Gracias

Me voy a España ya y sólo me queda agradecer a toda la gente que trabaja para la organización y a todas las clientas que he conocido por todo lo que me han enseñado.

Realmente las expectativas que tenía cuando llegué han sido superadas con creces. Esta experiencia me ha ayudado a madurar y a valorar realmente todo lo que tengo. Me ha hecho sentirme muy afortunada por todo y me ha enseñado a ser más agradecida.

Me despido de EMC con un “gracias” por haberme dado esta oportunidad.

Experiencia vivida

Hoy, cuando apenas quedan unos días para que vuelva a España echo la vista atrás. Hace tres meses llegué aquí sin saber muy bien cómo iba a hacer. Sólo sabía que quería salvar bebes y que el aborto me parecía algo muy cruel y tremendamente injusto. Hoy puedo decir que jamás habría imaginado la grandeza de la labor que hacen las asociaciones próvida como EMC.

Una asociación próvida no es una máquina de salvar bebés, sino como una gran mamá. Un verdadero próvida lucha por salvar al bebé pero su principal labor es escuchar comprender ayudar y amar a su mamá, al médico abortista, al portero  de la clínica abortista, a su dueño millonario, etc.

Animo a quien tenga la oportunidad a que “venga y verá”

Recogiendo la cosecha

Últimamente hemos estado llamando a las chicas que vinieron a nuestra oficina en los primeros meses del año y muchas de ellas ya han tenido a sus bebes. Con este trabajo, he podido ratificar lo importante que es nuestra labor y cómo las mujeres se han sentido acompañadas y apoyadas en EMC.

Hoy una de las chicas me ha contado que ella perdió a su bebé y cómo fue de difícil para ella superarlo después de que en un principio había pensado en abortar. Ella me agradeció nuestro trabajo y me dijo que en nuestra oficina fue cuando se empezó a sentir querida y que hoy, gracias a nosotros, ha aprendido que no le merece cualquier hombre. Me dijo que gracias a nosotros ha aprendido a valorarse como mujer.

Algunos hombres buenos

A lo largo de todos mis post sólo he hablado de mujeres heroicas que tienen que luchar solas. ¿Qué pasa con los hombres? La inmensa mayoría de los que vienen a nuestras oficinas no son el ideal de hombre de ninguna mujer. Beben demasiado o toman drogas, son egoístas, manipuladores, abusadores, groseros, infieles y no valoran a las mujeres.

Pero lo cierto es que también hay algunos hombres buenos. Hace poco llegó a nuestra oficina de Queens uno de ellos. Él tenía 18 años, no tenía trabajo, no sabía nada de ser papá, pero sin embargo su novia estaba embarazada. Desde el momento en el que su novia le dijo que estaba embarazada, él se convirtió con sus actos en un verdadero padre de familia, buscando trabajo, procurando que la madre de sus hijos tuviera lo que necesitaba e incluso asumiendo el comunicarles esta noticia poco esperada a la familia de ella.

Este post es una felicitación a esos pocos hombres valientes. Gracias de parte de vuestras familias.

Check Out The Baby Board !

A big part of working at a CPC is where you decide to locate the building. This particular one is in Massachusetts where there is a Planned Parenthood right across the street.

This CPC has had very effective attempts to deter girls away from getting an abortion. They have been given many opportunities to let a woman know that she can keep her baby.

A woman can keep her baby and also be given help from their center.

This is a picture of the "baby board". These are consolidated pictures taken from all different times of the year, where a woman chose LIFE over DEATH. 

This CPC was able to save all these babies. What it took was money, volunteers, and most importantly prayer. " If God is for us, who can be against us?"

World Youth Alliance

World Youth Alliance

I just had the pleasure of attending a local conference on life and love. One of the presentations was by the former president and founder of World Youth Alliance, Anna Halpine. She spoke on all the incredible movements that are going on around the world, in a number of different countries, in support of the dignity of human life. They have some great programs they're working on in order to counter legislation proposed in some countries that will promote more widespread use of contraceptives and abortion.

We know how those two things contribute to the disintegration of relationships, the family, and society, so it is important not only to fight them, but to find effective ways of educating women on how to naturally and safely monitor their health and fertility. This is what WYA is working on and it's quite inspirational to see.

Sonogram Bus and Choosing Life

Few things surprise me at the abortion clinic anymore because I have been there so often, however this recent story was certainly exciting.

Dr. Emily abortion facility has two driveways leading to the back parking lot but they still love to call the police whenever we 'block' one of the entrances - which is usually one of us standing on the sidewalk and talking to one of their potential victims while not blocking any vehicle's or pedestrian's entry.

This particular day I was speaking to a girl on the bus who had been destined for an abortion. The bus was microscopically overlapping their man-made yellow line which shows where the driveway 'begins.' Everything was going well until a police officer asked me to move the bus - I begged for just 15 minutes and I could tell he realized how ridiculous his request was since anybody could see that the driveway was not being blocked and anyone could get either in or out. However, I had to improvise and move the bus.

The girl I was with was very understanding and agreed to actually stay on the bus while I moved it! I eventually found a spot in a White Castle parking lot and continued to counsel, console, and comfort her.

She ended up getting her sonogram and after we were done talking she was determined to keep her baby. Amazing! Thank God for this girl's patience and willingness to trust me, because this was one crazy situation.

Greedy Abortion Facilities

Sometimes I'm grateful for the greediness that prevails in the abortion industry and especially at Dr. Emily Clinic in the Bronx.

If that sounds outrageous, just hang with me. You see many of my saves personally have begun by the abortion clinic's refusal to commit an abortion due to a woman's inability to pay - their insurance doesn't work there. Of course, if abortion really was a medical necessity the provider would be compelled to perform it - but since it is not, they can simply say 'no' and send the girls home - or rather - to me.

And I'm glad to be waiting outside the clinic equipped to offer free help to any woman with the backing of EMC, and many women fortunately gladly accept this. I've seen their frustration at the refusal of the clinic turned to joy when they choose life with us, I've seen this refusal understood to be a sign that maybe they should keep their baby, and I've also seen this make the most determined and hardest hearts crack and decide to listen to what we have to say.

For all of this I'm grateful that the abortion industry is as greedy as it is.

A Perfect Opportunity To Tell The Truth

I had a client this week who came in for a pregnancy test. She was very young. She is just starting college. I asked her what she wanted to do if she indeed was pregnant. She basically was undecided.

I asked her if she knew what an abortion is. She replied, "Not really". I told her the 2 most common induced abortions. I told her the abortion facts that she could simply look up online if she wanted to, so that she knew I was not making it up.

After the consultation, she was completely turned off by the idea of abortion. She asked me, "How is that legal?" She really could not believe that our country and president would approve the act of abortion. I told her that many people choose to be ignorant on this particular subject matter. Because if they knew what was going on, they would be appalled at the thought of abortion.

As she was leaving, she said, " I'm really glad I got to meet with you today. I really , just, didn't know about all this".

I am just so thankful I was able to have the opportunity to meet with such a young girl who has little knowledge on the subject matter, and educate her on the facts. I had the opportunity to give her the truth.

Una bella escultura

¿Por qué todo me pasa a mí? ¿Por qué está vida es tan dura conmigo y no para de darme golpes? Estás preguntas son las que se hacen muchas de las mujeres que vienen a nuestros centros. Han tenido una vida difícil desde pequeñas. No difícil como tú y yo alcanzamos a imaginar, sino difícil de verdad.

Yo les digo a esas mujeres que esos golpes que les da la vida son iguales que los golpes que recibe un trozo de piedra hasta convertirse en una bella escultura. Depende de cómo nos tomemos esos golpes nos podemos llegar a convertir en el David de Miguel Ángel o en un trocito de piedras. Sabemos perfectamente que reacción a los golpes nos lleva a ser unas bellas personas o un trocito de piedras. Sólo nos queda saber en qué nos queremos convertir.

Un billete de $100

¿Cuánta gente lleva un billete de $100 en la cartera? ¿Cuántos hombres se han llevado lo más valioso que tienes? ¿Cuántos hombres se han llevado tu intimidad?

El billete de $100 no lo lleva mucha gente, pero uno de $1 lo lleva cualquiera. Tú, mujer, eres muy valiosa. No merece tenerte cualquier hombre. De hecho eres tan valiosa que solo te merece aquel que te ame de verdad, que sepa respetarte, que sepa esperarte, que quiera estar contigo toda la vida. Aquel hombre que ame tus virtudes y tus defectos y no sólo tu cuerpo. Ese hombre es real y el tuyo te está esperando en algún lado.

Not So Different After All?

It's usually a pretty interesting conversation starter when someone asks us what we do in NYC. I'm not sure anyone has ever expected the answer we give them. Some people get confused, others quiet, others excited. Most people have never heard of work like this before, or at least not largely staffed by a small band of young, long-term "interns".

As we know, the subject of abortion is usually polarizing. So, while a large portion of our society is relativistic and tries to politely not step on your toes, even when they think you are dead wrong, we still get a lot of cautiously suspicious and even quietly hostile responses. People may consider themselves too accepting to argue with you about your beliefs, but you can still tell when you are being scratched off someone's credibility list when you staunchly support something they consider ridiculous.

Some of the common reactions are a careful 'That's interesting..." followed by a "So, you are trying to convince the women to keep their babies?". To which we always have to clarify that we are primarily trying to educate and the education "persuades", if you will, by itself. Once you know what abortion is, you can hardly in your right mind support it; and once the women know what abortion is, they often realize they are in for a whole lot more than they were led to believe.

So, we absolutely believe an abortion isn't going to help any woman, any day. The wary listeners who are worried about our work often need to defend their position with "But it's really the woman's choice, in the end..." to which I can wholly agree; there is really no doubting that. That seems to surprise them. Maybe, if they were as informed as we are on what abortion is and seen all the girls in person affected by it as we have, they would realize that in their heart they do not believe something so different from us after all.

A Followup With A Client

I did a follow up with one of our clients Victoria. She recently had her baby in June, M'Kayla Abigail Torres.

She is now living in a home at Good Counsel for women pregnant or with a baby. She is located in upstate NY.

She has definitely had to make some living adjustments there, but is still doing the best with what she has. For me personally, Victoria is an inspiration.

She birthed and kept her baby in an abortion promoting society. She completely moved out of her town to give her baby a better life. She changed her address, her friends, her town, and her life for her daughter.

She has done the most selfless act: Given up her life for another.

I am pleased to also inform you that she recently got accepted for a job. Today is her first day. She plans on saving her money for her and M'Kayla. Praise God for this wonderful victory !

Wait, How Many Lives Have Been Saved??

I've been doing a lot of fundraising related work recently and a part of what I have to write over and over again is the phrase "over 200 babies are being saved every month...". I knew the statistics, that EMC has saved about 30,000 babies or more since starting 25 years ago, but after writing that phrase so many times, suddenly it really struck me: we've saved 30,000 human beings.

I come from a tiny village of 1,000 people. Sounds incredible to people used to New York City. In this city, maybe 30,000 isn't such an impressive number, but where I come from, that number of people could populate 3,000 of my towns. Now, that's impressive.

What if one little baby in one of those little towns was aborted? Like..me?

We aren't about the numbers. We are about the people. 

Continue the Presence

So the 40 Days for Life campaign has officially ended but I want to urge people from around the country to continue the presence!

This year we were able to coordinate vigils complete with candles and peaceful prayer and it really was a blessing for me to participate in each one. God knows this prayerful effort when the abortion mill is closed can work wonders for the women inside when it is open - I have seen it, it's that intangible thing that can make a woman choose life when nothing else extraordinary is done.

I want to thank EMC for organizing the events here in New York and all the wonderful people who participated. Lets increase the amount of people for next the 40 days campaign and hope that many will come out even during the "off season!"

She Laughs, But God Is Serious

"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans" reminds me of a story in the Bible about Sarah. She was old in age; she was 'too old' to get pregnant.

God tells her husband that she is going to be with child. After she overhears the conversation, she laughs.She laughs, but God is serious. She assumes first and foremost that it's impossible. After those thoughts, she feels that it is a mistake and should not happen.

This reminds me of my client who is in her mid 40's. She has already had an abortion before and is pregnant again, wanting another abortion. She too, like Sarah, thinks it's a mistake.

Her and I talked for over 2 hours. I also met with her boyfriend who wants her to keep the baby. She left abortion bound. After she left, I thought to myself, 'what is she going to do in 20 to 30 years? She has no family to take care of her. Her parents have passed, she has no siblings, she has no children, and no husband.'

It is in her better interest to keep this baby. I hope she realizes this.

I hope and pray that she comes back to us. 

Blessed Friendships

People come to EMC for the work and if they stay, that is generally likewise their motivation. It teaches and changes everyone. There are a lot of sacrifices involved, one of the greatest sometimes being our life in community, but in exchange for all the difficulties, God gives so many of us a very great and unexpected blessing: good friendships.

We have lived and worked with people from all around the country and around the world. Most people who come probably don't realize they may be meeting people from Spain, England, Africa, Ireland, Mexico, or some other country. Though we may vary in ages from about 17 to 70 and we all come from different backgrounds, our fraternity is strengthened by our faith and our work. Friendships are formed that I never would have expected or hoped for.

Another sign that we are truly doing God's work here.

"Abortion Is Illegal Right?"

I stood outside of this abortion clinic in Queens with some of my other colleagues. We prayed all 4 mysteries of the rosary.

I also went to an abortion clinic in the Bronx this past week to pray as well. As I was praying, I couldn't help but notice a young man who had walked out of the clinic, and was standing against a street sign.

I waited a while, then decided to go for it. I approached him to say, " Hey , is your girl in there?" "Yeah", was his response.

He told me she already has a 5 year old daughter, and doesn't really want to get the abortion, but she feels like she cannot support the baby like she wants to. She is 6 weeks, he said.

I just tried to focus more on the part where he said "she doesn't really want to do it". Which lead him to randomly ask me, "So, is it legal, for her?" My response was, "What do you mean? The abortion at 6 months? No." He said, "No for her- at 6 weeks- like....it's illegal right?"

I said, " No ! Abortion is legal in this country up to 24.6 weeks in term". He said, "O for real?"

It's so interesting. He literally thought he had found a shady, back alley place that was going to perform an abortion on his girlfriend illegally. He just assumed it was illegal in general. He looked shocked when I told him abortion was legal in this country. He looked shocked and disappointed.

Carolina

My name is Carolina Fernandez, am a New Yorker. Am so excited to be part of this pro-life organization. The way I got involved was on day I was walking on street, and I saw this people with a huge T.V showing how abortion is killing babies they were giving out brochures that said “she a girl, not an option” from that moment I saw that I knew I wanted to involved some how, so I asked if I can volunteer, and they told me there internship program, so I went to there office and started working for them, and so far it has been a wonderful experience.

For me pro-life is accepting that we are humans from the day of conception, we all stared out this way. So what the difference from someone who is alive and one that aborted, they also have right to live. I want to let every one know about this. Most people don’t know how abortion really works, and this organization is doing such a good job telling people going into the street giving awareness and helping girls in the office am so proud to be part of this life charging organization.

No es un capricho, es una vida

Ayer llegó una clienta a la oficina. Ella tenía depresión y quería abortar. Yo desde el primer momento supe que iba a ser un caso difícil. Así que me encomendé a la Virgen y le dije: "Por favor salva la vida de esta mamá y de su hijo y necesito que me hagas caso porque esto no es un capricho, es una vida"

Empecé a hablar con ella y me contó que estaba sumida en su depresión. Me contó que llevaba mucho tiempo sin comer y sin asearse. Y yo, sin perder la confianza en que la Virgen me ayudaría, seguí hablando con la clienta. Después de tres horas me dijo las palabras que le hicieron liberarse del enorme peso que tenía "voy a tener a mi hijo". Acto seguido le ofrecí comida y me la aceptó y me prometió que iba a empezar a comer y a cuidarse.

Este post es para agradecer a la mejor madre. A la Madre de todos. Y para pedirle que nos siga ayudando en nuestra labor.

¡Gracias Mamá!

The Thinker

I got to do my first consulting it was such a wonderful experience. This girl came in wanting to have an abortion after we did the pregnancy test which was positive. We went to get a sonogram and an ultra sound and found out she was 18 weeks pregnant, and found out the sex of the baby which was a boy. After that we went to the consulting room. I explain how far in her pregnancy was and how develop her baby was. I asked her if after knowing the sex of the baby and how develop it was if she still wanted to have an abortion. she had her mind set at yes so I show her the video and how abortions looks like and she stared crying and said she was confused she had done so much damaged to her self by drink and taking pain killer she was afraid her kid was going to come out wrong and didn’t want to have it angrily she left the office , couples of days later I did a follow up call to see how she was doing , when she answered she told me she had big news she was going to keep her baby she said she went home thought about what I said and she couldn’t get the imaged of how abortion looks like and decided to keep it no matter how it came out she even told me she already had names picked out and her family was going to be supporting her and even gave her baby cloths.

Happy Birthday to A Lost Child

There are a lot of things you want to say to someone who is planning an abortion. Things to say to the mother and to the father. You want them to understand what an abortion is and how many risks they are exposing the woman to. You want them to realize the value and realness of the life that is at stake, not to believe all the crazy, unscientific lies they may have heard. And especially, often most difficult of all, you want them to step outside the present moment of fear and panic to think about what their future will be like after they have carried out that decision. Here is a video that expresses exactly that, from the Father's perspective. He didn't realize what they were doing at the time...and now he has that loss forever.

It's a beautiful song, I hope you enjoy and share.



"What I thought was a dream...was as real as it seemed."

Meet M'Kayla

This is the update for a precious baby that EMC was able to help.

Her name is M'Kayla Abigail Torres. Her mother is Victoria.

Victoria came to us this year in hopes to find help with her pregnancy. It was her first baby. The experience of abortion has been in her past, but this time she chose life.

I have not seen this kind of joy before in my life. The day that I first saw M'Kayla, I was able to spend time with Victoria too.

She was dealing with a lot of domestic struggle at the time. Every day when she would wake up, problems were already waiting for her. But even so, she still had the eternal joyous smile of hope across her face that made it inspiring to just know her.

She tells me, "Abby I'm blessed to know you ". Then I tell her, "Victoria, I am blessed to know YOU".

M'Kayla is my god daughter and I couldn't be happier about the situation !

Abortion=Suffering

As a new Catholic, it was a growing experience for me. I was able to concentrate my thoughts towards praying all 4 decades of the rosary in one sitting outside of an abortion clinic in Queens.

The one that I relate to the most, is the sorrowful mystery. Thinking about what Jesus took care of, and did for me at the cross reminds me of suffering. And suffering reminds me of abortion.

I think about the pain coming in and out of everyone involved.

The mother undergoing severe pain in her body from the clamping of the tenaculum on her cervix so that the dilators can do their job in tearing it down to get to the baby. The doctor watching the human fetus being torn apart piece by piece. And ofcourse the precious baby feeling every tug and every pull from the doctor's forceps or suction cannula.

The baby loses his life. The woman loses her motherhood. The doctor loses his conscience.

But at least she still gets to have a "choice".

New Pro-Life Video Site Launched

There are so many facets of pro-life work here and around the world. So many videos swimming around the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, etc. With all these avenues it can be really hard to know what to look at or how to find it. That's why a friend of EMC recently created a website that has many of the top pro-life related videos that you are probably looking for all in one spot.

Everything from National news to personal testimonies can be found on this site, which will probably be kept updated regularly. Check it out and share the site, or even just the videos, with those you know who want or need to know what's going on.

Life is a Right.com

Do you know of other good, helpful pro-life videos? Please, let us know. God bless your work!

¿Dónde están los genios de hoy?

Tenemos muchos genios en la antigüedad que nos han ayudado a superarnos como humanos. Algunos de ellos eran matemáticos, músicos, otros grandes filósofos, teólogos, físicos, etc. Hoy en día parece que los genios han desaparecido. ¿Dónde están?

Me planteo si esos genios que deberíamos tener hoy no le quitaron la voz antes de nacer. Me planteo si no fueron abortados. Mozart por ejemplo se quedó ciego siendo muy pequeñito, ¿qué hubiera pasado si su madre lo hubiera podido saber antes de tenerlo y no lo hubiera querido tener? ¿Dónde estaría hoy su música? Einstein era el 5 de 6 hermanos, ¿qué hubiera pasado si su madre hubiera decidido que ya eran demasiados hijos?

Y el niño que está en tu vientre, ¿qué llegará a ser si se lo permites? ¿Será el genio que hoy nos falta?

Un bebé para abrir los ojos

Ayer una chica llego a una de nuestras oficinas. Nos contó de su vida, de lo complicada que había sido siempre y nos dijo que el padre de su bebé la maltrataba y que por eso se separó de él. Nos contó, con los ojos vidriosos, que ella está muy enamorada de él y que jamás le hubiera dejado si no fuera por su bebé. Su bebé le abrió los ojos. Un día tras una brutal paliza estaba en el suelo llorando sin poder levantarse. Su bebé, de siete meses, también estaba en el suelo y no dejó que su padre le cogiera en brazos. Él gateó hasta donde estaba su madre y con sus diminutas manos secó sus lágrimas. Su hijo le hizo darse cuenta de lo que era el amor de verdad.

Una crítica constructiva

¿Cómo sacar algo bueno de una fuerte crítica?
Hace poco, en el telediario, salió una fuerte crítica contra las asociaciones pro-vida. Entre las cosas que decían se escondía una oportunidad para mejorar. Hablaban de que desde las asociaciones pro-vida se habla de la muerte y es cierto, parece que hablando de las malas consecuencias nos escucharán más, reaccionarán antes, pero esto es un gran error. No hay nada que tenga más fuerza que el bien y el bien en este caso es la vida. Así pues, me propuse hablar exclusivamente de la vida, de la maravilla de ser mamá, del gozo que experimenta la mujer embarazada y del milagro que es a pesar de todos los problemas. Al ponerlo en práctica el resultado fue asombroso. Hoy escribo este post para agradecer a esa periodista por su trabajo, porque con su crítica nos ayudó, contra su voluntad, a crecer en nuestra labor.