CLC Blog

Allow me to tell you a little about myself, why I decided to travel to the March For Life, and how I view the abortion issue from the perspective of a First Nations aboriginal woman.

I am 26 years old. The name that I was given while growing in my mother’s womb was Kerrie (my mother fell in love with this name that she read in a newspaper).

My hometown is located on an isolated reservation land called Lac Brochet in northern Manitoba.  I am a descendant of the Denesuline and Cree heritage however, I grew up in the Denesuline tradition. I am also Catholic.

This year I have been moved with compassion to go to the March for Life in Ottawa. I could have chosen to go to Winnipeg for the March (less costly & shorter distance) however Ottawa was hosting conferences with information on how I can be a part of the prolife movement and I also wanted to see how I could bring that back to my community.

I used to be the girl who did not agree with abortion but was afraid to speak about it (for fear of being viewed as a “hater”), and I also thought I couldn’t make a difference (the world is accepting of it) and was ashamed to bring it up on my own because of my own past use of a “contraception” known as Plan B, the morning after pill, which I now understand is a drug that causes abortion. 

My first memory on the topic of abortion is when I was a young teen. A friend was waiting at an airport and she told me she was going out for an abortion. All I remember is I was trying to convince her to change her mind, but she went ahead with it.  The next time I heard about abortion was at a Catholic Eucharistic Conference in Winnipeg, where I received pro-life literature and listened to guest speakers.

Unfortunately, I have attended numerous aboriginal youth conferences targeting First Nations youth, including those from my own Denesuline First Nation, with a pro-abortion message, telling them they have the “right to choose”.

At some of these youth conferences I have also heard abortion described as a “First Nations Right”.  After speaking to my parents about this so-called First Nations “right” to abort, I started asking first of all if this was true or not. I was informed that First Nations were raised with the values of respect for all stages of human life (unborn to elders, even life of a person after death), nature (land, water, animals, etc), and basically everything that had life. I was also informed that is was just the way of life, for a woman to be pregnant and be respected because children were not considered a burden, as some in society would view it today.

My parents also told me it was a way of life for everyone to support each other especially if you were an Elder, someone with physical challenges, or if you were sick, so no one had to choose abortion or suicide.

Thank God in the last two years I have been educating myself through watching EWTN’s Defending Life program, learning about Live Action’s work, reading and viewing Campaign Life Coalition resources,  those of Life Vision and also reading books or online resources.

During that time I also have been able to go receive forgiveness from God, through the Sacrament of Confession, for taking  the morning-after abortion pill.

With education I have been learning so much from scientific explanations on human life in prenatal development, effects of abortion from mothers or fathers who went through it (physical, physiological, spiritual ), former abortion doctors/workers, survivors of abortions, and now learning about Euthanasia.

Many First Nations people, especially Elders, do not know of the crimes against humanity that are happening here in Canada. In fact, a great number of First Nations young people are learning about this in schools and conferences from an exclusively “prochoice” perspective. I hope to change this.

When I began learning about abortion, I would get depressed until I heard a story of hope by Father Frank Pavone.  I don’t remember the exact words he used, however my ears and heart picked up on how he talked about how two youths coming from an abortion facility, very upset, and came to Father Frank who greeted them with happiness. They asked him why he was so happy when right across the street there were babies being slaughtered. He told them to trust in God, that He will open the eyes of the people (through us), that He has already won the battle against sin and evil… and that we are on the winning team!

My hope for pro-life victory is also strong because of hearing from former abortionists, abortion workers, and mothers and fathers who went through it and converted.  I am encouraged to see they have open hearts and eyes and are helping to bring others to the winning team!

I hope to also be an instrument of God especially in the prolife movement, saving lives and souls because this way people can experience the love and mercy of God.