Day In the Life of a Pro-Life Activist - The Worst Day of Her Life

I stood behind a sign that showed a child unnamed, uncared-for, unloved, and torn apart.

I watched the faces of passerbys as they either ignored or were appalled by the image I showed. I imagined what it would be like to drive by, seeing the sight for perhaps the first time. I thought about the amount of children who suffered the same fate as the one in my picture.

For the people on the road, abortion may be an abstract thought, necessary, empowering, or sad. For this child, it was a tragedy.

I had a song stuck in my head called "The Worst Day of My Life," and I thought about the worst day of this child's short life, the day her mother chose to leave her and never look back.

For many children, today may be the best, or worst day of their lives.

Abortion may be to you a philosophical idea, but to hundreds of children in Canada, it's an emergency.

Day in the Life of a Pro-Life Activist

In February, on a university campus in Florida, I was handed a paper by a young man around my age. I looked at the paper; the title was Florida Atlantic University Communists. 

It had been written in anticipation of us, we were there to talk to the students about abortion, so the paper promoted communism and free abortion on-demand.

Soon a young lady walked by, and the gentleman who gave me the paper extended it to her. She looked confused, asking him, “What’s this?” “It’s free abortion on-demand!” He said proudly. “Oooh!” She took the paper and excitedly showed her friend. I walked over and extended my pamphlet to her, she reached out to take it and asked, “What’s this?” Before I could answer, she had opened the pamphlet and seen the picture of a 10-week old aborted child. She recoiled and quickly handed my pamphlet back to me, “I’m sorry, I can’t look at that.” She looked back to the communist paper and walked away.

The exchange replayed in my mind:

“What’s this?” She had asked me.

It’s free abortion on-demand.

I don’t think that moment will ever leave my memory. The ideology attracted and excited this young girl while the reality of it so horrified her that she couldn’t bear to look at it. It was like I saw the state of our entire culture embodied in one girl, I was stunned.

We are a culture of people who advocate for something and when asked, “What do you think about this thing that you support?” shy away saying, “It’s a really complicated subject,” or “I just don’t want to get into it.”

We can’t “not get into it.” Real live children can’t afford for us to choose to look at a paper with words instead of facing the reality of their fate.

Not Forgotten

It's Mother's Day!

I haven't quite been able to articulate my thoughts for a few weeks, but when I realized that today is Mother's Day, I had no trouble thinking of a host of things to say.

First of all, I am very blessed to be the daughter of Suzanne Thomson, one of the greatest mothers who ever lived. Earlier, I was looking at a vase filled with carnations that adorns the buffet in our dining room, and thinking about the generations of Godly women in my family.

My Dad's family lived in this house before we did, so my Grandma was the lady of this house, and she was known for being a prayer warrior. The vase belonged to my Oma, who was a hardworking, Godly Mennonite. My Mother has set an excellent example of following Christ and following the leadership of her husband. Now, three of my sisters have small children, and I am seeing the trends of love and humility continue.

I have to sit back in awe, and thank God for the incredible women in my life. I aspire to follow in their footsteps.

But my Mother's Day thoughts don't end there. I'm reminded that on every occasion for celebration, there is also grief.

I know that there are many people today, grieving the loss of their mothers. My heart goes out to you. I know that there are many mothers today, grieving the loss of their children. My heart breaks for you.

I am a part of a group, (I've mentioned before) that does activism on the streets of Windsor, talking about the truth of abortion. During one of those days, I spoke with a young man who told me that his girlfriend had had an abortion years earlier. Until our conversation, he had never thought of his child as a baby. It was both heartbreaking and amazing to be able to watch him begin to deal with it. It was hard for him to realize what he had done, but he knew if he never faced it, he would never be able to find peace about it.

I know that there are many women who have chosen abortion, because they didn't see another way out of their situation. Some have faced it, as the man I mentioned did, and found closure and restoration. Others have never had the courage to think about it. Some have never told anyone. My heart aches for you.

I can't imagine the grief that would come with the loss of a child, but even more, I can't imagine how hard it would be to bear that grief alone.

This Mother's Day, I want to remember the mothers who feel alone.

Whether you are raising a child by yourself, whether you had a miscarriage, or whether you had an abortion, you are not forgotten. If you feel lonely or hopeless, know that you are not alone, and there is hope!

For all of us, let's become the kind of people that would inspire confidence from those who are facing such a heartbreaking decision like abortion. Let's be the people who will comfort those who are grieving, and who will support those in need. We pray that abortion will become unthinkable in our society, but let's replace the feeling of despair that drives people to it, with an assurance of support that will encourage people to keep their children.

After all, the kind of parents we aspire to be like are the ones who love most.


Just a note: If you are a mother (even if your child/children are not living) and you do feel lonely or you really need someone to connect with, please send me an email! If I feel that I can't relate enough to your situation to truly be able to encourage you, I have friends who have been through really rough circumstances, who would love to be able to listen to your story, and love you.

You can reach me at keturahthomson12@gmail.com

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt 11:28-29)

Chaos and Rain, and a Simple Sweet Gift

"Hi there, what do you think about abortion?"

I've asked this question...more times than I have cared to count.

I'm going to tell you a little story about my day yesterday, which I love.

After doing GAP, (the Genocide Awareness Project, now called the Human Rights Project) twice, I became a part of a group in my own town, called Windsor Against Abortion, which does... pretty much what it sounds like.

We are out on public sidewalks every week showing the truth about abortion, and having educational conversations with anyone who will stop at our invitation.

We always run into problems. Every week. It's basically a given, I believe because the devil does NOT appreciate our work, and will try every angle to stop us from being out there. So this week we lost one of our members, spent half of our activism time searching for her, (well at least I did, the others thankfully were able to set up right away) stood in the POURING rain with our signs, and didn't have very many conversations.

It just happened to be the week that a bunch of new people came to join us.

"We look SO unprofessional," I couldn't help feeling. "They're never going to want to come back."

So in our debrief time, I made sure to mention that we will be much more organized in the future, and I felt that it was most important to thank them for coming, because this work is not easy. It's not inviting. It takes guts and courage to step out of your comfort zone and come. They need to be appreciated, and FEEL appreciated.

However, before I could even say thank you, we hear a car honking near us. We thought we knew who it was, so my younger sister runs over and talks to them through the window, I watch as a loaded tray of Tim Hortons cups are handed out the window.

She returns to tell us that it was not who we thought, it was my brother in law's sister, who we don't know very well, but she saw us and bought us all hot chocolate, without even knowing who we all were and why we were out there.

I felt, as my wet hands closed around the warmth of the cup, that God was saying, "Thank YOU for coming today."

He wanted to say thank you first, because He knows that as much as its good for the new people to be appreciated and feel that appreciation, it's the same for me. Sometimes I would really like to know that my effort is not in vain, and God sees me wandering around the streets of downtown in the rain looking for a lost team member, trying to make this thing run in order to stand up for children that so many don't care about, but He does.

If anyone who was standing there with me on the wet sidewalk today is reading this, there's a reason I wasn't the only one who got the hot chocolate. God appreciates your effort just as much.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James‬ ‭1:17‬

A Matter of Life and Death

Today, I experienced a lot of emotions. Mostly negative.

I was out the door this morning to set up for a funeral at my church. A little boy, 3 years old, was run over by a car a few days ago.

While we were setting up, I asked my sister's boyfriend what time it would be in the UK. It was 2:00pm, Charlie Gard's court hearing had probably just started. He and I prayed about it together, but it stayed on my heart the whole day. What happened? What was decided in that courtroom?

I left the church at 11:00, with the intent to go downtown and do "Choice" Chain, a pro-life activism campaign, but it rained. So we cancelled. Every time it gets cancelled I can't help but feel a little bit like a failure. I can only hope that no one had an abortion today because we weren't there to show them the truth.

I found out in time to make it back for the funeral, (we live minutes away from our church) and got to help with that. No matter how much I did or could have done, it wouldn't have been enough. To lose a son, a three year old... I can't imagine.

While contemplating all of the events of the day, I just felt God impress on me, "Life and death is in My hands."

Three different situations, all involving children dying, made up the backbone of my day, but in not one of those situations, did I have the power to do anything.

But God did. In every one of those situations, He was sovereign. I can trust Him.

The saying, "Leave it in God's hands," suddenly sounds different to me now. It sounds like, "Don't take it out of God's hands." Leave it. Because it was there to begin with.

God has always, and will always, be sovereign. Life and death will always be in His hands, and not one of us would be more capable to hold them than Him.


End Notes:

-Charlie Gard

If you don't know who Charlie Gard is or why he has a court hearing, he is an 11 month old boy who is critically ill, living on life support in the UK. Even though his parents have been fighting for his life, and raising amazing amounts of money for his treatment, the doctors have decided to take him off of life support, saying he should just "Die with dignity," even against the wishes of his parents. There has been a petition signed by people all over the world to provide treat,don't for him, Donald Trump and the Pope have spoken in favour of his life, so the hospital is facing opposition to their decision. If you want more information, there is always Google. :) I searched Char, and Charlie Gard was the first search option.

-Choice Chain

Would you like to join the pro life movement in Canada? It is NOT a hopeless cause! Having been on the front lines myself, I can tell you that I have been blown away by the amount of minds that have been changed, and lives that have been saved through our efforts.
If you are in Windsor, we have a local group called Windsor Against Abortion. Look us up on Facebook and send us a message, we hold training sessions semi-regularly for people who are interested.
If you are not in Windsor, there are lots of pro life groups rising up throughout Canada. Many of them have been taking a similar name, (Niagara Against Abortion, London Against Abortion, etc.) so try googling it to see if you can find one. If not, go ahead and email me at keturahthomson12@gmail.com, and I will see if I can connect you with someone in your area.

But It Was Thou

I've noticed that when I get back from GAP, I stay in "GAP mode," for a long while after.

What this means is that if I see a pinecone, I imagine a pro-choice university student comparing a pre-born child to a pinecone, saying that it isn't a tree just because it came from the tree. My next thought is to agree that a pinecone isn't a tree, and show them why their comparison doesn't work.

This also means that in the McDonalds drive-thru, I stop myself before saying, "Hi there, what do you think about abortion?" to a customer who pulls up to the speaker.

This also means that when I read the bible and look for new angles to see it from, I may read a psalm from the perspective of a pre-born baby.

Before I get into it, I'd like to clarify that I understand that this is completely out of context. However, have you ever read a psalm in a time when you felt distressed, and took those words to heart? That is the way I'm looking at it, only not from my perspective, but hers.

If you would like to experience what almost made me cry, I encourage you to read Psalm 55. I'll cover some of it here, but there's too much to write out the whole chapter.

First, the plea of the baby soon to be killed.

Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; (Psalms 55:2)

A noise which only God can hear, and tragically, if we could, I think most people would choose not to.

Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. (Psalms 55:3)

Coming from many pro-choice advocates, babies in the womb sound like villains. They are portrayed like evil parasites that will destroy the lives of their mothers, and MUST be dealt with.

(I am not, in any way, trying to trivialize what a woman goes through with an unplanned pregnancy. I agree that in many cases, it is VERY difficult for her, but in no case will her child ruin her life. Trying to raise a child in difficult circumstances will make her life very difficult, but it is her circumstances that are the problem, not her baby.)

Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. (Psalms 55:5, 6)

What kind of society are we, that if a child could fly away from her mother's womb, she would be safer than if she stayed?

Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. (Psalms 55:10)

Abortion happens all the time. It excuses mischief, but it also never comes without sorrow.

For every woman that is "relieved" of the burden of her baby, a life is lost, and many women carry guilt and regret for the rest of their lives.

Of any part of this chapter though, this is what broke me the most.

For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. (Psalms 55:12-14)

Read that two more times. First from the perspective of the baby, and second, from the perspective of the mother.

The child says, "If it was an enemy that threatened me, I could have hidden inside my mother. But it was you, who I should have been able to trust, and I had nowhere to hide."

But women so often are not given an option. Their parents or their boyfriend or their friends convince them it's the right thing to do. Sometimes harshly, but I think a lot of the time, they do it because they truly think it's best for them. And because they understand the intention, they go through with the action, and end up carrying enormous guilt that those people who persuaded them will NEVER understand.

The mother says, "If it was my enemy who told me to kill my baby, I could have stood against him. But it was you, my close friend, who told me it was best for me."

Reading that touched me so deeply.

He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. (Psalms 55:18)

Many. There were many. There are many. 300 children a day, 3,000 in America.

He says battle, and it is like one. It's bloody, it's dangerous, it's killing. But in this battle, one side is bigger, stronger, and has all the weapons.

He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. (Psalms 55:20, 21)

"The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart."

Soft, nice sounding words like "Choice, planning, healthcare," are used to describe the slaughter of innocent children.

But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee. (Psalms 55:23)

In the end, I pray that abortionists will be converted. That they will learn what it is to know Christ, but if they don't, God has promised to bring about justice. And He is a righteous Judge.

I just want to finish with a question. If an innocent child asked you to save her life, would you do it?

How about the child who can't ask?

If you are interested in saving babies, check out this link - https://www.endthekilling.ca/summer-internship

After reading that, if you still want to do something, but can't make it for one reason or another, you can contact me either on Facebook or at keturahthomson12@gmail.com, and I'll talk to you about another way you can get involved.