Sofia

Hi my name is Sofia Fuente. I´m 20 years old and I live in Bilbao that is a city in the north of Spain.  I´m studying my second year of nursing. I arrived to the life house on Friday evening and I´m still learning how to work and handle all the things I´m learning.

I knew about the EMC intern because my oldest brother did it 4 years ago and his experience was brilliant. Also, I think that is a good opportunity to help women that need help and as I´m studying nursing I think I could do my best helping them and praying for them.  Instead of wasting my summer time, with this internship I´m going to work hard helping those who need to be heard. These days I´m becoming more conscious of the value of this work.

So, I will tell you every detail in this blog about this amazing opportunity!

"Just 12"

Llevo toda la semana pensando en un acontecimiento que me sucedió el otro día. Llegó a la oficina una niña con su madre. La que estaba embarazada era la niña, tenía 12 años. Aunque ya llevo dos semanas aquí, no dejo de sorprenderme de los casos que nos llegan. Esta niña vino porque decía que estaba embarazada y su madre le dijo que abortara.  Yo creo que apenas sabía donde estaba y no tenía ninguna información sobre lo que conlleva el aborto. 

Después de haberle enseñado el vídeo, nos preguntó varias cosas. Ella estaba bloqueada porque no entendía muy bien lo que pasaba, pero era una inocente niña que había venido porque su madre se lo dijo. Le explicamos todas las opciones que tenía pero ella estaba indecisa y tenía que consultárselo a su madre.

Esta niña se ha quedado sin infancia. No sabemos cuál sera su decisión pero llevo tres días pensando en qué será de su vida. ¿Qué futuro le espera!?  Me gustaría poder ayudarle. 

Blanca

Hey there!

My name is Blanca and I’m new to the Lifehouse. I come from Valencia, a city in the East of Spain which you may know for its Fallas. I’m 21 years old and I’ve just finished my studies in Management Assistance.

I first heard about EMC last year. Three of my friends spent last summer here working as interns. Whenever I asked them how it was going, they would never talk about how cool living in NYC was or how much fun they were having; they would just keep saying how amazing it was to help all those women.

So there I was thinking “Wow, these girls must be really something if they are willing to come this far to fight for Life”. And the more I thought about it the more I understood it. Why not? Why not fight for our beliefs? Why not try to safe lives? Why not stand up for all those babies who have no voice?

So here I am a year later. I’ve just arrived in NY and only now am I starting to realize how hard it is and how much work needs to be done. I just hope to help make a difference and safe as many lives as possible! =)

Un buen propósito: que no juzgue nunca, a nadie, por nada

El primer día que entré en una oficina de EMC nos dieron algunos consejos, sencillos, pero que no dejan de ser esenciales.

El primero fue que no juzgáramos a las chicas. Nunca. Es algo que nos vamos repitiendo unos a otros durante el voluntariado. Que sólo las queramos, que las queramos muchísimo, y que ellas noten lo mucho que las queremos. Solo son personas que sufren, y es muy importante recordar que están sufriendo, porque nunca es fácil tomar la decisión de abortar. La mayoría de ellas tienen situaciones personales complicadísimas. El otro día, sin ir más lejos, llegó una chica que siempre había estado en contra del aborto, y que hacía una semana se había enterado de que su marido le era infiel. Ahora, estando ella embarazada, quería abortar. Sólo nos pedía que no la juzgásemos, que ella siempre había juzgado a las chicas que habían abortado, y que sin embargo ahora se veía incapaz de tener a su hijo. Lo que quiero decir con esto es que lo único que realmente está en nuestras manos es querer a estas chicas y rezar por ellas. Y no juzgarlas nunca. 

Como nos decía una americana que ha vivido unos días en la lifehouse, tienes que hablar con ellas como si fuesen tus hermanas, como si tu propia hermana llegara y te dijera que ha decidido abortar. Y tratarla como la tratarías a ella. A ver si conseguimos hacerlo, porque así seguro que no las juzgaríamos nunca, por nada. 

Otro gran consejo fue que tuviéramos siempre presente que nosotros no salvamos a nadie, que si la madre finalmente decide tener a su hijo es ella quien lo está salvando, y Dios. Si tienes esto presente, ni lo que tú haces es brillante, ni es desastroso, porque no está en tus manos. 

Quien decide abortar

Esta semana llegó a la oficina una chica de 17 años. Iba acompañada de una amiga, y me dijo que tenía cita para "interrumpir su embarazo". Le expliqué que nosotros no hacíamos abortos, pero que si quería podía hacerse una ecografía gratis, y que mientras esperaba para hacérsela podíamos charlar un rato, si le apetecía. Le pareció bien, y me explicó su situación.

Había abortado dos veces en el último año y medio, y ahora se encontraba embarazada de nuevo. Su último aborto fue en el quinto mes de embarazo. Profundizando en el tema, me dijo llorando las horribles pesadillas que tuvo a raíz del aborto, lo mucho que sufrió el día que su hijo habría cumplido un año de haber nacido, y lo mucho que seguía sufriendo. Se sentía culpable, y echaba de menos a su hijo. Me contó que en su primer embarazo no se planteó abortar hasta que su madre le dijo que no podría mirarla  a la cara hasta que lo hiciera. Y ahora era ella la que no podía mirarse a si misma sin sufrir terriblemente por haberlo hecho. Le dolía muchísimo aquella reacción de su madre, que la hubiese empujado a tomar aquella decisión. Sin embargo, ahora, en su tercer embarazo, seguía yendo a abortar.

Estuvimos hablando largo rato, y parecía que estaba mejor, más aliviada, y que se estaba replanteando la decisión de abortar. Me dijo que antes de nada iba a contarles lo que ocurría a sus padres, que no sabían que estaba embarazada. Quedamos que volveríamos a vernos el sábado, pero no apareció. Así que necesito muchos rezos por esta chica de 17 años. Para que no se deje llevar por la presión para abortar, por muy fuerte que esta sea. Y por lo mucho que sufría, tan sola. 

An interesting conclusion

Yesterday I went to Emily's for the second time. I thought it would be like the first time I went, but it was not. When I arrived, I saw at the door, standing up with reflective vest, volunteers pro-choice. Their job was to try stop me from talking to women entering the clinic. I shouldn't stop because they were there, in fact I should be more decisively and stronger than ever. 

One of the things that more annoyed me was when I gave a brochure to a girl that was about to enter because she was going to have an abortion, and 2 meters from where I had given her it, one of the volunteers pro-choice took it off and threw it away in front of me. I also noticed how outstanding they were of us so that we didn't talk to anyone that came to Emily's. They were able to chase you, the meters that were necessary, so that they could arrive and block you before being able to have a conversation with them.

All these pro-choice's reactions made ​​me think and arrive to the conclusion that our role at Emily's has much influence. Because if the brochures we hand out where not useful they wouldn't break them, and if the brief conversations we have with the girls weren't enough helpful they wouldn't block us either.

This conclusion and people standing with us every Saturday in front of the clinic praying helps me keep going with each Saturday at Emily's because if it is hard a normal day during the week, Saturday is much more.

Faithful Before Successful

          "The men of the East may spell the stars,

          And times and triumphs mark,

          But the men signed of the cross of Christ

          Go gaily in the dark....

         "The wise men know all evil things

          Under the twisted trees,

          Where the perverse in pleasure pine

          And men are weary of green wine

          And sick of crimson seas.

 

          "But you and all the kind of Christ

          Are ignorant and brave,

          And you have wars you hardly win

          And souls you hardly save.

 

          "I tell you naught for your comfort,

          Yea, naught for your desire,

          Save that the sky grows darker yet

          And the sea rises higher.

 

          "Night shall be thrice night over you,

          And heaven an iron cope.

          Do you have joy without a cause,

          Yea, faith without a hope?"

 

As we fight these great battles before us, I find these words of Chesterton (The Ballad of the White Horse) to be inspiring, for we are children of God before we are warriors, and we must remain so if we wish to effectively strive for victory.  But what is victory?  As Bl. Mother Theresa wisely said, “We are not called to be successful; we are called to be faithful.”  This is what it means to fight in the army of God.  We are fed at the Table of the Lord then are sent forth to press on where the world—and sometimes our visible results—tell us there is no point, no hope, no cause, no victory.  Cling to God in His saints, His sacraments, His Mother, His Church and your “joy without a cause” and “faith without a hope” will shine brightly to these women who are suffering in darkness and show them that there is a better way.

Unquestionable justice

After having been to different abortion mills on Saturdays trying to find the one where we could reach the girls just to talk to them and try to help them in any way we could, we´ve come to realise that the situation in Miami is worse than anywhere else we´ve been to.

Not because there are not enough prolifers, but because Miami, I have to say, is unfortunately against prolifers. The way this works is, they let you be at the clinics, yes, sure, you have the right to be there!! But where??? At least 20 mtrs from the entrance, and don´t you dare stepping closer because if you do, you´re tresspassing...

Right to be there??? How are we suppossed to show these girls their alternatives from 20mtrs away???

They want to make everybody believe that they´re just, because they´re letting us be there, but is just a veil covering what they really support. Yet we won´t stop. We won´t fail to be there. We will pray, because God is with us, and there´s no one more powerful, more just and more perfect than Him and He is with us.

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also."  

John 15:18

First Saturday at Emily's

Yesterday, it was my first saturday at Emily's. It was a battle. A battle with two gangs. Pro-lifers and pro-choices.

Our function (pro-lifers) was to deliver information. Their function was to take it off them. We deliver a very good brochure were the reality about abort is explained. Why don't they, if they love the scared mothers, want them to be informed? Wouldn't they like to check every point of view if they were going to buy a house or take any important decission? They are not pro-choice. You choose something when you know everything about it, you put it into a balance and then, using your freedom, take a decission. This people is just pro-abort. Pro killing unprotected babies.

I also tried to speak to these security guards. They need of our prayers as much as the babies who are killed every week. I will be there next week to struggle with them to deliver the truth, and will try to convince them about how bad their labour is. Because objectively, we are in the goodness side. Because when it is about abortion, there are not to sides of the same coin.

Adopción, una opción poco valorada.

Esta semana fuimos a un meeting sobre el aborto, nos dieron pautas sobre como guiar a las chicas hacia las opciones que tienen. La metodología empleada para realizar una adopción, lo importante que es saber transmitir la información. Depende mucho de cómo se les enfoque este tema,  le resultara más o menos atractivo. Porque normalmente de primeras, siempre que se les habla sobre este tema, su respuesta es no, porque como van a ser capaces de dar a alguien una personita que han estado llevando dentro de sí durante 9 meses. Si ellos supieran que hay miles de familias que de verdad quieren ser padres y no pueden por si mismos, y acceden a la adopción como única salida. 

Y a la vez en  se realizan 208 abortos cada día en Florida, un aborto cada 7 minutos, 166 son abortos de mujeres solteras, el resto, 42 son de mujeres casadas. Alrededor de 76139 son los abortos realizados en un año, de los cuales un 80% son de mujeres solteras y un 20% de mujeres casadas.

Es ahí donde yo me pregunto, ¿Cual es el fin del matrimonio? sí, pasar mas tiempo con tu marido, convivir con él, viajar, y demás cosas superficiales, pero realmente es para formar una familia. Y ver como un 20% de esos niños abortados son de mujeres casadas, se te rompe más el corazón.

 Hay que explicarles a estas personas cuales son sus opciones, con una perspectiva más motivadora, que sepan que ellos van a ser los que escojan a los padres de su bebé, que van a poder mantener contacto con él/ella, van a saber que las personas que escogieron son las mas adecuadas. No es la opción más fácil, pero si la más generosa y correcta.

Pro-choice? Sorry, you must be "pro abortion".

Every day thousands of abortions are performed in New York City. The abortion clinics use this fact as a business, as a mean of profit. They call themselves as health centers for women. And I wonder: What will be what they understand by health?

Health is the state in which the organic being normally performs all its functions. The human being endowed with intelligence and will, as it is unlike plants and animals, is born, grows, reproduces and dies. In ground tests to joke I said that nobody ever said anything to study. Now I think that maybe to these people no one told them that we reproduce, and therefore say that they care for women.

Caring for someone is to ensure that he is good and when someone is sad then is not right. Those women who mourn I saw, in the back door of Emily`s, nobody was taking care of them because if it were so would not be so sad.

We are there to offer our support and to give them information that can be helpful. Alongside a group of pro-choice, who are supposed to care of them, is responsible to hinder us so they don´t allowed us to speak with the woman in the street and they break them the information leaflets we provide.

I thought that choice meant election and to chose is necessary the freedom. Pro-choice please I invite you to reflect and I ask you if, as shown these are all yours actions pro-choice, "pro-abortion" must be  the best denomination for you, as this is all they stand for.

I do not understand how these people can sleep at night.

Síndrome post aborto

Hace ya algunas semanas vino a la oficina una señora que quería abortar. Su hijo de 10 años se quedó en la sala de espera mientras yo hablaba con la mamá. Tenía 5 hijos y había abortado una vez. Vimos el vídeo y me dijo, con algo de miedo, que aceptaba los riesgos. Que tenía que hacerlo. Que no tenía otra salida. 

Hablamos de su anterior aborto y le conté mi experiencia en la clínica abortista. Le dije que yo no quería para ella, ni para ninguna mujer, que sufrieran como sufren las mujeres que veo salir de la clínica tras hacerse un aborto. Aquí fue cuando me contó su experiencia. Me contó como se desarrollo todo dentro de la clínica y, como ella pensaba que en realidad, el bebé se lo habían dado a una señora que la acompañó al quirófano y que no conocía. 

Me contó que sufrió mucho. Que sufrió mucho por lo que había hecho. Que sufría al pensar en ese hijo que no estaba con ella. Le explique que nosotros le podíamos ayudar con este nuevo embarazo con cuidado prenatal, con recursos después del nacimiento y que siempre íbamos a estar disponibles para ella si necesitara algo o, simplemente, hablar. Decidió que iba a seguir adelante. Se dio cuenta que ya no iba a estar sola más. Y que no tenía porque volver a sufrir pensando en lo que no fue y podía haber sido...    

First day in NYC

My name is Marina, I come from Spain, and I got here last Sunday.  I have already experienced work at the office and close to Dr. Emily, and so far I have learnt that the most important quality in this job is EMPATHY. We are not here to judge anybody, but to treat them as siters, as friends. 

A child is always a blessing, and so we have to make mothers understand it, even if they thing their situation is not the best. As Linda (councelor at the Brooklin office) has tought us, we always need to have a smile on the face, nice words, and possitive language. And we don't have to trick ourselves thinking that we are saving babies, it is only God and the mother who do it. We are only a support.

At Dr. Emily's the work is even harder. Girls go to have an abortion and you have to try to make them change their mind in less than a minute. When they come out we give them a brochure (if they didn't take it before or the people there broke it) with information about help in the post-abortion trauma. Because we are here to help, if they took the right decision or if they didn't.

This morning we are leaving for Washington for 5 days. We will tell you what we do!

valentía, valor

El otro día llegó a la oficina del Bronx una señora que venía a pedir ayuda. Ella era cristiana católica y tenía cuatro hijos. Estaba embarazada del quinto y no quería abortar. Tenía una situación compleja ya que no trabajaba porque tenía que estar muy pendiente de su hijo pequeño; tenía principios de autismo y requería mucha atención por su parte. Estaba preocupada porque en el colegio siempre le decían que su hijo no hacía nada bien las tareas escolares, que era hiperactivo y le trataban de inútil. Me sorprendió la actitud de esta mujer tan valiente. En su cara sonriente se reflejaba bondad y generosidad; esa generosidad por dar la vida por sus hijos, rechazar cualquier trabajo para dedicarse a su familia y además hacerlo todo con una humilde sonrisa. Impresionante. Me admiró la capacidad que tenía esta mujer de seguir luchando ante sus circunstancias. Nos explicó que todos los días, antes de dormir, leía 20 palabras con su hijo para ayudarle a mejorar y que aprendiese más rápido. A final de mes repasaba todas las palabras y leían nuevas.

Esta mujer me hizo pensar que realmente vale mucho la pena luchar por aquello que se quiere, aunque sea costoso y difícil. Todo lo que vale, cuesta y por supuesto tiene una recompensa. Esta chica me alegró el día y me dio fuerzas para seguir adelante con mucha ilusión y confiar en la providencia de Dios. Todo pasa por algo y hay veces que no sabemos cual es la causa pero lo último que deberíamos perder es la esperanza.

My first contact was with the offices EMC has in the Bronx and Brokling. However, yesterday I had the opportunity to spend a morning at the door of Emily's, an abortion clinic.

How different experiences. While in ones I can make them recognize that abortion is not the best and only option in a indeterminate period of time in others I have just the seconds it takes them to step inside the gate of the suffer, I decided to call it like this after seeing the faces of the women as they left.

They usually get anxious and nervous. When they enter the clinic, they receive them and give them a bracelet that identifies them and an hour to start what will change their lives.

Until the hour arrives, the only support to lose the nerves of some of them is with a cigarette, which forces them to go out the back doors of the clinic, which is about 15 meters from the gate where interns stand.

When this happens, we have to raise our voices to try, once again, make them think about what is still in their hands. Most look as if they where deaf but yesterday it was not like this. I tried to talk to one of them from the gate and she walked towards me to talk better.

It was unbelievable. I talked to her until it was ''her turn''. ''Her turn''? I thought you got a turn to buy at the butcher but I didn't know abortion clinics use the same term to end a life. I'd like to know how the baby feels when he hears it's the turn of his death.

Saving lifes

My first day at Emily's was so intense. All of the women who came to the clinic were looking down, like being ashamed and also they ignored us because if they engaged us we could change their minds.

I couldn't talk to them but I could give some information about abortion.

Most of them came with their boyfriends, some with family or friends. I was surprised because one came with her son. How a women could abort a child while with a child? she might have economic or other problems. I felt so sad about that because we couldn't talk to her but I gave her a pamphlet.

A few hours later we went to the other side of the clinic. We saw all the girls coming back from it.

Then I saw that girl with her son and I asked her if she aborted, She told me that she read the information and she also changed her mind. She realized that she didn't want her child to die.

I was so excited because I could save that baby.

Good night

I was in front of the computer, drafting in my mind the blog for today without setting fingers to the keyboard when my roomate, workmate, colleague, best friend, sister, mother, assesor... said "Good night". She said it really softly as she did not want to disturb our flatmate, to which I replied back even softer saying, "Good night". Thirty seconds later she said "I said Good night" what I heard roughly and didn´t even reply. Minutes later she said, this time with a louder voice " Lorena! Good night!!!!!!"  to which I finally replied with a loud "Good night". She went to sleep.

And that is what this is about. That´s what this internship has been about and is still being. Not only saying good night, but living a family life. Building great relationships with amazing people we get to share our lives with. It does not matter how different you are, where you´re coming from, what you´ve studied or even your age. It does not matter because something stronger is joining you together, and the experiences we are sharing here can´t be compare to anything. There´s nothing like a good day, but there is really nothing, and I insist, nothing like a bad day here. And who do you share all these with?? I share it with Cristina now, a great girl full of energy and power, capable of fighting anything that goes on her way, who knows very well her limitations but has no fear because she knows  there´s "Someone from up there" (as she always says) looking after her to make the impossible, possible. And before being just with Cristina, we shared experiences with Carlos and Miguel and I can not start talking about everyone, because I would never finish writing....

But the point I want to make here is that there´s a lot behind saving mothers and babies from abortions. There is great people like Carlos, Miguel or Cristina, supporting you every time you come home with a sad face, celebrating with you when you had a turn around, praying with you when you´re talking to a girl, wishing you good night and waiting for your reply,  or just showing you the way to the office. All these, with the tender love of The One who inspired them to come to the States to do a pro-life internship, The One who joined us together and The One who will never let us forget these what we´re experiencing here.

Listen

Listen is defined as paying attention to what you hear. There are a variety of stories, as many as people flock to the offices. Every person is different with their circumstances.

The first world in which I had the opportunity to delve was that of a girl, who like many, came to the office overwhelmed with her possible pregnancy. She wanted, if that were so, finish the pregnancy. This is a fine way of saying abortion. So, according to her wishes, before do the pregnancy test, I showed her a video explaining the procedure. She could not look. I understood her. If you can not watch it because you find something unpleasant, because it is not desirable. However, we all admire and contemplate the beauty of nature, works of art... I could look, I wanted to look into his eyes. They demonstrated that she is a beautiful person, because the eyes allow us to see inside. As it was I could not avoid to look, just as I could not avoid inform of that what could change your life. She deserves better.

We decided to put the video explaining human development after confirming her pregnancy. She was amazed, my baby recognize my voice, has hands, has feet and other things that humans have or do because it is a human being with the same rights as you, among which is the right to life. . Completely unaware that, that lack of information may have led her to make a decision that would change his life.

Visión Sobrenatural

Hoy fui a una charla en un centro del Opus Dei en Miami, en la que nos hablaron sobre la Pasión. Me ha inspirado mucho este tema a escribir hoy este blog. Se citó una frase;dijo Jesus a sus discípulos: "Si alguno quiere venir en pos de mí, niéguese a sí mismo, tome su cruz y sígame. Porque quien quiera salvar su vida, la perderá; pero quien pierda su vida por mí y por el Evangelio, la salvará. Pues ¿de qué le sirve al hombre ganar el mundo entero si arruina su vida?". Cada uno tiene que coger su cruz y seguirle, todo el mundo tiene dificultades en su vida, pero nosotros tenemos que aprender a afrontarlos para fortalecernos y dar Gloria a Dios. 
Esto lo traslado al tema que nos trae aquí, el aborto. No siempre se tienen las circunstancias perfectas para traer un niño al mundo, hay veces que es muy buscado y otras no tanto, en ambas hay que tomárselo como una bendición-oportunidad que nos da Dios de ser padres.
Nadie dice que sea fácil, pero si uno lo toma como su cruz, y con una visión sobrenatural, todo es más sencillo siempre y cuando se esté cerca de Él. 
A veces resulta difícil convencer a las chicas que no aborten cuando no se comparte la misma visión Cristiana. Pero aún asi hay razones no religiosas por las que no hay que hacerlo, pero la más importante no deja de ser, como dice la frase antes citada: "¿de qué le sirve al hombre ganar el mundo entero si arruina su vida?". Muchas veces se aborta pensando que sales ganando porque te estas quitando, lo que es para ellos un "problema", pero lo que no saben es que se están arruinando la vida ellos mismos.

"Hay que formar las mentes del presente para poder vivir en el futuro"

“We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight.”

One thing that has struck me in my few years of active work in the pro-life field is how different it is from other areas of missionary work.  If for example I was serving people who were starving in a third-world country by bringing them nourishment, I would be blessed to see their smiles, hear their thank-yous, even see them growing stronger and healthier.  In short, I would likely be blessed to see the fruits of my labor.  But when you work against an evil that dwells in the shadows, often you can hardly see your hand in front of your face, let alone the fruits of your labor.  Every so often one such enormous blessing will occur: a mother will inform you that she has changed her mind, or perhaps return to you with a saved child in her arms to thank you, but for the most part, you as the pro-life counselor/sidewalk-counselor/prayer-warrior will never know what an impact your prayers and words had.  But the evil is no less real because it is hidden nor can the positive effects of prayer and charity be exaggerated.  It is the challenge of the battle for human dignity that we struggle on with as much vitality, persistence, courage, strength and love in the shadows as we would in the light; that we speak to every woman as though our words and no others are the ones that will convince her of God’s love and the preciousness of the life she carries within her; that we not let the appearance of failure or at least of futility sap even the smallest part of ardency from our veins (that we never forget that millions of lives depend upon this); that we walk by faith and not by sight in the fight for life. 

I am reminded of the words of our Lady spoken in a vision to King Alfred in G.K. Chesterton's "Ballad of the White Horse" (no, its not real; yes, you should read it): "The men signed of the Cross of Christ go gaily in the dark."

Tertulias de familia

En una de las cenas en la life house les contaba a los internos anécdotas de mi experiencia aquí. Y hablamos de la injusticia y el sin sentido del aborto. Nos preguntábamos como los médicos abortistas podían hacer lo que hacían y como debió ser su primer día. O como decidieron que iban a obviar el juramento hipocrático y iban a dedicar su carrera al asesinato amparado por la ley.

Nos preguntábamos también porque el personal de la clínica están siempre de mal humor, amargados, como sin vida. Y por que utilizaban la mentira para conseguir sus objetivos. Por que ellos se intentan creer que el bebe es un trozo de tejido hasta la semana "x" y porque se engañaban pensando que eso no era vida. Y por que cuando se descubre una micro bacteria en marte es vida sin miramientos.

Nos dimos cuenta que hacíamos mucha falta. Que era necesario que dedicáramos nuestras fuerzas para enseñar la realidad del aborto. Para enseñar a vivir con esperanza, con alegría, con paz.

My First Experience

I am going to explain my first experience . A 24 year old women came to the Bronx center last Wednesday.

The first time I saw her I realized that she didn’t want to abort because she has a 6 month old daughter so she knows how you feel when you have a baby.

She told me that having a baby would be difficult because she works and also studies at college. She didn't know how abortions were done so I explained the methods and consequences to her. Finally she started to cry and she told me that she wants the baby.

I learned how to be compassionate and loving. That makes me happy.

The Ultimate Anti-Feminism? Part 2

Clearly the physical world cries out the evil of abortion—no scientist could reasonably argue otherwise—but is this the biggest danger a woman faces in the abortion procedure?  What sets man apart from animals is the fact that we are body and soul, not separate and disconnected, but deeply and inseparably linked.  We are men and women to our souls and not just to our bodies.  Just as the Lord designed the woman’s body to care for life, so too He designed her heart.  Just as physical trauma results from a turning against nature, so too an emotional and psychological trauma—more serious and more deadly—afflicts women who undergo abortions.  As women, our hearts are designed to love and care for people in need, particularly when they are vulnerable.  When a woman rejects an innocent and unprotected life entrusted to her, is it any wonder that the suffering does not end with the healing of physical wounds?  Is it surprising that there are now facilities across the nation which do nothing but serve women suffering from these deeper wounds of abortion (and these, only those who have actually made their afflictions known)?  Can we find it shocking that a woman's risk of attempting suicide is 6x greater after having an abortion?  Can we call it a coincidence and be in our right minds?  Knowing what we do of the feminine heart simply by observing it in action (again, theology aside) in our mothers, wives, sisters and friends, is it really with her best interests in mind that we ask, encourage, pressure, or force her to reject her nature in an abortion?  How can a fight for such a thing ever be a fight for the good of women?  A rejection of motherhood (what I believe I may call the ultimate act of nurturing) is a rejection of womanhood.  So abortion is not only—of course—an attack against humanity, but it is also most particularly and specifically an attack against femininity.  Can you think of anything more anti-woman than that?

 

"just happened"

Esta semana he estado yendo a la oficina del Bronx. Son varias las chicas que han venido durante estos días. Muchas de ellas querían abortar pero también es una alegría saber que hay algunas decididas a tener el bebé y sacarlo adelante.

Las situaciones personales  de las chicas que vienen a "pedir ayuda" son muy variadas y a la vez muy complejas. Parece fácil aconsejar desde un punto de vista externo, dando una visión que ni siquiera vives personalmente, pero realmente es complicado. Por eso es importante tratar con delicadeza y cercanía a todas aquellas personas que acudan a nosotros, porque nuestro mayor reto es ser capaces de ponernos en su piel y comprender sin juzgar.
Cada persona es  diferente y por tanto, las situaciones también. Es sorprendente que cuando hablas y dialogas con ellas, te cuentan problemas personales y la mayoría no han sabido controlar su situación en el momento adecuado. Su justificación más utilizada es "Just happened" y probablemente no se hayan parado a pensar qué es lo que quieren hacer en determinados momentos.
Ante un problema, la manera más fácil de resolverlo es evitarlo o directamente eliminarlo. A veces resulta fácil acabar con el problema de una manera radical, pero probablemente no sea la solución idónea. Dicen que es peor el remedio que la enfermedad... Y en casos como estos es bien cierto.

Considero fundamental mantener la actitud correcta y positiva ante situaciones como estas. Seamos optimistas y empáticos sin juzgar e intentando entender a los demás para poder ayudarles poniéndonos a su disposición. Transmitamos aquello que pensamos de la óptima manera posible dando lo mejor de nosotros mismos.