Brighton abortion clinic demonstration: the Rescue and the Rage

Earlier this week I spent a day in Brighton that I will never forget. It was so memorable because of the extraordinary mix of emotions that I felt in response to what I was witnessing.

I spent much of the day outside an abortion clinic in Brighton. Watching women enter the clinic to abort their babies broke my heart, both for the baby about to be killed and the mother who was about to lose a child.

I was reminded of my time in Atlanta in the 90s when I became involved in a ministry to women with unwanted pregnancies, which is where I first saw the misery caused by abortion. I was gripped by a passion to see babies saved and abortion stopped.

I didn’t think it was possible for me to become any more determined for the cause until this week in Brighton. Having seen again up close the pain that surrounds abortion, I now have fresh resolve to keep on campaigning until I see an end to abortion in this country.

My resolve was strengthened by seeing that campaigning can save lives. A young woman who was entering the clinic to abort at 22 weeks decided not to. I went away thanking God for two lives rescued - mum and baby. 

Later that day I was with two pro-life campaigners from the Abort 67 group, who are being prosecuted under Section 5 of the Public Order Act for taking part in a similar demonstration in June last year, as they entered their Not Guilty plea at Brighton Magistrates Court.

When people are confronted with the reality of abortion, they feel very uncomfortable. A Brighton abortion campaign group state on their facebook page in response to the demonstrations:

“We do not welcome upsetting and harrowing anti-choice propaganda on our streets”.

The “propaganda” they refer to is pictures of aborted children, who have no choice and no voice. The whole reason for showing the images is to demonstrate that abortion is real; it is final and  indeed “upsetting and harrowing”; their objection proves the point that groups like Abort 67 are trying to make.

The truth about abortion must me made known and women considering it have a right to know all the facts before they go through with the procedure.

People speak of the distress that women experience when faced with pro-life demonstrations outside abortion clinics. This is nothing compared to the trauma that many women experience after their abortion, having never been told the facts and what I saw this week in Brighton, with one woman deciding to keep her baby, shows that such information does make a difference.

It is only right that a woman understands the true nature of abortion and understands fully the consequences before she walks through the abortionist’s doors.

Life is a precious gift from God whether it is inside or outside the womb. We must continue to defend it with all our strength and passion.

After what I have seen this week, I am more fully resolved to do this than ever.

Andrea