The big opportunity

This monday we were talking with a girl who came to our office in the 149 St. She were pregnant. It wouldn't be strange unless her boyfriend weren't suposed to be infertile (by an accident). She was very convinced that her baby was of him. The boyfriend was trying to have a baby with his previous partner for more than 8 years. They were thinking about abortion because they "aren't ready" (The girl is 26 years old and the man is 35). Both of them are working. When they are suposed to be ready?

We told the girl if she didn't think if that pregnancy was an opportunity that life brought to them to be parents at last. We also told her that maybe there wouldn't be another chance after that one.

After some time talking with her, he finally decided to think about it and talk with his boyfriend. Hopefully he will be happy about the new because he didn't know that when the girl came to us.

Happy morning

We are Lucía and Jose and we want to tell what we did this saturday when we went to Liz's with Laura. That morning we recieved 5 girls. 4 of them were spanish speakers, so we were able to counsel them in our native language, which made our work much easier. All their stories were very hard. At the beginning, it seemed that all the girls were very convinced about get an abortion. We needed to think the best words and reasons to show to each girl, because their circumstances were quite different between them. After talking with the girls in different ways, and showing them the abortion procedures video, we were very happy to see that 3 of the girls were almost sure to keep the baby.

They were 27, 17, and 23 years old. The last one wasn't so decided, but at the same time she was the one with the most advanced pregnancy (almost 20 weeks), and the abortion was going to cost about 2.000 $, and even not being a reason about conviction but of money, it will be very helpful to realize her that it would be even more expensive the abortion than keeping the baby (her main reason for abortion was the lack of money).

Tomorrow we'll meet the 17 years old girl, whose mother was talking with Laura while we were with the girl. This was very helpful because the mother was encouraging the girl to keep the baby after our counseling.

We'll continue writing this about these stories. We need your prayers!

Learning from the others

This last week I have had the opportunity of being in a lot of counselings with different interns.
I have been in Jerome's, in Liz's and two days in Emily's this week, both of them with Laura, when I had the chance of being in the Laura's first turn-around which was really moving.
In Emily's, I could talk with some girls. One of the women were really open-minded, but then, a woman who works in the clinic appeared and said to her: . And then, the woman went into the clinic.
The next day, a man in his forties, riding a bike, asked me: I 'm very curiosity to know what are you doing here, because yesterday I saw you here too. I began to explained him but he interrupted me and asked me: So, you are trying to discourage the girls to come into there?
I answered: Yes, I am. And his answer seemed to me really weird: That is bad.
After, he left. Ok, I thought, if what I'm doing it's bad, is it good what people inside the clinic do?
I have been counseling with Liz, with Maria and with Aracely and everything that I learnt from them has helped me today to do my first counseling alone. It has been great. When I started to talk with the woman she was really decided to get an abortion. Two hours later, after two videos -abortion procedures and the Silent Scream, of the Dr Nathanson- she has cried a lot and we have been in the chapel for minutes talking about the life who is growing inside of her, about God's will, and about suffering.
In the end she was almost persuaded to keep the baby. She would want that the baby was a girl, and called her Ofelia, as her mother, who died when she was seven years old.
She has a hard story but there is a incredible strength inside of her.

Spreading the truth

Here are Lucía & Jose, again. Most of the days since we arrived to the internship, we have worked in passing informatives brochures out. Those brochures, in spanish and english, talk about the abortion procedures, consequences, alternatives, and stories of girls that were happy to keep their babies. Usually we just give them to the women that are walking on the street. Most of the times we have a table near us, with a DVD player with abortion videos, or fetus models of different ages. The table help us a lot, specially by attracting people who ask us about what are we doing. The best part comes when those people talk with us in a very friendly way, and give us support. It's very encouraging to meet this people and talk with them during a while. It's always great to feel supported by even more people.

"Pro-Choice"?

Here are Lucía & Jose from the EMC lifehouse. We arrived the last week, on Friday. In these days, we have helped in different labors: passing out brochures, showing videos about abortion to people in the street, counseling girls who came to the offices... But perhaps the most shocking experience we have had so far, was this Saturday at Dr. Emily's abortion mill.

It was a really hard morning. When we arrived, we found some people that were standing in front of the abortion mill too, in both entrances. Unfortunately, when we saw the posters they were carrying, we realized that we were going to have a really difficult time. They called themselves "Pro-Choice". However, after our experience there, we would rather call them "Pro-One and Unique Choice - Abortion" people. If they were really "Pro-Choice", then they would allow all women to have both choices and wouldn't mind if we stand in front of the abortion mill. They would allow women to talk with us if they want. They would allow us to give information to the girls, to help them to make the best Choice. That's what they didn't do, but making noise when we were starting to talk with the girls, and keeping in silence when we wanted to talk with them. Keeping ourselves in silence. They don't want to listen, and they don't want the girls to listen. Why? If they're really convinced, why they don't want to talk with and convince us? Because they have fear for the truth, because they have no reasons. That Saturday, the main murderer was the ignorance.

In several times, they even were against the law, on their mission to silence the truth. When the wind took away some of our brochures, one of the girls stopped the paper with her foot, and when we were going to pick it up, with a really unkind smile, she picked it instead, and throwed the paper to the garbage. During all the morning they all had a very hostile attitude towards us. It was really frustrating. We were invaded by the sadness, while we were seeing the girls leaving the abortion mill, without a baby who would have been able to live, if some ignorants hadn't hidden the information to the girls; if they hadn't silenced us.

That's not Pro-Choice, definitely.