Choices

For the past two weeks I have been sent to go to Choices a lot. Choices is a clinic, established about 40 years ago. Even though Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion clinic in the United States, there are several private ones that are as cruel as Planed Parenthood. Choices is located in Queens New York, in one of the worst neighborhoods. The first time that I went to Choices I was surprised, surprised by the name. Choices: it is plural meaning that abortion is not the only choice a woman can make. Then why call an abortion clinic Choices when they only choice given there to woman is to kill their babies.  All of these abortion clinics have names that contradict what they stand for.  Why? Obviously because it is all a big lie, they want to make women believe that they are being empowered, when in reality they are being destroyed. They are telling them we don’t believe that you are strong enough, smart enough and have the courage enough to handle the situation you are in. We don’t believe in you. Most of these abortion clinics were started by women, this makes me wonder who broke these women; they are so broken, it breaks my heart. I’m sure that someone lied to them. Someone told them or treated them like they were not enough: smart enough, good enough, strong enough. Many condemn these women, but they’re just like every women that wants to have an abortion and like each one of us, broken. Humanity, meaning all of us, are broken. All of us commit sin, all of us have been lied to. They are not soulless beings, they are our sisters, and just like all of us they are in great need of love, compassion and forgiveness. They are in great need of God. We are called to love them. We are called to be kind no matter how difficult it is.  I beg you from the bottom of my heart to pray for these women!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he grant you the desires of your heart.

May mother Mary keep you in her heart.

Your Sister In Christ,

Michelle 

 

Refreshing Grace

On Monday, I had the opportunity to counsel two clients, both of which were genuinely pleasant encounters. The first woman had a negative pregnancy test. However, we still had the opportunity to talk about options for any future pregnancies. I go to inform her of some of the health consequences of abortions, which she had been completely unaware of, and she left significantly more pro-life than when she had arrived. Even the fact that having an abortion can increase your chances for miscarriages was shocking to her and prohibitive. The second woman was a very hesitant young woman, in her mid-twenties. She had a positive test that visibly upset her. She had decided with her boyfriend previously that she could not keep a child at this point in time. However, she had never had an abortion before, and I could tell she didn’t want to. She was scarred, and was open with me about her fear. There was a real relationship of trust, which was very rewarding to experience. The women rarely sense- or maybe just refuse to believe- how much we as counselors really care about them, and what we would sacrifice for them. But this woman really seemed to understand, which was profoundly refreshing. We talked about carrying her child to term and about adoption options. I also got to reassure her that her wariness of abortion was not unfounded- that there can be very serious health consequences to the procedure that she should be aware of. We spoke on the phone later that day to schedule an ultrasound. Days like this are a particular blessing from Christ. He knew that as a counselor, I needed refreshment and hope. He knows what each of his children need. Sometimes I need to be the recipient of that grace, and sometimes I get to be the vessel in which it poured out upon another beloved child. As always, please keep us in your prayers, we desperately need them!

In Christ,

Jennifer

(Training with internationally renowned expert sidewalk counselor Sister Dorothy later in the week).

Botching Abortion, Part II: One Dead, One Wounded.

........Even having replaced these with a staff of "conscientious, careful, decent physicians, dedicated to the task", he aptly notes that "the morality of what we were involved in remained unchanged". They "continued to carry out the same grisly task with no medical indication or excuse at all", observes Nathanson (p.148).

Notwithstanding the changes Nathanson made in his abortion centre, writing in 1996, he added that "abortionists even today, ......do tend to come from the lower orders of the medical profession" (p. 150).

This holds true in 2015.  Moreover, shoddy and illegal practices are common. Irrespective of these, abortion remains a violent, physically invasive and dangerous procedure for women, even if within the forceps' grip of a skilled practitioner.

Planned Parenthood KNOWS this. They expect the hospitalisations, the grievous bodily injury and even death:  just outside the entrance to their premises in Bleecker St., (a prime location in Noho, Manhattan), they reserve a parking space for an ambulance from 7am to 7pm every weekday . If the patient is lucky, P.P. might even call it for them.

Postscript:

Tonya Reaves' 3 year anniversary was last week, on July 20th. She and her pre-born baby died following a bungled and incomplete abortion by Planned Parenthood in Chicago in  2012. Ms. Reaves suffered an extensive uterine perforation, possible severing of a uterine artery and substantial internal and vaginal bleeding. Yet, P.P never called 911 and waited five and a half hours after the abortion before calling an ambulance for the dying patient. We pray for Tonya and her baby. May they, and the millions of other victims of abortion, rest in peace. Amen.

Claire.

Botching Abortion, Part I: One Dead, One Wounded.

This subject of this blog was inspired by this sign I saw outside of a Planned Parenthood centre for the killing of pre-born babies. I will return to this later. 

Abortion is a fatal enterprise and its proponents measure its success by the rendition of a mutilated, dead baby from her mother. A botched abortion is deemed one where the baby is born alive or where the mother sustains injuries during the abortion.

For the pro-lifer, every abortion is a double tragedy, with two victims, one dead and one wounded. Pro-lifers naturally dislike the term 'botched abortion' because it presupposes that a live birth - if there is one - is regrettable and, if the baby is successfully killed, the botched refers only to the injuries undergone by the mother.

So-called "botched abortions", are however, a reality.

In addition to exacting an onerous psychological, emotional and spiritual toll on mothers, surgical abortion presents real, grievious and potentially life-threatening risks for the mother. These include, but are not limited to scarring and perforation of the uterus, serious blood loss, infections, blot clots, sepsis and death. In addition, it can cause infertility and may necessitate a blood transfusion or hysterectomy, to name just a few.

The abortion pill is classified as a medical abortion. The FDA tracks complications following medical abortions. In the U.S. in 2011, they reported 8 deaths,  48 severe infections, 58 ectopic pregnancies, 256 infections, 339 cases of bloody loss requiring transfusions, and 612 hospitalisations. The statistics quoted here are for medical abortions ONLY and  DO NOT the include adverse effects on womens' health from surgical abortions.

This is not surprising. In his book "The Hand of God", former abortionist turned pro-life advocate, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, described the physician staff in one of his abortion centres as "deplorable, consisting of an extraordinary variety of drunks, druggies, sadists, sexual molestors, just plain incompetents and medical losers" (p. 142)..............

The Happiness of Choosing Life

This past Friday, I was sent to the Brooklyn office where I saw one of my clients. She is 30 years old from Ecuador; she has a fifteen-year-old son, and after coming into our offices seeking an abortion, she left choosing to keep her baby. Now we are trying our best to give her all the resources that she needs.  As I sat in front of her talking to her of the different things she needed and desired, I could not help but feel joy. I felt her joy: the joy that she transmitted after choosing life. It seem like she was a different person now than when she first came into our office seeking an abortion. That day she seemed in such an agony: she was confused, frustrated and sad. Now she was more at peace, she was aware that it was going to be hard, but her decision brought her happiness and she knew that God’s providence would not abandon her.  This is exactly what women that are seeking abortion need. They need someone to believe that they can, that God is with them and not against them. That no matter how difficult the situation might be, there is always a light.  We- the interns and the pro-life moment as a whole- are the Gabriels of these women. Just like the archangel Gabriel appear to Mary telling her she was going to be a mother in the Annunciation, so do we with this women. Just like Gabriel told Mary not to be afraid, that nothing was impossible for God, we remind these women of this! Don’t be afraid to be someone’s Gabriel. Don’t be afraid to join the pro-life moment, who knows- you might save a life! Please let us pray for the women that have chosen life as they embrace the difficult realities.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he grant you the desires of your heart.

May Mother Mary grant us the grace to be more like St. Gabriel the archangel.

Your Sister In Christ,

Michelle. 

 

Expecting Christmas Eve.

A mother, Leona and her 15 old daughter, Yasmin, 16 weeks pregnant with her own daughter, came to our centre last week. Yasmin was adamant: she wanted an abortion. Leona firmly but tacitly supported her daughter in this deadly course of action. During the sonogram, neither mother wanted to look at the image if the baby.

In the counselling session that followed, Yasmin remained as abortion-minded as when she'd arrived. Towards the end, a fellow counsellor came in briefly, stepped out again before coming back once again: "You're going home", she told Yasmin. I was surprised that our session had just been brought to an end. My co-counsellor had gone to speak with Leona, informing her that not only was Yasmin 16 weeks pregnant, but that she was expecting a baby girl & that her due date was Christmas Eve!!! Leona hadn't hesitated: "Well, she's going to have to keep her", she'd exclaimed. I was stunned by the sudden turn-around, but jubilant nonetheless. 

On reflecting later, I realised that it wasn't just that Leona didn't want to look at the sonogram, she couldn't bring herself to: to face the reality that her daughter was pregnant & to face the soon-to-be victim of this unanticipated pregnancy.

Secondly, the vast majority of women seeking abortions (and sometimes the family members who accompany them), are very conflicted. Deep-down, they don't want to go through with it & are looking for a reason not too. In this case, it was the fortuitous sharing of information about the baby with her grandmother her Leona, that was decisive.

Life is precarious as it is. The arbitrary nature of "choice", of being legally allowed to choose to have one's own baby killed compounds it's precariousness. We can instantaneously choose to have another person killed, for example, a tiny fellow New Yorker, & have this decision executed within a few hours.

This baby's life was however, thankfully saved, in a split-second decision - in a heartbeat. It literally took the length of time of a heartbeat to save her life. To quote a song I like, "In a New York minute, everything can change". 😀

Claire.

Being a Witness

I cannot believe how fast time passes by; yesterday marked three weeks of me being here. This week I have been assigned to go to Choices, under the direction of Sr. Dorothy, one of the best sidewalk counselors in the nation.  I would say 95% of the girls stop to speak to her, and most of them end up deciding to keep their babies. The secret to her success is the power of prayers and not only her prayers but the prayers of others, including our prayers. I have been assigned for the past two days to be one of her prayer warriors. Today was late term abortion day, usually according to Sr. Dorothy the clinic is packed with women starting the two day process. However, today was different, only one third of the woman came to the clinic. Meaning that there were babies saved thanks to our prayers. I want to ask each one of you to come out to the sidewalks even though you might not feel called to do sidewalk counseling, you are always called to pray and to be a witness not only to these women but to those passing by.  Even though we are starting to have more evidence on how cruel the abortion industry is, we have to remember that God is in control. He needs us to pray; He needs us to stand up as a society to defend the most vulnerable of our kind, the unborn. Prayer in my opinion is the greatest weapon that we have to fight against this great evil; we have to include activism of course, but without prayer our actions will not get far. Prayer is what keeps us grounded. Prayer is what gives us hope to keep going. Prayer is our strength. Like St. Padre Pio said “Prayer is the oxygen to our soul”, without it we cannot survive, especially not during battle. May God bless you and keep you, may he grant you the desires of your heart. May Mother Mary cover our world with her mantle of love.

Your Sister In Christ,

Michelle 

St.Padre Pio, pray for us.

At Parkmed

Marta, Marga and Sigute

The Different Faces of The Pro-Life Movement

This past week I had the privilege of attending the annual American Academy of Fertility Care Professionals conference. I have to admit that this conference has transformed my life and opened my eyes to something bigger than I could ever imagine. After reading Humane Vitae, Dr. Thomas Hilgers decided to create NaPro Technology, which is now the most pro-life and moral medical approach to Natural Family Planning, fertility, breastfeeding, and infertility. Dozens of studies have been done under the direction of Dr. Hilgers and the Pope Paul IV Institute. There is no better way to empower a woman than to teach her how God designed her reproductive system to work.  We live in a society that prescribes contraception for every issue that a woman has with their reproductive system, which in reality is really harming her more. It was absolutely mind blowing to see so many pro-life Catholic doctors gather to find new ways to better serve their patients. The truly care about each woman’s health- it’s beautiful. I never imagined that I would be able to experience something like this, to witness medical professionals come together and discuss how to build the culture of life.  The job that they have is not easy; I was able to also listen to them talk about all the persecution that they have to encounter from all the other medical professionals that are building the culture of death. Speaking for myself, I know that I never took the time to sit and think about the need that we have for pro-life doctors and the change that they are making in our society by teaching couples the beauty of their reproductive system and sexuality. Like many of them have shared with us in their talks, if someone doubts that there is a God ask him to study a woman’s reproductive system. It is incredible to see that these men and women can see the beauty and in a way believe in God by studying our anatomy and physiology. Let us remember to pray for all these holy men and women that are courageously fighting to protect and teach us about our health. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he grant you the desires of your heart.

May Mother Mary always guide you to Jesus.

Your Sister in Christ,

Michelle 

Dr.Hilgers, presenting the NaPro Technology textbook to St.John Paul II.

First VIDEO-BLOG from Javi at PP

The value of a Life

A lot  mothers  come into our offices not having a clue about  the meaning of life because no one has told them. These days I've been working precisely trying to explain the value of life for this mothers.

As an example, I was talking to a mother who thought it was better to abort her baby than being a bad mother. She thought wouldn't be able to love her baby and also that she wouldn't have the qualities to be a good mother. In this situation, I tried to explain that a life has more value than that. That's to say, if a mother is not ready to have a baby, the solutuon is not abort him; the solution is to try to change herself to became a good mother.

Although I spend more time talking to the mothers at the office, it's not the only work I do these days. Also I've been in front of a clinic (Planned Parenthood) praying and trying to change mothers' minds.

Finally, I would like to say that while this work is challenging, it is also very rewarding.

Marta

The Desperation

On Tuesday, I was sent to Choices; Sr. Dorothy asked me to stand on the other side of the sidewalk and pray.  As I did this for at least an hour, I witness a woman come out with two children: a little girl around age 4 and a little boy around age two. She stood outside for at least thirty minutes talking on the phone.  She got my attention and kept it for the entire time she was there. Even though I was on the other side of the sidewalk, I was still able to hear her conversation, which was in Spanish. It broke my heart to listen and share her despair; she was talking to her baby’s father basically explaining what they had told her.  From what I heard the man was not very supportive. She explained to him that “this” was not only her problem and that he could not leave her alone. He hung up a couple of times and she called him back, telling him she wanted to die, that she felt alone. She was in tears. I continued to pray and kept my eye on her; I reached out to her after she got off the phone but she was not very receptive. Both of her children were by her side and were witnessing their mother’s despair in choosing life for their sibling. I am not sure what happen with these women. I do know her story, but I am sure that she is not the only one. All the women that go in to these abortion clinics are living an agony, the same agony that Jesus felt when Satan was tempting him. My pray is that just like Jesus overcame temptation and allowed God’s will to be done this woman may do the same. 

 May the Lord bless you and keep you may he grant you the desires of your heart.

Your Sister In Christ,

Michelle. 

 

A survivor

A beautiful black woman came through the Brooklyn office door and her first words were ‘I don’t want an abortion!’. She was explaining with her soft voice that she is trying to ger her boyfriend out of the flat because he is rough with her and makes her scared. The situation of this lady was complicated.

The reason she was considering abortion was because father of her first two children suggested her to have it. This pregnancy was caused by the current boyfriend, but the ex-boyfriend wanted to abort this baby and make her pregnant with his baby.

The client was so thirsty for peaceful life, happiness and true love. She knew that what her ex is doing is not right, and that the behaviour of the current boyfriend is unacceptable too. She was talking about how much loved she feels by her mentally disabled son, showed pictures of her beautiful children and told about a good time they have together.

I was astonished by the clear focus and wisdom of this lady. She is like a pheonix raised from ashes. She told me that she was forced into prostitution when she was a teenager, she was raped, had a gun to her head and developed depresion.

After her terrible past, she was fighting hard to have a healthy life and left the office with a courage to keep a baby and separate from an abusive boyfriend. Later the same week her boyfriend escorted her back to our office for an ultrasound. She was very patient with him, she took a lot of chastity and pregnancy information from us, and hopefully is building her dream life.

Sigute

Greetings to all who support the work of EMC. Thanks to your economical and spiritual efforts, our duty is possible.

On this week, some of us had the opportunity to go to the Pocono Mountains. We could be with Chris, the founder of EMC, and he teached us a lot of manners to do a good counseling. We teach us to be a good leaders,  relaying John maxwell's teachings. However,  we could rest and recover energy to face this wonderful adventure with EMC.
On Thursday,  I was in Dr Emily's and I talked with a mother during a long time. She is from Puerto Rico and she has 3 children. She didn't want to abort. She needs economical help because she was about to break up with her husband. I recommended one of the EMC's office. She was worried but at the same time she had the happiness of her first kid. She was going to call to our offices for assistance and she was also going to ask her parents help with all this situation. 

As you can see,  it's never enough,  so please,  join me and let's pray more for all these kids and for their mom's.  Thanks!

Borja

First steps as a pro-life savior at NYC

Hello everyone and thanks for reading! My first week has already come to its end. Many things happened that I am going to share with you.

On Monday I spent the whole day at the EMC's office of the Bronx, where me and Claire attended three girls that came in and were looking for information and pregnancy tests. During the rest of mornings I went to different places in NYC where abortions are practiced. There, with some of the other interns we pray for the unborn's, for all the parents and ask God and Virgin Mary to assist us in helping moms realize the importance of the life they are carrying with them. This assistance is called counseling. On Tuesday I was at Planned Parenthood, there, I had the opportunity to counsel two ladies and we had a very nice talking of about 15-20 minutes each and they went inside the Clinic with many doubts. Wednesday I also went to this place that in located downtown in Manhattan, and I counseled a couple where the woman didn't mind keeping the baby and he didn't want him. After talking for a few minutes, they had many doubts about what to do. Before coming that had no doubts about getting rid of the baby, but after the talk they might keep it. What finally happened only God knows, so I beg you to pray with me to God, so that the baby will born in a few months (she has a four month pregnancy).

On Thursday I went to Choices Clinic, where sister Dorothy gave me some tips and asked me to pray with her for our counseling and for the unborn's. I also went to the JFK to meet our new Vietnamese intern. The next day I went to the same place to do the same and afterwards I went with Fatima and Miki to Roosevelt Avenue, at Queens, where we worked in front of a Clinic counseling and giving out pro-life newspapers at the same time. The truth is that we spent three hours there and not even a lady came in. Maybe because of us or maybe not, but people from the Clinic got anxious and sent a woman outside to try to give publicity pamphlets of their clinic out. Thanks to our kindness and efforts, we were able to give hundreds of papers out, while this woman couldn't even give one out.

Finally Saturday came. We all went to a BBQ with the other interns, where we eat very nice food, and had a very good time with an puertorico-spanish family, that were also in favour of the defense of life and that treated us in an awesome way.

It was an amazing week, and I'm already looking forward for the next to come. If you let me, I will like to ask you to pray for our work, as many lives depend on us! Thanks for reading and please leave any comments you want in our blog.

Javier

Hard Reality

Good morning ProLifers.

As much as I look at the situation around the abortion clinics, I can say that they are a business with an only purpose: giving unhappiness and hopelessness to lots of innocent mothers. Most of their clients go in to the clinic thinking that they are going to find help over there. Actually they don't find help, but the worst solution they could be given: ABORTION. To the workers of the clinic, having an abortion is the only Choice, and they really believe it. But that is not the Truth.

The truth is that the mothers have many other options to choose while they are pregnant, and they really need to know them. So this is why we are every day in front of the clinics. Because we believe that by giving the mothers some information about how they can move on with their pregnancy, they won't hopefully consider abortion as the best option, but as the worst one. We need to be as nice as we can so these mothers feel like we really want to help them, not doing business with their baby.

We need excellent trainings, excellent attitude, and of course more and more prayers from those who really believe in Life.

Let's save Lifes!

Thank you very much everyone.

Micky

The Power of Technology

Last Tuesday, I was sent to the Brooklyn office for the first time. In the beginning, I was afraid it was the first time that I was expose to do a consultation on my own. Tuesdays and Fridays are sonogram days in our EMC offices, meaning that we provide women free sonograms in those days. I had seen picture of ultrasounds and babies in the womb but I had never been in one. I was extremely excited and grateful that God would allow me to be present in this precious moment in which a woman first meets her baby. As my first client got ready for her sonogram I could not hide my joy and excitement, I completely forgot that this woman was abortion minded meaning she wanted to abort her baby.  As soon as the sonogram technician place the monitor on the woman and I was able to see her baby, I could not help myself but to start crying. It was as if I was there with the baby, there was no denial that it wasn’t a human. What was most beautiful to witness was the woman’s reaction, her eyes were filled with joy as she saw her baby moving and even sucking its thumb. She could not hide all the emotions she felt in that first encounter with her precious little baby.  A baby that deserves to live, and that already loves her. After being done with her sonogram I went in with her and asked her if there was a possibility of her keeping her baby, and her responds was yes. She wanted to keep her baby, praise be God!! In my opinion a sonogram is crucial in helping the woman choose life, it is love at first sight. They see their baby and they cannot help but fall in love with it. It’s a natural reaction and instinct given to every woman by God.  Technology is, as we all know a very important part of our society today, and is another tool that we must use to save lives. A sonogram is the only chance that a baby has to fight for his life.  Please let us continue to pray that every women may imitate the great fiat of our most blessed mother Mary, may she inspire woman to love their children just like she did. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he grant you the desires of your heart.

Your Sister In Christ,

Michelle.

There is no way to deny that a baby is a human life!

Beating Hearts

Reflecting back over the week, it’s been both rewarding and exhausting. I spent the first half of the week on a training trip, getting to refresh myself in the beautiful outdoors and reminding myself of the focus of why we’re here.

Yesterday I encountered several women who have changed my life. I had the opportunity to witness my first ultrasound, and to spend the afternoon counseling clients. One in particular broke my heart, a fifteen year old who teared up when she heard the heartbeat of her child. She understood well that it was a living baby inside her, but was in complete denial and terrified of social scorn. I also had the opportunity to witness, however, a mother gasp and stare in wonder at her beautiful baby as she decided to keep her child.

This week has been a battle to keep my heart and mind set on saving lives, to keep hope and faith alive in the midst of destruction. Please keep praying for us, the mothers and the babies!

-Jen

I'm keeping my baby!

The Power of One.

The door bell of our Bronx centre rang. I quickly tried to psyche myself up before answering and greeting the client. It is not unusual to have mild inner apprehension faced with what is at stake - the life of a little person - and the challenging task at hand. That is, guiding a girl or woman through her resistance to NOT having their baby killed.

However, once equipped with facts, truth, science & an exploration of the alternatives, the client is enlightened to see abortion for what it is, and empowered to reject it and to assess and to choose from the alternatives.

I was met by two women at the door, a mother and her 26 year old daughter, Gloria and Zoe. Shortly afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the expectant mum, Zoe, intended to keep her baby. I rejoiced and congratulated her.

Gloria recounted how she had come to EMC herself with a crisis pregnancy 8 years ago & through the intervention of the counsellor, choose to give birth to her baby girl, Grace! Grace is now a happy and healthy eight year old, daughter of Gloria and sister of Zoe.  How different their lives would be if Grace had been aborted. They would have been visited by the unspeakable tragedy of Gloria having her own daughter, killed. While  Zoe might never have known that her own mother had had her baby sister killed, it would have exacted a heavy emotional, psychological & spiritual toll on the family, both manifest and surreptitious. Gloria had absolutely no regrets (as is typical for women who decide to keep their babies) and wouldn't give her back for anything in the world! She was so grateful to EMC and told how she had returned to our centre with her daughter because of EMC's mission and how life-changing it was for her.  

This really highlighted for me the difference that one person can make. Initially, it was the person who counselled Gloria, and then Gloria, in turn,  helped her daughter make the one and only truly right choice for herself & her baby.  Having already had one abortion, Zoe was more likely to have subsequent ones. Since statistically, this baby had a greater chance of being aborted, Zoe's decision to keep her was a greater cause for celebration :) 

To save one life is AMAZING but it doesn't stop there. We can only imagine how many people Gloria, for example, (and equally Zoe) will influence to keep their babies in her lifetime, directly or indirectly. Even if each person she successfully engages* with  - be they a family member, colleague, relative, neighbour, or person in the subway or elevator or corner shop - successfully dialogues with just one other person, and so forth, the pro-life message and the number of babies and mothers saved from abortion can increase exponentially!! It all starts with one person : the power of one. What a difference one person can make. Be that person!     

# Be a lifesaver :)

Claire

* That is to say, by persuading them of the pro-life message or influencing them to keep their baby.

Safe road to healing, dear

It was a regular meeting - intake form, pregnancy test, letting know the results of it and talking. When filling the form, the 25 year old yet very young looking lady was undecided what to do with the baby, but was cetrtain that she would not have an abortion. I was relieved. She was very much relieved when the test showed a negative result. I olny wanted to speak to her about couple of more things and finish this meeting, but suddenly she admitted that she had an abortion earlier this year.

Tears showed up in her eyes, she allowed herself to escape denial for the firt time, in her own words. She said that she only laughs about it with her friends, walks smiling and seemingly ligh-hearted during the day, but nobody knows that she wakes up at night and cries... For her abortion was very much against her beliefs, but she was pushed into it by her boyfriend. This is why when she thought she is pregnant, she did not want to go through this again.

The intergity of this lady is not broken. She feels this sadness and dissapointmnet, but the fact that she still feels gives a great hope. She is willing to exit meaningless relationships, enter post-abortive couselling and surround herself with people who hold similar values.

Rachel's Joy PART II

At Rachel’s Joy Maternity Home, not all is pertaining with the mothers. You don’t really know how much you have to do, until you get involved with it. For example all the papers and stuff a mere interview requires...

During these days, we have learned about how to make phone and face to face interviews, how to make psycho-social, we have searched free job training for the expectant mothers, and, as most of them do not have any type of studies because of their background and hard situations, we have also looked for centers where they can get free their GED. It’s been a busy week but what we do deserves it :-)

This morning Shakira came, she was a candidate to stay at the maternity home; she is 24 years old, homeless and she is 7 months pregnant. Susan and us did the interview with her, and then both of us went to Coney Island for her Welfare.

                                           -With Susan and Shakira at RJMH-

We don’t know what happened, but after doing some of her papers and the interview, she decided not to stay, she didn’t feel that Rachel's Joy Maternity House was her place...

She was so nice, and she looked nervous and kind of sad. We are not sure about how she felt neither what made her change her mind, but what we know is that she definitely need our prayers, because she has had the courage enough to keep her baby and do not have an abortion!!!

PS: Check this webpage!! http://www.numberofabortions.com/

Eli & Violet

An Accident

Meeting this client today was pleasant at first because it seemed like she filled the whole room with kindness and love. With great shyness and tears she explained that her boyfriend just came back from two years in the army and she fell pregnant from another man. She was really ashamed, she said it was an accident... Her boyfriend did not know about this yet, and she was seeking for an abortion to avoid him from finding out. She said that they are engaged and are going to get married this year, and that this one night was truly just an accident. A father of the baby was waiting outside. The lady admitted that he would help her with a baby but he allowed her to do what she pleases. I went to see that man, and he was saying that he loves children and that he really liked her for a long time. I am not sure if he knew that this woman does not feel anything to him and prefers her boyfriend...
The pregnancy test was positive, we wathced a video on abortion procedures and discussed both physical and psychological side effects. She still felt like she had only one option - to abort. Even if that meant building marriage on a lie. What about telling her boyfriend the truth? He would get angry but hopefully forgive eventually. Or what about adoption? She did not want to hear any of this... But she is worth so much more than lies and misery!

Unfortunately, this lady kept asking for abortion, despite of what we said. All her gentleness dissapeared and she fell into anger... Having that shameful act embodied was not what she wanted, but a baby is innocent and beautiful, and is waiting for a chance to love her as nobody else had ever loved her before.

The client ran through the door like a wind, but the man was slower and did not understand what was happening. I got a second to tell him not to give up and to fight for his child...

Prayers are needed that this kind and beautiful woman could remain a mother of a living baby and not of a dead one.

Sigute

The Other Side

As I start my second week I have to admit that things start to get more challenging, it has been hot and staying outside in the sidewalks has become more difficult. Sidewalk Counseling is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. It demands so much out of you physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Many times as I stand outside an abortion clinic I always wonder what the people that work there are like.  What are their passions, do they enjoy what they are doing, but the question that I ask myself the most is why do they work in an abortion clinic?

On Monday I was assign to go to an abortion clinic in Queens, when we arrive we saw a few women going in I offer them a pamphlets but they rejected them.  I saw an older lady approaching the clinic I didn’t offer information since she was older I would say around sixty. However, she took me by surprise and approach me our conversation went something like this:

Her: “Good morning, what are you doing out here? What are you passing out?”

Me: “ Good morning I am passing out pamphlets we provide free services for pregnant women”

Her: “abortions?”

Me:” no we do not provide abortions”

Her: “ Oh then you are not providing a service, a service is an abortion.  I used to be like you, I use to think abortion was wrong, but then I became pregnant when I was in Med school. I had an abortion, I was married and I had been working extremely hard for my career. I couldn’t let all my hard work go to waste; I had to have an abortion. One of my daughters is now a doctor, she does mission work she goes out to different parts of Latin America and takes care of the children for free, I support her. If I hadn’t had an abortion she wouldn’t be able to do this. Do you know how much children live in poverty? These women do not have money to support their children. I believe in God and I believe that I am doing his work. Why do you think I work here? I am the anesthesiologist; these women can have a child that’s why we provide cheap abortions. I am not a bad person.”

Me:” We don’t think you are a bad person”

Her: “We are doing a good, this women need us.”

She then walk into the abortion clinic.

By half of the conversation she started to cry, I could see the pain she had, she was trying her best to convince me but deep down I know that she was trying to convince herself. I was in complete shock, this woman had just open up one of her deepest wounds to me, she had share with me her vulnerability.  At that moment I started to pray for her, for her healing, for her conversion, and I please ask you to do the same, We have to remember that the people in the other side are as broken as we are and that they are also in need of prayers. When we go outside of an abortion clinic we are not only trying to save the lives of the babies and their mothers but those of the ones that work in these clinics. They are also in need of love, compassion and forgiveness.

May the Lord bless you and keep you , may he grant you the desires of your heart.

Your Sister in Christ,

Michelle 

Lord, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Friday's child.

Having landed in NYC last Thursday, July 2nd, Friday was my first day's lifesaving. The morning was spent sidewalk counselling outside "Choices" abortuary in Queens - one of five abortion centres that EMC volunteers covered that morning, as well as supplementing staff in our own centres.

The commute took us an hour and a quarter on the bus. We partook in incidental, tourism en route - driving past Trump Links golf course and Mets Stadium, viewing the panoramic profile of Manhattan when crossing the Whitestone Bridge - tourism turned terrible when our trip terminated in the appalling sight of the abortion centre.

There were 6 of us - four EMC interns and  two pro-lifers from other organisations. At any one time, three prayed on the sidewalk while three of us counselled. Although not a novice, I found it a bit surreal, standing in the sun, approaching women on their way to do the unspeakable, having just alighted the "bus tour".

Life went on all around us. The mundane. The traffic building up. The hustle and bustle; the comings and goings. People doing errands and going about their business. People making their way to work. Policemen going to the deli at the end of the street for take-away coffee.  Families strolling past. Daily LIFE. Normality. But then, abortion is ironically as much part of daily LIFE in New York as the afore-mentioned tourism. Killing is routine, and big business.

Vehicles pulled up dropping off women to the abortion centre. Delivering them to it. Sacrificial mothers and lambs on that altar of "Choices": the operating table with stirrups and other accoutrements. Some drivers went to park and then accompanied or followed the women in. Others paced on the sidewalk -one man spoke loudly on the phone, "Yeah, I'm at the abortion clinic..."  and scoffed at us as he passed. Another was parked directly outside the abortion centre and lay sprawled across a reclined front seat in his shiny white SUV.  His demeanour and posture were so out of place! I was struck by the strange juxtaposition of it and by the irony of the scene: men waiting for their expectant women, waiting for their abortion ("to expect" is from the Latin 'expectare', meaning 'to wait for' but obviously, in current usage, it can mean to expect a baby).

A good proportion did take leaflets and others accepted rosaries from a co-prolifer who volunteers with the Sisters for Life. This encouraged us, despite the fact that it wasn't one of the better mornings at an abortion centre. This the reality of sidewalk counselling. And, when we moved to a new area in the afternoon for street outreach and in-centre counselling, we hoped and prayed that the mothers's hearts would be opened to our fleeting words of kindness and truth, to our entreaties to them,  to our silent prayers, and that they would be receptive to our offers of practical assistance, real choice and hope. In short, we prayed that they, through the grace of a God, would walk out of the abortion centre. That Friday's child would be saved. It was now in HIS hands.

That afternoon and days to follow would yield more good news stories :)

Claire.

Farewell New York

Before I go into my farewells I just want to update you on the Muslim woman I spoke about on my last blog. I called her on Friday to check up on her and I'm sorry to say that she did have the abortion. Even in that conversation she expressed how she didn't want to do it but she felt it was her best option. I comforted her and let her know I will always be available for her to talk if she ever needs anything. She said she would call me when she does decide to have children. That will be an exciting day for me and I hope she finds the healing she needs.

In other news...

I'm sad to break it to you but my journey here has come to an end. I have decided to continue the good fight back home in Texas, especially now that a Mega Planned Parenthood has just opened up in San Antonio. When I make it there I plan on ministering to these women and children so please keep this in your prayers.

I have met wonderful people all over the place from subway stations to boat rides on the Hudson River and of course my fellow interns at the Lifehouse.

Before coming to NYC, I watched a documentary of the development of a human person in the womb. It was so powerful! Do you know that feeling of watching something so inspiring with background music absolutely angelic it produces a profound effect of joyful amazement in the viewer... well this documentary did that plenty of times for me.

The reason why I'm telling you this is because at times I would be in the subway station and look at all the crowds of people and think... wow! At one point every single one of them was being formed in the womb of their mother!! I have a deeper appreciation for the belly button it's kind of funny. I imagine when we all go to heaven we'll finally be able to see our souls and think...wow that was our direct link to life from God and we will forever wear the mark of His love and support.

Thank you so much for being with me these past five weeks. God bless you and  please fight for a culture of life!

Sincerely yours,

Sarah


P.s. I would like to share my last story with you, it is sad but it really is the truth and I hope this encourages you to stand up for woman and pre-born children.

P.s.s. Sorry for the long posts... I can't help myself :)

With Kathy on my last day of work!

_______________________________________________________________________________

Let me tell you what happened this past week!

At the end of the work week I had been trying to follow up with my clients and so this past Friday I called all the girls I had the opportunity of speaking with over the course of two weeks.

There was one women in particular who tested positive for being pregnant at 40 years old. When she got her sonogram the Friday before, we all learned that she was 28 weeks and 5 days pregnant. This type of news calls for a celebration, ESPECIALLY if she is wanting an abortion. Why? Because the law in New York is that you can only have an abortion up until 24 weeks of pregnancy.

She left upset when we informed her but we were glad to know that she will have to give her baby life whether it's parenting herself or choosing adoption.

Upon calling her to follow up with how she is doing, I was horrified to learn that she in fact did get an abortion.  Isn't this terrible!? These abortionists don't care about the law, nor about the woman! The further along in pregnancy a woman is, the potentially higher the risks are. Especially considering this woman is already 40 years old.... sweet Jesus this is just sad!

I wanted so badly to be an investigator and figure out all the details of where this doctor is and have his/her license removed FOREVER! It would also be nice to see the abortion clinic go down from lawsuits for doing illegal abortions.

It is so hard knowing that this kind of thing happens in secret everyday behind the walls of these so called "pro-woman" clinics. It's a dirty, dirty business but I remind myself as I was once instructed - for every evil there is a greater good just as there is a resurrection after the crucifixion.

Blessings.

Greetings for everyone! I am here again to tell you some stories and events of my week in NYC as a lifesaviour.

On this week I had the pleasure of meeting Sister Dorothy  and Julie this week. The first of them is a great woman who is doing an amazing job with a lot of mothers who need helping and counseling. On Tuesday, she was our teacher during all the morning. She gave us plenty of advices and we were able to use that during all week. 

The other woman was working in EMC for 5 years and now she is doing the same counseling and helping in other city of USA. She is able to talk with a lot of mothers although many of them walked away whitout listening her prayers. However,  she never lost her smile and energy because she never gives up.

I have learnt that we can help more mothers and babies because the techniques are so important. There are a lot of mothers in NYC who need our counseling and prayers. We have to PRAY more.

 Borja