Since both Linda and Sylvia were home sick, I had to do more counseling than usual on a Tuesday – I tend to leave that to others on abortion day. It was a rather busy late morning/ early afternoon. (Stayed till almost 1:30.)
Spoke with both Amy and Kathryn about how difficult it is to be here on Tuesday but especially to counsel. There were a number of occurrences, but one was particularly heartbreaking. About 12:30 two young Hispanic women with a little girl went in the front from the 7th St. lot. I said to one of the young women that this was no place for a Catholic girl (which I surmised by the rosary hanging around her neck), that they do close a a thousand abortions here a year. She said that is what she was there for and to leave her alone. Her friend came out a few minutes later with her (very cute) daughter. She was pro-life and said she tried to talk to her friend but she was hard. This woman was very sincere and had even had a child at 14. I asked her if her friend really knew what she was doing, and as we spoke i showed her a (12 wk.) fetal model; she was surprised to learn the baby was that developed so soon. She told me she was going to her car and would call her friend right away. (They wouldn’t let her go in with her child.) Several minutes later I called to her in the car and told her to tell her friend to ask to see her ultrasound. She said she would. But the friend did not come out.
I was able to give a brochure to one young woman coming out, and another who had apparently been inside for birth control (said she wasn’t pregnant).
Amy covered the front while we had our hour of prayer (joined again by Jack and Candy, raising our numbers to 5 or 6… anyone is welcome to join us starting about 10:15). She covered the escort (there was only one in front later in the morning) with prayer and readings from the Bible. Jo later suggested we pray together for the same escort, which we did.
Kathryn gave brochures to a pair of women going in, one of whom was very pregnant.
At the driveway, Kim gave brochures to a young man going in to pick up his girlfriend; and she tried to give them to a young man coming out, but he took them and threw them on the ground. The same man asked Michael (who was holding a sign up at the corner) if he could get an ultrasound for himself. At least three of us were blessed with the finger salute… (A woman in one car told Michael she was there for a job interview, which may account for the number of apparent workers we saw going in today.)
