News

OTTAWA, May 2, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Right now, 25 women are walking from Montreal to Ottawa as a witness to life, to protest abortion, and to raise awareness about the fact that a majority of women who have aborted their children felt coerced into the making that “choice.”

The Back to Life Walk began on April 28th at the Morgentaler Abortion Clinic in Montreal and will end in the nation's capital on May 9th to coincide with the National March for Life.

The organizers of the Back to Life Walk encourage all supporters to join the walkers at the National March for Life in Ottawa on May 9 in front of the Parliament of Canada, and again on May 10 for a special gathering at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Image

“These women are sharing their personal stories about abortion harassment and raising awareness on this important women's rights issue. As important and wide-reaching as this issue is, many Canadians do not know that it is wrong to threaten a pregnant women into having an abortion and sadly it is a daily occurrence in our nation,” said Faytene Grasseschi, organizer of the Back to Life Walk.

“A recent study found that 64 percent of women who have had an abortion felt they were harassed into it against their will,” Grasseschi said. “The United Nations has stated that it is a violation of human rights for a woman to be coerced into an abortion.”

One of the walkers related that she is married with three children and that she joined the walk to help change negative perceptions about pregnancy. She said that when she went to her doctor for a check up, because she thought she might be pregnant with her fourth child, her doctor suggested that she consider an abortion.

“My doctor told me that there could be 'another option' rather than having this baby,” said a young woman named Vero. “I was  just shocked,” she said. “I have an amazing husband, so there was nothing that could make her think that [abortion] could be an option for me, even in my mind.”

Click “like” if you are PRO-LIFE!

“So, I joined this walk because I was thinking of all the women who find themselves in the same situation. Pregnancies are not really well supported in our country, and I want that to change, because children are amazing, and without my children there would be a lot of days when I would have a hard time finding a reason to smile,” she said. “But they always make me smile, and I just love them.”

Grasseschi asked the young mom what advice she would give to women in an unexpected pregnancy who are facing pressure to abort.

“I volunteer in a crisis pregnancy center,” Vero said. “I hope that if a girl finds herself pregnant, and it's unexpected, that she would be connected with a pregnancy care center. She would find herself surrounded by people that help and are supportive. They say that it takes a village to raise a child, and that's what pregnancy care centers are for, and they do amazing work.”

Vero said her hope for Quebec and for Canada is that “we would value life once again.”

The organizers of the walk are providing daily updates and video clips of the walkers' progress along their 200-kilometer route.

Day four of the walk “was mixed with sweat, tears and fullness as our team pressed on to pass the 80km mark on our Back To Life campaign,” reported Grasseschi and co-team leader Danielle Strickland.

“We called the third day 'resurrection day' and the fourth day 'revelation day' – this proclamation did not disappoint,” the women said. “Our first 25 minutes were spent in silence and in honour of the 2.5 million abortions that have taken place in the last 25 years in Canada. And many of us not only had a sense of Jesus walking with us, but many of the women, who were grieving over their own abortions, were hit with the revelation of their babies' names. As the individual names were revealed we wrote them on our arms to remember, to give them dignity, and to walk for them. Each of them has value and has a name known by God.”

Grasseschi said the day “was characterized by heaviness as our bodies were tired and our spirits were in deep places, but we kept on walking because we weren't just advancing for an 'issue,' we were walking for babies — specific babies with faces, feet, fingers and names. Little people with names.”

“What an incredible journey we are on,” Strickland added. “A journey of healing and wholeness for each women, and as an extension of our prayers, healing and wholeness for every woman and child in Canada. God grant it.”

Information on the the 2013 Canadian National March for Life is available on the Campaign Life Coalition website here

For more information on the Back to Life Walk, visit their website: https://www.BackToLifeCanada.com.