Brian Jenkins

Three hours had yet gone by in this Fall's 40 days for Life prayer vigil for the end of abortion that a surprising exchanged had already occurred.

Our eighth vigil in Lahaie Park, Montreal, across the street from the Morgentaler abortion mill, began as in previous campaigns. Our banner was up, vigilers were present, and the occasional passerby made some disparaging comment or rude gesture. Nothing unusual.

The surprising occurred when one such passerby actually came back for a talk! Earlier, on his bike, he had sarcastically shouted at me that he would be praying that I would go away. Yet within five minutes here he is, back in front of me, minus his bicycle.

Over the next five to ten minutes we had a respectful talk, he outlining his reasons for being pro-choice and I, pro-life.

He told me that it is preferable to abort a child than to see it live a life of poverty. When I asked him how do we know that of the child, he responded that we have a good knowledge who is fated to such a life.

Also, he believed that in many Asian countries, over-population is a major concern and so abortion is justified.

As for me, I pointed out to him the high rate of infertility among couples in Canada - 18% or so, and that carrying the child to term and then putting the infant up for adoption would bring join to some couple. He seemed to like this idea.

I don't remember how the conversation ended, but it was quite different than when we initially met one another.

The vigil runs through to Sunday, November 4th, 2012. Register or drop by daily, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.