The Domino Effect

When you sidewalk counsel you are on the frontlines. At any moment there can be a girl walking up the pavement on her way to the abortion clinic. But in between those times, there is a lot of waiting and praying. In the long moments between it all, you get to thinking.

I have been reflecting lately on abortion and the many factors that contribute to this horrible scourge on our world. Culture, society, schools, parents, TV, all contributing to what I believe is the driving force behind abortion, a contraceptive mentality. In this mentality children are looked at as undesirable and fertility is looked at as a disease, perpetuating an attitude of irresponsibility.

What we have here is a domino effect. We must act accordingly. We must fight against abortion, it is a great evil. We must also fight against the evils that support abortion. Here at EMC, we do just that, because our objective is to help women and save lives.

Forever with God's help

Emily’s

Last week it was a hard week. I went three days to Emily’s, an abortion clinic in the Bronx.

There at Emily’s, I stood at the door and spoke with the women before they entered into the clinic to get the abortion. If we don’t talk to them before they go inside, it would be too late, the doctors would kill her baby.

A routine day can become quite interesting if there is any “pro-choice” at Emily’s. Pro-choice people make our work more difficult. They talk with the girls, and intend us to stop helping pregnant women...

But they won’t stop us! We are there for the pregnant women and to save their babies, and we will continue with our work there forever with God’s help.

Meeting people

On Monday I worked in Queens. It started as a normal day but became quite interesting because of one thing: I met Connie.

Connie is a woman from St. Louis, Missouri. There, in St. Louis, she has a center to help women. They provide food and clothes to who needs them. She came into the clinic at about 11 am ready to take note of everything.

I must say she learned quickly how to deal with the girls. For instance, she convinced one Colombian girl of keeping her baby.

We talked about a lot of things like Maafa 21, Margaret Sanger, social security and the horror of abortion. She told me about Jesus and how He was born as a fragile baby like anyone of us. We both reached the same conclusion.

Maybe it is as simple as this: there are two kind of people, the ones who believe in God and the ones who don’t. If you belong to the first kind, then you should support life and the unborn.

And just remember, once upon a time Jesus was just a baby.

What really matters

On Thursdays Rosana does sonograms for the pregnant girls coming into the clinic. So yesterday at Queens I was able to see a sonogram for the first time. At that moment I didn’t know who was more nervous, the pregnant girl or me. It was something amazing that I am never going to forget.

She was very happy about the idea of having a baby finally. She had had an abortion before because of the pressure of her family. She decided to keep the baby. Now she only cares if the baby is going to be boy or girl. Her boyfriend wants it to be a boy, but she would be happier if it was a girl.

What really matters is that the baby is going to live this time.

Lucky me, lucky you…

Today has been a busy day in Queens. I have talked with a lot of girls and I felt very blessed for the opportunity to get to speak with them. Four out of five girls wanted to keep their baby! “Great! They have chosen parenthood today, that’s fantastic!” - I thought.

I was so happy! Then around two o’clock a woman appeared at the clinic. She has three children and was pregnant. She definitely wanted an abortion.

“Please, come in. We are going to talk a little and there is a video you must see” – I said.

I looked at her kids and thought to myself, “They are the lucky ones.” I talked to her almost for an hour but she left the clinic without a clear decision about whether or not she was going to keep the baby. From this blog I beg for your prayers for God to help save that baby.

Not babies but yes to smartphones?

I have realized sometimes we are not fighting just against ignorance but against cold hearts as well. Yesterday I talked to a woman who wanted an abortion for her friend. Her friend entered the room to take the pregnancy test. Meanwhile I tried to explain to the other woman what abortion was and I showed her a video of the procedures of abortion. Then I thought, “Maybe if we can change her mind, she will talk to her friend too”, but I was mistaken.

She only watched half of the video and before it ended she started playing with her Smartphone. Of course, most of the girls who come have one and they said they have financial problems. I tried again to talk to her, I told her that inside her friend was a baby and that she might be happy about that. She stared at me in silence, then came the worst:

-“I really don’t care about what my friend is going to do. Last year I got an abortion and I am OK. I think everybody has the right to make their own decision” -she said.

-“No one has the right to make or take a human life”.

After that I had no answer.

Then I realize that nowadays a baby’s right to live seems unimportant. It’s surprising for me of how many times we don’t talk with someone who ignores what abortion is but with someone who doesn’t care about a baby’s life. It is true that some don’t know about abortion procedures or maybe they have financial problems. Others… they know what abortion is but they have cold hearts. We must show them what love is, and we must love them. Only love warms cold hearts more than any fire.

Pro-Life Gathering

Last Tuesday I went to Vermont with some other interns from EMC. There we had a very good time. On Wednesday we went to Carousel musical at New Hampshire, it was wonderful! On Thursday we were invited to a gathering of the Pregnancy Center of the Upper Valley. It’s great to know that everywhere you go there’s someone who defends life. These Pro-Lifers were celebrating their 28th anniversary!

There we had the opportunity to attend the conference of M.D Freda McKissic Bush the author of “Hooked, how casual sex is affecting our children”. She talked about very interesting things such as sexuality, relationships and beliefs. “Our culture is changing and we must be prepared” -she said. “We don’t have to change the message but our methods”.

Another speaker at the conference said people used to say abortion would be the liberation of women. “I work in a pro-life pregnancy center and I assure you that abortion isn’t the liberation of anyone. Abortion only gives sadness to women”. I think we need to reflect more about this truth.