Scottish Catholic Observer

The audience on Saturday heard talks from the peripatetic pro-lifers, who travelled to five cities across Scotland spreading their message about unborn children, and short lectures delivered by a number of inspiring speakers from the pro-life movement.

The week prior to the rally had seen the Project Truth group travel from Edinburgh to Aberdeen with a number of stops in between, setting up stalls and handing out leaflets and lollipops to passers-by. Back in Glasgow, they shared their experience with fellow students and young people at the rally organised by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Scotland.

Saturday’s speakers included a representative from Youth Defence, the largest and most active pro-life organisation in Ireland, who shared stories of their activism and the history of their organisation; Sr Roseann Reddy of the Cardinal Winning Pro-Life Initiative, and Margaret Cuthill, national coordinator of Abortion Recovery Care and Helpline, whose organisation helps through counselling those struggling with the emotional and psychological damage of abortion.

Mrs Cuthill has had an abortion herself and both she and Sr Roseann spoke about the aftercare provided for people who have went through abortion.

Margaret Palmer, president of the Edinburgh University Life Society, was one of the volunteers who braved a week of rain on the roadshow, and spoke at the rally about her experiences.

“I was the first person up to speak and I had a light-hearted take on things,” she said. “It was quit an emotional day so it was nice to go up an and be the light-hearted, joyful speaker of the group.

“I found a lot of the [roadshow] conversations I had difficult. Some women came up and shared stories of miscarriage with us and said that had inspired their pro-life message.

“A women came up and said to me that she wished her mother had aborted her. And that was on the first day of the roadshow. That was the hardest interaction I had all week because she herself had had an abortion. She didn’t realise how hurt she was.”

Other interactions Ms Palmer had were comical—‘One women took our leaflet, chewed it up, spit it out and then continued walking; she didn’t say a word!’—but most she believes were positive.

—Read the full version of this story in August 22 edition of the SCO in parishes from Friday

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