RECLAIM: a baby who survived, and an interesting conversation with a doctor

Last Saturday’s street outreach with RECLAIM saw a higher level of engagement than we have experienced before, thanks to a growing team of activists and, perhaps, a bright sunny day. 

We started the day with Adoration and the celebration of Mass dedicated to the pro-life cause that the CFR sisters have set up in St Saviours church. As we gathered after and set up the table at O’Connell Street, we took out our baby models and pulled on our vests with bold white writing that said “I’m pro-life, change my mind”. 

Then we divided into pairs and went into different directions on the streets, handing out leaflets and having conversations with people. 

As soon as we set up the table, a man approached it curiously looking at the baby models. He told us a story about how 17 years ago, he and his girlfriend went to Marie Stopes to book an abortion in the UK.

As they approached the clinic, they were met with pro-life protesters. He said they were angry and even cursed at them, but took a leaflet anyway. They saw in the leaflet pictures of the development of the baby in the womb - and they realized that their little baby was not just a clump of cells but a living, breathing human being. They knew then they couldn’t have an abortion. 

The man said that his son is now 17 years old, and you could see the love in his eyes when he was speaking of his son with whom he has a very close and special bond. The relief in his eyes when he was looking over at the baby models gave us strength, knowing that what we are doing is important. It was such a beautiful story and gave us hope for the rest of the day. 

As the day continued, we had a lot of conversations. One of our canvassers talked to a French nurse who stopped to debate. He was in favour of killing an unborn baby in cases of rape and if the child would have a bad quality of life. He eventually agreed that the criminal father should receive the death penalty and not the child. He even said that it was Hitler who sought to exterminate those with a bad quality of life - and  thanked us before walking away.

Another man, who said he is a gynecologist, stopped to talk, saying he also didn’t believe in abortion - but made the heartbreaking exception of the case where the baby has a disability. He believed that abortion should only then be allowed in the  circumstances of where the parents find that their child isn’t as perfect as they initially wanted. We took a lot of time and effort to talk to the man and we said that a baby with a disability has the same human rights as all of us.  We left him with a lot of food for thought and he thanked us and took a picture of us, glad of the conversation. 

One of the less positive encounters that we had was a mother with a beautiful, little baby on her chest who stormed by the table and shouted that this was her choice to have a baby - not anyone else’s. She was talking about a choice as her little newborn baby was cradled on her chest. Well, we are glad that she ‘chose’ not to kill her baby, but is it the case that every child should be glad they survived a choice whether they should live or die? Is this a healthy or loving standard for society? 

My heart dropped a little whilst watching the woman carrying her precious little baby, whilst talking about a choice. The ‘choice’ which she referred to was to have the option to end her child’s life just a few months back. If she didn’t realize that, or if she did know what that“choice” meant, then we are left with some pretty distressing and concerning conclusions. 

But it was a great day for the pro-life cause and after our RECLAIM street outreach, we finished the day with a warm meal, prayer and good company.

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If you would like to help out, please email reclaimingireland@gmail.com