Not so good days

Our work at EMC brings us many satisfactions some days, but it is not easy sometimes, when after all your effort, the girl chooses abortion.
As you may know, we opened an office in DC to attend girls there. We have had good news some days, bad news others. Last friday was one of the latter.

The day started with our arrival at the lobby of the office, where a woman was waiting for us, asking for an abortion. We walked her into our office and tried to start filling the form, but she was very nervous, asking for the abortion. She was so insistent that we had to tell her we didn't perform the actual abortion, and she reacted with very bad manners, saying that she was losing her day coming to talk, and what she wanted was an abortion. I tried to give her a brochure, but she wouldn't talk to me!
She left really angry and mad at us.

Our second client was an 18-year-old woman with her mother. She wanted an abortion because for her that was the normal thing to do when you are not "ready" to have a kid. Her mother had 2 abortions, and used to work at an abortion clinic. She considered that "experimenting" was a normal thing at her doughter's age, and the abortion the solution to a potential "problem". We talked to her, explaining her the risks and trying to make her understand that even if she didn't want a kid right now, the kid was already there!! and it was her choice to keep it or kill it. The mother said: "kill it", as the normal thing to do. So they left, convinced mother, not so sure doughter, who asked for a brochure with more information about abortion. I hope she listens to her heart and not so much to her mother...

The day wasn't going very good, when Carolina told us that a 20-week woman pregnant was coming to the office.
She was 21 and came with her boyfriend, and a sonogram. We showed her photos of how her baby looked like already, and talked about other issues, such as money or work. The boyfriend had lost his employment but was looking for a new one, so money wasn't rally the problem. He kept saying that there were other issues, but wouldn't explain any further, so it was difficult for us to help. They watched the video about the abortion procedures, but they

were convinced that they wanted an abortion, a kid right now was "the worst thing that could happen to us". And she was 20 weeks pregnant!!! I couldn't believe it.
We did our best, we spent an hour and a half talking to them about other options, about what an abortion would mean for them as couple and for her as woman... but they wouldn't react.

They left, and let us with a deep sadness inside, praying for the babies that would never be born and their mothers, and hoping that some kind of miracle will make these girls change their mind...

First client in the DC's office

The past week EMC 4 inters, Angela, Sofia, Maria and I, started a new office in DC. Our first client was a 41-year-old mother of 2 kids, who wanted an abortion.

She wasn't sure she was pregnant, so before making the pregnancy test we talked to her, explaining the different kinds of abortion and we showed her pictures of babies growing in their mother's womb. She was impressed by how fast the baby developpes the different organs, and told us that if women really knew what abortion was, they would think twice before going for one.

We also talked about how happy their two sons would be with a baby boy or girl to play with, even if, as she thought, this wasn't the right moment. But is there a "right moment" to have babies?? Life is full of surprises, and as we say in Spain, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. Life can change so much for one day to the other...!

By the time we made the test we could see that she wasn't looking for an abortion any more. And when the result was negative, instead of being happy as we expected, she looked a mixture of sad and confused. I thought of how complicated the human being is, she came for an abortion and now was sad for not being pregnant? Perhaps was the image of a lovely baby we had projected during the conversation... or perhaps she never really wanted an abortion, we will never know.

She told us how thankful she was for what we had explained to her. She asked us for brochures for her niece and friends, because she wanted to show them what abortion really was. How satisfying is to see clients like this! We can be almost sure that neither her or her family will come in the future asking for an abortion. Thank you!!

Aborto: ¿el nuevo genocidio?

Uno de los pasados fines de semana fuimos con Chris de viaje a Washington DC y visitamos el museo del Holocausto. En él se muestra cómo los nazis consiguieron, poco a poco y sin hacer mucho ruido, ir aislando a los judíos primero en guettos  y después en campos de concentración hasta intentar acabar con ellos.

¿Cómo fue posible que en una sociedad avanzada como la alemana ocurrieran hechos de este tipo y que la gente no reaccionara? Es verdad que mucha gente no sabía lo que ocurría realmente en los campos de concentración, pero no es menos cierto que muchos, sabiéndolo, se escudaran en el "no pude hacer nada", o en el "me obligaron", para evitar ayudar a miles y miles de judíos apresados por los nazis y más tarde ejecutados en las cámaras de gas.

La prueba de esto es que fueron muchos los alemanes que, lejos de apoyar estas ejecuciones, ayudaron a judíos que se encontraron a su paso, a veces sin conocerles de nada y arriesgando su propia vida para salvar la de los demás.

Por lo tanto sí, realmente se podía hacer algo, y quien no lo hizo fue para quedarse en la cómoda postura de testigo mudo, intentando evitar enterarse de los hechos para no incomodar a su conciencia.

No es difícil trazar paralelismos entre esta situación y la actual del aborto en todo el mundo. Está científicamente comprobado que la unión de un óvulo y un espermatozoide da lugar a un nuevo individuo, con caracterísitcas diferentes a las de sus padres, es decir, una nueva persona. Escudarse en excusas simplistas como que el aborto es un derecho de la mujer nos convierte en testigos mudos, que no hacen nada para evitar que miles y miles de niños mueran cada día en las cínicas abortistas. ¿Queremos realmente ser cómplices de este crimen? No todos tenemos las mismas capacidades, pero cada uno podemos aportar nuestro granito de arena para evitar convertir el aborto en un nuevo genocidio.

REALLY???

Lack of information is a big issue in our society. Is it possible that we know better how our computer works than our body? For the past weeks that I've been working in an office I have run into many girls who don't know the basic functioning of their body.

Is it a problem of the school system? Is it the fear of the families to talk about sex? It may be a combination of both, but the result is that many girls come to our office with an amazing variety of ideas about pregnancy: some think they can get pregnant every day of the month, others believe than none...  They hardly ever want to get pregnant but they don't have a clear idea of how to prevent it. And we live in the 21st Century! It's unbelievable.

In these ocasions we talk to them about the ABC Plan:

-Abstinence. The most reliable way to avoid pregnancy and STDs

-Be faithful. If abstinence is not an option, having an only partner is a must 

-Condom. If A and B are not possible, the use of condoms is the best protection. But condoms not always work, that's a fact.

These 3 are the basic rules that people should follow in order to avoid a pregnancy. We hope that our counseling will help woman to understand better their body, to avoid STDs, and to plan their motherhood going along with nature, and not playing with it by the use or hormons.

My first Turn Around

7.30 am in the morning.

Planned Parenthood in Manhattan. 

Coming from the subway, some girls cross the street and go inside. We try to talk to them.

Some listen, others don't.

A girl walks by me, she doesn't look very convinced and I approach her. She stops her way and listens. She hardly talks but I see she's thoughtful. 2 minuts later she goes inside the clinic and we wait outside, without crossing the line.

45 minuts later.

 She walks out.

 She looks annowed and very worried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she cryes at the phone. She's quarrelling with somebody: her mother? her boyfriend? her sister? Some people across the street look at her but she doesn't care.

She hangs up the phone. I come near but she doesn't want to talk. I wait for her to calm down. She walks up and down the street, she looks very worried.

10 minutes later

She approaches and talks to us. She's 6 months pregnant. This was the third time she goes to the clinic. Each of them they tell her to wait, to wait, to wait. She's tired of waiting. This time was the identity card. She forgot it at home and they wouldn't let her do the abortion without it. In two days, the 4th of July. The clinic will be closed and she will have to wait even more.

But that's not everything. Her mother doesn't know. Neither the guy. But everybody on the street does, it's obvious she's pregnant.

She doesn't want the abortion. At least not now. She feels the baby inside her.

She lives in Brookling. We call Linda and make the appointment straight forward. She stops crying and leaves us heading the office.

2 hours later

Linda calls: the baby is going to be born! We are happy, even if we know we didn't save her. What saved her was a forgotten ID:Coincidence? Luck?  I would call it PROVIDENCE.

Mike

Last week four of us went with Chris to Washington and other cities to visit pro-lifers. Some of them will host interns during this summer who will work in the new offices we are opening.

On the first night of the trip, Mike -an old friend of Chris- invited us to dinner. His pro-life work is an example and a proof of the importance that each and everyone of us has helping with the pro-life work.

Mike used to work for a big company in Manhattan; he was even a partner of the company. Once retired, instead of staying at home, he drives an hour and a half every morning to an abortion clinic, where we tries to talk to the girls and make them change their mind and offers post-abortion therapy. He stands there Winter and Summer, with cold and hot weather, rainy or snowy…

Taking into account that the average number ofgirls who change their mind is around 3 and 5 %, isn’t it amazing the passion he works with every day?

I was truly impressed by this story Chris told us, and I hope that neither of us complains about the bad weather or standing up for some hours because we are young and doing this for a short time. Mike is an example of commitment for all of us. 

The importance of advertising

When David Beckham posed on his underwear for Calvin Klein for the first time, the sales of the brand increased nearly a 50%. 

This is only an example of the importance that the advertising industry has in our lives: we are surrounded by stimulus and and we end up consuming products that we see on the TV, on the street, in a magazine...

 

Therefore, why not use advertisement as an instrument to save lives?

The new pro-life campaign in New York City's subway wants to get to more people who find themselves in front of the big decision after a non-planned pregnancy: shall I keep the baby or have an abortion?

How many hours do we spend in the subway? In this big city, and as far as I'm concerned, no less than 2 a day. Sometimes, when it's not crowded, we can read or even work, but many other days we just stand up and look around.

The advertisement of Free Abortion Alternatives is working in New York City really well: the past days I went to work to the Brookyn office, and the telephone didn't stop ringing. This is great news, because the more calls we get, the more women we can help and the more babies are saved.

This kind of campaigns help people get to know us and the work we do. The new offices opened in different states have the same goal: let's all continue helping as much as we can with the pro-life movement.

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!