WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – A New York maternity home honored jailed pro-lifer John Hinshaw for his witness to the sanctity of life as he faces sentencing and a potential 11 years in prison for a peaceful traditional pro-life rescue. Hinshaw’s wife accepted an award from Good Counsel Homes last month on behalf of her imprisoned husband.
Good Counsel Homes, established in 1985 by Father Benedict Groeschel and Chris Bell, husband of another jailed pro-lifer Joan Bell, operates five maternity homes in and around New York City. For years, a group of pro-lifers on Long Island have held an annual fundraiser for Good Counsel and this year decided to honor John Hinshaw “for his lifelong advocacy for moms and their babies” with the 2024 St. Gerard Majella Award. St. Gerard Majella is the patron saint of expectant mothers.
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Detailing Hinshaw’s longtime advocacy for the unborn in New York and across the country, Good Counsel Homes wrote in a statement:
John Hinshaw is a Lifelong Advocate for the Unborn and their mothers. John has a close connection and relationship with Good Counsel Homes having served as Vice President of Operations from 2015-2019, contributing his time and talents to the Mission of Good Counsel.
John’s commitment to the “marginalized” continues as he and his 8 fellow imprisoned Rescuers await sentencing in May for their participation in a Rescue at the Washington Surgi-Center in October 2020. John and the others are sharing God’s word through prayer, bible studies and why they are there with their fellow inmates.
John is humbled and honored to receive this award. He accepts this award on behalf of all mothers and their children. He asks that we pray and continue the work of saving lives.
On April 13, Hinshaw’s wife, Brenda, accepted the St. Gerard Majella Award on behalf of her imprisoned husband and presented a statement from him, to which she added her own, in gratitude to Good Counsel Homes.
John Hinshaw’s statement to Good Counsel Homes:
I send greetings and thankfulness, in this Easter Season, to all of you uniting tonight for the great cause of Good Counsel Homes. Long Island has ever been a place where pro-life people extended help and hope to others facing desperate times and the pressure to abort.
Good Counsel has a long history of saving lives and they can show you pictures of the fruit of their work — baby pictures! Precious babies, and if you ask Chris (Bell) how many babies Good Counsel has helped bring into the world he can tell you the exact number. Living and loving babies, each new life bringing new love into the world. Each new name and face. “Unique and unrepeatable gifts” St. John Paul called them. Just think of the joy these babies have given their mothers and how much more they will bring her. I think also of the joy these babies bring to the sacrificial staff of Good Counsel – women dedicated to the promise of motherhood and the sanctity of the cradle.
To touch only briefly on my situation, since you all know about it. Be assured that I and my “co-conspirators” are well. We thank all of you for the many prayers and the great support you have all shown us and our families. We know we will be released whenever our Lord decides we have served His Purpose. We know that of all the great causes in human history that have seen people unjustly imprisoned — our cause is the equal of any of them. I do not have to tell you what the legal violence of our government means to every American citizen. As we watch our nation crumbling, we know it is directly a result of our acceptance of abortion over all these years. May we say, similar to Lincoln’s second inaugural address, that perhaps as a nation, we must pay, not just for every bloody abortion, but for every time we turned our back on a helpless, frightened young woman finding herself pregnant and all alone.
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Which leads us back to Good Counsel, which has NEVER turned its back to these young women. I ask you all to pledge your ongoing support to Good Counsel’s mission and I ask you to be, not just generous, but sacrificial. It’s time to hurt for the moms and babies.
And since you are gathered on Long Island tonight and every speech is improved by a quote from Chesterton, here’s a great one:
“I find again the book we found
I feel the hour that flings
Far out of fish-shaped Paumonock
Some cry of cleaner things.”
Sounds like he’s calling out Long Island more than 100 years ago! Let our actions be the cry of cleaner things. Jesus is Risen — God Bless You
- John Hinshaw
Brenda Hinshaw’s statement to Good Counsel Homes:
Good evening, everyone. Thank you, from my family and I to Chris Bell and all involved in the mission of Good Counsel Homes and to all of you gathered here tonight for honoring John with the 2024 St. Gerard Majella Award. The Hinshaw family is proud to be part of the Good Counsel family. Thank you also for all your prayers, words and letters of support and love. Please know that all of this has given us strength and courage these past eight months.
Chris contacted me last fall to say Good Counsel wanted to honor John at this event for his lifelong advocacy for moms and their babies, starting when he was a college student in 1974. I didn’t hesitate to say yes because John has always fully supported them and the mission of Good Counsel Homes. When I told John about this, he was a bit resistant, so I told him two things:
1) He was otherwise “occupied,” so I get to decide.
2) Accept the award on behalf of the moms and babies who have been saved by Good Counsel.
I have been thinking about what else I wanted to say this evening and my inspiration came in a homily I heard the day after Easter at daily Mass in my parish.
Father used the phrase “victory without vengeance” if someone has done something horrible to us and we survived it. Jesus did not seek vengeance in His victory over death. His Resurrection was the fulfillment of His promise to save us all. Vengeance was not part of His victory.
I pondered this in terms of what we in the pro-life movement have experienced and are still experiencing RIGHT NOW in our country from the pro-abortionists — who, because of their “victories” seek vengeance through harassment, lawsuits and imprisonment, all in the name of “reproductive rights.” All because we dare to protect the rights of the innocents, mothers and babies. Do we react to our victories and the pro-abortionist treatment of us by seeking vengeance? No, our victories are truly victories without vengeance. Victories of love I call them. These victories are every mother, baby and child who are living and flourishing because of Good Counsel’s mission. Let us continue to share and live the mission to “Love them both.” Victories of love, without vengeance.
Finally, all of you know what it is that faces John, Joan, Will, Lauren, Jean, Heather, Paulette, Herb and Jonathan in May and our fellow pro-lifers in Tennessee in July. The Garland Nine will be sentenced in Washington on May 14th, 15th and 17th. Please continue to pray for them for strength, mercy, and justice. Pray also for Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Yes, for her. That her heart, mind, and soul will show mercy and, most importantly, that her heart will be opened to the gift of life and the humanity of the unborn.
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Also, if you can, please come to Washington for the sentencing to show support and witness to the sanctity of life.
And keep praying for #justiceforthefive — Christopher, Holly, Harriet, Angel and Phoenix, whose brief lives mattered!!!
Sign the prayer pledge for the nine pro-life rescuers facing a decade in prison.
LifeSiteNews’ extensive coverage of the D.C. Face Act trials can be found here.
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