Missed the summary last week because I was out of town for a few days. When I returned home, I heard reports about women with whose names I was completely unfamiliar, so much had happened in those few days. The briefest way to explain is this: we are getting more references from women whom we have helped or are helping; so it’s not just the women we meet at the abortion mill. Even yesterday, while at the clinic, a man got off the bus and approached us. He had heard about the people who stand in front of American Family Planning and who help. He told me about his 17 year-old niece, who is pregnant. When he asked if we could help, I said yes. Our policy is simple. Help those whom we can help.
R. and M. showed up at the abortuary this Friday. They had been turned away the week previous. They had even gone to the CPC and had seen ultrasound images of their baby. M. the boyfriend, wants the baby. He helped bring R. away the first week, and did so again this past Friday. We’re not quite sure what his motives are, because in other circumstances he seems extremely controlling of R. This past Friday, while R. and M. were outside the mill, friends of theirs pulled in to the parking lot. They had come, apparently, to help R. turn away from the abortuary; but also to help her escape from M. M. accused them of wanting R. to abort, which wasn’t true. He even punched one of them. While our Alicia was talking to R., R. continued to use euphemisms to refer to the abortion–phrases like “end the pregnancy” and “not keep the baby.” Alicia told R. that she wanted her to speak the truth about what she wanted to do; at which point, R. looked at her evenly and said, “I want to kill my baby.”
Eventually they all left the abortuary. The baby is alive for a few more days. Some miracle, however, will have to occur in order to change R.’s heart.
Y.’s baby is still in the hospital. He has fluid in his right lung. One of the nurses said he could die, a comment overheard by Y.’s son, who ran crying out of the room. We talked to Y. on the phone while we were making our visits on Friday. She was at the hospital, but commented that she had to go home soon in order to feed her family. We offered to take lunch to the family, and asked how many would be eating. Fifteen, she said. Y. very frequently takes in family members; yet even with all those bodies in the house, we found everything very tidy.
