Richmond Mother says "If GCN can’t stand by the gate, it means you put vulnerable mothers in danger"

On Wednesday night, Richmond Council's Regulatory Committee voted to recommend to the Council that a PSPO (Buffer Zone) be brought in around Richmond's BPAS abortion centre.
As part of the consultation process BPAS had over 300 testimonies from women saying our presence distressed them in the space of just one month. 323 testimonies in fact.

In fact the BPAS centre is a very busy abortion centre and during the Consultation, there was clearly an effort made to ask clients entering the centre how the vigil (BPAS would say "protest") made women feel. Fair enough.

And how did the women feel? The comments they include in their report are as follows.
"Standing outside and opposite the clinic - handing out flyers and also had more posters beside them. [It made me feel] embarrassed and as if going into a clinic was almost evil - as if we were taking a life." 

"[The protestors were]influencing our decision that we already had a hard time going through. [They made me feel] like we were doing something wrong, angry, every situation is different."

There are many more such testimonies, and I have left out several that accuse us of harassing and following women and telling both clients and staff that they are baby murderers and that they are going to hell. No-one at the vigil does these things, but I can't expect people to believe me in the face of overwhelming testimony to the contrary. So don't believe me. Go to a vigil, unannounced, unexpected. Don't turn up to bait people or to accept my view. Go quietly and see what the vigil does. For yourself. Any time you like.

But to get back to the comments above, I understand that women going through a traumatic moment, like abortion certainly is, would rather not have to see the mildest of placards (see picture above of what the placards at the vigil in Richmond consist of), or even have a person praying outside or offering a leaflet. Even though, as you can see from the two comments I have included behaviours such as offering a leaflet or just being present - which are neither frowned on by law, nor intended to cause any distress at all - can be difficult on such a difficult day. Yes, even though we try to be unoffensive and unobtrusive, we understand many women would rather we were not there.

So why are we there? Because despite the words of several Richmond Councillors tonight, we still see dozens and dozens and dozens of women entering Richmond who have - and are offered - no alternatives to abortion. I have spoken many times about those groups of women who cannot access services like refuges, housing, benefits, safe houses, even social services. And no amount of pretending that BPAS refer these women to such places means that they can get help from them. You can help those mothers.

Devi's mum, Sara, one of 7 who shared their stories with Richmond Council, said Richmond BPAS  didn’t speak 2 words to her in the clinic about alternatives to abortion. "They just filled a form and do a blood test then procedure starts." She chose life instead, because Good Counsel were there 

to offer an alternative when she was entering BPAS.

7 of these very women - excluded from much of this help - gave their testimonies to Richmond Council. Those testimonies were distributed on Wednesday evening to Richmond Regulatory Committee members, at the start of the meeting, it was more than clear that they had no chance at all to read them before the vote.

Here is one of them.

Ilda's Story

I found out I was pregnant, I booked an appointment to, terminate, in the clinic. And so I met Good Counsel Network by the gate and we started talking. No one said that I need to, I have to or I should, do anything. It was just an offer and I accepted it.  I believe if the person from the Good Counsel Network wasn't there, a person, it wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever, I would not have felt able to keep my baby if I had just been given a leaflet – I needed to meet someone there who I could speak to about the help. 

I heard someone say some people are offended by GCN?

We need to think of this in two ways, if there is offence – if you're offending me, you need to be doing something that I don't want you to, and you keep pushing me. But an offer is different. I can offer you something, and you can say 'No, I'm sorry, 'I'm fine'. Then OK, this is an offer, but causing offence is completely different. This is a very emotional time for every woman. If you go to an abortion clinic, you go there because you have no choice. You know, we all have different problems, we all have different reasons, especially if you look at me, I'm like this (pregnant) and I don't have a partner, and not having a partner is not a big problem, but a violent partner, that’s a different thing! So it’s nice that when you feel you have to make a choice that you don't want to make and you don't know where to turn to and get some help. -If someone, was telling me, actually there is help, there is an offer, would you like to take it? When I was ready to go into the clinic and I was crying, this is so important!

I think we need to ignore, the fact that sometimes, even when you do good things, some people might get offended for some reason, we can't make everything right for everyone. The important thing, when you put it in balance, which one is important? The unborn child's future, and mother's future, or some people, they might have some experiences, or they can get offended for no reason. I think we need to keep the balance, sometimes I think we just need to ignore when people get offended, because the important thing is the Mother and her unborn baby's future. It's more important than those people's feelings. I think it is more important.

Because I wouldn't be pregnant at the moment if Good Counsel didn't give me the leaflet and if they didn't say “Hi”, because there was no other option in my mind. Without that, keeping the baby wasn't going to happen. So sometimes, just a smiley face, 'Hi, hello!' You know, shaking your hands and showing you that there are good people out there, but they genuinely care about people, and babies. It's important, babies still in the mummy's tummy, you know they have no choice, they didn't choose to be there. And at the same time they don't choose to die as well. Just give unborn babies a life, a chance. Just an offer. No one is pushing anyone, no one is offending anyone, it's just an offer. I think we all need an offer but it is up to you to accept it or reject it.

Here some people are just nicely standing by the doors just to give a leaflet, I don’t use rude words, but I think what I am going to say is going to fit perfectly, do people need to kill their babies in order to make other people comfortable? It’s a very big question.

I think after this meeting you have to be very careful...honestly, you cannot receive that kind of support anywhere else. So if the people from GCN can’t stand by the gate, it means you put vulnerable women, mothers, human beings, in danger. Because I have been there by myself. In my experience I have even been to a woman’s refuge and I have been “let go”, left on the road, with no money, with nothing. So these pro-life people need to be standing there outside the abortion clinics. I have never received such support – when you go to some places, -they say - we are here for you, we are here to support you, they always start like that. But everything is just on paper or it’s just what they say. Others say that they will support but you get nothing. But here with GCN it’s not like you get your baby and you are on your own after that – this is very important. They are there from the beginning until you are ready to stand on your own two feet – what is wrong with that? I really believe if I had met them years ago, my life would have been different. Honestly.

This is nothing to do with “offensive”, [banning] this is not right on a human level, it’s not right. You want me to kill my baby so that you can feel relaxed? – I think this question finishes everything.

[Short videos with some of the other mums that we have helped can be seen here.]

Respond to the Richmond Consultation on a Buffer Zone by 9th December - This Brave Mother Did!

Richmond Council is currently consulting on a Buffer Zone around the BPAS abortion Centre in Rosslyn Road, near Twickenham. The Council's Regulatory Committee met in October to decide whether to launch a Buffer Zone consultation. Alina who has challenged Ealing's Buffer Zone in Court (currently awaiting permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal)and Debra, a brave mum who was pregnant as a result of rape, helped by the vigil,  attended and gave their testimonies to the councillors present. Although councillors acknowledged the "emotional" stories that were told, the issues both women raised - of women coerced into abortion who may very well welcome an offer of alternative help and support - were ignored. Richmond Council's consultation ends on 9th December. Please go to http://behereforme.org/richmond-consultation/ to respond to the consultation with guidance to help you. You can read Debra's testimony here:

My name is Debra. I am of South African origin. In 2017 I found myself destitute, stateless and financially worse. I was homeless and ended up being raped through trying to find a safe place to stay. By the time I realised I was pregnant I was over 20 weeks along. I was very confused and was worried that this baby had been conceived in the rape.

I had no home, no money, no support whatsoever. I started wondering how I would manage. I didn’t want to tell those I was staying with, because I knew that would mean the end of my accommodation. So, unsure of what I wanted to do I rang the British Pregnancy Advisory Service where I was booked for an appointment in Richmond.

As I turned onto the street where BPAS is it was very quiet. I noticed three pro-life people opposite the BPAS building, just standing and praying. Across the road outside the building there was one pro-life lady just standing. The lady was standing by the gate as I was approaching, but she wasn’t obstructing the entrance. The pro-life lady already had her hand stretched out with a pink leaflet in her hand. This made it easy for me as I was drawn to it and wanted to see what was in the leaflet but also I didn’t want to engage in any conversation. The lady was very polite and quiet. I just took the leaflet from her hand, since it was clear she was handing them out. There was no talking involved I simply took it and proceeded to BPAS.

At the BPAS centre, once I entered my whole mood changed. I had to focus only on why I was there. As soon as the assessment starts it just straight to business. I was passed from one staff member to another, but none of those people were purely focussed on assessing my reasons and background which had led to me wanting a termination. I spoke to several staff as I had different tests and I would then move on to the next stage until my appointment finished. I just didn’t feel comfortable, as there was no set person to go through my situation and offer me alternatives. When my appointment in the BPAS abortion centre finished, I was offered dates for the abortion.

When I got home I looked at the pro-life leaflet and decided to give The Good Counsel Network a call. I was booked in and I told them my circumstances. They offered me accommodation and financial support, I didn’t believe it at first it was just too good to be true. Amazingly that was the case Good Counsel did provide the help they said they would. Their help meant I could have somewhere safe to live and go through my pregnancy whilst I was sorting my visa issues. I eventually gave birth to a healthy boy. I am so ever grateful to the lady who handed me that leaflet!

If the pro-lifer’s vigil were to be moved away from BPAS it would mean that women in my situation will be left with no alternative to abortion. Women like me will never experience the joy of choosing to have their baby. Women like me will be left with regrets, guilt and only a wish that if only there was an alternative solution they would’ve done things differently. 

Clare's Speech to Thousands of Pro-Lifers at Parliament Square

“Over 9 Million abortions! What a travesty. What a total assault on children, on their Mothers and on their fathers too. A total assault on our society. How do I begin to speak in the face of 9 million abortions? I cannot even comprehend that number. I cannot begin to comprehend it.

What are we to do? We stand here today as a tiny witness to this awful assault on life and we look around the broken society we live in. We look to the future and we see the threat of nationwide Buffer Zones, of women being sent home to take their abortion pills alone in their bedrooms crying into their pillows so that society is not troubled by their cry. We see the total decriminalisation of abortion – which really means the total deregulation of abortion, where even the shards of the laws designed to protect Mothers and babies are smashed out of the frame to allow the abortion industry a free reign. We see Nurses and Doctors’ freedom of conscience to refuse to participate in abortion being eroded, just like the children that are screened out by abortion.

I work for a group that has the dubious honour of having the first Buffer Zone imposed on our vigil. And I can tell you that standing away from the abortion centre, knowing that some women are entering because they have no other choice – knowing this not because it suits us to think so, but because hundreds and hundreds of women have told us this in the last 20 years - but being forced to not offer them any alternative at all is a particular form of suffering that our staff and volunteers are having to endure.

And yet through the other vigils we are at and through the work of our Counselling Centre, we see many, many women seeking help to avoid abortions they feel coerced into having.

This isn’t every woman’s story. There are plenty of women who choose abortion themselves. We pray for them. But their story does not negate the story of those with little or no choice.

In Ealing today it is illegal for me to stand within 100 metres of the abortion centre and offer a woman a leaflet even if it only provided a list of help that was available to the woman if she kept the baby and nothing else.

There on Mattock Lane, outside Marie Stopes, where a woman bled to death in a taxi after being sent away with a bleeding torn womb, we cannot even say a prayer.

I have spoken repeatedly about those who are not entitled to state benefits or housing – large numbers of these women are brought to the abortion centre by circumstances beyond their control and the abortion centre has nothing to offer them but abortion. We are there for them, with housing and financial help and moral and practical support. But there are others too, large numbers of women having abortions for someone else – usually a partner who is not ready, or who is not interested, sometimes mum and dad who just won’t understand. There are women having an abortion today because their contraception let them down and it just seems the worst of times to have a child.

For these women, love and support, real help that allows them to continue with their plans and yet not have to have an abortion, is a totally pro-choice – in the truest sense of the word – offer.

And yet this is now seen as the most offensive thing we can do.

Abortion advocates claim that abortion has few, minor health risks, but the same people claim that being approached politely and offered a leaflet or even just knowing that someone is praying for you outside an abortion centre can cause you post-traumatic stress disorder.

Several years ago we were contacted by a young woman who had been raped. She came to us really conflicted about what to do and she was in so much pressure to have an abortion. So many women we have seen who have been raped have been told by those around them to have an abortion and told, ‘if you keep this baby, I don’t believe you were raped’, and even the police have told them on a number of occasions "If you keep this baby were not going to prosecute the rapist" That’s actual testimony from many women we have seen. This young woman was really, really confused. She had a husband back home in her own country. She wasn’t sure that he would accept this child. She just felt she just couldn’t possibly go ahead. She had a couple of daughters and she always wanted a little boy and she wanted to call him Martin. She had never had her little boy and now she was in this situation. With lots of support and prayer and real help and a place to hide and all kinds of support to give her different options as to what to do when the baby was born she decided to go ahead with her decision to continue the pregnancy. When the baby was born she decided to she was going to give him up for adoption. Her little boy was born on the Feast of Saint Martin and she called him Martin. She struggled for a few weeks about what to do and finally she went to an adoption agency signed all the papers to hand Martin over for adoption, and went home. Except she didn’t go home, the adoption agency had closed and she sat on the steps of the adoption agency until the morning when she could take back the papers and take back her son. With God's Grace her husband had accepted what had happened and accepted her decision to keep her baby and she returned home and brought her baby back to her family. This is what can happen when a woman has love, unconditional support, a place to hide, practical help, all the support you would give to your sister, you know like sister supporters do if you could. That is exactly what we are all called to do. It’s not just something for Good Counsel or 40 Days or any of the groups who pray and witness for Life. You know it’s something all of us are called to do to offer that love and support to those in need.

In 20 years, I have not yet met a woman who had from her early childhood wanted or planned an abortion. No-one wants to have to have an abortion. When women speak of wanting to have an abortion they are of course really meaning that they desperately DON’T want to have the baby. If they could be suddenly “unpregnant”, this would seem to be the solution. Unfortunately, the only way to make a pregnant woman “unpregnant” is to deliver her baby, dead or alive. Either one of those choices is going to have consequences for the woman.

If you understand what science clearly shows – that a little unborn human at 3 weeks of pregnancy has a beating heart. That at 7 weeks, brainwaves can be clearly picked up showing what we would call thought. That by 7 weeks, the enlarged ultrasound scan can show a tiny baby clearly moving in the womb. By 8 weeks, the baby has the foundations of all its organs laid down and by 12 weeks the baby has every organ developed and growing. Once you know that, you know that ending the pregnancy means ending a human life. Of course, what ending a pregnancy by abortion does is to make a woman the Mother of a dead baby.

If we believe this, we have to have a different approach to the topic of abortion than those who don’t know or are in denial about the humanity of their children. I once wanted to work to campaign for a change in the law on abortion. Somehow I ended up in the side of the pro-life movement which cares for and supports Mothers instead. But I begin to see that in many ways caring for Mothers who are considering abortion and giving them real alternatives does change minds and hearts. It is a very important part of changing the culture.

We need to show our commitment to this work. If we know what abortion really does, it is our job to witness this to our society in a loving way. We must put our hands in our pockets, our time on offer, our resources at the disposal of those offering help to women in unplanned pregnancies and then we can honestly say to women, “We think you are better than this. You deserve better than this. And your baby also deserves better than this.”

Today we are opposed by groups of people that seem to have a total hatred for us and what we are doing.  Why is that hatred there? Here we are in a country on the brink of legalising abortion for all or any reasons – at each and every stage in pregnancy. Why do these groups even care what we do? Why, when we have approaching 200,000 abortions each year do they care about our little March and our movement? Ask yourself that question and think about it long and hard.

They care because they sense something that we don’t even imagine. That there can come a time when abortion will be exposed for the attack on women that it really is, when no amount of marching or blocking the way will hide the reality of the poverty that abortion is. They sense that a time is coming when abortion won’t be seen as a choice, but will be recognised for what it really is – the wholesale killing of children and wounding of their Mothers.

When they stack the decks against us in debates, when they cover our posters, when they lie about the work we do, when they accuse us of harassment, when they shake their heads and say “Shame on you”, rejoice, because whether they are acting in good faith or bad, they can feel that something is changing.

It makes no sense for them to come out to protest our presence here. Here we stand – with the media not on our side, with our Parliament largely not on our side, with our laws totally not on our side. It makes no sense to protest us unless they fear that the abortion tide is already turning.

And I think they are right.

Don’t expect an overnight change, and don’t expect that there will be no setbacks, but with prayer and commitment and more prayer, we are beginning to change the culture. The persecution of those who try involved in this work will probably get hotter.

But do take note that abortions are dropping. That the number of women having abortions in England and Wales has dropped. That the number of women having abortions in London has dropped – while the population of London has risen by about a million in the same time abortions have dropped from 51,000 abortions per year in 2006 to 42,000 abortions in 2016. (9,000 drop)

Eleven years ago, in 2007, there were over 205,000 abortions in England and Wales. In 2016, there were just over 190,000 abortions which is a drop of over 15,000.

The number of women coming to the England from Ireland has also dropped from 6337 in 2006 to 3989 in 2016, a drop of 2,348.

We have also seen that where there is a regular peaceful, prayerful vigil offering help and covering large numbers of the hours that the centre is open, abortions drop there.

I have been told time and time again – even by Members of Parliament - that this is not true, that we scare women away with our tiny peaceful vigil, and that they go elsewhere to have their abortions. But it is in fact true. The number of abortions at the Ealing and Twickenham abortion centres has dropped by 13.5% and 17% respectively in the last years we have figures for.

And no, these women did not all just go elsewhere. I know because large numbers of them have come to us for a chat or a buggy or some vouchers or a bit of advice. And they have come back to show us their babies! Praise God!

This is happening. People are slowly moving away from abortion.

What must we do?

The first thing is to give your time, and if you are a believer your prayers. We need to have people involved in this peaceful witness to our society that this is wrong and that there are much better ways to help women. We really need large numbers of committed people to be out in all weathers praying and offering support to women while we still legally can! There is little use complaining about buffer zones if we don’t go and help at vigils anyway.

Commit to fighting these changes in the law. The new home secretary Sajid Javid needs letters from everyone here asking him not to bring in National Buffer Zones. And we need to be ready to oppose the decriminalisation of abortion to our own MPs.

In closing, it is great to see you all here today, witnessing to the fact that EVERY LIFE DESERVES LOVE. The Buffer Zones are a frighteningly totalitarian response to a peaceful witness. I regret bitterly each woman who misses the offer of help outside an abortion centre because of the Buffer Zone. But the even greater danger to the future of mums and babies, as well as to the elderly and disabled and to all those who are vulnerable is pro-life apathy. That is the Buffer Zone we have to fight hardest and for the sake of the unborn, the most important one to win.”

You can watch a video of Clare’s speech here

[Photos, Bishop Alan Hopes, formerly of Westminster leading the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants monthly prayer vigil at the abortion centre in Twickenham, where The Good Counsel Network now have a daily vigil. Clare speaking in Parliament Square]

Another Courageous Mother Speaks Up In Support Of Pro-Life Vigils Outside Abortion Centres

“When I found out that I was pregnant, I was worried about having a baby because first of all I was here, in a foreign country and I just came here as a student and the father of the baby was not here. When I found out I was pregnant it was very scary.

When I went to the abortion centre, I was so confused and crying and then I said to myself, I need to think about this some more.

So when I went there I saw that on the other side of the street, there was a woman praying. The lady walked towards me and she said "Are you going for the abortion? I can help you if you don’t want to do it?". Then I said "What? You can help me?"  and then it just took me a second to say, "Ok I will go with you".

That lady was Alina – who you just heard speak [See below].  She was offered help and kept her baby and years later she came there to Marie Stopes to be there for me and my baby, and for other women like me.

That day she took me to the Good Counsel Network’s Centre' and when they told me about the help they could offer me I knew I wanted to keep my baby. And they did give me that help.

The day I was having my baby as well my Counsellor from Good Counsel Network, Iulia, came to the hospital with me. She was with me because I had a caesarean and she was with me in the operating theatre. She held my baby for the first time and I was so grateful for all the help. I’m so grateful first of all for them, if not for them it would have been very difficult for me. It’s so expensive to have a baby, a buggy is expensive and everything but when I needed these things Good Counsel have been there for me.

My daughter was born with congenital rubella infection. It has been quite a difficult journey with my baby, because after she was born I found out that she was blind deaf and she had so many problems. She had to stay in the hospital for 7 months before she came home. and she has many disabilities, but despite all I am so, so in love with my baby – I love her very much. She is everything to me. She holds my heart, she is the best thing that has happened to me. She is very charming and very lovely and I am so grateful that she is here.”                                                Aurelia

[You can see a video of Aurelia's speech here]

Pro-Life Speech at this year’s March for Life, in Parliament Square by brave Mother who challenged Ealing Council in the High Court

“I’m not a stranger to the emotional intimidation of just being pregnant.

I’m not a stranger to being made to feel ashamed and embarrassed by the person I least expected, just because I became pregnant by him.

I am not a stranger to facing a choice between my job and my unborn baby.

I’m not a stranger to walking into an abortion facility because I did not have support or the help I most needed at that time.

Alina outside the High Court with her daughter at the start of the legal challenge to Ealing Council’s Censorship Zone

I’m not a stranger to the pain, stress, the sleepless nights of being faced with an unwanted pregnancy, but still my heart cried at the thought of going to end the life of the one who was my child, my first child.

I had exhausted every option, searching the internet, asking for help from friends, asking for help from Marie Stopes but the only option I was offered by them was abortion.

I felt that this was the end of the world for me and yet from all that darkness, I met a counsellor outside the abortion centre who was offering me light. At last I felt hope, I felt for the first time that my child was wanted, not only by me, but also by complete strangers. For the first time I felt that I was not walking alone on the day I was meant to end the life within me - my child.

I found help right at the gates of “hell” – Marie Stopes abortion centre.

I cannot express the joy and how fulfilled I felt as a woman, as a Mother, to be given the chance to have my child, to hold her tiny hands, hear her voice, to watch her grow and turn into such a fine young lady.

It wasn’t easy, but with help and support given by The Good Counsel Network, I made it, my little young lady made it too!

And I am here to say that no woman should ever feel she is alone and without hope. Expectant Mothers should have all of the information, resources and emotional support that they need during their pregnancy – especially an unexpected pregnancy.

A just and caring society doesn’t criminalise people for offering help to vulnerable Mothers.

Women are smart. Women should have all the information that they need when making life changing decisions, including the information that Marie Stopes doesn’t want them to have.”        Alina

[You can watch a video of Alina's speech here]

Summer & Longer Good Counsel Volunteer Workers Internship Programme

I have been amazed to find that nearly every day a woman outside an abortion clinic turns and chooses to take up our offer of help instead of going in for an abortion. 

Jess Almeida, Good Counsel Intern, now Sr Jess of the 

Sisters of the Gospel of Life, Glasgow.

Left Baby "Marla" whose mum chose life

Looking for an interesting and challenging project for the summer? Or for the next few months? Volunteer for Good Counsel's Intern Programme or the Summer Mini-Internship and learn how to take part in front line prolife work in a peaceful and prayerful Catholic atmosphere. It can be very hard work but it also has been extremely fruitful in terms of the number of babies saved and extremely fruitful in the lives of those involved in the programme. It has also been a decisive moment in the lives of some of our interns, helping them to discern their future careers or vocations. Some interns have gone on to work long-term for the Good Counsel Network, or for other pro-life groups. Some have discovered a vocation. Others want to take the skills they have learned back to their own countries or towns.

 

Interns working together

Full Internships (3 months)

Interns volunteer full time with us and have the opportunity to learn:

                How to start and run a successful Crisis Pregnancy Centre

                How to start and run a vigil at an abortion centre

                How to run a 40 Days for Life campaign

                How to advise and support a pregnant woman in a crisis

                How to remain faithful to the Catholic Church’s teachings in all aspects of your                       prolife work

Internships are offered for a 3 month periods. Interns live in London and receive a subsistence allowance, travel expenses and free accommodation. They live as part of a community, praying and working together. There are men’s and women’s intern houses.

 Interns socialising together

Summer Mini-Internships (4-6 weeks)

Summer mini-internships last from 4-6 weeks and provide a basic grounding in running vigils and basic skills for offering women alternatives to abortion, as well as a grounding in pro-life issues such as the law on abortion in the UK, the law in practise, foetal development and abortion.

Accommodation and allowances are the same as for the full internship (above). Mini-internships are available between June and September only.

If you are interested, please email fredathome2@yahoo.co.uk and send your CV or a covering letter with a brief outline of your work history, studies, plans and the reasons for your interest in the Programme.

More Interns working hard...

 “It was an honour to get to walk mothers through a difficult time in their lives. To help mothers who have had abortions towards healing. And it was an honour to get to hold the babies who otherwise wouldn’t be there. To be a part of the story of people whose lives are going to change the world somehow just because they got the chance to live.”

                                                                                               Charis, Good Counsel Intern

Clare McCullough