Hermanos y hermanas de la Ciudad de Mexico

Last Tuesday, as one of 35 people attending a Human Life International (HLI) pro-life contemplative retreat in la Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City), I awakened very early in the morning while millions of Mexico City residents slept. My destination, along with fellow retreat members, was the Centro de Salud Beatriz Velasco de Aleman, a local abortion hospital, for a peaceful and prayerful early morning at the sidewalk.

We met in the hotel lobby at 4:45 a.m. and departed a few minutes later for a 20-minute bus ride to this abortion hospital. Upon arrival, Mexican pro-life members of the HLI Mexico City affiliate welcomed us.

Mexican women arrive early to this abortion hospital that only accepts 28 of them for an abortion. The line to the hospital entrance was already very long when we arrived, resembling a long line of young people waiting to buy tickets for a popular music concert. Eventually, many women were turned away, unable to enter the hospital that was isolated from the rest of the world by a tall prison-like iron gate. To the right of the entrance was a large and bright orange dumpster where aborted unborn infants are abandoned as trash until being hauled away.

While we all prayed the Holy Rosary in a very peaceful and prayer sidewalk presence, I noticed that several women arrived at the abortion hospital by taxicab. Many of these women were accompanied by someone who appeared to be their mother, but some arrived alone. Some women were accompanied by males, perhaps a boyfriend but probably not a father. I also noticed that some males were standing in the line alone. When asked, these men replied that they arrived early without their pregnant girlfriends or wives who were home sleeping to be better rested for an abortion, hoping that, by doing so, their woman would be one of the "lucky" 28 who would get an abortion. One man walked past us, and in a moment of anger, blew out one of the lighted candles at the prayer vigil site.

The peaceful and prayerful presence was both beauty to our eyes and comfort to our souls as we all prayed the Holy Rosary, but also bittersweet because we knew that back home in our communities, another day at our neighborhood abortion facilities would result in aborted unborn infants being dumped in dumpsters just like the bright orange dumpster at the Centro de Salud Beatriz Velasco de Aleman.

Dear God, thank you for this international blessing from the sidewalk today in Mexico City of being able to peacefully pray at the sidewalk this morning, to end the tragedy of abortion and for the moral conversion of our world, with enthusiastic and zealous pro-life brothers and sisters from all across the United States and also with our pro life hermanos y hermanas de la Ciudad de Mexico.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum