March 2, 2015 - Abortion Mill Update

Faith. Yesterday a brother at our church shared a message about faith that really encouraged me. (Messages about faith always seem to do that to me!) So, since we had just heard about it and it seemed relevant to our mission, faith is one of the things that my sister and I got to talking about on our drive to the abortion mill this morning. Maybe I’ll share some of those thoughts in a later post. My sister and I always have such good conversations on the way down, and having each other on the drive home gives us a chance to unload from the morning and learn from each other’s experiences. I’m SO thankful to have a sister to share the long drive with!

Due to a recent schedule change within the pro-life group that we minister with, we’ll be going out to the abortion mill every Monday for now. Somehow it seems that I get to bed later on Sundays than other days of the week, which was certainly true of this week! I was thankful that even though I got to bed very late, I actually felt well rested when my alarm woke me up this morning.

For the past month or so, Mondays have been very busy at this particular abortion mill. This morning we again saw the new normal of a dozen or so post-abortion checkups and 35-40 abortions. We didn’t have the typical rain that we’ve had on Mondays, though, and the nicer weather allowed us to have more interactions.

One young man, “R”, came down to the sidewalk and took some information from us. He seemed receptive and said that if it were up to him, he wouldn’t be there. We encouraged him to go inside and do what he could. Later after another pro-life man arrived, “R” talked to him for a while. Although the young man was encouraged to do what he was admitting he knew was right, we never saw him and the young woman he brought come out.

Every space in the mill parking lot was full at one point, so one young lady parked along the street behind our car. She was very nicely dressed so we wondered if she was there for a job interview, but that didn’t seem to be the case. As she was walking in we tried to give her some information. She said that she already had an abortion, so we tried to give her a post-abortive booklet. Later, she came out to put her purse in the car but wouldn’t make eye contact, talk, or take anything. On her last trip out to her car to leave, she finally stopped to talk to us. After some comments about premarital relationships and abortion, she told us, “My god taught me a lesson and I’m a different person now, but not because of anything that you said. I think it’s so rude and disrespectful of you to be out here saying these things to these girls.”

Late in the morning, a grandmother and her daughter and granddaughter (the granddaughter was about one year old) arrived. The daughter was the one scheduled for an abortion. The grandmother came down and took some literature and talked for a few minutes. She told us that she had told her daughter that it was okay to have the abortion now so that she could get her life fixed up and then she could have more children later when she was ready. She then became very argumentative and started yelling, which she carried on for quite a while and got the bouncer and a few others on the porch to join her in mocking.

Three women that we know of had ultrasounds today but still went through with their abortions. It is so crushing and sad to watch them come off of the ultrasound unit and drive into the mill. I was on the verge of tears several times this morning, but I think that’s a good thing. We were not able to witness any women change their minds today, but we sought to be faithful and trust God for the outcome.

We did have one bright spot this morning, and that was when a woman who had previously chosen life for her baby stopped by to tell us that she is having a girl! She was so happy and her excitement was contagious! All of the sorrow and discouragement of the morning was so completely worth it for that moment of joy!