Like shining stars, five babies will celebrate their first Christmas and their gift of life this year. Last year they narrowly escaped death by abortion. Their mothers decided to choose life because of an Operation Rescue (O.R.) on August 23, 1989. This public, pro-life protest before Morgentaler’s abortuary in downtown Toronto caused each to reconsider her plan for abortion. Each called Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) for help.

To many, the results of OR are questionable. The possible physical risks inflicted by pro-abortionists or police on rescuers and supporters, and the possibility of going to jail, are real. The results can rarely be measured in worldly terms – except when babies are known to have been saved.

Back on that sweltering August day, police arrested 91 people for blocking access to the Morgentaler abortuary and defying an earlier court jurisdiction prohibiting them from witnessing, counseling or praying on or near its premises. As a result, nine men and two women were jailed for six weeks (four women for a shorter period). Their sacrifices were not in vain. Five babies, including twin boys, were saved from abortion.

Doubt

Pregnancy counselor Joanne Dieleman received calls from each mother within six weeks of that August OR. Astonished, she says each woman told her, separately, that it was because of that public, pro-life protests that she began to doubt her abortion decision.

Although the following story centers on Joanne Dieleman and Dick Cochrane as the counselors who worked directly with the women described, they insist they are only links in a pro-life chain of helping hands who work to save babies. For example, some pro-lifers open their homes to accommodate homeless, pregnant women or donate money, clothing or basic household necessities to tide them over a difficult period. Others witness at downtown abortuaries, or donate time and talent to the CLC office or to a special pro-life activity. Then there are those who pray for these distressed women.

Baby Angelo

Baby Angelo is the first Christmas Star because he is the oldest. He was born a few months before Christmas last year, and his mother’s story represents how women are usually helped by counselors undramatically, often until they have their babies and afterwards until they reorganize their lives.

Whatever their singular or collective contribution, known or unknown, pro-lifers should rejoice in knowing that six precious children live today because of their sacrifices. Theirs is a Christmas spirit that lives the year round.

The Way Inn

A year ago, Janet, an angry 23-year-old woman, called the downtown office of Campaign Life Coalition to berate the pro-lifers “who tell women not to have abortions and then do nothing to help them.”

Joanne Dieleman, 53, Director of The Way Inn (a pro-life coffee house along side the Aid to Women counseling centre), was in the office at the time and took the call. Calmly she replied, “Yes, we do help distressed women if they want us to. We put our money where our mouth is.” The surprised woman settled down and agreed to meet Joanne the next morning. She had had an appointment with an abortionist that same afternoon.

Janet gave birth to twin boys, Matthew and Spencer, some six months later. But along the way, she had serious problems. Her husband had left her because of the pregnancy. And she was saddled with a heavy debt. She felt helpless to continue the pregnancy because she would have to quit her well-paid job and go deeper in debt.

Undeterred, Joanne got to work. First, she approached several Christian Reformed churches for money to clear Janet’s debts and allow her to choose life and not abortion. They responded most generously, as did the Knights of Columbus. Under Joanne’s guiding hand her debts were gradually repaid.

Still she had no place to live and was at odds with her family. Joanne found her temporary accommodation with pro-lifers Barbara and Tom Brown, and later, a tiny place of her own. The North York Crisis Pregnancy Counseling Centre (sponsored by the Christian Action Council) supplied her with clothes and basic household necessities (her belongings had been repossessed by her creditors). Before she quit her job, a woman at work said, “At least you’re not having an abortion.” She considered the comment a good omen.

Within hours of delivering her twins, a joyful Janet invited Joanne to visit them. In the sanctuary of the hospitals nursery for preemies, Joanne watched in amazement as a once-confused woman became a natural, loving mother. She had already discerned the twins’ personalities – one was quiet, the other busy – and she was making plans for their future, even though they were only six hours old.

After Janet brought the babies home, help was abundant. The St. Vincent de Paul Society donated a six months’ supply of diapers and gave her formula and baby clothes – and she had made peace with her family. Now she’s the twins’ breadwinner, and she’s resumed her well-paying career. Her mother cares for the babies on weekdays, and on weekends they’re all reunited. Joanne says a more dedicated mother is hard to find.

To express her gratitude to Joanne and to all who helped her, Janet wrote the editor of The Interim in September 1990, and spoke for the twins, saying, “Thanks Campaign Life Coalition for allowing us to live.” Such letters are rare, but precious.
Three other babies were saved by that August Operation Rescue. Joanne tells their stories:

Pamela, 23, was in a shaky marriage and had two daughters, aged 7 and 5. She was fearful of having a third child. Surprisingly, it was her husband who called CLC for help after he saw a TV news clip on O.R. He knew his wife was upset, but he didn’t want her to abort their child.

Vladimir Hirko (who spent six weeks in jail following that OR) took the man’s call and referred him to Joanne. The next day, she and Linda Gibbons (one of the two women who spent six weeks in jail after that same OR) went to visit Pamela. She needed emotional support mainly, and decided not to abort.

When Andy was born several months later, Vladimir, CLC’s graphic artist, presented her with a beautiful charcoal drawing of her baby. Now she and her husband have mended their differences and delight in their only son.

Lillian, 43, was a single, professional woman, who called CLC for help. Annette Jalsevac, CLC volunteer, directed her to Joanne. An obstetrician had advised Lillian to have an abortion because of possible medical complications at her age, but she agreed to Joanne’s suggestion of a second opinion with pro-life obstetrician Dr. Zuereb. He told Lillian, “In 25 years of practice I’ve never had to do an abortion for medical complications.” He then guided her through a difficult pregnancy and delivered her premature, but beautiful baby girl. She named her Gabriella, which means “woman of God.”

Lillian, independent and financially secure, moved to another city where she was initially helped by a pro-life family. Later she wrote to Joanne, saying, “Gabriella is a sweetheart. I thank God for her.”

Dorothy, 23, was a busy mother of four children and pregnant again. She called CLC “because everyone is telling me to get an abortion.” Frightened of doctors and hospitals, but led by a gentle Joanne, she did get medical care. Her tempestuous boyfriend was in and out of the picture, but when Dorothy had her baby boy, Adrian, her home life settled down. Joanne says she took excellent care of her children. Joanne admits, however, that she took phone calls at her home many a night “giving Dorothy motherly advice,” often testing the limit of her own long-suffering family. Adrian became “the apple of his mother’s eye” because he resembled a long-departed favorite uncle.

Blessings this Christmas to Matthew, Spencer, Andy, Gabriella, Adrian, and, of course, to Joanne.

Aid to Women

Dick Cochrane, a retired 65-year-old accountant, says he’s had it all by worldly standards. He’s acquired and sold several businesses and has a pleasant home in the country. But he reflects, “Brick and mortar don’t govern my life anymore. Now I’m satisfied with less materially.”

He’s the executive director of Aid to Women, a pregnancy crisis counseling service, begun in Toronto in 1980 to assist women who change their minds about having an abortion – often at the abortuary door. Pro-lifers who witness outside the abortuaries offer these women last-minute help and refer them to Dick or Joanne. Others are sent by word of mouth.

In 1987, Dick was asked to become director of Aid to Women. He laughs, saying, “I was an accountant not a counselor, but there was a need so I agreed to give it a try.” He’s been there three years. Last February he moved the office to The Way Inn premises on Carlton Street in Toronto’s red light district – close to three abortuaries. He’s there three days a week and spends the other two weekdays at Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) doing accounting work, something he’s done for the past six years. He wears both hats – accountant and counselor – comfortably.

Financially, he operates Aid to Women on a shoestring. He explains, “When we hit a financial crisis I write letters or get on the phone.” Once when he wrote a well-to-do lady but received no response, he phoned her. Pleased to receive his call, she responded by mailing a check for several thousand dollars. But money comes in other ways, too. Last year he received an unsigned letter in which were enclosed five $100 bills. He says, “We survive financially by going from crisis to crisis.”

Kindly but businesslike

Dick uses a kindly but businesslike approach with a woman he counsels. Not only does he want her to have her baby, but he also aims to restore her dignity and to help rebuild her life. Often he’ll say, ‘You have a life to live and you’re a unique person. Someone has taken advantage of you. Don’t let it happen again.’

He believes the secret of successful counseling with these women (who have been manipulated and hurt), is to use a non-judgmental approach and make them feel at ease because they are often suspicious of offers of help. The best advice in the world will not work unless the woman senses that the counselor is genuinely concerned, not only about the baby, but about her.

He tells this story. Maria, a 31-year-old Colombian woman, came to Canada to work as a nanny to improve her English. Bright and ambitious, she had several business diplomas in hotel management, but was lonely and isolated. She became pregnant. The father of her child was a night-class student she met while on a course. She was referred to Dick by a pro-lifer who met her at a church gathering.

With his help Maria decided to have her baby. He says she was typical of many pregnant women “who fall through the cracks of the legal and social systems because they are illegal immigrants. If they become pregnant and refuse to have an abortion, their employers will often fire them and they fear deportation.” Maria was such a woman.

When she told her employers she wanted to have her baby, they said, ‘We don’t need you anymore.’ Then Dick went into action to protect her. He advised her to get a letter from her employers to exonerate her from breaking her government work contract. He found her a place to live, first at Resurrection House and later at later at Nazareth House, both run by Catholic nuns. During her pregnancy they offered her a paid job, working in their office. After she had her baby, they gave her a lovely christening party. Dick was the guest of honor.

Maria comes from a financially comfortable and emotionally supportive Catholic family who do not believe in abortion. Last year, after she had given birth to her son, Angelo, her sister came from Colombia and spent Christmas with them. It was then that Dick had a grandfatherly talk with Maria. He noticed that she seemed to lack a direction and he was worried. He told her he thought she now needed the support and affection of her family and suggested, ‘Why don’t you go back home?’ Immediately she brightened and soon decided to allow her sister to take her son back home. She would follow soon.

A few months ago, Dick received a phone call from Maria. She wanted to say thank-you and goodbye. He was deeply touched. This Christmas will end the Canadian chapter in her life and begin a new one, reunited with her baby and family back home. It is a story that gives Dick pause for reflection.

Of his work, he says, “It changes one’s perspective of what life is about. Although I got into it by chance, I don’t think we can tell a woman not to have an abortion and not help her. Moreover, in this sex-obsessed society I think it’s important for these women to have a place to talk over their values. I always tell them, ‘Sex is something that can enrich your life, but in the proper context of marriage.’”

Probably that’s why troubled women listen to him – because he confronts them gently, blending a businesslike approach with a grandfather’s love.

Blessings this Christmas to Maria, Angelo, and, of course, Dick.