Thursday 2 June 2011

Also yesterday...

The following is yesterday's report of the Abort67 volunteers display in Brighton & Hove...

Green Cross: VIth Form College entrance
Red Cross: Abort67 Display; Blue Cross: Wistons Clinic entrance


On Wednesday 1st June the Abort67 volunteers were back at the Abortion clinic in Brighton.

We knew this day was going to be a quiet one as the college were writing exams so student numbers were down but it was good none the less. As there were fewer conversations than normal we were able to observe the drivers reactions to the banner showing a 10 week old aborted child. Though our website gets seen by thousands of people each month I am fairly certain that with just a few hours out on the streets we are reaching more people.

A journalistic photographer who has done some work with channel 4 stopped by and took some pictures. So it may have been worth burning in the Sun just for that contact.

We had an interesting conversation with a couple of young mums who saw our “Notice Abortion images ahead” “A” boards and then came to see the banner to which it was referring. One of them had two young children with her who showed no signs of distress at the images as their mum calmly asked us about the image. The other mum said that when she found out she was pregnant; the first thing her midwife said was “Well if you want to get rid of it we will have to act quickly. It will just be a case of taking a couple of pills.” The new mum instead asked for a scan and the midwife refused to help her. Fortunately for this baby his or her mother knew abortion wasn’t an option. Now at 24 weeks she told us that “Those pictures would put girls off having abortions when they are told that it is just taking a couple of pills.”

I have attached a map of our position when we expose abortion at Wistons. We stand with the banners where the red cross is on the map. The green cross is the entrance to the college. The Blue cross shows the Abortion clinic entrance on the quiet side street where the other volunteers will stand to approach those entering the clinic. They ask people if they can provide more information before showing them the facts about pre-natal development and abortion.

Another girl walked past our banner in the direction of the entrance and turned away so she wouldn’t have to look at the image. Then instead of going into the clinic she crossed the road heading south to walk down Dyke Road. A minute later she came back up to the junction and stood for a while on the other side of the road looking at the banner. She then crossed the road and headed towards the entrance. Here one of the volunteers asked if she could give her some more information. She took it and stood outside the clinic for several minutes looking through it. She was visibly affected by what she had learned in those few minutes.

It is likely she was there for a consultation as she had no bag or paperwork with her that we could see. Unfortunately this will be another story that we will possibly never know the outcome of.

We must carry on exposing abortion because women are going to abortion clinics because they are ignorant of the reality of what they are doing even if deep down they know it is wrong. It reminds them that their instincts are not just some vague silly feeling but they are mothers now, not just when they are holding a baby in their arms. We have to carry on despite the frustration of not being able to follow up each person we come into contact with just to satisfy our own desire for seeing the fruit.

As a result of the article in the Guardian more people around the country have contacted us wanting to get involved. We really are at the stage where we need to move from doing this voluntarily to doing it professionally if we want to push through. This is where we need your help to not just carry on this work but to help us make it grow.

If you can help by sacrificially giving each month or making a one off donation please get in touch.

Many thanks,
Andy Stephenson

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