First Week at EMC [Part 1]

By. Christina Tangney


Tuesday, July 22.

Today, I went with Brenda to our Jerome office. I sat in with her counseling since this was just my second day with EMC. We had five girls come in today.

Our first client was 18 years old and 6 weeks pregnant. She's leaning towards an abortion. Her mom had an abortion about a month or two ago and Kim sees a difference in her. Not a good one. Brenda encouraged her to talk to her mom because she has a really great perspective on things since she JUST went through it, and still is, and will continue to be. It's helpful that for the girl that she and her mom already have a good relationship. She agreed to talk to her mom within the next two weeks and seemed more positive about everything after talking with Brenda. I think she's more on the fence now. She said she has a lot to think about. We showed her two videos on fetal development and abortion procedures.

Our next client was also 18 years old and 6 weeks pregnant. She has a two-year old already. Her sister had a botched abortion and had a hysterectomy. She said she received a lot of information and she needs to think about it. We showed her videos on abortion procedures and post-abortive woman's stories.

Our third client was 21 years old and 7 weeks pregnant. Although she's recently turned 21 and said her pregnancy is an inconvenience due to her wanting to party, and her boyfriend not acknowledging her pregnancy, she WANTS TO PARENT:]

Next we met a girl who is 17 years old and 10 weeks pregnant. She is undecided. Her boyfriend is happy about pregnancy so that's positive. She seemed really excited about getting the sonogram, since that was basically the first thing she asked about.

Our last client was perhaps the most difficult. She is 29 years old and 5 weeks pregnant. She said that it's not a baby until 6 weeks, although I'm not exactly positive about her reasoning behind her point of view. When Brenda confronted her about her point of view, she changed the subject. She definitely was aware that her reasoning was bogus, but chose to ignore it. She has another child who is 2 ½ years old and she's been with the father of both children for 6 years. They just broke up because the relationship isn't going anywhere and he doesn't know about the pregnancy. She doesn't feel like she has the support she needs and she doesn't want to deal with morning sickness or the pregnancy in general. She is extremely set on getting an abortion. She's Christian and thinks her pregnancies are punishment for staying with her boyfriend.

Being with Brenda was extremely beneficial. I really learned how to effectively communicate with the women. I learned how to be compassionate and loving, yet firm in my convictions. I learned an extremely helpful formula in how to approach the women and how to effectively spread the Word and Light of Christ.