Condensed from a report by Maureen O., volunteer sidewalk counselor
I had started my shift at the Uptown Planned Parenthood (PP) on January 27 by praying with sidewalk counseling partner Grace P. Soon a car drove into the driveway. The woman rolled down the window and took both white (“Were Here for You”) and blue (resource list) brochures. I asked if she was pregnant. Yes. Was she considering abortion? Yes. I encouraged her to please talk with us about other options that are available.
She asked if we do abortions. I said no, we are pro-life, everything we offer is free and we want to help you. As we were talking, the PP escort brushed up against me, telling the woman to go in. I told the escort not to touch me, but then I regretted saying anything to the escort at that point and got control of myself and refocused back to the woman. She drove in, got out of the car and walked toward me, passing by the two escorts.
I asked if she wanted to have the abortion. No. The mother wasn’t elaborating on her answers at all. So I asked if there was a specific reason she came to PP and she said her boyfriend wants her to have an abortion. I asked how far along she is and she said 11 weeks. So I showed her the new 10-week fetal model. She held it in her hand and asked if she could keep it (yes). We looked at the model for a while and then I quietly told her that at 11 weeks you can clearly see the baby’s legs, arms, eyes.
Then she pulled out an ultrasound photo , saying that she had already been to a doctor. I asked if she would be interested in going to a pregnancy center where they could talk with her in detail about all the help available including free medical care. She answered, “Yes.” I opened the blue brochure pointing to the pregnancy center options in Minneapolis. I asked if she was safe and she answered, yes, and told me she was not living with the boyfriend. She has other children, so I smiled and reminded her of how wonderful and precious children are. She smiled too, and said she doesn’t want to have an abortion. She didn’t want to give me her number, but I told her I would be happy to give her my phone number and I also pointed to the number on the front of the white brochure. She didn’t take my number, but headed into PP! I said, “Oh no, please don’t go in there,” but she went in anyway.
About 10 minutes later, she came out. As she was driving out, she rolled down her window and I saw that she still had both brochures. I told her if she wanted to talk more, to please pull into the parking spot on the street and she did. I asked if she had changed her mind about abortion and she said, “Yes” and said she never wanted the abortion. I asked if we were helpful in any way, but she didn’t respond.
At this point, she took my phone number. I said, “God Bless you and your family” and she drove away. (Editor’s note – Please pray for this woman that she would remain firm in her decision for life and get the support needed. Although she didn’t respond when asked if Maureen’s presence there was helpful, we believe there is a good chance she would have succumbed to the unwanted abortion if not for the words and pro-life materials from Maureen.)
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