A Negative Turns Into a Positive

Tuesday two girls came into our clinic, they are best friends and there was no way they wanted to be separated, so I counseled both of them at the same time. They wanted a pregnancy test so I gave them the consultation and the test, they both came out negative.

But we gave them a lot of information, and their mouths dropped open when they understood what an abortion was, and all the facts on fetal development, they learned a lot that day, and that's what they told us, too. You don't always have to have a pregnant girl in front of you to have an interesting conversation about a pregnancy!

I'm from Holland and I am astonished how little the American teenagers and adults know about sexuality, pregnancies and fetal development. Where I'm from that is a mandatory capital in our Biology lessons, we learn it at age 12 and we repeat it every year with information that is age approperiate.. I hope that the Americans will start educating their kids about this subject, too so they don't have to find out when they are pregnant, and want an abortion. Because then it's usually too late..

National Review Covers the NY City Council Hearing

National Review's "The Corner" wrote a great piece about the New York City Council hearing before the Women’s Issues Committee, that took place this past Tuesday.I was present at the hearing and I've got to tell you that Greg Pfundstein did a great job capturing what was going on.

The New York City Council Takes (Bad) Aim at Crisis Pregnancy Centers

November 18, 2010 1:14 P.M.

By Greg Pfundstein

The New York City Council is trying to target crisis pregnancy centers with legislation that would force New York CPCs to state in all their advertising that they do not offer abortions and that they do not have licensed medical staff on their premises (if in fact they don’t). They would also have to post similar signs at their offices.

This is a case of the strong trying to oppress the weak, as matters of abortion always are. But judging by Tuesday’s hearing before the council’s Women’s Issues Committee, the bill’s advocates may not be as strong as they thought, and the weak not as weak as they imagined.

Council member Jessica Lappin, the moving force behind the bill, opened the hearings by stating that the bill is about “truth in advertising.” But Chris Slattery, president of the CPC Expectant Mother Care, explained that his clinics have only ever run ads promising “Free Abortion Alternatives,” “Free Confidential Options Counseling,” and “Free Pregnancy Tests,” all of which they provide. So on what basis can they be accused of false advertising?

Some advocates of the bill testified that the centers “look just like a doctor’s office” (they don’t); others said that the staff wear scrubs to look like medical professionals (they don’t; the licensed and certified ultrasound techs in some clinics do, as do the doctors who work part-time in some clinics). Silliest of all, one person testified that “‘EMC’ sounds very medical.” The NARAL report “She Said Abortion Could Cause Breast Cancer” was cited, but given that the organization once known as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws got its start with fabricated propaganda and invented statistics about the number of back-alley abortions performed in the 1960s, their ability to produce an objective, unbiased report on CPCs is something worth thinking about.

And if you’re wondering about the bill’s constitutionality, you’re not the only one. The law would compel speech, regulate speech on the basis of content, and regulate speech on the basis of viewpoint — and for those three reasons, according to the American Center for Law and Justice (which is representing EMC, Life Center of New York-Brooklyn, and Heartbeat International), the law violates the First Amendment and will not stand up to scrutiny.

During the first panel called to give testimony, Council Member Dan Halloran asked Fran Freedman of the Department of Consumer Affairs (a supporter of the bill) whether she was aware of any other instance in which speech was mandated when no commercial transaction was made. She did not. Apparently, regulating the speech of non-profit social-service organizations is not part of the portfolio of the Department of Consumer Affairs. But perhaps it will be.

Halloran, who is concerned about the bill for scope-of-government reasons, pressed Freedman and her co-panelist, Dr. Susan Blank of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, on the “truth in advertising” contention. Did they honestly think that anyone would be confused about what an organization called Bridge to Life, the Sisters of Life, or Life Center does? Both officials averred that indeed, people would, since not everyone is well-versed in the vocabulary of the culture war. That is, Blank and Freedman believe that a reasonable person might assume that an organization called the Sisters of Life performs abortions.

The councilman then asked whether a person might also think an organization called Planned Parenthood focuses its efforts on assisting women who choose parenthood. No, said Blank and Freedman, a reasonable person would not assume that an organization called Planned Parenthood is primarily concerned with parenthood.

But the most damning testimony against the law was given by a young lady who was confused by the name “Planned Parenthood,” which led her to have a very strange experience just last week. The address 44 Court Street in Brooklyn is home to EMC, Planned Parenthood, and Dr. Emily’s Abortion Clinic. Twenty-eight weeks pregnant and happily so, but a little “financially strapped,” the young lady went to 44 Court Street looking for an organization that had assisted a friend of hers a few years earlier. She couldn’t remember the name of the organization, just the address. What she wanted was a car seat, since you’re not allowed to leave the hospital without one. Looking at the directory in the lobby, she saw Planned Parenthood and assumed that it must be the organization she was looking for. But when she went inside and explained her situation, she was told that they could not help her get a car seat, but that since she was financially strapped, she could sign documents indicating that she was under psychological stress and get a medical waiver for a late-term abortion. (Abortion is legal only up to the 24th week of pregnancy, even in New York, except to preserve the life or health of the mother).

This young lady was shocked and distressed by Planned Parenthood’s outside-the-box solution to her need for a car seat. She did not want an abortion; she wanted her baby — and a hospital-required car seat. She eventually found her way to EMC and received the help she actually needed and wanted.

Speaking of Planned Parenthood: Their testifying representative was unable to say how many abortions occur in New York each year, or even the number of abortions they themselves perform in the city. Nor could Doctor Blank: She noted that 60 percent of pregnancies in New York are unplanned but, when questioned, did not know how many pregnancies that 60 percent entailed. It’s surprising that an official from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene sent to testify in favor of legislation concerning organizations that offer alternatives to abortion would turn out to be unaware of the number of abortions that take place in the city. For Dr. Blank’s information, in New York City in 2008 there were 229,436 reported pregnancies, 127,680 live births, 89,469 abortions, and 12,287 miscarriages. Forty-one percent of all pregnancies in New York ended in abortion.

As I mentioned, Chris Slattery of EMC also testified. Council members seemed quite surprised to discover during questioning that EMC does in fact offer prenatal care to women in several of its centers, through partnerships with medical professionals. An obstetrician is in EMC’s Brooklyn office one day a week; the Queens office has a similar arrangement. EMC also has several centers located inside medical clinics which can provide prenatal care in the first trimester to women who decide to keep their babies. Another location is in an obstetrician’s office in Manhattan. Some centers have referral relationships with medical providers. And Dr. Anne Mielnik of the Gianna Catholic Healthcare Center for Women makes herself available to all the CPCs in the city to see women who are in need of relatively urgent medical care and have nowhere else to go, often free of charge.

What came into light through the testimony of the dedicated staff and leaders of the CPCs and other pro-life organizations in the city was a picture of a vibrant community at the service of the city’s most disadvantaged women, which strives with very limited resources to meet their material, spiritual, and medical needs as best they can. CPCs are the heart of a well-developed and well-connected network of care that includes pro-life physicians, obstetricians, and maternity homes.

If we were in Virginia, perhaps this committee would be holding hearings on a resolution in support of CPCs and their work. But alas, we are in New York.

— Greg Pfundstein is executive director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation.

Sonogram Bus

I decided to come to NYC last summer. Then, I started to read the blog and the EMC website and I discovered the Sonogram Bus! I asked myself why it was neccesary. I knew the answer less than 12 hours after arriving, because that is when I went out to the abortion clinic.

Our job in front of the abortion clinics is to talk to the women and offer them options. Even though we offer real help, it can still be difficult to reach them. They have many conflicting emotions about the abortion they are seeking.
Once we have the chance to speak, the turnaround is kind of easy, because in the Sonogram Bus they can see their baby and hear their child´s heartbeat. The sonogram is so powerful!

Here is EMC in action shown on a brief film of our work at NYC Abortion Mills, made by visitors. Using us as a model they want to
expand our type of outreach with FREE ultrasounds.

Manuel

Planned Parenthood vs EMC: 0-1

I had a very nice young woman sitting in front of me in the counseling room today. She probably wanted to abort if her pregnancy test would come up positive. She already has three kids and she explained to me how she made an appointment for her last child at the abortionclinic but she ended up not going. That was when she convinced herself that if she ever would ever get pregnant again that she wouldnt have that baby because she can´t handle the stress anymore.

I showed her the animated video that explains the procedure, and she nodded her head and sighed ´ I really don´t want to do this but I have to´. She was approximately nine weeks pregnant. It wasnt until I showed her another video when she realized that it is an actual baby inside her. We talked for a while and she almost cried because she was confused all of a sudden. She thought an abortion was taking the ´blob of tissue´ out in one whole piece, no pain no nothing. She said ´I wanted an abortion but now that I realize what an abortion really is I don´t want to. I really don´t know what to do´.

She left the center with her friend, with a sonogram appointment, and left me thinking. What if this woman would have gone to Planned Parenthood.. Would they have explained her the procedure? Or would they have just given her the abortion? This woman was not educated on what an abortion really is.. We need your support to remain the place where woman can talk freely and aren't forced into anything of which they aren't even sure what it exactly is. Please pray for EMC and the Public Hearing tomorrow at the City Council.

THE MENTALITY

One could see her countenance light up as she was told her pregnancy test read negative. But when asked if she'd practice abstinence until marriage, her 'no' answer sounded as if to say, "Are you crazy!". This wasn't the response i expected, most especially in the attitude of delivery. She considers as untimely, having a baby at nineteen but abnormal, the practice of abstaining from the act that produces the baby. What sense does this make?As i thought about this, i remembered what someone told me which could possibly be the mentality behind this girl's response.

Sometime ago a guy told me that sexual urge is like hunger; and when one is hungry, one eats. In other words, sex is food. He saw no reason why an urge as natural as hunger shouldn't be satisfied. When he said that, i realized this mentality should be one of the leading reasons for premarital sex and promiscuity in young adults especially in United states.

However, does the presence of an urge,hunger or desire justify its gratification? Can sex be really compared with food? What harm could self control possibly do to people? Is it really normal to purposely 'confuse' a virtue for a vice and vice versa? Where did this mentality come from? Is it from History,science or biology class? Or from medicine? The media? The Government? Home?

This is just one out of the various cancerous mentalities that has led into almost an endless list of social ills in the nation.

Saturday at Dr. Emily

Saturdays are usually the most colorful days at Dr. Emily abortion clinic. It is the one day of the week that the clinic escorts and pro-abortion activists come out and oppose our peaceful activity.

Clearly we are there for different reasons - them, to make a political statement and casually insult us - and us - to help and talk to the women.

They post signs on the fences with meaningless phrases - the type that if someone was actually to think about what was being said for more than a second the logic disintegrates - and they also make our job a lot harder.

I was engaged in a friendly conversation with a woman of whom I identified as a likely person to enter the clinic, when one of the 'death-scorts' approached her and 'explained' to her what I was really doing.

According to her, I harass women.

This is how out of touch with reality the pro-choice position is - they are decieved enough to deny the humanity of the youngest, most vulnerable humans, they are decieved enough to brandish slogans that sound good but nothing else, and they are decieved enough to approach two people in a polite conversation and tell one of those people who clearly is not being harassed that the other person is actually harassing them.

There is nothing logical about the pro-choice position, and so stories like this should not surprise anyone. Pro-choicers like to substitute their version of reality to the actual one - that is the only way their veiwpoints can stand.

We will fight to the End!

These last couple of weeks have been tough. But, we have such a great support system and staff that we are there for one another. Its not easy going to all these meetings, and debating with Counsil members why and how we benefit women . Or expressing why we shouldn't have to put up signs on our doors stating that doctor isnt in, because maybe he is in a delivery.


I love my workmates, interns, staff, sonogram techs. I really wanted to write this blog to just thank everyone for there support in our fight for what is right.

We are always there for one another, and I really appreciate all of our workers... We are in a battle of good and bad.. We will fight to the end!

"I don't want to, but I have to do it" (Part I)

Last Monday I had the chance to work with Liz the center Director in our South Bronx Pregnancy Center. That was the first time that I had worked with her, and I learned a lot.

A young woman came into the office. She was afraid she might be pregnant and the pregnancy test confirmed her thoughts. When I asked what she was going to do, she said: “I don’t want to, but I have to do it”. I thought she meant she was keeping the baby, but she said again: “I have to abort”.

I showed her a non graphic computer animated video about the two most common abortion procedures and the risks and complication. She asked me stop the video because she hadn’t “a baby, just a little blood clot attached to my uterus”. I thought it was time that she knew the truth. I played the National Geographic documentary “The Biology of Prenatal Development”.

2nd Month (5-8 weeks)

“By six weeks, brain waves can be detected by electroencephalogram, and the brain is controlling 40 sets of muscles as weel as the organs. The jaw forms including the teeth and taste buds. The baby begins to shallow amniotic fluid and some have been observed hiccupping. During this time, the stomach produces digestive juices, and the kidneys begin to function. Fingers and toes are developing, and at seven weeks the chest and abdomen are fully formed. Swimming with a natural swimmer’s stroke in the amniotic fluid, she now looks like a miniature human infant”.
Extracted from Human Life Alliance

She was astonished when she realized that she had a 100% human life in her womb!

Manuel

We Salute Our Veterans

On Veteran's Day, we call veterans and thank them for serving. The truck below reminds us of all that so many men and women have done to keep America safe, and to keep America free. To those who have saluted the flag of the United States of America so many times, we salute you.



How many families have immigrated to this great country that our veterans served to protect? Many first generation Americans have escaped circumstances in which death was everywhere, and visibly so. For each of their lives, we praise God and thank our veterans.

There is a boy whose family came to America from a country then ravaged by war. At one point, his parents were thinking about aborting him. Somebody cared enough about them, and about him, to tell them the whole truth, the things that they would never have heard at an abortion clinic. When they were shocked to realize that they had considered ending the life of their son, did they realize that America is only a safehaven for those who have already been born?

To the veterans who've served, thank you.

To the immigrants who have sought peace and safety for their family and their descendants, an apology is in order. An apology spoken is that, and little more; an apology in deed is an apology indeed. Please know that many Americans pray that the United States Supreme Court will make that apology in a single action, by overturning Roe v. Wade.

"WARNING! Enter at your own risk!

In the above video you will see a Social Worker from Planned Parenthood of the South Bronx speaking at a press conference in support of the CPC Kill Bill. She works at the abortion clinic at 349 E 149th Street, across the street from our South Bronx Pregnancy Center. She accuses EMC of "misleading, misinforming, and manipulating women" among other equally ludicrous claims. She even asserts that our "Unplanned Pregnancy?" sign is deceptive! Ha! Most of our clients are dealing with unplanned pregnancies!

You see when it comes to this Bill, it is very important to understand that Planned Parenthood is behind it. They are losing a lot of money because we so successfully save lives. The End result is that of our clients happiness with their decisions and Planned Parenthood feeling it where it hurts the most... their pockets!




They attempt with this bill to force us to post signs in our centers, on our ads, and even in our brochures, stating the services we don't provide. What silliness! How about a sign for Planned Parenthood to post?! I suggest this one! "WARNING! Enter at your own risk! Ambulances called often!"



These pictures were taken last week when I happened to glance out the window. It is not a rare occurrence for us to see ambulances at the abortion clinic. The woman's face has blurred to protect her privacy. We hope and pray that she is ok.

Wasted lives

Yesterday, I was standing in front of dr. Emily´s, when something caught my attention. A large truck was parked in front of the clinic, and I wouldn´t have noticed it if it didn´t say ´medical waste´on the back.

Guess what was in it.. There were a lot of dead children in the truck when it drove away. Every single on of them could have become the next president of the United States, a college graduate, a loving mother or father or just somebody who contributes to society.

I can´t imagine how abortionist live with their jobs. Even when they stop doing it, they are still haunted by the fact that they killed a Yankee Stadium full of children.. Father, I pray for all those men and women that want to step out of this bloody business, that they will not be judged but will be seen as courageous and that You and people around them will forgive them for what they´ve done...

Amen.

UNCHANGEABLE STANDARD

Many times I have wondered about God's patience towards mankind. He remains as loving and forgiving as He has been right from the creation of the world, despite the increasing disobedience and wickedness of men. However, it is often forgotten that just as unchangeable as His character is, so also the laws He's laid down for everyone to follow.

A girl walked into our Brooklyn office yesterday and asked for a sonogram. To her surprise, she was twenty-two weeks pregnant; yet, considering abortion. Why in the world would she want to abort the baby even at this stage? She said aborting the baby was for the best because she did not have the normal father-mother upbringing which affected her negatively and she swore that none of her children would ever experience it. After she said this, I showed her a brochure on a second trimester abortion procedure and tried explaining to her the risks. After carefully reading it,she concluded that the risks were worth taking in order to prevent a repetition of the single-mother upbringing she had. Well, i was not going to pressure her about it, but what i was going to do was correct an impression she had of God.

She said, in our conversation, that God will support her in this decision because he understands her situation and he'll also keep her from the possible risks. No! He will not. Just because he loves you does not mean that he approves of your disobedience to him. Just because you may come out alive and well does not mean that he adjusted his law to suit your situation. If he remains the same in love and grace, he remains the same with his laws and what he expects of us. He does and will not force us to obey him because expects us to reciprocate his love by obeying him. He is a God of love not of force. And he is a God of UNCHANGEABLE STANDARDS.

Having clarified that, she admitted that she knew what she was about to do was wrong but that she still had to. Although i was sad about her decision, the fact that i was able to clarify who the God the bible talks about is, whom i also believed she was referring to, i was consoled.

Training with the Sisters of Life

Last Saturday interns Heather, Greg and Manuel, went to a training conference with the Sisters of Life. The seminar that I enjoyed most was about understanding the heart of the woman in crisis pregnancy: what is going on in her mind and in her spirit after realizing she is pregnant. The different steps and the different feelings (fear, anger, upset, pressure) she has during each step.


It was very interesting for me to step info the mind of the woman. Often it takes much coaxing for our clients to let the walls down and tell us how she is really feeling. With this new training I will be able to identify with more certainly the different aspects of her situation. Thus bringing her to a place of hope, emotionally.



Manuel

EMC Has Great Dedicated Hardworkers, Who Will Stand for What Is Right, Even when Times Seem Most Diffucult!

Wow, what an amazing day at City Council with Robert Jackson. We walk in, pictures of Obama everywhere. A tense environment, as everyone is anxious about the questions that await us.

It is my turn to speak, and I get his full attention. His eyes are wide open with a broad smile. I tell him Why and How EmC helps so many women. I told him How I love to work at EMC and what I do as a counselor to help these young women.

He stares in surprise as we give him statistics of our parenting, adoption, and abortion rate. Ofcource adoption being our lowest percentile. Women feel if they can carry there child to full term, that they might as well keep there child.

I ask one of my girls to explain why she chose to keep her child. She breaks down in tears, as I comfort her. She says, "Its my baby". She is 5 months. He says, "so are you deciding to keep it"?

I look at him with shock, as if to say, "Are you serious"? She is almost halfway done with her pregnancy!
So, in concluding the meeting he thanked us for our stand and our truth on EMC.

I truly hope this bill doesn't pass, because then we will have a hard time reaching women from all over the boroughs.

How far will you go to defend what is right

Daily News article attempts to 'nail' our CPC

So in the Daily News there was a letter to the editor friday which accuses us of decieving women. Of course this woman who was actually pregnant and went to one of our centers lied to us and concocted false information to give us, but that is beside the point - we, according to her, are the decievers.

The glee with which this 'undercover' woman 'exposes' us literally oozes of the page. She even benefitted from our free services, now knowing the due date of the baby because of our free ultrasound, and tries to turn that into some insult against us (allthough I'm not sure, the article is pretty poorly written).

She clearly has no clue what women do or do not think about us - she just makes this up out of thin air. I'm starting to think that the only women that have ever made this big of a fuss about our services and 'deceptive practices' have been undercover reporters or NARAL activists out to get us.

Please comment on the article and tell the author what you think.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/11/05/2010-11-05_abortions_foes_resort_to_deception_what_i_found_when_i_went_to_a_crisis_pregnanc.html

Saturday with the Sisters

This saturday, I and a few other interns had the privilege of attending a workshop run by the Sisters of Life. It was designed to train their co-workers to understand how women feel during crisis pregnancies and how to communicate with them effectively.

Among the great training we had, a highlight was a seminar on how to be a better listener. In our work, being a good listener is probably the most important part of the job - so it was nice to learn about reflective listening and other communication skills.

It is always nice to be with the Sisters and network with fellow pro-lifers, but this workshop proved to be especially great.

Check out the Sisters at sistersoflife.org!

STD's at 17 years old

This is a sad case. This young girl came into our office last week, after to going to Planned Parenthood. She has been diagnosed with HSV2. SHe came into our office crying. She told me sh'e'd rather be pregnant at this point. I spent hours talking to her, as she poured her heart out to me.

She was in so much pain. The poor girl couldn't even sit straight. I told her, we all make mistakes as long as you learn from them. I cant possibly imagine how she feels or what she is going through. I just sat and held her as she cried, and told me some personal things.

To make a long story short, I kept in touch with her. I was there for her at 1am when she called me crying. I told her I think she should go to the hospital.. She did just that!

SHe found out, not only did she have HSV2, but she had PID and Gonorreah.. I felt so bad for her. SHe was thanking me so much that I gave her that advice to go to the emergency room.

Im so glad EMC can provide place for these young females to come and talk to us. I was so thankful to have helped her.

Free Abortion Alternatives: Under Attack

What you see is what you get. A very well known saying here in the United States of America. Our advertisements are clear on which services we provide. And anybody who's had English in school knows the meaning of the word 'Alternatives'. But right now they're trying to pass a bill that will make us put up a sign in front of our doors and waiting rooms that says that we do not provide abortions or referrals to abortionclinics and that we do not provide birthcontrol pills.

I heard a good comment on the bill. A girl said that's like asking furniture stores to put a sign in front of their store that says: we have bed bugs. It's not good for business and it's ridiculous.

A girl who wants to talk in a pregnancy centre about her pregnancy doesn't want to feel judged by a sign that says we do not do abortions. Remember, Planned Parenthood is the only one with a financial stake in this story. Every abortion is money for them. Which means that they are not entirely objective.

We need your support, and your prayers so we can continue helping these girls without them being scared away.

The chart came from this site

IT'S ABOUT LOVE

I was feeling really bad yesterday as i stood in front of Dr Emily's clinic because none of the girls i tried speaking to gave me even a look. I knew the reason i couldn't get their attention was because probably they could see through my eyes that i was scared. Seeing strong looking faces walk into the clinic made me really worried about saying the right thing and not upsetting these girls and their boyfriends. However i continued trying to get their attention until something else caught mine.

There were two ladies who came to pray in front of the clinic. Just as they arrived, they came towards me, greeted me heartily and went back to position themselves at the other end of the gate. After some minutes of prayer, one of the ladies stepped closer to the entrance of the clinic and called the attention of a guy who had come with his wife for an abortion and was outside smoking while the wife was in the clinic. He looked really rough and tough. But at the call of the lady, he came to the gate, where we were standing and listened attentively to what the lady had to say. I was amazed. Though he went back into the clinic to 'support'his wife who insisted on having the abortion, the message was already passed to him.

Then just after the man went back into the clinic, a couple walked out of it. As they approached us, this same lady called their attention and they stopped to listen. Again i was amazed. She spoke with them and discovered that she came out of the clinic still pregnant. A sonogram was done on her in our bus(The sonogram bus) and confirmed that she was thirty weeks gone, the reason she was sent out of the clinic. After the sonogram, the couple were adviced on what to do and they left happy.

When it was time for the ladies to go back home, i couldn't help but make my amazement known to the lady who had counselled the young couple and the man who came with his wife. I told her about how none of the girls who walked into the clinic paid attention to me. She looked at me with a sincere smile and said,"Don't be afraid to speak to them.It's not so much about what you may say right or wrong but about the love of God in your heart for them." At those words, i felt like bursting into the clinic and shouting to every one that cared to listen that i love them. What she said reminded me of a passage in the scripture that says perfect love drives out fear.

I am looking forward to going back to Dr Emily's clinic to counsel girls from having an abortion. It's not about politics. It's not about money. It's not about self righteousness. It's about love. Love is all that matters.

QUOTES

There are many ways we learn about life.They include learning from our experiences,from observation, asking questions and reading. Reading quotes of great people who are and have been before me is one of the ways i learn about life; especially morals. In this write- up,i'd like to share with you three quotes on abortion from great people whose lives have positively and unforgettably affected the world.

"America you are beautiful...and blessed...The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless. If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life."
Pope John Paul II

"How great, therefore, the wickedness of human nature is! How many girls there are who prevent conception and will expel tender fetuses, although procreation is the work of God."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"If we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people to not kill each other? Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want."
Mother Theresa

These people lived what they believed thus their works speak for them. EMC is living what she believes and the testimonies are always coming forth.

Abortion Stops a Beating Heart

We have all heard the saying "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart", but how many us have actually seen a sonogram of a fetal heart beat? Here is your chance! This is why we do what we do! Because the child in the womb, although pre-born, is ALIVE! This video was taken at EMC's Pregnancy Center in Brooklyn, NY.


Heather Nicole

Real pro-choice.

A few weeks ago, Lianne wrote about how being here had changed her. I can't say if it's true because I met her here in NYC, but I can say that I've changed too.

As a Catholic, I was 'pro-life' before coming to work for EMC. I think that it is a feeling every single person in the world has but, some times, we change our mind. This is exactly what happened to me during the last weeks: I was prolife because I was catholic; now, I'm prochoice, not because I believe in abortion, but because I really believe that there are alternatives, real choices before choosing abortion.

There are people that are doing a great job to give these women a real chance to choose, a real chance to be able to choose with freedom, with no pressure, thinking about her own body and her baby.

I choose life. I'm prochoice.


Manuel

She Chose LIFE

Today a woman walked in to the EMC's Brooklyn Pregnancy center. She was very pregnant, but she wasn't quite sure how far along she was. She had 5 children; 4 sons and a daughter. She had no help from the father. She was considering abortion. It would have been a dismemberment abortion; a two day procedure. It was a hard situation. Linda told her about all of the resources that were available to her. We could help her!

During her sonogram she discovered she was 21 weeks pregnant with a little girl. At 21 weeks the baby has all the organs present and many prematures babies survive when they are born at this age. She chose LIFE for her baby!

A Sucessful 40 Days

Sunday October 31st marked the last day of 2010's 40 Days for Life, fall campaigne! And what an eventful season it has been!! Here are a few of the highlights:

• Worldwide we saw a total of 604 babies saved due to the efforts and prayers of 40 Days Volunteers!

• Here in NYC our total of lives saved was 61! That's about 10% of the worldwide 40 Days total!

• We were very privileged to have a hand in reuniting a married couple and saving their unborn childs life.

• We began showing the Silent Scream in spanish (El Grito Silencioso)on a 37 inch, generator powered, Flat Screen TV! Right on the sidewalk of Abortion Row!

• Due to our longstanding and powerfully prayerful pressence, one of the two abortion clinics at our Abortion Row vigil site, MOVED!!!

But the greatest rewards of our work, we may never know. As often times happens, there may have been turnarounds that we never found out about, and that´s ok. Those rewards come in the heartbeat of a child and the love of a mother for her baby.

All it takes is lunch (sometimes)

A lonely girl came walking into the Queens office and checked the 'undecided' box on what she was planning to do with her pregnancy.

She was very soft spoken but honest. The father of the baby was a liar, but she had only realized after conception the level deceit in him. Apparently, she wasn't even provided with his real name even though they had been going out for weeks.

The counseling session was relaxed and easy - I just had to listen. When she got hungry during lunchtime we went together with another intern and it was obvious that she was touched by the simple gesture of sharing a meal in such a lonely time.

In a time when pregnancy centers are being attacked for "deceiving women," it is stories like these that show that most women love our services. In order to engender some sense of hope into them to help them first, and thus save the baby - we have to first be there for them. Which we do.