by Rebecca Millette
TORONTO, Ontario, February 24, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The dedicated staff at the Toronto-based crisis pregnancy center, Aid to Women, experienced a successful week this week after three women going to the nearby abortion facility (one who was pregnant with twins) experienced a change of heart after conversing with Aid to Women staff.
One woman, after discovering from the abortionist that she was pregnant with twins, left the abortion facility crying, telling Aid to Women workers, “I couldn’t do it.”
Aid to Women is a Christian, volunteer-based charity, located in the immediate vicinity of Cabbagetown Women’s abortion facility in Toronto. Since 1984, they have reached out with love and compassion, encouraging and supporting pregnant mothers in all their needs.
Aid to Women counselors told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that during the past month there was no significant “turn-around” – until Tuesday. Twelve to thirteen women went into the abortion facility throughout the morning; Aid to Women staff stood by, as they do each morning, handing out pamphlets where they could and offering help.
The woman who was pregnant with twins came to the abortion facility with a friend and her two young children. Counselors tried to approach her, but were ignored and brushed aside. Soon after the woman’s friend left the building with the young children and was approached by Aid to Women counselor, Maria Nolan. “You want to give her a second chance,” Nolan told the friend, who finally agreed to speak with the pregnant mother.
Later, the woman herself, looking very shaken up, came to speak with Nolan. “The other two [children] I took really good care of,” she said, “I’m going to have twins and I didn’t want them to be messed up.” The woman had been smoking and drinking.
The woman recounted many signs that she said seemed to indicate she should not have an abortion. While leaving the subway going to the abortion mill, she took a wrong turn and experienced abnormal, extremely intense abdominal pain. “It’s a sign,” said the woman.
She also related how, a week prior to finding out she was pregnant, her four-year-old daughter told her, “Mommy, are you having a baby? Mommy, I want a baby. I want two babies.” When she discovered yesterday from the abortionist that she was carrying twins, she remembered her daughter’s words.
“The beautiful thing,” Julie Abernethy, counselor and fundraising co-ordinator at Aid to Women told LSN, “is that she has faith in God, but more so that she recognized all the signs as she was going along.”
The woman’s friend, said Nolan, had told her what the pro-life counselors had said and suggested she really should think about it. “Because of that she came out to talk.” Later, said Nolan, “She was joyous…100% going to have her babies.”
Abernethy recounted another story from this week. “One of the girls I spoke with said she forgot her health card and on her way back home to get it, I was able to talk to her,” said Abernethy. “She herself recognized that there was a reason she forgot her card, a reason that I was there, and a reason she was listening. She left and did not come back for the abortion.”
“We are really just instruments in the hands of God, and the most important thing we can do is to allow Him to work through us. So many times the women will tell us that it’s a sign that we are there,” concluded Abernethy
“I am overjoyed at these amazing success stories!” Alissa Golob, youth co-ordinator at Campaign Life Coalition told LSN. “It is so inspiring to see such dedicated young people who have committed their lives to helping women and saving children!”
The young women who work and volunteer at Aid to Women are in their mid-to-late 20s, near the age of most of the women they counsel. General manager Frances Keet was unavailable for comment yesterday as she was taking time off due to the fact that she is pregnant.
The third woman whose heart was changed Tuesday had approached the abortion facility and walked right past Aid to Woman’s Frances Keet. “I don’t want to hear about it,” she told Keet.
However, the woman, in her teens, proceeded right into the Aid to Women office by mistake, encountering Nolan. After learning they did not do abortions, the woman, 19 weeks gestation, turned to leave. “We can help you and your baby,” Nolan told her.
“I was feeling really discouraged that morning,” Nolan told LSN. She assumed that she had failed in her efforts after the woman immediately left.
“The end of the morning came,” Nolan recounted, “and she came back up the stairs, looking shaken up.” “I couldn’t do it,” she said.
“She became so happy,” Nolan said. “She has another daughter and a supportive boyfriend. She is going to keep in contact and let us know the sex of the baby after her ultra-sound.”
“It is so encouraging to hear such inspiring stories of women who choose life, especially for us here at Campaign Life Coalition,” said Golob, who has worked closely with Aid to Women. “This story proves that times are changing and the pro-life movement is coming out on top. Women don’t want abortion. They don’t want to choose abortion. They just want help and someone to reach out to them. What these counsellors do on a daily basis is truly heroic.”
“It’s an honour to be working in the pro-life movement here,” Nolan said. “To be on the front lines and make a difference. It’s a huge blessing!”
“I can’t tell you how important it is to have a loving presence outside these clinics - to let God be present to these women through us,” said Abernethy. “I encourage everyone to come out at least once to stand in silent prayer for these mothers and fathers, when they truly need it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment