Is this anti-abortion crusader a baby saviour or an obnoxious meddler? Paul Hanrahan, self-professed lifesaver. PAUL Hanrahan wouldn't mind spending Saturdays mowing the lawn or playing tennis with one of his five grown-up children. Fact is, he's got more important things to worry about. Paul Hanrahan has lives to save and people to pray for. The executive director of a body called Family Life International Australia, Hanrahan stands peacefully and unobtrusively each Saturday outside the oldest abortion clinic in New South Wales, opposite Sydney's Central Station. Unlike some anti-abortion protesters around the country and overseas, his goal is not to harass. A neat figure with pleated pants and a cross around his neck, he stands on the corner handing out rosary beads and praying. Across the laneway, he is joined by a small band of believers who quietly sing and pray. They're not in anybody's face either. Hanrahan calls them "the helpers of God's precious infants." Dear Lord, if only we all had chairs like yellow shirt guy. To Paul Hanrahan, unborn babies are precious. Never mind the circumstances by which pregnancy occurs and never mind anything, really. According to Paul Hanrahan, life starts at conception and must be protected at all costs. Mr Hanrahan places this sign across the road from the clinic. It also has an image of an unborn foetus which is too graphic to publish. "I can show you photos of babies who wouldn't have been born if it wasn't for me," he says. I am a simple Catholic father and I believe we as a society can do a lot better. As a society we should be giving women support. A lot of proponents of abortion admit we're killing a person and justify that according to a hierarchy of needs. As a society, we should be caring for children better instead of killing them. But for a man who professes to know a lot about conception, Paul Hanrahan nurtures some rather strong misconceptions. He says abortion in New South Wales is illegal. It's not. You might think the words "preterm women's health clinic" displayed prominently on a shopfront on a major city thoroughfare would provide firm evidence of that, but there you have it. In fact, abortion is legal in all states and territories of Australia. The rules vary, but in most states a woman has to demonstrate to the doctor that having the baby would harm her mental or physical health. Paul Hanrahan also believes, as he puts it, that "100 thousand unborn children die in Australia each year." In fact, the legal definition of a child generally doesn't include a foetus - although a new law is currently being debated in NSW to allow criminal liability for the death of a foetus that is at least 20 weeks old. None of that matters to Paul Hanrahan. To him, a baby is a baby from the moment an egg is fertilised, and he believes science backs him up on this issue. So Paul Hanrahan makes his silent stand each week, while you sleep off your Friday night or play a bit of Saturday sport. Some people swear at him. Others are hysterical and tell him what he's doing is disgraceful. Others thank him. It's hard to know what'll happen next. One thing you can bet on. Paul Hanrahan will be there next week. And the lawn in his backyard is probably about four feet tall. What do you think about anti-abortion protesters? Should they just leave women alone in this traumatic time or are they doing a valuable public service? We'll update as many of your comments as we can throughout the day.