News

By Alex Bush

May 20, 2009, (LifeSiteNews.com) – David MacDonald, a pro-life musician and activist, says that a simple diagram explaining precisely the basic biology of when life begins has become one of his most useful tools in explaining the pro-life position to students at schools that he visits. 

Over the last month MacDonald has spoken to over 2,000 students at various schools, to whom he has presented his pro-life testimony. “I was surprised that the majority of students did not know when life begins,” he told LifeSiteNews.com. “It’s a confusion which I’ve seen in teens, adults, and even good intentioned people who are educated.”

“It’s amazing that even after the Genome project, when every biologist on the planet is in agreement, that the general public is still in the dark.”

MacDonald says that presenting such basic biological information has become necessary because “the media, government and secular educational institutions” are “keeping the ignorance going for as long as possible to avoid the moral implications of when life begins.”  Which is why, according to MacDonald, “Obama could get away with the answer to the question about when life begins, by saying ‘that’s above my pay grade.’ “

So widespread is the ignorance about the biology of conception, he says, that “one comment I hear over and over, is that a sperm is just as human as an embryo.”

However, “When I gave the students copies of this simple diagram they immediately understood when life begins. From there it was easy to show them what is wrong with abortion,” explained MacDonald.

The diagram explains that a human being has 46 chromosomes, while a sperm and egg only have 23.  When the sperm and egg meet at conception, they combine to form the 46 chromosome.  A human being.

MacDonald, a man with a tumultuous and storied personal history, explains that he did not “come to the pro-life movement for some altruistic reason.” Rather, he says, he has seen the ugliest side of abortion. He himself had two of his own children, who had been conceived with two different girlfriends, aborted.
 
The first abortion occurred while MacDonald was “climbing the ladder of success in the acting and performing world.”  His girlfriend at the time, who was studying acting, became pregnant.  They decided to have an abortion because their “careers were just getting rolling.”

“I felt I was being very responsible and loyal boyfriend for helping pay for the abortions. I went down the clinic with her. I read magazines in the waiting room, waiting to escape from the responsibility of being a father. She came out of the room, a changed person,” MacDonald said.

The second abortion occurred while MacDonald was dating a doctor who was attempting to become an astronaut.  They had an abortion for the same reason: they were “building [their] careers.”

After losing his voice while performing in a major role in a national tour of Cats, MacDonald began a gradual process of conversion that ultimately led him towards embracing the pro-life position. MacDonald is now well-recognized among Canadian pro-life activists as the musician who leads the crowd in song at the annual national March for Life in Ottawa.

David MacDonald’s websites:
https://www.davidmacd.com/
https://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/

Related LifeSiteNews.com Coverage:

20 Years On – The Man Who Congratulated Canada’s First Gay Politician Reconsiders
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/mar/08031308.html

Catholic Pro-Abortion Ontario Premier Confronted at Campaign Debate by Pro-Life Candidate
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/sep/07092804.html

2 Years Later: CHRC Looks at Complaint by Catholic Who Sought to Divert Union Dues over Same-Sex “Marriage”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09011907.html