In January of 1999, I met a 16-year-old-girl sitting at the bottom of the steps of Holy Rosary Cathedral. She was passively begging and I began talking with her. We spoke for several minutes, until at one point she told me that she was pregnant. She shared that her boyfriend, who was across the street, was in favour of aborting the child, though she was not so sure.
This is quite a long story, however it is worth sharing because God’s hand can be seen so clearly: I met this girl immediately after [I received] spiritual direction, and in obedience to the counsel I was given (to pray about what I believed God was clearly showing me I should do), I was to go to where the children are being killed and be a voice for them. For one month after meeting this adolescent, my parents and I offered all the help one could possibly think of (including accommodation in my parents’ home) for her to receive the gift which was her child. However, her boyfriend controlled her and he took her to the killing place on Granville Street a month after we met.
Aware of the appointment the day prior, I met them outside the killing place the morning of the scheduled abortion, hoping against hope for a change of heart. (I had asked my friend to come with me and to pray outside; I was filled with trepidation and knew that we needed prayer support).
I went inside with [the couple], because what had become so clear to me was that I could not abandon her and her baby. It was not, and is not, about breaking bubble zone laws, but about “Remain with me” (Jn 15:4), although at the time, my faith did not recognize this as clearly.
I did not know exactly what I would do or say, but I wanted to try to stand by my young friend and to protect the baby as long as I could. I had the sense that if it came down to it, I would try to stand between the mother and child and what was threatening them. This is what happened.