The cry of a child about to be incinerated

On 22nd May 1969, various British newspapers reported on the case of an aborted baby that, on its way to the incinerator, cried out.

There is nothing new in the shocking story currently circulating about miscarried foetuses (and, presumably, aborted babies) being incinerated.

What is really shocking is the fact that we have allowed this barbaric practice to proceed uninterrupted for so long.

We have become complacent and, perhaps, not supported the pro life organisations as much as we could have done, but the bishops also have not been at the forefront of bringing the issue of the sanctity of human life to the attention of those medics and nurses who, 45 years into the baby incineration process, have now completely lost sight of their actions; to them they are disposing of clinical waste.

Back in 1969 my eldest brother John, RIP, wrote a poem expressing the horror of this practice.

It is abhorrent, in the extreme to think of an aborted child crying out but many do, on mortuary slabs and, I am sure, on the way to the incinerator.

Hear me O God.  Hear.

From the depths of my condemned cell I cry.
None will hear me but You because You see,
I have no vote.
I did not murder nor did I steal or wound.
Yet I am held here helpless before the sterile steel.
Or the poisoned needle.
A death too brutal for murderers is a death
reserved for me.
No comforting breast nor loving Mother's arms await me.
My body will be given to be burned.
What have I done? I have not earned
this sordid unlamented end.
In sin was I conceived. Unwanted I die
before I shall be born.
O when the metal enters my brain,
when I shall kick my last convulsive agony,
take me, take me to Your arms.
None will console me, none cherish me.
None hear my last suffocated
shriek from the traitorous womb.
Save You, save only You.
O love me God.

John Francis Collins RIP

Yet another haunting poem

                                 The Mother by Gwendolyn Brooks

Abortions will not let you forget.

You remember the children you got that you did not get,

The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,

The singers and workers that never handled the air.

You will never neglect or beat

Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.

You will never wind up the sucking-thumb

Or scuttle off ghosts that come.

You will never leave them, controlling your luscious sigh,

Return for a snack of them, with gobbling mother-eye.

I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed

children.

I have contracted. I have eased

My dim dears at the breasts they could never suck.

I have said, Sweets, if I sinned, if I seized

Your luck

And your lives from your unfinished reach,

If I stole your births and your names,

Your straight baby tears and your games,

Your stilted or lovely loves, your tumults, your marriages, aches,

and your deaths,

If I poisoned the beginnings of your breaths,

Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate.

Though why should I whine,

Whine that the crime was other than mine?--

Since anyhow you are dead.

Or rather, or instead,

You were never made.

But that too, I am afraid,

Is faulty: oh, what shall I say, how is the truth to be said?

You were born, you had body, you died.

It is just that you never giggled or planned or cried.

Believe me, I loved you all.

Believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you

All.

Another poem on abortion

Courtesy of Counter Cultural Father and 'Uncomfortably Glum'



And a small tribute to St David of Wales (and, especially Pembrokeshire)

St David, Ora Pro Nobis

Mary the Mother of our God - Pray for Wales - Pray for us all

Our Lady of Cardigan - Ora Pro Nobis

Pray for Cardiff and, if you can....

......come and join the 40 Days vigil this Wednesday 20th February from 2pm onwards.

One of the founders of the movement, David Bereit, will be there and the forces of those who are for abortion are also planning to be there in force.

The organisers have asked, as always, that attendance is peaceful and prayerful.

Those pro abortionists have a Facebook entry that clearly shows their hatred. It also shows that they are planning to collect cash from the passing public to support the abortion clinics. This is, of course, illegal without a special licence.

The main activist appears to be a Hannah Austin, a feminist and activist on behalf of women's rights (but not as far as their physical and mental well being apparently) and I suggest that Rosaries are offered up on this woman's behalf.

Hannah and her friends have produced a banner stating 'Get your Rosaries off our ovaries'- that tells you the level of their debating abilities.

 Register beforehand if you are able, on the 40 Days for Life Cardiff website.


Our Lady of Wales, pray for us and those who oppose the right to life, especially life in the mother's womb.

"I quite like abortion"

Yesterday's 40 Days for Life Vigil in St Mary's Street, Cardiff was a lively affair (at least from 3pm onwards when we joined the little group who prayed so fervently outside the abortion clinic).

                                  Those against Life.....................

Mrs L and myself had booked in for a one hour slot from 3pm until 4pm. We sang the Salve Regina, prayed the Rosary, recited the Divine Mercy Chaplet and, in between, chatted and laughed among ourselves; after all, for the general public to see Christians keeping vigil with smiling faces, must be almost as good as praying.
We also got soaking wet from the incessant rain.

Being an inveterate people watcher I found the response of passers by fascinating.

Most expressed a look of disgust or even anger, a few gawped vacantly, some were obviously in mental tutting mode and one young man called out as he went past at pace: "God bless you all".
That was a most welcome blessing and may God bless him also.

And then, on the stroke of four, just as a sit down and a cup of hot coffee beckoned, a young woman appeared and entered into debate with Colleen the local organiser present and Mrs Linen. Due to traffice noise I could not hear all of what the young woman was saying but, apparently the gist was:

 " This is only the concern of the woman herself and it is her perfect right to choose abortion if she so wishes, and, what is more, she is only getting rid of a parasite"

A Parasite? - I have never heard that word used to describe an unborn child. In truth it shocked me.

Meanwhile, Mark from Perth came under fire from a couple of young men who then transferred their attention to me. They took a theological approach claiming that there was no such thing as a soul and then they went on to why the Holy Father was retiring ("because of his links to child abuse").

I try to avoid such debates because I have a very short fuse that becomes even shorter when faced with banal arguments. I tried hard to hold on to the fact that these young men were much loved by God, and it seemed to work as we entered into a bantering sort of debate with a great deal of smiling and laughter.

Finally, thet set up an impromptu counter vigil opposite proclaiming: "I quite like abortion" - but they lasted less than ten minutes before they moved on.

By then it was around 3.45pm but before we could take our leave an uproar broke out as gangs of homeless young men, with cans of extra strong lager in their hands, clashed violently and bloodily opposite.
An event unconnected with the vigil but somewhat unnerving nonetheless.

                                     .........and those for Life

How could we walk away with so much action taking place?
 By now, our numbers were down to four in total.
We held on until Mary arrived but then a middle aged woman began to harangue us in a most unpleasant fashion. As always, the organising representatives, were cool and, to all appearances, unconcerned, the prayers continued without pause; there are some that are beyond reason and this woman was one of them, please pray for her and the others who opposed the vigil and the cause.

Finally, at 5.40pm we broke off and limped away, determined to return to fight another day.

The Cardiff organisers have put out a call for male volunteers to register for the 4pm to 8pm slot on Saturday night - at present they only have women signed up and it looks like being a rough slot.

It would be a wonderful thing if a parish group could respond so that the numbers were into double figures, please pray that this will happen.

A "parasite"

                           

           

Training midwives in the dark art

The dark art being, of course, abortion.

It would seem unthinkable that a woman (most midwives are women) who has dedicated her career to aiding the safe delivery of a baby and the pre and post natal care of the mother, should even contemplate the act of abortion let alone become an abortionist.

But that is what an American organisation called Ipas is doing, recruiting and training midwives to become destroyers of life.

Here is their proud claim to fame:-

Is this the most evil computer game in the world?

Since 2001, Ipas has trained more than 10,000 midwives in abortion and 
postabortion care because we believe that midwives are an integral part of 
reproductive health care. From Nepal to Nigeria, these trained midwives contribute 
to better maternal health and fewer deaths from unsafe abortion

Ipas has also developed what they call an "innovative computer game" designed to guide a young woman through the stages beginning with a missed period and culminating in termination - end game!


If you have the stomach to read their glib copy, you can find out about the "game" HERE

It is only a question of time before such "initiatives" are made freely available in Britain.

BPAS has some guidance on the issue using what must be the most inappropriate wording possible, for example, when discussing manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) the process whereby, in the early stages of pregnancy, the infant is hoovered out of the womb, they describe as being a "gentle hand-operated" process. Weasel wording if ever was.

Here is part of their sales pitch:-

"Can appropriately-trained nurses safely carry out abortion procedures?
Yes. Forty years ago when the Abortion Act was drafted, today’s modern, less invasive early abortion methods were not available and the nursing role was much more restricted. Nurses already carry out several modern early abortion procedures including early medical abortion (the ‘abortion pill’ method), but can’t prescribe the medicine for this, due to the restrictions of the present law2. Manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) is a method of early surgical abortion (offered from 4 weeks’ to 12 weeks’ gestation), which removes the pregnancy using a gentle hand-operated suction pump3 and does not require full anaesthesia. The level of technical skill required to do this is of a similar level to fitting a contraceptive ‘coil’ (IUD/IUS) which BPAS’ and NHS family-planning trained nurses already routinely do, but because of the specifications of the 1967 law, appropriately-trained abortion nurses are not able to offer this to women".

The moves to train midwives to destroy rather than save may backfire on the likes of BPAS as, in general, I do believe that the British public have a rather traditional view of the midwife as a homely, maternal sort of character who orders up gallons of hot water before skilfully delivering a healthy baby and slapping it on the back.

The actress, Miranda Hart has aided this image of wholesome goodness in her series 'Call the midwife' - it would be hard to imagine the television viewing public being similarly enamoured if she was to start killing life in the womb rather than delivering a bonny baby.

Daily Telegraph readers vote to abort abortion

The Daily Telegraph's Science correspondent, Nick Collins, (no relation) reports on the Minister for Women and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Miller's wish to reduce the 24 week abortion allowance to 20 weeks.
OK......yes, I can see that it's a step in the right direction and an important one.

                        
                                 Picture: 40 Days for Life

But, what is more telling is the Telegraph's informal poll on the various aspects of abortion that would be acceptable to the individual.

You may see the poll HERE and, indeed, add your vote if you so wish.

The bottom 'tick circle' is the one in favour of a total ban on abortion, the one we all are in favour of.

16.57% of voters wanted to maintain the 20 week status quo, 11.37% were in favour of a reduction down to 20 weeks but.....BUT........a staggering 54.18% have so far voted in favour of a complete ban.

Mr Cameron........David......Dave......please listen to the people for a change and forget all those trendy vote catchy type moves you are making and take a long, hard look at what abortion means.

What are the fruits of abortion?

Murder most foul of innocent babes, terrible psychological impacts on the women who undergo abortion and a society that loses all respect and charity for the sanctity of life.

If you have not already done so.....try to join A Forty Days' for Life prayer vigil from now until 4th November.

It is a profound and moving experience to bear witness to Jesus Christ in this way.

HERE is their website for full details.

Outside the abortuary - Report from Bath

Well done to the SPUC group who turned out in force in Bath last week despite media hype that suggested that the opposition was going to be "active".

Here's their account:-

"Small group turned up who tried to oppose us. We thwarted them by turning up an hour earlier.
 SPUC - Thirtyfive + seven children. Opposition - 12.
What a relief as it was imagined a 100 were coming to give us a drubbing after all the incitement in the local paper and radio publicity. Phew!

Grateful thanks to all who supported us with their prayers, time, and support and especially the priests of the Bath Deanery who were so encouraging in the face of the storm."

Kudos to Forty Days for Life!

This organisation and the others who took part in the crusade that has just ended are to be congratulated on their quiet but firm spiritual approach to campaigning against abortion and the effects that it carries with it to those who participate and especially to those women who undergo this treatment.
We were providentially fortunate in being able to join the Melbourne group but, it would have been a real spiritual challenge to face the venom of the demonic in Bedford Square when Bishop Alan Hopes led the group in prayer.

The location was the BPAS abortuary in London's Bedford Square.

And the acronym BPAS? What does it stand for?

British Pregnancy Abortion Service!!!!

Save a child, if you're near Brighton

This email came through this morning, it speaks for itself:

I just received this from Kym, one of the organisers of the 40 Days For Life vigil in Brighton.  please consider helping them out.  The clinic is closed at the weekend but they are keen to keep the vigil going as the aim is to see it closed all the time.    

Many thanks,

Andy

Dear ALL Fellow Pro-Lifers,

We are in need of filling quite a few hour slots this weekend PLEASE can you take a look at the vigil [contact on the email address below for details] & see if you can spare an hour to join us.

Caroline & I are going to leaflet Chatsworth Road in the afternoon to get to know our neighbours & give them information about 40 Days for Life & the present Abortion situation.

We will therefore not be free to stand outside the clinic.

Thanks for ALL your prayers & the hours you have already put in. This is a battle but we will win the war; God is on our side.

We hope to see as many of you as possible on Monday eve at 7:30pm outside the clinic to share what God is doing & encourage us for the last 20 days.

Please email: 40daysforlifebrighton@gmail.com

God Bless you

Kym Reeves

The Diary of an Unborn Child

Who could fail to be touched by this post written by Fr Bernhard Speringer ORC. For British readers, substitute Mommy for Mummy etc.

October 5: Today my life began. My parents don’t know it yet, but I am here. I’m a girl; I’ll have blonde hair and blue eyes. All my genetic imprints are present, also that I will have a weakness for flowers.....


Read the diary in full here at KATH.NET and, of course, be ready for the shock.

Stand back! - I'm armed and will not hesitate to defend myself!

I have had a series of nasty communiques from someone representing the abortion lobby (not so much lobby as thuggish bloodthirsty mob).

At first I was a shade nonplussed. Why me? There are many more eloquent defenders of human life out there...what have I done to deserve this diatribe...and on a post totally unrelated to life and murder issues.

And then I became a little puffed up that "the mob" had deemed me worthy of such illiterate, unbalanced rants, but that soon disappeared.
There is no merit to being attacked in such an apparently harmless way; harmless because it was not a series of threats to my loved ones or a violent physical attack, just an unpleasant rant with horrific terms and phrases with regard to the child in the womb.
The only harm was to my privacy; the fact that unwholesome views and words had invaded my combox.

Then, of course, I realised that I was not in the way of harm.

I am well armed with lethal weapons.

In my right hand is my Rosary and to the left of my front door is a holy water stoup. Nothing can hurt me! God is my Father!

But a prayer or two on behalf of those "Anonymous" commentators will not go amiss.

I have deleted their comments and, sadly, from now on, will no longer publish 'Anonymous' entries. If you have to comment anonymously, please add your name or nom de plume at the end of the comment.
Thank you.

                            Pope Benedict's prayer for the unborn child

Lord Jesus,
You who faithfully visit and fulfill with your Presence
the Church and the history of men;
You who in the miraculous Sacrament of your Body and Blood
render us participants in divine Life
and allow us a foretaste of the joy of eternal Life;
We adore and bless you.

Prostrated before You, source and lover of Life,
truly present and alive among us, we beg you.

Reawaken in us respect for every unborn life,
make us capable of seeing in the fruit of the maternal womb
the miraculous work of the Creator,
open our hearts to generously welcoming every child
that comes into life.

Bless all families,
sanctify the union of spouses,
render fruitful their love.

Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies
with the light of your Spirit,
so that peoples and nations may recognize and respect
the sacred nature of life, of every human life.

Guide the work of scientists and doctors,
so that all progress contributes to the integral well-being of the person,
and no one endures suppression or injustice.

Give creative charity to administrators and economists,
so they may realize and promote sufficient conditions
so that young families can serenely embrace
the birth of new children.

Console the married couples who suffer
because they are unable to have children
and in Your goodness provide for them.

Teach us all to care for orphaned or abandoned children,
so they may experience the warmth of your Charity,
the consolation of your divine Heart.

Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer,
in whose womb you took on our human nature,
we wait to receive from You, our Only True God and Saviour,
the strength to love and serve life,
in anticipation of living forever in You,
in communion with the Blessed Trinity.



Let's join with the USA!

The historic and catastrophic Roe vs Wade case had its anniversary yesterday and, thanks to Fr Shelton I have learnt that it is now a national day of penance for American Catholics, dedicated to the preservation of life and against acts that violate the human body.

When the 22nd January falls on a Sunday, then the penitential day moves to the Monday. So today we mourn; and pray; and offer up our Masses if we are fortunate enough to be able to attend a weekday Mass.

It seems to me that the whole Catholic world needs to be mindful of today's anniversary and to join with America in offering up acts of mortification in reparation for the slaughter of the innocents.

I will not quote the numbers of infants murdered in their mother's womb - just one would be one too many.

But a prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe would not go amiss, along with whatever form of penance you are able to commit to.

        OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE - PROTECTRESS OF THE UNBORN

Holy Mother of God and of the Church, our Lady of Guadalupe, you were chosen by the Father for the Son through the Holy Spirit.

You are the Woman clothed with the sun who labours to give birth to Christ while Satan, the Red Dragon, waits to voraciously devour your child.

So too did Herod seek to destroy your Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and massacred many innocent children in the process.

So today does abortion, by killing many innocent unborn children and exploiting many mothers in its attack upon human life and upon the Church, the Body of Christ.

Mother of the Innocents, we praise God in you for His gifts to you of your Immaculate Conception, your freedom from actual sin; your fullness of grace, your Motherhood of God and the Church, your Perpetual Virginity and your Assumption in body and soul into heaven.

O Help of Christians, we beg you to protect all mothers of the unborn and the children within their wombs.

We plead with you for your help to end the holocaust of abortion. Melt hearts so that life may be revered!

Holy Mother, we pray to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart for all mothers and all unborn children that they may have life here on earth and by the most Precious Blood shed by your Son that they may have eternal life with Him in heaven. We also pray to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart for all abortionists and all abortion supporters that they may be converted and accept your Son, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Saviour.

Defend all of your children in the battle against Satan and all of the evil spirits in this present darkness.

We desire that the innocent unborn children who die without Baptism should be baptized and saved. We ask that you obtain this grace for them and repentance, reconciliation and pardon from God for their parents and their killers.

Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite power of merciful love.

May it put an end to evil. May it transform consciences. May your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.

May Christ the King reign over us, our families, cities, states, nations and the whole of humanity.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, hear our pleas and accept this cry from our hearts!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Protectress of the Unborn, Pray for us!

 

"Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who am your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything." (Words of Our Lady to Juan Diego)

Smacking to become illegal in Wales - but go ahead and have an abortion

Is it a giant magic mushroom?
Or a nuclear explosion?
No, it's the Welsh Assembly version of
The Houses of Parliament!

Today's latest nonsense from the Welsh Assembly Government is a vote to introduce a law banning the smacking of children in Wales.
This follows on closely from yesterday's move to make it illegal to have body piercings below the age of sixteen whilst abortions may be carried out virtually regardless of age.

Now I am not advocating smacking one's child but I do believe that this sort of decision should be left in the hands of the parents rather than a bunch of, well you know what they are!
Equally, I abhor body piercings but, again, do not believe that legislation is a means of effective action. Lawmaking should be done with regard to public safety, national security, protection of goods and property and so on.

It should not involve itself with the colour of a woman's lipstick or the side a man parts his hair - that must be determined by the individual.

The hypocrisy is, of course, that young girls are being influenced and counselled into having abortions whilst the Assembly worries about how many piercings they have or whether they were smacked last night.

The people of Wales deserve much better than their current government. Much better.

You can have an abortion but no ear studs!

The good old Welsh Assembly is poised to commit yet another classical piece of hypocrisy as it starts to move towards making it illegal for under 16s to have body piercings. But, of course, you may have the ultimate body piercing of a baby removed from your womb - no problem! no laws broken, except for Almighty God's and who these days cares about that?

So,  we in Great Britain (and especially Wales) can congratulate ourselves that we have modelled a society that makes it illegal to buy fireworks, cigarettes and alcohol below the age of 18 and to have body piercings below the age of 16 but...wait for it.......you can get an abortion under the age of 16!

I guess not many people will have watched the Welsh Assembly in action on television......but, should you switch on at such a moment let me assure you that it is more dynamic and inspirational to watch stones move.

Taking steps to save life in the womb

                                                                       
David Aron is a young man setting out on a solo walk along the historic River Thames, 184 miles in total from 7th to 14th October - and all to raise funds for The Good Counsel Network, an organisation that works hard on behalf of the unborn and those considering abortion. David needs our prayers and....
....our money.
It is a most worthy cause; at first thought, I envied David the route that he is taking, along the beautiful Thames Valley (being TV, that's Thames Valley, raised myself) but then I remembered that, at the seaward end of the river, it becomes a tad bleaker and the riverside pubs disappear. And then I thought...184 miles? Stone the crows!......where's the sponsor button!

Here is the link for donations www.justgiving.com/davidaron and here is a Thames verse to speed him on his way...

Twenty Bridges from Tower to Kew -                                         Wanted to know what the River knew,                                       Twenty Bridges or twenty-two,                                  For they were young and the Thames was old                                        And this is the tale that the River told:-                                      "I walk my beat before London Town,                                        Five hours up and seven down.                                   Up I go till I end my run                                           At Tide-end-town, which is Teddington.                                         Down I come with the mud in my hands                                                   And plaster it over the Maplin Sands.                                        But I'd have you know that these waters of mine                                        Were once a branch of the River Rhine,                                      When hundreds of miles to the East I went                                            And England was joined to the Continent.                                     "I remember the bat-winged lizard-birds,                                         The Age of Ice and the mammoth herds,                                         And the giant tigers that stalked them down                                        Through Regent's Park into Camden Town.                                        And I remember like yesterday                                     The earliest Cockney who came my way,                                 When he pushed through the forest                                                                         that lined the Strand,                                         With paint on his face and a club in his hand.                                              He was death to feather and fin and fur.                                              He trapped my beavers at Westminster.                                                 He netted my salmon, he hunted my deer,                                                 He killed my heron off Lambeth Pier.                                         He fought his neighbour with axes and swords,                                  Flint or bronze, at my upper fords,                                             While down at Greenwich, for slaves and tin,                        The tall Phoenician ships stole in,                                             And North Sea war-boats, painted and gay,                                         Flashed like dragon-flies, Erith way;                                         And Norseman and Negro and Gaul and Greek                                      Drank with the Britons in Barking Creek,                                  And life was gay, and the world was new,                                   And I was a mile across at Kew!                                       But the Roman came with a heavy hand,                                         And bridged and roaded and ruled the land,                                         And the Roman left and the Danes blew in -                                         And that's where your history-books begin!" Rudyard Kipling

Welcome to Wales! Land of the free.......

......Abortion!

Yes, as of today it will be easier for a 13 year old girl to obtain a "morning after" abortion than it would be for her to buy a packet of Smarties. This is a first for Wales as, elsewhere in Great Britain, a medical consultation and payment (excluding Scotland) is required.

No parental approval is required, all a child has to do is present herself at the local chemist shop and make the request. The pills will be handed over, free and without any check from the child's medical practitioner.

Which is the easiest to obtain - these abortion pills?

Or these? - it's the pills actually!

This has all occurred as a result of the machinations of the Welsh Assembly Government. Anyone who has ever seen a televised debate from the WAG proceedings will know that we are not dealing with cutting edge politics here; in fact, the level of dialogue has been of such dire depths that it has added a certain charm to the practice of watching paint dry. Members address each other by their Christian names and the whole exercise takes on the character of a street residents' association discussing the latest scheme involving grass verge maintenance.

The effects of what the 'experts' and the media are quaintly calling "Emergency contraception" will undoubtedly be a rapid increase in the number of abortions (although this will not be seen on the statistical reports as, of course, there will be no recording or monitoring involved).
The morning after pills are on the verge of becoming the next teenage "must haves" along with iphones and vodka eyewashes.

The whirlwind will be reaped in the years ahead when parents, teachers and the health services will have to cope with the psychologically disturbed who have availed themselves of this service.
Our Lady of the Taper, Pray for Wales!

NB - I have only just seen Catholic and Welsh's excellent take on the subject

The slaughter of dolphins causes outrage....but no concern for life in the womb

There is a circular letter currently being passed around the internet. It carries photographs of the annual slaughter of Calderon Dolphins by young men on the Faroe Islands. It is not a pretty sight; the sea is stained with blood as the beautiful creatures are driven into a bay of shallow water where the savage killing takes place.

Abhorrent? Yes, but human abortion is more so

 I like dolphins, I believe they are intelligent creatures who do not deserve to die in this manner in the 21st century but I also believe that many of those who are scandalised at this barbaric practice and who may sign the letter, are unconcerned about what happens in an abortuary.
I recall a tour of Japan I made some years ago. The party comprised a prominent Labour Peer, a Grandee of the Tory party, a British Captain of Industry and a Japanese entrepreneur. It was a gruelling tour and we reached Tokyo after 5 days solid speech making and political meetings.
That night, as we ate in a restaurant, tempers were frayed after being in such close confinement. I instigated a debate to liven things up and to get the group together again. We debated the rights and wrongs of abortion and I suffered a heavy defeat. They argued that it was the right of the individual to choose; I was shouted down.
All agreed that it had been a rallying occasion and so I suggested another debate. The evening was quite early and they had enjoyed their victory so I suggested that we discuss fox hunting. By now they had got the bit between their teeth and they went for me hammer and tongs (I was in favour and they were vociferously anti). They argued that the dumb animal felt pain and that it was primitive for men to hunt animals in such a fashion.
Again, the vote came down 4 to 1 in their favour and they settled down rather pleased with themselves. "So what" I asked: "happened to individual choice?" "What happens to a baby in the womb when a surgeon destroys its life?"

Of course, I do not condone the killing of dolphins in such a mass murder fashion but my concerns are with the unborn child. I will not sign any letter requesting that the Faroe Islanders cease their killing until all abortion clinics closed and the law makes the taking of human life a crime once more. Then I will forgo fox hunting and sign the dolphin petition!

THE HOUSE OF HORRORS

BEHIND THESE SEEMINGLY INNOCENT DOORS, FOUL MURDER IS BOTH PLANNED AND CARRIED OUT. HERE IN A LEAFY, PLEASANT SQUARE IN THE CENTRE OF LONDON, BABIES ARE BEING SLAIN ON A DAILY BASIS.

    ONLY 50 PER CENT OF THE PATIENTS WHO   
        ENTER HERE WILL COME OUT ALIVE!


My wife and I joined the 40 Days for Life vigil outside the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) offices (26 Bedford Square) last Friday. They cannot even come clean with their name; it's not pregnancy advice, it's abortion advice, how to get rid of the infant in your womb.
There were not many of us. A total of six volunteers, including ourselves, came and went within the space of two hours. The organisation is in dire need of more cover from more volunteers so please, even if you only have 30 minutes to spare, sign on here and call by. It is always an unnerving experience standing up in public and proclaiming your beliefs. Praying the rosary and other prayers out loud for all to see and gawp at calls on our convictions. But, of course, that is part of the point, it is the Sacrament of Confirmation kicking in and giving us the moral courage to do such things and it is also seeing the courage of the 40 Days 'formal' volunteers and those from the Good Counsel Network that is so very inspirational. These people do this routinely but, I suspect, with the same difficulties that we 'informal' volunteers suffer.

Some 10 or 12 women entered the abortuary, none accompanied by husbands or boyfriends. A similar number of males came and went independently. Some took the leaflets offered by the volunteer at the door, others politely demurred. Meanwhile, we recited our decades, chanted our litanies and said the Angelus at 12 noon.
We left with a sense of relief (standing still on one spot for too long) and a modest sense of accomplishment; an ambition realised at last, a good cause supported.

I could not help but feel, however, that more Catholics should be taking part. Is abortion now such a by word that the man or woman in the pew no longer recoil from it? Has the destruction of life in the womb become totally socially acceptable? Where are the priests, the Bishops, the nuns and the brothers? Well, to be fair, some were at the alternative vigil outside the Marie Stopes abortuary in nearby Whitfield Street.

I hesitate to offer criticism when such a good cause is the subject but, why have two sessions running at the same time? I am at a bit of a loss as to comprehending just who the varying Catholic/Christian pro life groups are. SPUC of course is well known but how do Mary Stops Abortion, The Good Counsel Network and The 40 Days for Life initiative relate to on another? Could they, perhaps, work together more closely?

There is a Brighton based secular group who also do excellent work. They are confrontational in terms of displaying graphic images, the jury appears out on this delicate issue - are shock tactics (realism) good or bad?
But they do appear to be ultra organised, here is a snippet from their update email service:

We are planning to hold the first of our central London displays on Tuesday the 29th of March.  (Timings to be confirmed)

The abortion providers like to portray themselves as moderate, professional and caring organisations.  We want their neighbours to see what "Reproductive Health" looks like.  We will be taking large banners depicting the beauty of life and the brutality of abortion to their doors.  We can't do that without your help.

We need:
Someone who can drive the team to London from the Brighton area (fuel/parking and congestion will be paid for)
Camera person
Banner holders
Counsellors
Post-abortive women
Donors to help pay for fuel/parking and congestion charge as well as other expenses!!

Please let us know as soon as possible if you are able to help.

Ends/................

This is not meant as a sniping comment, I am a believer in learning from the success of others. One thing is absolutely crystal clear.......MORE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! There are 34 more days to go...please do it!

One last point, when doctors or nurses who carry out abortions are at dinner parties or other social events and their neighbour leans across to ask:
"What do you do for a living?"
How do they frame their answer?

This Friday we will join the 40 Days for life Vigil

There are many advantages to living in rural Wales but the major disadvantage is the time taken to get from Pembrokeshire to my home town of London. Only 250 miles or so but 5.5 hours by train and about the same driving (we are 70 miles from the motorway).
We like many other families, feel so very helpless faced with the strength and horrors of the abortion industry. We pay our dues to SPUC and buy a few raffle tickets but not much else, except PRAY! and that we do along with most if not all readers of this blog.
So, a much longed for ambition has been for my wife and I to join an anti abortion prayer group. We once attended the Oxford one some two years ago but have not been able to coincide a visit to family with another vigil. Until now.

We plan to be at the Forty Days for Life vigil at Bedford Square for an hour or so, I shall book online.
But this does mean that I shall be away from my computer until Monday 14th March - so no posts for a few days.
On Saturday we shall be in the West Midlands, visiting a very old and beautiful recusant house, Baddesley Clinton. Expect a feature on this great base of English Catholicism next week.