Thousands March for Life in London
17.05.2019
Pro-life campaigners from across the UK took part in the annual March For Life UK earlier this month. Participants sang hymns and prayed as the 5,000-strong march made its way to Parliament Square in Westminster for a rally. The march comes amid calls that Parliament should extend the Abortion Act to Northern Ireland and make extreme changes to abortion legislation in England and Wales. A small group of pro-choice campaigners staged noisy protests during the march.
Speaking in Parliament Square, Scottish Bishop John Keenan recalled William Wilberforce who played a key role in abolishing slavery in the 19th century. Just as slaves had been dehumanized and treated as non-persons, abortionists need to dehumanize unborn babies so they can kill them in the womb, he said.
Quoting Wilberforce, Bishop Keenan said: “‘Let it not be said that I was silent when they needed me. You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know…’ If you’re a leader in society, civic, as an MP, or in the Church as a priest or a bishop, be brave, be courageous, because this battle will be won not just by the truth, but it will be won by courage, too,” the Bishop of Paisley said. Bishop Keenan closed the rally with prayers.
American abortion survivor, Melissa Ohden, told the crowd: “I am standing here with you today as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a Master’s level prepared social worker, and yes, as an abortion survivor. You would never tell by looking at me today, but 41 years ago, I survived a ‘failed’ saline infusion abortion. Despite the miracle of my survival, the doctor’s prognosis for my life was initially very poor. My adoptive parents were told that I would suffer from multiple disabilities throughout my life. However, here I am today, perfectly healthy. Whether I had lived with the expected disabilities or not, my life still deserved to be protected and respected, I still was worthy of the love that my family freely offered. In my work as the founder of The Abortion Survivors Network, I have had contact with 286 other abortion survivors, including five from the UK, four of whom are still alive today.”
President of Culture of Life Africa, Obianuju Ekeocha said: “I am here to lament about the human rights issue of our time. Abortion in this country has been legal now for more than 50 years and has taken the lives of more than nine million people. We are all gathered here today in this special venue because we have come to raise our voices to this parliament, because this parliament has it wrong.”
Before the march, a series of workshops were held in Church House. Clare McCullough, founder and Director of The Good Counsel Network, gave a workshop entitled: What it means to be a Pro-Life woman. Tim Dieppe, Head of Public Policy at Christian Concern, Dr Ronan Cleary from Doctors For Life Ireland, and Pastor Darnell and Karen Starks of the Crookston Baptist Church in Glasgow also spoke during the morning workshops.
ICN. May 12.