Clare McCullough, founder and director of the Good Counsel Network (GCN), stands as one of Britain’s most prominent pro-life faces — a woman whose everyday work quietly impacts the lives of many women right in the heart of London, England.
Key Takeaways:
- Good Counsel Network in the UK has been in operation for nearly 30 years and estimates that 4,000 babies have been saved from abortion due to their life-affirming offerings for mothers.
- Good Counsel not only help women in practical and spiritual ways when women reach out to them directly; they also peacefully participate in prayer vigils near abortion businesses.
- The organization believes that God’s mercy and their devotion to prayer and sacrament is at the core of Good Counsel’s success in helping to save the lives of preborn children and in making a difference in the lives of their mothers.
The Backstory:
For almost three decades since founding GCN in 1997, McCullough has been at the vanguard of providing tangible and solicitous solutions to women experiencing unplanned pregnancies. She traces her establishment of GCN to a pro-life advocate/friend she met in Dublin (Ireland) years ago who set up a counseling service to discourage abortion-minded women from killing their babies.
(Photo of Clare McCullough, flanked by the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Good Counsel on her right at the GCN office in London. Photo taken by Angeline Tan.)
“After this Irish man opened his counseling service for only two months, some women decided to choose life and keep their babies instead,” McCullough said.
Subsequently, when strict abortion laws prompted abortion-minded Irish women to head to England for abortion and after McCullough’s pro-life Irish friend asked her to assist these vulnerable women upon their arrival in England, GCN was born.
“It was this Irish friend who suggested the name of ‘Good Counsel’, a title referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for my organization’s name,” McCullough admitted.
Over time, GCN staff started seeing more women who came to them for support and assistance, eventually setting up shop at Marylebone in London, where it still remains to this very day.
The Details:
Established on the premise that every woman facing an unplanned pregnancy should have an array of life-giving choices (instead of resorting to abortion), GCN provides vulnerable and pregnant women with end-to-end support in the practical, emotional and spiritual realms.
Helping pregnant women fulfill their “mission of motherhood”
With McCullough at the helm, staff at GCN offer women pregnancy testing services, temporary housing solutions, as well as financial, legal, and emotional assistance. As McCullough testified:
The core mission of the GCN is to help women recognize that they have been given a mission to be a mother. We hope to encourage women to keep their babies and, if need be, foster their babies for adoption upon childbirth.
Abortion is not the way to exercise the mission given to women to be mothers, and GCN aims to help these women fulfill their mission of motherhood without disrupting their own lives.
Adding, the GCN founder said:
Many of the pregnant women we come across are immigrant workers (both legal and illegal) who do not know their rights (or lack thereof) under British law. In the case of legal immigrant women, GCN offers legal assistance to them. In the case of illegal immigrants, our job is to keep them fed and clothed and look for temporary housing solutions for them, at least until their babies are born.
We also offer emotional support services, such as counseling services as well as chat sessions with other mothers, for the pregnant women who come to seek GCN’s aid. Also, we run mothers’ groups in different parts of London. Besides, we provide various types of clothing for the babies of pregnant women upon their birth.
Caring for women, no matter what they decide
With regard to which organizations in London provide housing solutions for illegal immigrants who are pregnant and in need of help, McCullough acknowledged that only Catholic organizations, such as the Missionaries of Charity in London, offer accommodation to undocumented homeless people, including pregnant women.
GCN’s robust support system debunks pro-choice lies that pro-lifers “do not care for pregnant women’s interests.”
As McCullough put it:
GCN provides emotional and social help for mothers long after these mothers give birth to their babies. Some women reach out to GCN years later after initially seeking help when they were pregnant, we do our best to offer them the best help we can give. They are like extended family to us.
Additionally, GCN even provides mothers who sadly choose to abort their babies with the resources and support they need to heal after a traumatic abortion.
“While we may disagree with a woman’s choice to abort their unborn child, we nevertheless recognize that even the women themselves are created in the image and likeness of God and thus offer our help when needed,” said McCullough.
Recognizing the power of prayer
GCN also organizes peaceful prayer vigils outside abortion businesses, joining forces with other local groups, like 40 Days for Life.
In the face of pro-abortion accusations that GCN’s prayer vigils outside abortion businesses are disruptive, McCullough stated that it is noteworthy how, in the age of mobile phones and film footage, pro-choice advocates have been unable to produce solid evidence that GCN has committed any misconduct.
“What’s more, we have at least one GCN staff at each prayer vigil to ensure that volunteers (non-GCN) at these vigils are well-behaved and peaceful,” McCullough said.
The Bottom Line:
When asked how many babies’ lives GCN has managed to save thus far since its inception, McCullough said that she can confirm that a total of around 4,000 babies have been born (instead of being aborted) because of GCN’s support and counseling services.
She was quick to point out that the fact that these babies’ lives have been saved is not merely due to the efforts of GCN staff alone, but to God’s grace working in the lives of everyone, including abortion-minded mothers.
“We attribute all babies’ lives who are saved to God’s mercy, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” McCullough said. “Our faith in God motivates the work we do, while the happy mothers with their babies at our annual Christmas parties — they remind us that our work, though difficult at times, bears fruit.”
(Chapel at the office premises of GCN where daily Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament are held. Photo taken by Angeline Tan.)
Elaborating, McCullough stated, “When you’ve got prayer going on every day at our office, with daily Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, when the priest blesses all GCN leaflets meant for distribution, God is at work. We at GCN pray for all the women who contact us — every one of them.”
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