Brighton's House of Horrors

Wiston Clinic, Brighton

I was walking past Brighton's abortion clinic last week and as usual felt a shudder at what must daily go on within those walls. There is no Catholic presense there, largely, I imagine, because arrests would be swift even with a peaceful protest. I don't know whether anyone has ever held a peaceful vigil there. I know that images of aborted unborn children are not legal in this country and I always think that an image or Icon of the Blessed Virgin would be just as effective. Possibly vigils took place there years ago. Nowadays the local MP, David Leppar praises it as a place of cracking healthcare for women.

The reason I post on this was having read My Heart Was Restless blog post that...

'Bishop Aquila of North Dakota recently sent a letter to all Priests of his Diocese, asking them to participate in the 40 Days for Life campaign, which is a well established pro-life witness in the United States. The Bishop wrote: 'I will pray on the sidewalk in front of the abortion facility on Friday, September 25, at 11 a.m. and again on Respect Life Sunday when I lead a Eucharistic procession to the abortion facility, carrying our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament to the site of death for so many of His children.'

Outside to the right of the building, as you walk past, you can see a large electrical generator. I wonder why they need so much power? I can't imagine it is for lighting. Secondly, whenever I go past, I see three large blue and yellow bins stuffed with black bin liners. I don't know whether the contents are surgical equipment, general domestic rubbish or something much, much more tragic and horrifying.

I looked up at the window and to my surprise, for it was 12:30 in the morning, a nurse pulled the curtains away. I looked at my watch. 'Gosh,' I thought, 'It appears they work around the clock.' A look at the website indeed confirms that Wednesday they are open overnight, presumably for those 'difficult' procedures which might involve several hours recuperation.

Because my car is parked relatively nearby, I always feel ashamed when I walk past there and say and do nothing, and undoubtedly, that is exactly how I should feel.