Catholic Medical Quarterly

The Journal of the Catholic Medical Association (UK)

Building knowledge. Building faith. Protecting the vulnerable.

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Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 72(2) May 2022

Editorial

Being a pro-life Witness in a hostile world

Dr Pravin Thevathasan

We are not given too many opportunities to witness in the secular world. Perhaps the most powerful pro-life article in recent years was published in the Daily Mail on March 6th. Its lengthy headline was "I saved precious babies from pills-by-post terminations...but nearly paid with my career" [1]

It is an account of how NHS consultant Dr Dermot Kearney beat a campaign to have him struck off for abortion reversals he provided to 65 women for free.

So what is so powerful about the article? I think it is the photograph of Dr Kearney "smiling fondly at the trio of babies gurgling happily by his side." Also to be commended are the brave moth-ers who changed their minds about going ahead with abortion.

My own brief experience in general psychiatry convinced me that women too are victims of abortion. I used to routinely ask depressed women about pregnancy loss. So many of those women had undergone abortions and wanted to talk about their loss. To show that abortion was the cause of depression would have been difficult to demonstrate. But my clinical impression was that it is a major factor

I think of the woman who was awaiting an abortion but had become anxious. She had no doubt in her own mind that she was carrying a baby, not a product of conception. I asked her if anything could change her mind. She immediately said: "a supportive partner." So many women choose abortion out of a fear of loneliness. I also think of the incredibly courageous woman who chose to continue with her pregnancy even though her partner had threatened he will leave. I often pray that she overcame her loneliness in the company of the child she chose to keep.

References

[1]  Adams S, Macfarlane J (2022) 'I saved precious babies from pills-by-post terminations... but nearly paid with my career': NHS consultant tells how he beat a 'campaign' to have him struck off for 'abortion reversals' he provided to 65 women for free. Mail on Sunday 6th March 2022.. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10582077/How-NHS-consultant-beat-campaign-struck-abortion-reversals.html