Gate Entrance

A family-sized van pulled over at the curb on a downtown street in Toronto. The driver leaned over asking where “the gate entrance” was to the abortuary. Robert, an Aid to Women counsellor, responded by asking if he needed help for the woman he had just dropped off. Within hearing distance of the couple, Robert said to the woman, “We don’t want you or your baby to be hurt. We have resources to help you.” Then he invited them to visit the Aid to Women office.

After the man had found and passed through the “gate entrance,” and had parked his van behind the abortuary (an area strictly reserved for abortuary staff and clientele), he joined the woman upstairs. There, Joanne Dieleman and Robert talked to them about fetal development and showed them videos on the unborn child and on abortion. The married couple, both Muslims, had three children and had not counted on a fourth – hence the abortuary appointment.

After an hour and a half had gone by, the man realized that they had missed their appointment at the abortuary. Nodding to his wife, he stood up, thanked Joanne and Robert and said, “We’re going home. We want this baby.”

They left and made no contact with Aid to Women. However, after the baby was born, the wife called requesting a double stroller to accommodate her youngest child and the new baby. Robert, as usual, obliged and delivered one to the other end of the city. “It’s all in a day’s work,” he says.