Good Friday

A few days ago I added the text on the right-hand side about "The Purpose of this Blog." However, what is said there needs some clarification: as the text says, it is my conviction that Ali will one day be regarded as one of the great saints, but the identification of individuals as saints is not done so much to honour them, as to honour the work that God has done through them.

Ali was in no doubt whatsoever that she owed everything to God and to the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. While Jesus's sacrifice is made present sacramentally at each Holy Mass, Ali particularly liked to be present for the 3pm Good Friday Celebration of the Passion of the Lord.  It upset her greatly that she was too unwell to be present last year.  As she would probably need me, I had expected to stay at home and not attend the service myself, but Ali insisted that I attend it for both of us. My journal for Good Friday 2013 records that Ali especially wanted me to remember her at the 'reproaches' and that she was in tears speaking about them, recalling how beautiful she had found the service, especially the reproaches, when she first attended (at Holy Trinity Church, Dorchester) on Good Friday, 1991.   My journal records that she was in tears several times on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday 2013, speaking of Jesus and how he suffered for her.

The last interview Ali gave was on Ash Wednesday 2012.  It was a major interview, broadcast on the BBC World Service on Good Friday of that year.  In fact, Ali was not too well during the interview, and she very much appreciated the kindness and sensitivity of the programme's presenter, Mark Dowd, and the producer, Caroline Dunne, who came to our home in Dorset to interview Ali.

The interview can be heard online: here.   An article written by Mark Dowd following the interview can also be read:  here

The 22nd of March

Ali in Venice in 1990

When I first knew Ali one of her favourite books, if not her favourite, was Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. The book consists of a conversation between the Venetian explorer Marco Polo and the Chinese emperor Kublai Khan.  Polo appears to be telling the emperor about a number of cities he has visited, but he is in fact describing just one city - Venice.  Ali had a fascination with Venice and though she spent just one day there, while we were travelling in Europe in Sept-Oct 1990, the visit was one that she treasured.

Ali sometimes quoted from memory passages of Calvino's book, one of the shortest of which is the sentence, given to Marco Polo: "Memory's images, once they are fixed in words, are erased."  The memories of some experiences cannot be adequately expressed; to express them in words can have the effect of distorting and even erasing the memory.

Ali found it difficult to express some experiences in words. Sometimes words are inadequate. An event that occurred many years ago on 22 March, as well as events associated with it, was particularly difficult for Ali to talk about. Of all the dates in the year, I think this is the one that had particular significance for her.  Now is not the time to talk of it, but it doesn't seem right for today to pass without a post to observe the importance that Ali attached to this date.

Ali in front of St Mark's Basilica, Venice, 1990

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

The grotto at Lourdes

Today, the 70th day since Ali died, is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. 

Lourdes has a unique place in my relationship with Ali.  In the summer of 1989 I took "two weeks out" of my life to travel to Ali's home in Dorset and then to drive through France with her to Lourdes.  It was a life changing trip for me as those "two weeks" extended to more than 24 years with Ali.  Our final journey of significance was also to Lourdes in June 2013, just months before Ali died.

Pope John Paul II established today's feast as the World Day of the Sick.  For today's 22nd World Day of the Sick Pope Francis has written:

Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother....bore in her heart, throughout the pilgrimage of her life, the words of the elderly Simeon who foretold that a sword would pierce her soul, and with persevering strength she stood at the foot of the cross of Jesus.  She knows the way, and for this reason she is the Mother of all of the sick and suffering. To her we can turn with confidence and filial devotion, certain that she will help us, support us and not abandon us.  She is the Mother of the crucified and risen Christ: she stands beside our crosses and she accompanies us on the journey towards the resurrection and the fullness of life.

More than at any other place, Ali learned the purpose and inestimable value of suffering at Lourdes, where she drew close to the Mother of God in an exceptional way. Ali discovered that suffering was not the worst thing, or even a bad thing, to experience.  She knew that it was not even to be borne in a stoical way as something to be merely endured.  On the contrary she discovered that suffering was a gift that could be transformed by one's loving acceptance of it, uniting oneself to the suffering of Jesus and Mary.  Ali became able to say not only that suffering was a "privilege" but that it was - in her words - "the greatest privilege possible in the world."

Ali was extraordinary in various ways, and most of all in her understanding of suffering.  She knew it was right - and indeed an obligation - to be compassionate towards suffering people and to do all that one properly can to relieve their suffering.  She did not believe either that suffering should be deliberately inflicted or that one should refrain from compassionately assisting those who were suffering. And yet she could describe suffering as "the greatest privilege possible" - and she said it and meant it not as an abstract or theoretical idea,  but from the perspective of someone who suffered more intensely than most people.

In being an eloquent witness in defence of human life, Ali knew that those who held the opposing view were seeking to avoid suffering or (similarly) seeking happiness in an inappropriate way.  At the heart of the major bioethical questions in which she was engaged - and ultimately at the heart of all ethical questions - lies the important question of one's view about suffering.

The message of Lourdes is not something to be accepted merely as a doctrine or a theory.  It is something to be lived. Ali trusted Jesus and Mary. She recognised their suffering and she united her own suffering to theirs. In so doing she displayed a wisdom and a holiness that most of us fall well short of.

With Ali on her last pilgrimage to Lourdes in June 2013

A range of tributes to Ali

Ali at home in the garden in July 1999

A number of individuals and organisations from around the world made tributes to Ali, commenting on the work she did principally to defend human life, and also on her notable personal virtues.

From New Zealand, Michelle Kaufman wrote:

The world has been blessed to have such a dedicated, inspiring woman walk amongst us.  Her life, I am sure, will continue to inspire, continue to encourage and continue to be a voice for the most vulnerable in our society today  the weak, the disabled, the unborn and those whose lives are deemed “unworthy of living”.

The Welsh blogger Rhoslyn Thomas described Ali as "an amazing woman" who "defended the weakest of the weak and made it her life's work to do so."

She continued:

Alison was so kind and she regularly helped me when I was struggling with some essay that I was writing about abortion or anything with my studies. I remember when I was sitting my final exams for university last year, she kept telling me that she was offering up her pain for my success. She was really wonderful and I don’t know what we will do without her…except pray to her!

Paul Russell recalled a lecture tour given by Ali in Australia some years ago and "especially her passion for life."

From Canada, Paul Tuns wrote appreciatively:

The pro-life movement and the disabilities community has fortunate to have Davis for the extended period after her fortunately failed suicide attempt; she was a powerful and much-needed voice for those with disabilities in combating the Culture of Death. 

The Sisters of the Gospel of Life in Scotland added their tribute:

Her life was full of faith after her conversion to Catholicism and her words were full of witness.  To hear her speak of her life, which had been one of pain and suffering as well as joy and love, was a privilege. 

On a more personal note Alison was a modest, witty, generous person whose light shone so brightly.  That light has gone from this earth with her death,  but with God she will shine even more brightly,  we are sure.

Other appreciative tributes came from the US group Not Dead Yet and well-respected English priests Fr Tim Finigan and Fr Ray Blake.  Fr Blake went out of his way to be present on the evening of Thursday 12 December and concelebrated Mass after Ali's body was received into the Church.  He repeated some extraordinary things that were said about Ali on that night, about which I intend to say much more in due course.

On several news sites and blogs readers made comments expressing their appreciation of Ali. Some readers knew her well, others didn't know her at all.  I was especially struck by the comment left in response to the obituary in the Catholic Herald by a reader, Paul Priest, who is not personally known to me and I do not think Ali knew him. He wrote:

The best of us: 

That lone voice who 'recalled to life' the conscience of the Pro-Life movement.
Thank God for her. 

Few may realise but that lady's legacy will change the world
Bless her name.

I do not think that Paul Priest overstated Ali's contribution to the pro-life movement and the world. On the contrary, in spite of the wisdom of his insightful remarks, I think that her contribution will one day be recognised as being greater than he anticipates.

A 'thank you' from Not Dead Yet (UK)

Not Dead Yet UK is a network of disabled people, founded in the UK in 2006, to oppose the legalised killing of disabled people.  An appreciation of Ali was posted on its website on 6 December 2013

We say farewell and 'thank you' to Alison Davis

‘Alison Davis was born with spina bifida. She later developed conditions including osteoporosis, arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Coping with these permanently disabling and painful conditions dominated but did not define her life. Indeed, they led her to champion the rights of the vulnerable, the disabled and the unborn, first as an atheist and then as a Catholic.’ (Obituary Catholic Herald 3 December 2013)

Not Dead Yet (UK) has always valued Alison’s thinking and work, and her experience of a disabled life worth living. She was particularly dedicated to the defence of disabled children and babies. We have never pretended that we saw eye-to-eye on every subject. But then Alison herself often pointed out she didn’t see eye-to-eye with her earlier self either. We certainly agreed on this: legalizing euthanasia is something we must resist at all costs. NDY (UK) is first and foremost a coalition, with one focus. So in the true spirit of standing together against euthanasia and this wider attack on disabled people, she was always generous with her time and thoughts.

Her thinking was deeply affected by Louise, the baby euthanased in 1979 because of the same impairments as her own, by deliberate starvation and dehydration. She was one of the first to protest vociferously against what has now become possible in Holland under the Gronignen Protocol. If her response to that shocking case led her to a different place from our own, that does not in any way negate our respect for her determination and the work she demanded of herself from her conviction, and which also led her and Colin (Harte) to set up a charity supporting disabled children in Southern India in 1995. Her work for No Less Human focused on the killing of disabled babies. Given that the law in the UK allows for termination of pregnancy right up to the moment before birth, she fought for people to recognize this as part of the same discrimination against disabled people that allowed for their termination after birth. 

She shared our resistance to the dangers of legalizing euthanasia. She cited her own feelings as evidence, that if people were legally encouraged to make end-of-life choices at the time, she might not have survived her own despair.  In taking the steps to speak openly about those moments, she opened the door to many to understand that we can all experience such ‘lows’, but even when they are very long-lasting (10 years in her case) we can find a new meaning in our lives. Her disability was not irrelevant, but as the quote above says, those impairments and life-limiting conditions did not define the person. Too many of those who want us gone miss this crucial point: seeing we are disabled is not a reason for assuming we should want to die.

We mourn her passing and are grateful to have known her and for the contribution she made to our debates and campaigns. A woman of principal we will miss her.

Ali being interviewed at a rally outside Parliament on 12 May 2006, the day that Not Dead Yet UK was officially launched at the House of Lords

Tribute on LifeSiteNews.com

This tribute to Ali, written by Alex Schadenberg, the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, was published by LifeSiteNews.com on Friday 6 December 2013:

Alison Davis, the leader of the disability rights group No Less Human, RIP

Alison meeting Pope Benedict XVI

I lost a friend and we lost a great leader on December 3. Alison Davis, who was born with Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus, became the leader of the disability rights group – No Less Human in the 1990’s but Alison had already been active in the fight to protect children with disabilities from being killed based on eugenic attitudes.

Alison was one of the world’s greatest advocates for the right to life of people with disabilities. She was a tremendously caring person who effectively communicated her support of life and opposition to killing through euthanasia.

Alison first became involved in the issue of euthanasia when she wrote a moving letter concerning the killing of newborns with disabilities. In fact children with Spina Bifida were considered by academics who promote quality of life over caring that leads to children with disabilities being treated as “better off dead."

The Groningen Protocol, that was developed to permit euthanasia for children with disabilities in the Netherlands, was based on the euthanasia deaths of 22 children born with Spina Bifida.

I first became aware of Alison through her story that was published on the No Less Human website.

Alison was an incredibly effective spokesperson against euthanasia because she understood pain, suffering and depression.

Alison lived with a significant amount of suffering especially later in life when she developed conditions including osteoporosis, arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

For many years Alison wanted to commit suicide, due to living with considerable pain that led to Alison living significant depression.

Alison was blessed by her care-giver Colin Harte, who from 1987 to her death, he became a constant companion and devoted care-giver. In 1995, Alison and Colin established a charity for children with disabilities in South India who are in need of support and care.

Alison provided me with a great gift, at a conference in Rome, when she allowed me to bring her forward to receive a blessing from Pope Benedict, which also enabled me to meet the Pope.

In my life, I have only met a few people like Alison who always expressed true love and compassion for people needing care and compassion.

Her leadership, her caring personality, her understanding of depression, and her human vitality will be missed.

We lost a real leader, but we continue to be inspired by her life.

Alison Davis with Colin Harte in Rome

SPUC's tribute to Ali

Ali worked for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) for 30 years.  John Smeaton, SPUC's chief executive, wrote a tribute to Ali on his blog, on the day she died:

Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Alison Davis, leader of SPUC's division for disabled people, is mourned

Alison Davis, the leader of No Less Human, the division for disabled people within SPUC, died this morning at 08:40 GMT, aged 58. She had been unwell for several years, and a long-term difficulty in eating resulted in her sad passing this morning.

In a statement earlier this morning, I said:

"Everyone in SPUC and the whole pro-life movement will be greatly saddened at her passing. Frail in body, she was full of strength in defence of the most defenceless human beings - disabled unborn children. Her keen insight and uncompromising solidarity have proved a powerful defence for the sick and disabled targeted with euthanasia. Her own early struggle with temptations to suicide made her an exceptional witness that life is always worth living. Alison's strong Catholic faith and her love of children moved her to care for disabled children in India. Countless people touched by her life will now be praying that Alison, her family and her friends will receive the peace they seek."

Fr John Fleming, SPUC's bioethical consultant, said:

"Alison was a great pro-life warrior, and a wonderful example to us all of one who accepted her sufferings with astonishing equanimity. I also wish to pay tribute to Colin Harte, whose care for Alison was heroic, constant, and expert, and who greatly enhanced Alison's quality of life in every possible way."

Alison Davis and SPUC's division for disabled people ("No Less Human")

Alison Davis, who led SPUC’s No Less Human since 1982, had spina bifida and was a major commentator on anti-life philosophies and policies which discriminate, lethally, against disabled people http://www.spuc.org.uk/about/no-less-human/alison No Less Human, SPUC’s division for disabled people, their loved ones and carers http://www.spuc.org.uk/about/no-less-human/about promotes the equal status, worth and rights of disabled people, including the most fundamental right of all – the  right to life, from conception to natural death. In spite of serious illness, Alison continued to write, publish and broadcast on the eugenic nature of the Abortion Act and on healthcare, government policies, which treat disabled lives as expendable – including major interviews on BBC’s Newsnight, the BBC World Service’s series Heart and Soul: Choosing Life and leading letters in the national newspapers throughout Britain. In addition, in August 2009 she published a paper showing how euthanasia has spread, starting with the 1992 Bland judgment, and how it has expanded as a result of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act and came to be implemented through the Liverpool Care Pathway.

In September 1982, in my report to SPUC’s national council, I proposed that Alison Davis should be asked to join the Council to represent SPUC’s Handicap Division, now known as No Less Human. The minutes state that my proposal "was warmly agreed by the Council".

Alison's early involvement in SPUC

Not long before, Alison, who had previously been in favour of abortion, had changed her mind on the issue, having read about a baby named Louise born in High Wycombe Hospital who was found to have both spina bifida and hydrocephalus. In Alison’s words:

"Her paediatrician, Dr. Donald Garrow, persuaded her parents that she would be ‘better off dead’ as she would be unable to walk, and would thus compare herself unfavourably with her two able-bodied sisters ...  Dr. Garrow made a video of her last days which was shown on daytime TV, and which I saw. Louise's face was grey, her eyes sunken. I wrote to Dr. Garrow at the hospital and explained that I was disabled to just the extent that Louise had been, and that I felt he had made a horribly wrong decision. In response he invited me to speak to his ‘team’ at the hospital, which I accepted. I cannot remember exactly what I said, but I pointed out that life with spina bifida and hydrocephalus could be full and happy, and that it was in any case wrong to deliberately kill any child on grounds of his/her disability."

Alison remained at the helm of SPUC’s work for disability rights ever since, speaking at SPUC’s Mother Teresa Rally in 1983 and joining SPUC's full-time staff in 2000.