnant woman within existing legal time limits 
• Abortion services are subject to the same statutory regulations as other medical services 
• Suitably trained nurse practitioners to be allowed to provide early medical and surgical abortions, in both the NHS and non-NHS sector 
• The law in Northern Ireland be brought into line with the rest of the UK
• Current legal abortion rights are to be defended 

This event was described as a 'public meeting' and so I had expected a reasonably large crowd. In total there were no more than about forty five people, including the speakers. Most attendees were older women, and clearly people already working in the abortion industry in one way or another. This 'public' meeting had more of the feel of a closed, private meeting and in reality this was little more than the abortion lobby speaking about and to itself. It was advertised through pro-abortion channels, and when I arrived there wasn't a single poster or notice directing people to the right venue. For a coalition that seems intent on the ‘de-medicalisation’ of the killing of unborn children, it came across as rather contradictory to host a meeting at The Medical Society of London.

The abortion lobby have good reason for wanting to keep these sorts of meetings as small, internal affairs. It is in these sorts of environments in which their true face and their radical anti-life agenda is revealed.

Ann Furedi, CEO of BPAS opened the meeting with a few words about Voice for Choice, and introduced the speakers. Furedi spoke about Dr. Carlos Morin whom she claims is facing 309 years in jail. Dr. Morin has been under police investigation since 2007 over his abortion practices. BPAS were sending women seeking abortions in the UK over to Dr. Morin in Spain. BPAS was subsequently investigated by the Department of Health for such practices, including serious concerns over their call centre.

Guardian journalist Libby Brooks chaired the meeting, with Dr. Patricia Lohr speaking first. 

Dr. Lohr is an American and current medical director of BPAS. Lohr spoke about her personal experience of being a medical student and how during that time she became convinced that abortion is “self-evidently moral”. Lohr explained that she came to the conclusion that she could only be truly pro-choice by committing to performing abortions.

It was chilling to hear her speak, and to sit in the same room as her. What does one say or do when faced with an abortionist proclaiming their pride at aborting babies? Lohr explained that she was not only convinced of the moral goodness of abortion, but that she found performing abortions “extremely gratifying”.

But what kind of person thinks that performing abortions is gratifying; that one’s fortunate to provide them and that abortion is a good thing? Here, as a brief reminder, is a description of a suction abortion, the most common type of abortion procedure in Britain, representing 52% of the 189,574 abortions which took place in 2010 under the Abortion Act in England and Wales:

“The cervix (the neck of the womb) must be stretched open to allow the surgeon to insert a plastic tube into the womb. Sharp-edged openings near the tip of the tube help to dismember the baby so the parts are small enough to be sucked out. The surgeon then uses the suction tube to evacuate the placenta from the womb. The remains of the baby are deposited in a jar for disposal.” 

To be continued...