By Heather McGillivray -

My son lumbers around the kitchen preparing his night-time nacho snack. He’s an adult now, but it seems like only a breath ago I held him for the first time.

How well I remember the delivery—the drip to induce me; the blood transfusion afterward; the long recovery while the stitches healed. The joy of holding my son in my arms—I can’t fathom even entertaining the idea that I ever had the right to choose whether he should live or not.

The heartbeat is pretty fast, that’s more common with girls—we figured the doctor was probably right. Even the ultrasound didn’t give anything away. The swoosh of his little heart pumping. His heartbeat. Not mine. If he felt any pain, I didn’t feel it. When he smiled or cried, it wasn’t mine to know—never my body; always his. He was temporarily attached to me, and I was his security, his safe shelter from a world that would, soon enough, try to tear him down; but for then he was secure.

They say babies don’t really smile in the womb—it’s just gas or something. They say a lot of things. They said slavery was okay, too—that they weren’t people, not like the rest of us.

But I don’t want to be on the side of what they say. It’s not that I want to be antagonistic, after all, there are people I love deeply who hold to these beliefs—and I’m not about starting wars. I just want to be part of something that ends one, though; the war against the unborn. One day, when it counts, I want to be counted with those who chose not to be swept away with the status quo; other people’s opinions.

I want to stand with those who stand up for life, people like Mark Morin and his family, from Windsor, Ontario; who call themselves cradle Catholic Christians, active in the pro-life movement for years, and members of the Windsor-Essex Right to Life board of Directors for four years. Their family pledged to write 100 letters for the Letters4Life campaign, themselves, and ended up writing over 200. 11-year-old Tabitha took it upon herself to increase the number of letters sent to the Prime Minister.

I asked Mark if he could share some of the highs and lows with us:

We have moved offices in the last year and elected a new president. We have been struggling with setting up an efficient office. Trying to get computer programs like Giftworks and Quickbooks running well. Also trying to have jobs ready for people when they want to volunteer.

We have run a successful billboard campaign for years, which is part of our mandate to educate the public. We have managed to raise the profile of our annual Gala dinner and attract higher profile speakers like Al Kresta,  Michael Voris and Michael Coren.

We are so enthused at the number and the quality of the young people we get to work with and assist. Alexandra (Jerzierski) is a shining example to her peers, and her energy is contagious. We see more and more young people all the time, it is encouraging for the future of our movement.

Our next speaker at our Gala dinner in October will be 15 year old Lia Mills.

One of our great frustrations has been the mainstream media ignoring everything we do. This is where people like Maranatha News, and social media have levelled the playing field.

Mark is working on his Facebook page, Windsor-Essex Right to Life, now, which is helping get the message out, despite media bias. If you have a chance, check them out and ‘Like’ them to show support.

“Frustrations always come,” Mark says, “but we don’t let them stop us. Mother Theresa said, ‘We are not called to be successful, but to be faithful.’”

On June 7, 2012, a second hour will be given to the Motion 312 debate in the House of Commons, and on June 14 a determining vote will be held. If you would like to have a say please visit www.Letters4Life.ca  and find out how you can make a difference.

Heather McGillivray writes from her home in Northern Ontario.

(Photo: www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)