Her hands told the story...

Yes, the problems people go through are real. But as we often tell the women whom we speak with, "an abortion will not solve your problems-- it will only add to them." And now I have a case to support this statement.

A woman in her mid-twenties came into the Brooklyn Center this week. She looked to be greatly troubled and weighed down, but so are all of the women who step through our door. What made this woman exceptional was her hands. She had about 3 inch long fingernails on her hands.

After one of my fellow counselors spent a lot of time trying to understand this woman's situation and problems, she was then given a sonogram. Her cold and defensive facade began to crumble to the ground and we saw a side of her that was vulnerable and softened.

This girl began feverishly wringing her hands... like she was trying to rinse away thoughts and memories from a past that she could not keep to herself any longer. It was in the arms of Linda, the Brooklyn Director, that this girl began to unleash a lifetime of hurts. This brave woman allowed herself to suffer child abuse to protect her younger sister. Her aunt practiced black magic in her household as well. She has been on several anti-depressant medications resulting in suicidal tendencies. She would wring her hands as a comforting mechanism to handle situations that were out of her control. The fingernails were her "Freddy Krueger" defensive mechanism to protect herself.

Would an abortion clinic have taken the time to get to the bottom of this young woman's hurt?
Would she have received accurate information about her baby and the effects of abortion on her psychological health?
Can a Planned Parenthood even pretend that they would have referred this woman for counseling and therapy?

But we did! We were able to talk to her mother, arrange a plan for the next few weeks to get herself on the right track with her prenatal care, and get her an appointment with a counseling center to begin therapy. We were able to affirm her as a beautiful and intelligent young woman. She felt safe and cared for in a way that she hadn't in a long time--maybe ever!

Love was the victor in this case. She needed it, and we were equipped by the grace of God to unleash a shower of graces upon the heart of this wounded soul. I can confidently say that her troubles would have been magnified by an abortion. She now has a plan... a way out... a Hope!