Lost Motherhood

One of the more noticeable language isms in NYC, at least in the areas we work in, is the term 'Mami' (sp?) used to refer to any young woman. It's kinda like saying "hey you" or "girl" to get someone's attention or when talking to a stranger. It took me a while to get used to because I didn't understand why everyone was calling each other "Mommy". It was especially striking because I was working with so many abortion minded people and coming to understand what a lost sense of motherhood most of these women have who were being called "Mommy" on a regular basis.
Then it kinda struck me. Almost like a desperate cry for help, it felt like all of broken, deprived parents going about the city were expressing their sense of lost motherhood. As if there was a great loss of mothers in their city because of the great loss of children.
Now, I know that's not what anyone is thinking, but it's incredibly ironic that both the tragedy of abortion and the common usage of "mami" and "papi" exist so prominently within the same population.

N.Y.C. Really Is The Abortion Capital Of The Country

My job as a crisis pregnancy counselor is to show up at our centers to counsel women who are pregnant. I have scheduled times when I need to be there.

Another big part of my job is answering the phones. I have all different kinds of calls coming in. The main ones are girls calling for an abortion.

Seeing as how populated N.Y.C. is, you can imagine how busy my phone rings on a day to day basis. However, I actually have girls that call all the way from Connecticut and Pennsylvania who want abortions.

They tell me that they have insurance within their state, but abortion is not very popular there, so it's hard to find a place to get it done.

Whenever they go online to google abortions, all kinds of abortion clinic locations are listed. So not only am I dealing with clientele from this state, but from 2 other states as well ! This really is the abortion capital of the country. 

40 Days for Life Coming Soon

Our bi-annual tradition of hosting the 40 Days for Life in NYC continues this spring! Mark your calendars to join us or pray from where you are to support those who will be keeping vigil outside Dr. Emily's abortion clinic in the South Bronx. If you are able to make a weekly commitment, it would be a huge blessing to all those women and the community. For more information and to spread the word, visit our site at: www.40daysforlife.com/nyc.

Just Life in NYC

This isn't directly related to pro-life work, but the reality of where these women come from and what kind of baby daddys they have makes it pretty relevant i think: 
I was out getting some lunch one day (we were trying to clean and board up the house against a rat, so I couldn’t use the stove) and I decided to try and find a pizzaria in an area I hadn’t checked out before. I found a nice place (it had cheese fries!) and while I was waiting for my order, I leaned against the wall and listened in on the conversation that was going on around me. A group of black guys were hanging out (seemed like one of their normal gathering places) and started talking about their plans for the weekend. There was some discussion of whether any of them would be arrested and then when the best time to be arrested would be. It used to be Friday night was bad, but now there is apparently court on Saturdays, so that would actually be the best time. Saturday night is bad though obviously, because then you have to wait for Monday to get out. One said when he was arrested they had written “crack dealer” on his report. He was laughing, how did they come up with that? Another said he never knows when he’ll get arrested, could be for just walking down the street. Cop stops you and you say “wha’d I do?” and he thinks you look like a thug, just because you’re black.  That’s normal life for them. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never thought to plan my weekend around when the best time to get arrested is. I came away from that pizzaria with a lot more than I expected (and not just because I found cheese fries).

Believe It or Not

Have I lived a pretty sheltered life up until this point? Yes. But what kinds of things was I unaware of and am now discovering? Some pretty shocking and horrible ones. I think I appreciate my upbringing a little more the more I learn I was not exposed to so early on. Sometimes my fellow interns bring home new and crazier stories every day. After all we’ve heard, we still all stand there with our mouths open, shaking our heads and at a loss for words. Helps that we are in NYC too. Sometimes the stories don’t even involve our work.

A few months ago one of the workers came home and was in a fairly worked up state. She was all excited and in some state of disbelief. It took a little bit to understand what she was trying to explain. She said that one of her girls (that’s how we refer to our clients) had carried her baby to term but it had died before she gave birth. Those are such incredibly rough moments. Like a double heartbreak. But that wasn’t the shocking part of the story. When it happened, the mother was so upset, she said she didn’t want to see the baby. As soon as she got home and was able to sort things out though, she began arranging a funeral and went back promptly to request her baby’s body. She was told she couldn’t have it. She persisted, but they refused. Someone with her overheard the medical personnel say to another that there was no way they could give the body back because the eyes had already been removed and sold (or “donated”) to research.

Even us guys benefit from this!

      About a week ago I received a client; 17 years old, very intelligent and she seemed sure of what she wanted to do. With her came her boyfriend, seemed like a nice kid but confused and not sure what was going on. As soon as they walk in, he starts to cry, walks out and I follow him. I talk to him for a bit and ask him to follow me to one of our counseling room.
      He opens up about what is going on in his life and tells me that he rarely opens up to anyone much less someone he just met, I tell him that I will always be there for whatever he needs. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and did not seem fine. After a few hours of talking he agrees to come back for another visit. He came back this past Monday, and after keeping in contact with him and after long hours of just giving him the much needed attention and care, he is now doing much better and we even helped him find a job! He called me last night to tell me how happy he was and how he was going to put everything on his part to have a better life for himself. He is looking forward to start over and I will be there as long as he needs me too!

      In regards to our female client, we can't do much as she won't allow us to help her but we will continue to try and we won't give up.

The big picture!

        Sometimes we all expect to find the miracles in the big things, for God to come down and show himself to us and remind us that HE has always been there. I forget as well how Magnificent and Grant HE is and how HE will remind us day after day of HIS Beauty. Working at EMC, time after time I am remind that I have to look in the smallest places to find the biggest miracles; and this week wasn't the exception. While in our Brooklyn Office, I was asked by the Director if I wanted to see an Ultrasound, and I of course agreed; Thinking it would be like any other Ultrasound that I've been a part of. This time I felt my heart beating faster and I got this feeling that this time somethings was different. At times we don't see the miracle that is in front of us, we only see it with our eyes but not our hearts and This time God wanted to remind me that HE is there and Watching over me! I left the room very emotional after seeing something so precious and perfect, which is God's creation!!!! God shows us his greatest miracles in his smallest creations and like myself we all need to be reminded from time to time. I am so grateful that I can be a part of this and to be able to presence the miracle of life!

The Magic Sonogram Bus

For the past few months I've been working exclusively on administrative/fundraising endeavors so it's been an unusual experience to be so far removed from the frontlines work. At the same time I still run into those who are working on the sidewalk and in the centers on a regular basis. While I'm sitting at the desk, a fellow worker may walk in at some point throughout the day and give me an update on what happened that morning. "We had two saves today" was what one told me after a morning outside Dr. Emily's. Two saves....that's two lives saved in one morning. It's not about the numbers, it's about the impact of two children being saved from death in one morning. It's the best kind of news that I could receive while I'm working away at the computer.
Multiple times a week I'll receive these kinds of updates. Our mobile sonogram bus is a miracle worker. So many children are walking around today because of that miracle of modern technology. And since I work where it is parked at the end of the day, I get to hear so many of the great stories it has to tell. 

Top 5 Most Influential Pro-Life Celebrities of 2011

It doesn't feel like we have a lot of support from the more influential areas of pop culture sometimes, but here is a great article about how, in fact, we have more than we may have realized. Some of the most well known celebrities of today are openly, and some even actively, pro-life. Maybe society is trying hard to make us look "un-cool", but here are some hot shots who know that standing up for the lives of the unborn is worth the risk.

http://liveaction.org/blog/top-five-most-influential-pro-life-celebrities-of-2011/

Me!!!!!

        My name is Luis Mondragon, I am 25 years old. Born in Guerrero, Mexico but moved to Sanger, California when I was 8. After I graduated high school I moved to Chicago, Illinois where I currently study and work not only professionally but also with the Pastoral Youth. I am a member of a community called Sembradores which was started by Rev. Nestor Torres. Father Nestor is a Colombian priest that was brought over to work with the youth of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He always tells us that God needs an army and that we are called to be that soldier that HE needs; and once a soldier has been trained and knows enough to go into battle he must do so, that is why I'm here. I wanted to do my missionary work and after looking at some options this is where I felt my heart closest to as my mom was a single parent and I Thank her for not choosing or ever considering this route as I probably wouldn't have been here since my dad left before I was born.
         Babies don't have a voice and we must be that for them, specially unborn as in there they don't even have a cry that can be heard. We are not only called to do so by our Faith but also by our humanity. We must respect and protect all of God's creation, specially his greatest and most beautiful of all, his children. 

Don't Argue With A Nun. You'll Lose

It was just another day at Dr. Emily abortion clinic in the Bronx, NY.

 We stand outside of the entrance to try to talk to girls going in. We lovingly tell them they have other options other than abortion, with which we would like to help them with.

 One of the pro aborts who frequently stands outside of Dr. Emily is Elizabeth. She is on the right in this picture, with the orange vest.

I have spoken with her briefly in the past. She is very adamant about the woman having a "choice". That opinion overrides any argument you present to her in explaining the importance of life. Anything you have to say that regards taking away a "woman's right", she doesn't want to hear it. 

Not only does she not want to hear it, but she doesn't want you standing near the one place that holds her beliefs highest. This is what's going on in this picture.

Elizabeth abruptly yelled at one of the sisters to move away from the entrance. The sister was within her legal right in where she was standing. Elizabeth simply wanted to threaten her so that she could get rid of her.

I was there. I heard the response the sister gave back to Elizabeth. She did not raise her voice. She did not say anything ugly. She did, stand her ground. She did, attempt to talk to Elizabeth like a human being and not a protester.

The sister ended up staying where she was and continued to pray. Elizabeth moved to a different part of the sidewalk.

Improving Sidewalk Counseling Tactics

As we sidewalk counsel girls going into the abortion clinic, we have noticed the places that get us stopped.

They are generally right in front of the clinic where the pro abort , escorts are.

They rudely interrupt our conversation with the girl by raising their voices and saying things like, "they are just here to harass you . Don't listen to them" among other non sense.

It is very frustrating to feel like you might be getting through, to then have everything get cut off because of these escorts in the front of the entrance.

We have decided to take action in this dilemma. We now have alternate routes.

Some of us will go to the areas on the sidewalk that are between the front entrance and the back entrance, while we still have others that stay at the front and back entrances themselves. This gives us almost a whole minute more to talk to the girl going in, if we are able to spot her right away. A minute in sidewalk counseling is like an entire period in school. It's just enough time to go over a whole new lesson plan.

These are also the places where a girl is getting off the bus or the train.I have noticed a huge difference just within this one change, in getting through to the girls.

This is a picture of one of the friars sidewalk counseling with this new tactic.

Widower

Today I had a lady come in fills out the intake form when I call her to come in and take a sit she tells me right off the bat she wants an abortion she has made up her mind that this is something she want to do. So I say “ok well still take a sit and we will discuss the procures that take place in having an abortion and the potential complication that could happened” she take a sit and I ask her “what the reason why she wants to have an abortion” at first she was very guarded with what she wanted to say and took a long pause before answering. I lean over and asked her tell me I want to hear why I see so much pain in your eyes. All of a sudden tears start coming down her face I asked if I can hug her and she just looks at me and put her arms around tells me my husband just passed away I cant I already have 4 kids with him I cant it just too much for me right now I cant I wont not right now. So I told her to let it out cry sometime I good to cry and she just cries like there was no tomorrow. After she calms down and I tell her that sometimes there could be complications that can be fatal and she says “no way I cant what about the other kids I cant thy already lost one parent am not going to leave them with no parent” am keeping my baby. So she goes to the sonogram room and find out she 9 weeks and the smile on her face when she herd the baby heart beat the tear that came down weren’t tears of fear, hate nor anger but tears of joy.  

Adoption in progress

A few days a go I was in the queens office when I lady walks in after reading her intake form she tells me that she pregnant and doesn’t want it. wants to know how far along she is because she had gone to choices and they had told her she cant no longer have an abortion due to the fact she was more than 23 weeks, so choice refers to another abortion clinic in another state than does allow abortion after 23 weeks so she calls that clinic to find out how much it would cost her to have a late term abortion. The clinic says it would cost her $5,000 for which she says she can’t afford. So she goggle our office to see what alternative she has. I told her we can help and find out exactly how far along she is what her alternative are for her, we find out she 31 weeks and having a baby girl and that she can give the baby up for adoption and that different type of adoption she can do the open and close adoption, she said I cant keep it I have a kid already and I just cant have it I would prefer to give the baby to someone who wants a baby and can afford it. So now we are working to find a family for her baby girl.

Unofficial EMC Internship Promo Video

Abby and I were having some fun and put together a little "promo video" (as we like to call it) or memoir of the experience of being an intern for EMC. It's like a tribute to all the interns of past and present as well as some insight into what brings us here in the first place. New York has been, I think for all of us, a place of adventure and a non-stop series of new experiences. On top of that, and more importantly, our time with EMC has been eye-opening and life-changing for all of us in many ways. We have pretty much concluded that there is no other work quite like this one and we want to share what we've learned with everyone else who is fighting the good fight or perhaps is being led by God to begin.

Again, this is non official, it's just for fun. Hope you enjoy!

5 Pro-Abort Female Celebrities (You May Be Surprised)

Who's your favorite actress? Do you know what her stance is on life issues? Unfortunately, one of my favs made the following list of outspoken pro-abortion celebrities. Guess I'm going to have to be more careful what movies I support. I don't know about you, but for me, to know that a highly successful and beautiful actress is using her popularity to support and encourage the spread of abortion makes her a whole lot less attractive. Maybe it won't be so hard to boycott after all.

http://liveaction.org/blog/5-female-celebrities-im-boycotting-and-why/

Stories from Seasoned Warriors

As I am working exclusively in fund raising now, I am able to see a different perspective on pro-life work in NYC. At the offices and clinic we see the up front and immediate world of the pro-life vs. pro-abort struggle. While visiting the veterans of this work at their homes, we get to hear the stories of how efforts have changed and evolved since the first moments of abortion becoming legal in New York.

These people are truly warriors and heroes. They have been put in jail, ridiculed, put their money and their homes at the disposal of the needs of pregnant women, and many have even adopted children, some of whom were in danger of being aborted. They have been hard at work from day one and continue to be involved in whatever area of the city they live. Trips to the March for Life every year, fundraisers for local pregnancy centers, praying outside abortion clinics (and they report all those have closed in succession over time), spreading awareness for life...the list really does go on and on. As I've mentioned before, it's so uplifting and encouraging to hear about their struggles and victories and to know of their support and prayers. In the future I will try to recount specific experiences they've shared.

Like It Or Not, Money Is Important

Crisis pregnancy centers cannot exist without money. Money interferes in some way, some how.


For example, this is a picture of myself and 2 other EMC interns in front of a sonogram machine at a CPC in Massachusetts.


The director of the CPC was telling us that pro-lifers have heard the cause of what they were doing, and from there, decided to donate money to buy this expensive machine.

This is just one of the many expenses a CPC comes across. Take the existence of Expectant Mother Care (EMC) for example. We have over 10 offices within 4 of the boroughs of New York Cities. As most people know, office space or any space for that matter in NYC is highly expensive.

Just for the counselors and sonogram technicians to have an area to do their work costs thousands of dollars per month. Like it or not, money is important.

Scripture says "the love of money is the root of all evil". However, if people who have an abundant amount of money, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and who know and love the Lord , have the opportunity to take a potential evil product, and use it for not only good, but greatness.

It is a great work we are doing here. Think. We are literally saving lives. When we show up to work, our clients carry another life inside of them. What we do on a day to day basis is make or break for that child's life! It's extraordinary what the Lord allows us to do. But we cannot do it without the help of your donations. God uses you and He uses us. We are a team.

Wishing Everyone Could Have Parents Like Mine

I am blessed beyond measure to have been raised by the parents that I have. Not only did they teach me how to be like Christ, but they lived the life themselves.

Both of my parents are strong Protestants,who were born and raised in the state of North Carolina. They have been members of different churches over the years, all the way from non-denominational to Presbyterian to Baptist.

Make no mistake, there are different philosophies on the doctrine of these denominations.  However, throughout all of their studies, one thing remains the same: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Because of this teaching, they taught me that it was Jesus himself who came to die for what we, as people, deserved to die for. Our problems are so great, Jesus came to take the place for them. He didn't promote death, he promoted life.

For this reason, they taught me to believe that abortion is wrong. They visited me here in NYC, to pray with me outside of one of the many abortion clinics in the Bronx.

I continue to pray, that my generation strives to follow in the footsteps of someone like my mom, and someone like my dad. Thanks be to God for their obedience to Him. 

The wisher

I was at the queens office when a lady walks in saying she wants a abortion after a while of talking she had told me she was praying for one day have a baby but when she was ready. So I say well it looks like your prayers have been answer,but she said she wasn't ready to be a mom yet there are things she wanted to have before having a baby.after showing her the video and talking she left still undecied on what she wanted to do. She told me she was going to go to church pray on what she should do .So a couple of hours later she call me and as soon as I answer she starts to cry. I asked what was wrong why was she crying so hard after a couple of mins she says "am going to keep it" I told that was great and what had changed so mind specially so fast. She had left the office only a couple of hours. She said she ask god to give her a sign she should keep the baby, so I ask what was the sign she asked for she said that it was if she call the center and I picked up it was god telling her to keep the baby. I ask why would you ask for that. She reply by saying " I saw you where busy with other girls who where coming in the center, therefor the chances of you picking up a call was going to be small but you did thank you"   

The Reailizer

I was at the queens office when a lady came in for a pregancy test. We started talking and found out she has had 4 abortions and altho she already had 3 kids,she didn't want to have another baby considering she was over 50 and her youngest was already 15 years old . After a long conversation and showing her how abortions are perfome, she said "if someone would have told me that how they are being perfome,and that they are baby from day 1 I would have never done that" she started to cry realizing she had not 3 kids but 7 kids. Altho she was not pregnant she realized that what she did was wrong  

LUMINA Part 2

A while back I wrote about one of the organizations that, though completely separate from ours, is essential to our work. They are a group focused on ministering to post-abortive women. To get a glimpse of the powerful work they are involved in along with the life changing impact of abortion and post-abortion healing, check out this video from a great group of local filmmakers, Grassroots Films in Brooklyn.

Please share so we can support their beautiful work and reach more women who are living with brokenness and regret from a past abortion!

Good V Evil

I was able to visit a crisis pregnancy center with 2 of my colleagues in Massachusetts recently. It was a refreshing experience.


They are also a non-profit organization. They base most of their hopeful success on prayer. They even had a room specifically dedicated to be kept for people who wanted to sit down and pray.

Fortunately, there is a Planned Parenthood right across the street from them.





 I say this is fortunate because just in case a girl decides at the last second she does not want to go through with the abortion at PP, there is a safe haven within the support and help of this crisis pregnancy center.


We can only do our part. Your part could be standing outside of the abortion clinics praying, it could be working a 9 to 5 to make money to give to these CPC's, or it could be volunteering at one of these CPC's to see how you can help.