Crossroads Walkers in Ottawa

I received the following information from Campaign Life Coalition :

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Crossroads - Taking Steps to Save Lives

Walking across Canada for Pro-life – a group of six young Catholic adults

Beginning on May 22 in Vancouver BC. Arriving in Ottawa on the weekend of August 14th

Welcome them on Parliament Hill on Sat. Aug. 14, noon – at the flame

Welcome Reception - Meet them at St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish, 95 Somerset Street West, in the basement hall at 1:30 pm

Come and support these courageous champions for LIFE

For more information on their schedule while in Ottawa, call Campaign Life Coalition at 613-729-0379

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They will also be at the abortuary at 65 Bank St. on August 13th at noon for some time of prayer. Please join them and the Helpers who will be present praying and sidewalk counselling.

Ottawa abortionist disciplined by CSPO

From the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons.
http://www.cpso.on.ca/docsearch/details.aspx?view=3&id=%2062857

It appears the abortionist working at the abortion clinic at 65 Bank St. in Ottawa, Krzysztof Janusz Fabisiak (CPSO#: 62857), has been disciplined by the CPSO for the following reasons :

"Allegations of Dr. Fabisiak's professional misconduct and incompetence have been referred to the Discipline Committee of the College. It is alleged that Dr. Fabisiak failed to maintain the standard of practice of the profession and is incompetent in his care and treatment of Patient "A", Patient "B" and 23 patients. "

The disciplinary measures imposed are practice restrictions. From the CPSO website :

"As from May 31, 2010, the following is imposed as a term, condition and limitation on the certificate of registration held by Dr. Krzystof Janusz Fabisiak in accordance with and undertaking and consent given to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario by Dr. Fabisiak:

Effective immediately, I, Dr. Krzystof Janusz Fabisiak, will practice only at the prescribed family planning clinics in Ottawa or Toronto or at a setting approved by the College, and I have voluntarily relinquished my prescribing privileges with respect to the following drugs, substances and preparations: narcotic drugs, narcotic preparations with the exception of Tylenol 2 and Tylenol 3, controlled drugs and benzodiazepines/other targeted substances under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. "

I just have one question for the CPSO: if you have reason to believe this gynecologist should not be practising in other settings, why is it OK for him to continue performing abortions?

Choice... but not too much

Last Saturday, as we were three sidewalk counsellors present, I went back across the street to pray (we try to keep our numbers to two counsellors at one time). From there, I watched as our newly trained counsellor stood as a sentinel on the sidewalk. Unseen by her, however, there were two abortion workers sitting on the steps to 63 Bank. As one client of the abortuary came out, our sidewalk counsellor handed her a Rachel's Vineyard flyer, telling women about healing after abortion. As the woman reached out to take it, one of the workers jumped to her side, put her arm around her and ushered her back into the building. They stayed inside until a man (maybe her father?) arrived to pick her up. By the time the woman and her father left the building, the workers had gone back upstairs. As they left, our sidewalk counsellor offered the flyer once again. This time, unhindered by the staff, they took it.
And I thought it was all about choice. "Trust women" they say. Apparently, by becoming the client of an abortuary, a woman loses the choice to obtain information from someone other than an abortion worker.

"It just wasn't meant to be"

On Thursday, N. and I were on the sidewalk, from 8:45 to 12:15. As the women started trickling in, we approached them with words of encouragement to choose life and offered them our information pamphlets. It was like talking to a brick wall. They ignored us as they walked past, only a few accepting our brochures.

During the first hours we were there, there were a few lone prayer warriors on the opposite side of the street. At one point, a couple went in. She was wearing a sweatshirt, and I could see the bulge in her belly. She was already showing. This one would probably be a "dilation and extraction". I caught the eye of the vigiler praying across the street and signaled to her to pray hard. I spent the early part of the morning praying with more urgency as each woman walked past us with a firm resolve to "get it over with".

Later in the morning, as the women started coming out, the group of vigilers had grown to about five. We noticed a difference in the attitude of the women as they left the abortuary. They were more open to us. One young woman, obviously shaken from the experience, stood there for a while. N. went over to talk to her. The young woman said she was waiting for her husband. N. told her about Rachel's Vineyard and gave her a brochure. She told the young woman that Jesus loves her. The young woman replied that she had accepted Jesus the night before. Then tears welled up in her eyes. N. offered her a hug, which she accepted. Then she sighed and said "I guess it just wasn't meant to be".

This young woman was obviously conflicted about her abortion. I have to wonder how much of the "choice" was hers. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be"... She sounded so passive, so resigned. as if she felt powerless to have made another choice. We know of many other women who have felt the same way. Many have abortions because they simply cannot rely on the father of the child to come through for them. ( see http://www.theunchoice.com/News/FatherPlaysKeyRole.htm)

A few minutes later, the young woman in the sweatshirt came out, only this time, the sweatshirt fell flat on her belly. No bulge, no baby. N. offered her a Rachel's Vineyard leaftlet which she refused. I went over and offered her a rosary, saying "If you start praying, you won't have to come back here again." With an emphatic "yeah", she took the rosary, put it in her pocket and then left. I pray that she will indeed start praying and turn her life over to Christ, who loves her more than she can know.

Please pray for these women. A special thank you goes out to the prayer warriors who came out on Thursday and to the spiritual helpers who prayed even if they couldn't be physically present.

Helpers' vigil extends to Saturdays

I was doing a little bit of research on the Web and came across this information: http://ottawa.cioc.ca/record/OCR0599?UseCICVw=13. It looks like the abortuary on Bank St. is now doing abortions one Saturday a month. We have therefore extended our vigil hours to cover Saturdays. You can register online for the vigil here.

I cannot stress enough the importance of our presence there. If the followers of Jesus Christ won't stand up for the unborn and for their mothers, who will? Our Lord commands us to help the weak and the helpless. Abortion has taken root in this country because too many of us have been indifferent and it will maintain its grip on our nation unless we finally decide to stand up and be counted on the side of life.
A Priests for Life brochure explains the importance of taking the pro-life issue to the streets :

Those who support abortion will sometimes say that they defend our right to "have different beliefs" and "express our views publicly." Aside from the fact that the actions of most pro-abortion groups contradict that assertion, the point is that our presence on public streets and sidewalks is about more than expressing beliefs and viewpoints. It's about saving lives. It's about stopping bloodshed. It's about intervening to save a victim who is about to be killed. When violence is being committed, victims do not simply need people who will "express their belief" that the violence is wrong. They need someone who will come to save them. While much needs to be said (and is said here) about our First Amendment rights, pro-life activity has an even firmer foundation than the First Amendment. The foundation is the fundamental obligation that human beings have to care for each other and, insofar as possible, intervene to save one another. (Source)

Your presence is requested

In his August 2009 newsletter, Msgr. Reilly, the founder of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants, reminds us of the importance of our presence at the abortuary.

...the most important thing to happen outside of an abortion clinic is for people to be there in prayer. When a pregnant woman in difficulty approaches the abortion clinic and she sees people praying outside the mill, whether as part of the large prayer Vigil or in a follow up prayerful presence or as individual counselors praying, the pregnant woman immediately, consciously or subconsciously thinks of God. God is made present through your prayerful presence. And the existence of her hidden unborn baby, the potential victim, whose existence our society forgets or denies, is also made present through your prayerful presence. Moreover your prayers are obtaining from God for the frightened mothers the trust and courage to choose life for their unborn children. To be effective the prayers and the counselors also need each other and should act as one.
(Source : http://www.helpersny.org/news8.htm)

This little one needs you!

How badly do you want to see the end of abortion? Are you willing to sacrifice an hour each month, or even each week, to come to the killing centre to pray and take a stand against the Culture of Death?
One distinctive element that set the early Christians apart from the pagans was the fact that they would rescue babies who were left out to die. They took on the responsibility of raising the children that were unwanted by their pagan neighbours and in a few generations, changed the culture around them.
In our day, the children are not left to die where we can find them. They are killed in their mothers' wombs. Yet, we are not powerless. We can be there, offering hope and love to these mothers. We are maintining a prayerful presence on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Please consider giving up one hour of your time and register for this most important prayer vigil at : http://helpersottawa.org/ (just click on the "Vigil registration" link).

The Helpers activities since November 2009

Here is a breakdown of the Helpers activities since we officially launched this apostolate in Ottawa in November :

From mid-November to mid December :
There were 5 possible turnarounds. I say possible because we can't really be sure these women didn't go back at a later date. For most of them, we witnessed them going in and then leaving so soon that it wouldn't allow enough time for the abortion to have happened. For some, we saw them apparently change their minds before even going up to the abortuary.
All in all, 4 counsellors shared a total of 54,5 hours of sidewalk tim (an average of about 4 hours each per week) and 24 different people stood vigil for a total of 60 hours.

From mid-January to mid-February :
Three possible turnarounds, 69 hours of sidewalk counselling between 4 counsellors. 22 vigilers spent a total of 31 hours at the site.