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.

A Pregnant Woman Needs Help, Not an Abortion

I was talking to a friend the other day who is pro choice. He works on Wall Street, so intelligence is no doubt evident among his background. He was explaining to me the difficulty he has in understanding the pro life side.

Then he told me that he got a lot of help from his "big brother" from his fraternity in college who happened to be pro life. He asked his big brother, "how does someone like you , who is so smart- maybe the smartest guy I know-, stand against abortion and say the woman doesn't have a choice?"

His big brother responded with a story: There are 2 men and a young boy stranded on the boat in the middle of the sea. They have no food but lots of water. The water lasts them for many weeks, but they still have no food. They are getting to the point of dying from starvation.

The 2 men talk to each other about what they should do. Finally, their conclusion was to kill the boy and eat him in order to survive. A few days after they did this, they were rescued.
They were taken to court. They were on trial for the murder of the young boy. The trial lasted for a long time and the final verdict was guilty.

Both men were guilty for the murder of the little boy and here's why: Who are they to decide which one should have died? Who are they to have that power over the life and death of another human being?

The story has ended, but my point has been clear. Who are we to say a woman can choose over the life and death of her child? Who is she that can demand the final verdict in the life of another human being?

And that's why I stand outside of abortion clinics in NYC with my sign (this one's in spanish because I was in Jackson Heights, Queens) that reads "A pregnant woman needs help, not an abortion".

Stay positive. You're Having a Baby !

A beautiful married couple came into our office in Manhattan. She is in her first trimester, and wants to see her baby.

I set her up with an appointment to get a sonogram the following Saturday. Her husband was with her when she came to see me.

The 2 of them shared concerns on the health of the baby. She was not taking all the precautions that she could have been during the first month of the pregnancy.

They had questions, and we are hoping together, to find answers.

Our sonogram technician will be assisting them with knowing the state of the baby. Our doctor will be assisting them with physical questions they have. And our prenatal care system will be assisting them to walk into a healthier state, both mind and body towards this pregnancy.

After I set them up with these things, I told both of them it is critical to stay positive in thought. They seemed very hopeful. Please continue to pray for them. Thank you .

Happy Turnaround Comes to See Us

Sometimes EMC is so blessed as to have a turnaround come back to visit us. This was such the case when a very special turnaround came back to see us, albeit at an unfortunate location - we were at an abortion clinic, but then again, at least she knew where to find us.

The details of her case are too sensitive to disclose but it will be enough to suffice that she was in a very difficult situation and where she was living was unacceptable. So we contacted another great pro-life organization that runs a network of maternity homes, Good Counsel Homes, and we were able to place her there with some help from us.

By no means is her life perfect now, but she was very happy to see us on her free time one Saturday morning and we were able to catch up some on her life. Moments like these make me very happy to be a part of EMC and working for the pro-life cause full-time.

Helping Women in Any Way We Can

It takes a lot of time and attention to focus on the needs of abortion minded women who walk through our doors every day, but we aren't solely interested in keeping women from the pain of abortion, we also want to help them find healing for pain other abortions may have caused. We are about a lot of things, but the pain of abortion cannot be overestimated (try as society might to sweep it under the rug). So, along with our host of resources for struggling pregnant women, I have also been becoming more familiar with the local organizations that work specifically in post-abortion healing. There are so many women that we know who have been hurt by abortions. Maybe we don't know that's why they are wounded and maybe they don't make that connection in themselves either right away, but we know people who are hurt need healing and people who have been through the pain of abortion are hurt.

So, I have been learning more about ministries such as Lumina, which have a very beautiful and loving approach to women looking for help and healing. These ministries are vital and I try to encourage women to look into them. Maybe simply writing their name on a paper and giving it to them, knowing they can go home and do a Google search anytime when they feel ready to seek help. It's their choice to make the move or not, but with our support we pray they can find the healing and hope that will make them feel whole again.

Great Day at Dr. Emily

On a recent day at Dr. Emily abortion clinic we had five people going into an abortion clinic change their mind and chose life!

Some of the stories I have already written about and some I will write later but I think one of the most striking examples of the beautiful decision to choose life is this picture I was able to take of one of the turnarounds.

In it are two of our sidewalk counselors, Jowell and Chiara, as well as the pregnant woman and some members of her family.

Look at how happy everyone is to choose life! This is just one of the many turnarounds we get each week at an abortion clinic and is a great example of the relief many women have once they move past the decision to abort and look to real solutions that would work for both them and their baby.

We at EMC live for moments like these and can't see how anyone can object - no matter if they think abortion is okay or not. God bless EMC and I pray the work we do will continue until no woman in New York even considers abortion.

"You're Actually 8 Months Pregnant !"

A client came to me this past Wednesday who thought she might be 1 to 2 months pregnant. She has been pregnant before, but she had a miscarriage.

I did a consultation with her. She said she thought she would be at least 5 weeks pregnant due to when she had her last period. She really, really wanted to get a sonogram. I told her we don't like to give sonograms until our clients are at least 8 weeks.

I called our director from another borough to ask what we should do. She told me the same thing I told the client, "it's too early." As I am on the phone with our director, the client gets out of her chair, takes my hand, and puts it on her belly. I put the phone away from ear and looked at her incredibly pregnant looking stomach and said, "GIRL. You gotta be at least 6 months".

I got back on the phone, and said, " I have my hand on this girl's stomach right now, and I can feel a baby. She's gotta be more than 5 weeks." Our director went with her intuition and said, "bring her in".

Sure enough she went to get a sonogram to find out she is a whole 8 months pregnant !

How she thought she was only 1 or 2 months pregnant? I have no idea, but what I do know is that EMC was there to help her. We were there to help her know more of what was going on with her pregnancy.

EMC also carried through with setting her up with prenatal care. We did all the work in networking her to the right establishment to keep her body healthy and to have a safe delivery.

So much suffering

My last day with EMC was spent working in Brooklyn. My heart broke when I heard a certain girl´s story; she already had 2 children, had gone through 5 abortions and on this particular day, was planning to abort her 6th baby. She rang EMC saying that she just felt that she couldn´t go through with it - she said that there was something that just didn´t seem right. She was concerned about the advice she had been given from Planned Parenthood. The poor girl had been told that they could carry out the procedure within 1 day, and that there wasn´t any need to have a sonogram because she didn´t look like she was that far into the pregancy. Upon giving her an ultrasound, we discovered that she was 5 months pregnant! I thank God that she had listened to her conscience and contacted Linda for advice. When I was introduced to her, I felt great sorrow, I could see the pain in her eyes and as soon as I began talking to her, she broke down in tears saying that she couldn´t take any more. We then discovered that she was also abused by her boyfriend. How many more people are out there suffering unneccessarily? Does this not emphasise the broken society that we live in? When will people realise that the only thing lacking in their lives is not money, success or power, but love! Pure and simple love! The saddest thing is that unfortunately, many don´t even know what the word signifies anymore. Thankfully, women experience a taste of it when they enter EMC´s Centres!

Two Great Women

Time after time I see women returning to the centres to say thank you to the special ladies in charge, Liz and Linda. It has been a privilege to work alongside and learn from them. For me, this emphasises the need for EMC in this city. Women who find themselves in the position of trying to decide whether or not to have an abortion need to feel that they are first and foremost respected, and also being given genuine, sincere advice. What makes Liz and Linda so special is that go one step further. They have a motherly affection for these women, I believe it is their great faith and love for Our Lady that makes this difference. They not only save babies lives, they save the mothers´ lives by giving them great hope, love and support. Liz and Linda don´t have a selfish bone in them; they work tirelessly, fighting to save lives. I have experienced so mnay women stopping by the clinic just to say hi and I hear the same sentence over and over again: ´I was planning to abort my baby, but by chance came accross EMC and thanks to Liz or Lindas´counsel, decided to keep my baby`.

What testimony!

God bless you both!!

And more lies....

Here I go again...

I decided to call Planned Parenthood the other day because I wanted first hand experience of their so called 'genuine' advice. I pretended to be 5 months pregnant, wanted an abortion but as it was the first time, I didn’t have any idea as to what to do. I also repeated the fact that I was scared of the consequences and wanted to be assured that there would be no doubt that I would still be able to conceive another child and deliver safely in the future. Here’s what I was told:

PP: ‘Oh, it’s nothing really....it only takes two days.’

Me: ‘Oh, will I feel anything, does it hurt?’

PP: ‘No, you’ll be asleep.’

Me: ‘Will I be able to get pregnant again and are there any side effects?’

PP: ‘Yes, of course you will. They just put the Laminara sticks in you in the first day, and then the suction only takes 10 minutes the next day’. I guarantee there aren’t any side effects, it’s really quick and safe and it costs $1145.

Me: ‘Really, there aren’t any side effects whatsoever? Will I be shown what happens during the procedure?’

PP: ‘No, you'll be asleep. Take care honey, bye’.

So much for the truth! How are they getting away with this I continue to ask myself!!!

Denied the truth

I have been working for just over a month now and Planned Pregnancy never cease to amaze me. I find it very hard to believe how this organisation continues to conceal the truth from women and get away with it.

The other day a beautiful young lady walked out of Doctor Emily’s along with her mother. Thankfully, she didn’t choose to ignore me and accepted my invitation to come onto the bus so that we could give her a free sonogram. When I asked her why she was thinking of having a abortion, she replied, ‘I don’t feel ready to be a mother yet’. This was her first time at the clinic. I asked her if she had any knowledge of the side effects of abortion; if she was aware of the psychological and physical consequences that the majority of woman usually experience. She replied that she didn’t know anything about it. When I asked if anyone had informed her about the procedure and potential side effects whilst at the clinic, she said that they only told her how much it cost to have an abortion and how long it would take. This is what devastates me the most; it is a known fact that most women who see their baby on a sonogram do not go through with the abortion. Surprisingly, they didn’t offer her the option of having a sonogram...

This young woman has her whole life ahead of her, she is in a more fortunate situation than most women whom we normally encounter. Upon seeing her baby, both she and her mother were filled with joy - this girl decided to keep her baby in a instant. They were both so overjoyed upon seeing the baby. ‘Es varon, es varon they exlaimed!’ (Varon=boy in their Spanish dialect). The soon to be grandmother had only girls up until now....

I cannot believe how Planned Parenthood describe themselves as a ‘family planning service’. My understanding of the term ‘family planning’ leads me to think that people are given genuine, sincere advice and information. Obviously Planned Parenthood’s is slightly different.

"I know I should love my baby"

On one of the most successful days I can remember recently at Dr. Emily abortion clinic I met a young girl who knew she was pregnant. While I wouldn't quite say she was dead-set on an abortion, she was definately walking into the clinic and probably could have been convinced that an abortion was best for her considering her situation.

Luckily I got to her first.

She was still in high school with a year left to go before graduation but did have a supportive boyfriend and family. She wasn't sure how far along she was but our ultrasound determined she was about nine weeks. She heard the heartbeat, and whatever I had done to encourage her in keeping the baby before that moment was fortified by that sound.

The moment I will never forget was when I asked her if she thought there was a right thing and a wrong thing to do going forward. After she replied in the affirmative I asked her what the right thing to do was and she gave the best answer I have ever heard, "I know I should love my baby."

I will keep in contact with this girl to make sure I can do whatever I can to help her with her baby.

Adolescentes sin información

Esta semana, en el centro del Bronx, tuvimos una visita inesperada. Cinco jóvenes entre los 15 y los 17 años vinieron a comprobar si estaban o no embarazadas. Las cinco querían hacerse un test de maternidad. Me sorprendió doblemente: una, porque vinieron en grupo (eran 5) y por la temprana edad de las chicas.

Nuestra misión es formar e informar a las mujeres que vienen a los centros y ofrecer la información certera, clara y diáfana de lo que supone un aborto, de lo que es un aborto. Así pues, antes de los test de embarazo les explicamos, con rigor, qué implicaba abortar, tanto a nivel físico como emocional. Mientras visualizaban uno de los vídeos gráficos algunas de ellas miraban sus móviles de última generación, escuchaban música o estaban chateando por alguna de las plataformas digitales comunes. A los pocos minutos les digimos que tenían que atender a la información que les estabamos facilitando en favor de su conocimiento. Algunas de ellas, dejaron de lado sus teléfonos. Otras continuaron distraídas. Después del vídeo gráfico, tres muchachas nos dieron las gracias por informarles. Reconocieron abiertamente que no sabían nada acerca del aborto, que nunca nadie les había contado antes este tema radical, ni en sus familias, ni en la escuela.

Es trágico que las jóvenes y no tan jóvenes que acuden a pedir asesoramiento a los centros EMC (Expectant Mother Care) se plantean la posibilidad de abortar sin saber absolutamente nada de esta "opción". No puede evitar preguntarme, ¿por qué?, ¿por qué nadie o pocas mujeres que acuden a los centros EMC apenas si conocen la realidad de tomar esta irreparable decisión? Aún estoy buscando la respuesta.

Another Saved from an Abortion Clinic

It was already getting late in the day when my friend and colleage Rosanna told this young woman about all the services we offer at no cost. This young woman happily chose us over the abortion clinic she was going to for a pregnancy test.

You see at many clinics, the atmosphere and innuendo of the clinic can persuade a woman who just finds out she is pregnant into having an abortion - even if they aren't overtly pressured (which they sometimes are).

This woman is an example of such a case - perhaps she would have taken the results of the test home and never thought about an abortion - but perhaps not. We don't like to take any chances. Also this was a great opportunity to share the message of chastity and marriage with someone who definately would not have heard such a message otherwise.

Overall, I am grateful to work for EMC not such for the chance to help mothers who are definately abortion bound, but also just help share the truth of human sexuality with those that might not be so dead-set on an abortion. Indeed many times it is a great relief to help a woman who was never considering an abortion, like this one may have been.