Why people silently witness at the abortion site

In Michael Gaitley's book The Second Greatest Story Ever Told, in chapter four he talks about St. Faustina. St. Faustina was a simple Catholic nun who died at 33 in 1939 right before Hitler invaded Poland.

Her Diary is am amazing story of God's Mercy.

But it was a footnote regarding St. Faustina's prediction of World War II that surprised me. I had read St. Faustina's Diary but was unaware of this fact. It is a sworn statement from Blessed Michael Sopocko regarding St. Faustina's beatification. Fr. Sopocko was St. Faustina's spiritual director.

"[Sister Faustina] also foretold the destruction that would afflict the Fatherland (Poland), that there would come most sorrowful times. She saw her fellow citizens expelled to the East and the West.

She wrote in her Diary that Jesus himself said he was about to destroy one of the most beautiful cities of our country like Sodom on account of the crimes committed there.

Having read these things in her Diary, I asked her what this prophecy meant. She answered confirming the things she wrote, and, responding to a further question of mine: On account of what sins God would inflict these punishments, she replied, "especially on account of the slaughter of infants not yet born, as the most grievous crime of all." (emphasis added)"

When I read this, all I could think of was: Fr. Tony's silent witness near the abortion facility. What could possibly be more important than this? 

Poland and Hitler and abortion

The Polish compare abortion to Hitler. Makes complete sense since the Polish lost six million souls during the Holocaust, 3,000,000 Jews and 3,000,000 Christians (mostly Catholics).

The Polish know about genocide.

Pro-abortions drop dangerous drugs into Poland

Women on Waves is going to dump Mifepristone (or RU-486) onto Poland. Literally.

They are flying the abortion drug in using drones.

Abortion is illegal in Poland. But that won't stop these people. And RU-486 is a very dangerous drug. Especially for women in remote areas with no access to emergency care:
http://run-with-life.blogspot.ca/2015/02/ru-486-myth-4-more-on-safety-and-remote.html
http://run-with-life.blogspot.ca/2015/01/ru-486-can-be-lethal-for-women-in.html

But according to the Star article, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, the founder of Women on Waves, says the drug is safe:

"women in the drone campaign should feel safe taking the pill without direct medical supervision and will receive instructions on what to expect, and when to seek medical attention, from their partnering organizations."

That's not what Renate Klein--a pro-choice person--thinks. In Klein's book (RU486: Misconceptions, Myths and Morals), she says:

"Readers might not draw the same conclusion [that the drug is safe and effective], like hemorrhage-like bleeding, including the need for a blood transfusion, and/or re-evacuation, cardiovascular problems, a potentially lethal infection, or an ongoing pregnancy." 

Then Gomperts tells the women to lie to their doctor if there are complications.

"If complications do arise, Women on Waves advises the women to tell their doctor that they miscarried." 

So how can these women be properly treated if they lie to their doctor about the dangerous drug they took?

It seems the pro-abortions will stop at nothing to ply their deadly trade. I hope that none of these women are killed by this drug.

Mary Wagner - Defending life in Poland

Mary Wagner visits Poland to a hero's welcome.

"Mary Wagner’s message to Poland echoed the words of Saint John Paul II: “Do not be afraid of defending life, be not afraid of bringing the gospel of life in the streets.”  Thanks to Mary, there are now more people who will have the courage to continue the struggle."

Canada could learn something from the people of Poland and from Mary Wagner.

The canonical phrase “a woman’s right to choose”

Rex Murphy gets it in today's National Post with his insightful How Trudeau’s trendy ‘pro-choice’ secularism became the left’s new religion.

Murphy talks about the values of old, most often based on religious values:

"...as people have turned away from the religious framework, they have not jettisoned that interior certitude, that feeling of absolute confidence that used to be associated only with religious doctrine and belief. When people stop believing in God, they quickly find surrogate beliefs, construct surrogate values, and embrace a conviction that, in its force and depth, is no different, from that which had previously been supplied by religion. 

Does anyone doubt that the intensity with which people speak of and support “diversity” signals a sort of ersatz religious fervour? Does not the environmentalist’s regard for “the planet,” and her mystical view of every blade of glass, not have the same character as a nun lost in her devotions? 

When I hear Justin Trudeau defending unfettered access to abortion — he uses, of course, the canonical phrase “a woman’s right to choose” — he speaks in those perfect accents of assurance and certitude that used to belong only to religion. He speaks of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms with something that sounds very much like Godly reverence. 

Other parties, including the NDP and Conservatives, hold certain of their core ideas with the same absoluteness. We “appoint” certain ideas as having an unchallengable place in our politics and discussions. Secularism, in fact, may place a stronger silent pressure to conform to accepted values than even religion could in its heyday. 

However, nothing is as plain to someone else as it may be plain to us. To try to place some matters out of the range of discussion — because they are so obviously “right” or so obviously in tune with the times — is hardly a form of coherent argument. 

It is very curious to see and hear the accents of the absolute spoken by the secular left with the same fervour we once heard in the chapels and cathedrals of the 1950s. There are as many ostensibly “sacred” topics today as there ever have been — even if the very concept of sacredness seems alien to Mr. Trudeau and his ilk."

I've just returned from a pilgrimage to Poland. While many may feel the notion of "pilgrimage" quaint in the 21st century, I suggest that rather, it is an antidote for the rampant secularism Murphy so aptly describes. It was a breath of fresh air to witness the humble devotion displayed by the people of Poland, as well as the pilgrims with whom I traveled.

I hope to be writing more about this pilgrimage on my faith blog in the upcoming days.

What Canada can learn from Poland

Canada can learn some valuable lessons from Poland and their fight against abortion.

Just like Poland once did, Canada has no legal restrictions on abortion. Also just like Poland, our own government still refuses to debate abortion and our own media is heavily biased in favour of abortion.

The similarities are striking. Yet Poland is about to make all abortions illegal.

It began in 1980 when the Polish people set out to abolish their existing abortion law. It was a very difficult task, especially because of communism. According to Dr. Eng. Antoni Zięba:
"The regime in force at that time promoted abortion and made any public debate on this subject impossible – through media censorship and the ban on publishing not only magazines or materials but even leaflets about it... Doctors and nurses who refused to perform abortions lost their jobs....officially in the year 1980 we had 138,000 abortions per year, but in reality it was 3 or 4 times more. We posses some scientific estimations speaking about 600,000 abortions in Poland a year. These tragic numbers shocked us, forced us to act. But it was the communists propaganda which worried us the most, because of it the social consciousness concerning the evil of abortion was alarmingly low."

(Dr. Zięba's lecture is quite amazing. I suggest you read it.)

So what could be done within this repressive Communist Polish regime? Well the Poles had a powerful arrow in their quiver. Although this tool is readily available to all people everywhere, I would hazard to guess that people of the "pro-choice" persuasion, don't use it too often.

The Polish people had prayer. And the Polish people started to pray.

In 1979 Pope John Paul II visited his homeland and told the people of Poland:
“You need to pray always, and never stop. Jesus said to pray and form your life through prayer ... I express the wish and I always pray for this, that the Polish family may beget life and may be faithful to the sacred right to life” (Nowy Targ 8 June 1979).

What were the goals of this prayer initiative? Two things.

The first goal was to change Polish social consciousness regarding abortion:
“the social consciousness concerning the killing of unborn children and sensitize our society to the value of life and responsibility for each conceived human being..."

It seemed to be working. Opinion polls started to show that the objection to abortion was increasing:
"from about 35% in 1991 to 50% in 2010...this year, about 53% of Poles stood for the constitutional strengthening of the protection of human life, and around 33% of them were against."

The second goal was to create legal protection:
"to pray in the intention of abolishing the Abortion Law of 27 April 1956 and of recognizing the right to life for all conceived children...This law, let me remind you the overall number, resulted in the death of over 20 million Polish children."

By 1993 the existing abortion law was changed. Now there were now only three exceptions:
"when the life or the health of mother is endangered, when the foetus was seriously malformed and when there is suspicion that the pregnancy was a result of a criminal act".

(This law did not punish the women, but rather the doctor. Something else for Canada to think about.)

The latest success story in Poland's abortion story came at the beginning of this July.

After a successful 600,000 signature petition, which included obstetricians, gynaecologists, lawyers and journalists among its signatories, Poland’s government voted to tighten their abortion laws further by an overwhelming vote of 254 – 151 with 11 abstentions.

The fact that Poland's medical profession, lawyers and journalists were so supportive of this initiative, is key to Canada's situation too. We must get them on side.

The new law would:
"protect the right to life from the moment of conception in all circumstances by removing all exceptions from the nation's abortion laws. The law currently permits abortion for matters dealing with maternal health, rape and incest and fetal disability, which has been interpreted to include treatable issues such as cleft palate. The measure is most likely to be referred to a commission prior to the October election."

Canada can do like Poland did. We can pray. We can change social consciousness. We can blog. We can start our own grass roots movement. We can start our own petition. Maybe a petition all Canadians can agree on--like one that would ban all third-trimester abortions. We can write letters to Mr. Harper, to our MPs and to our newspapers. Repeatedly. Until they listen.

We can do it. Just like Poland did.