In this ministry, one frequently encounters girls bent on procuring an abortion at any cost-physical or emotional. They see our advertisements for the pregnancy center and free pregnancy testing and assume we provide abortions. So when I fill out each client’s intake form with them and I ask them what they are planning to do if their pregnancy test is positive they often look at me with raised eyebrows and reply, “Abortion, of course.” While we often are able to educate these girls and, through the grace of God, elicit a change of heart, some still turn away.
Yesterday, as I counseled in Brooklyn, I met a girl who brought me great joy and affirmed the heroism it takes a young mother to accept her unborn child. Let’s call her Anna.
Anna came in and with a look of trepidation asked what services we provided. I assumed she was looking for an abortion so I took her form and began to ask her the questions. When I asked her what she planned to do if her test was positive she began to physically shake and told me that she and her boyfriend wanted this child but her mother was pressuring her to abort. As we spoke, Anna’s mother thought she was having an abortion. At twenty years of age, Anna was still living at home as she worked her way through school and her mother was threatening to kick her out if she went full-term. We gave her a pregnancy test and discovered that she was already five months pregnant! While in our office Anna called her mother and informed her that she was going to keep her child and her mother, after a debate with Linda, the Brooklyn center director, she told Anna she could stay at home.
During this altercation I asked the sonogram tech if she knew the sex of Anna’s baby because Anna had wanted it to be a secret, but I just wanted to know out of curiosity. So when Anna approached me not five minutes later and asked if she could find out the sex of her child, I was able to tell a mother with anticipation in her eyes that she was having a girl! Anna let out a little gasp and covered her mouth and squeaked, “Really?” I nodded and she threw her arms around my neck and gave me a hug.
Her openness to life and her bravery in the face of parental disapproval allowed her to find joy in the miracle of the little girl in her womb who will be born in less than four months. Though she was terrified she rose to the occasion and stood up to her mother telling her she was going to keep the child she already loves. As she left, Anna asked me if she could call me to talk and I was surprised as I normally ask the girls I counsel if I may call them. But I gladly assented. She promised to call when her little girl is born. And I am left reflecting on these words regarding motherhood as Anna’s heroism brought them to mind, “To be a mother, to feel maternally, means to especially turn to the helpless, to incline lovingly and helpfully to every small and weak thing upon earth.”
Yesterday, as I counseled in Brooklyn, I met a girl who brought me great joy and affirmed the heroism it takes a young mother to accept her unborn child. Let’s call her Anna.
Anna came in and with a look of trepidation asked what services we provided. I assumed she was looking for an abortion so I took her form and began to ask her the questions. When I asked her what she planned to do if her test was positive she began to physically shake and told me that she and her boyfriend wanted this child but her mother was pressuring her to abort. As we spoke, Anna’s mother thought she was having an abortion. At twenty years of age, Anna was still living at home as she worked her way through school and her mother was threatening to kick her out if she went full-term. We gave her a pregnancy test and discovered that she was already five months pregnant! While in our office Anna called her mother and informed her that she was going to keep her child and her mother, after a debate with Linda, the Brooklyn center director, she told Anna she could stay at home.
During this altercation I asked the sonogram tech if she knew the sex of Anna’s baby because Anna had wanted it to be a secret, but I just wanted to know out of curiosity. So when Anna approached me not five minutes later and asked if she could find out the sex of her child, I was able to tell a mother with anticipation in her eyes that she was having a girl! Anna let out a little gasp and covered her mouth and squeaked, “Really?” I nodded and she threw her arms around my neck and gave me a hug.
Her openness to life and her bravery in the face of parental disapproval allowed her to find joy in the miracle of the little girl in her womb who will be born in less than four months. Though she was terrified she rose to the occasion and stood up to her mother telling her she was going to keep the child she already loves. As she left, Anna asked me if she could call me to talk and I was surprised as I normally ask the girls I counsel if I may call them. But I gladly assented. She promised to call when her little girl is born. And I am left reflecting on these words regarding motherhood as Anna’s heroism brought them to mind, “To be a mother, to feel maternally, means to especially turn to the helpless, to incline lovingly and helpfully to every small and weak thing upon earth.”
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