At this critical point in your life, you are full of meaning and riches. Let us offer you an option with privacy and support from professionals who care... care about you and the life growing inside you.
Listen to Your Inner Voice
"When I was pregnant, at first I felt very alone. I didn't want to admit to myself or anyone that I had this problem to deal with. But before I did anything, I wanted to talk to someone, maybe someone who had already gone through what I was facing...
"My child is starting college this year. I thank God for giving me the strength at the time to make the right decision..."
"THE OPEN DOOR:
A Story of Mother and Child"
On Valentine's Day 2002, the Center's doorbell chimed unexpectedly just before our usual 5:00 p.m. closing time. Standing anxiously at the door were a young woman and her boyfriend of about the same age. We welcomed them inside, and the young woman announced that she was here for her 4:30 appointment. Her boyfriend stood wordless, biting his fingernails. When our guest began to inquire about the pills she would be given, Susan and I realized that "Jennifer" (fictitious name) thought she was at the nearby abortion clinic.
We sat down to talk with them right away, letting them know that we were not the abortion clinic but were concerned about the situation driving them to seek an abortion. Jennifer immediately asked her boyfriend to wait for her in the car, and he obliged, freeing her to express her own thoughts on her pregnancy. It turned out that she was under pressure to seek abortion not only from her boyfriend but also because of her history of an earlier abortion. Jennifer, now nineteen, was extremely fearful of approaching her mother with news of another pregnancy because of the trauma of aborting her first child.
At sixteen, Jennifer was forced by her mother to abort her unborn baby in her sixth month of pregnancy. She recalled the physical force that her mother threatened. She remembered someone on the abortion clinic staff slapping her face when she tried to look at the ultrasound image of her baby. She described how another denied her request to leave the abortion clinic and whispered threats into her ear just before Jennifer signed a release.
With the sights and sounds of the abortion clinic now so vivid and still traumatizing her, why would she seek an abortion as an answer to this new pregnancy? Jennifer, like many post-abortive women, had suppressed much of her experience and again found herself pregnant, frightened, and desperate to avoid her mother's reaction.
The doorbell rang again, and Jennifer responded quickly that she would get it herself. Her boyfriend stood in the doorway, reminding her they were in the wrong place. Jennifer responded with new confidence that she knew where she was and once again asked him to wait in the car. As she turned back to us, we all smiled, calling her appointment at the Woman's New Life Center her "divine appointment," and the three of us were able to talk about God's plan for her to be here.
Before leaving that evening, Jennifer had decided to keep her baby. Two weeks later, she called to let me know that she had worked up the nerve to tell her mother about her pregnancy. Although her mother's reaction was unsupportive, Jennifer was firm in her decision.
Jennifer's boyfriend no longer pressures her about abortion but is still a bit nervous about Parenting a child. He recently bought an embroidered bib that reads "Heaven Sent," and Jennifer agrees completely.
- Sharon Normand