‘Scientific advancements since St. Thomas’ time, however, have revealed that human life begins at the moment of conception.

Serbian Abortionist Becomes Pro-Life Activist
November 18, 2008 by P.D. Yoko

Stojan Adasevic was once known as “the champion of abortion.” His journey to achieving this title began one day while a medical student. He was organizing files in a doctor’s office. Paying no attention to the student focused on a pile of papers in the far corner, a group of gynecologists entered the room and began exchanging stories about their medical practice.

Abortion Survivor
One doctor recalled a patient who had come to him for an abortion. The procedure failed because the doctor had been unable to align the cervix. As the gynecologists went on discussing the woman’s history, Adasevic, who had been listening, suddenly realized that the woman they were discussing was his mother.

“She’s dead now” — observed one of the doctors – “but I wonder what happened to the unwanted child?” Adasevic stood up and said, “I’m the child!” Silence fell over the room.

Over the years Adasevic would have cause to recall that event many times. It was perfectly clear to him: he owed his life to the fact of a failed abortion. Yet, he vowed that he would never make such a blunder himself. Many women were referred to him because of difficulty in aligning the cervix. Adasevic’s success rate was legendary. The Serbian doctor performed over 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day. However, after spending 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country, Dr. Adasevic has taken a prolife stance.

The Nightmares Begin
It is important to note that the medical textbooks of the Communist regime said that abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue. Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the ’80s, but even those images did not change Adasevic’s opinion, until he became having nightmares.

In describing his conversion, Adasevic said he ‘dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. ‘My name is Thomas Aquinas,’ the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican genius saint, so he didn’t recognize the name.

“Why don’t you ask me who these children are?” St. Thomas asked Adasevic in his dream.

“They are the ones you killed with your abortions,” the Dominican saint told him.

Adasevic awoke in amazement and decided never to perform another abortion.

The Beating Heart
However, later that same day a cousin came to the hospital with his four months-pregnant girlfriend, who wanted to get her ninth abortion; a frequent occurrence in Soviet bloc countries. Dr. Adasevic reluctantly agreed.

Instead of removing the fetus piece by piece, he decided to chop it up and remove it as a mass. However, the baby’s heart came out fully intact and still beating. Adasevic’s reality filled him with horror; he had killed a human being.

After this experience, Adasevic told the hospital he would no longer perform abortions. Never before had a doctor in Communist Yugoslavia refused to do so. They cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university.

Protecting Life
After years of pressure and on the verge of giving up, and returning to conduct abortion procedures, Dr. Adasevic had another dream about St. Thomas.

“You are my good friend, keep going,” the man in black and white told him. “Adasevic became involved in the pro-life movement and was able to get Yugoslav television to air the film ‘The Silent Scream,’ by Dr. Bernard Nathanson… two times.”

Adasevic has told his story in countless magazines and newspapers throughout Eastern Europe. He has also returned to the Orthodox faith of his childhood and has begun studying the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Through his studies, Adasevic has noted that Thomas Aquinas was influenced by Aristotle, and thus wrote that human life begins forty days after fertilization. Adasevic later wrote in an article, ‘Scientific advancements since Thomas’ time, however, have revealed that human life begins at the moment of conception. Perhaps the saint wanted to make amends for that error.’

The Serbian doctor continues to fight for the lives of the unborn, putting to rest the nightmares that once haunted him.