“I’m good....” As She Drives into Abortion Center

“Please let us help you...”

“Oh, it’s ok. I’m good.”

She smiles weakly, and then drives into the abortion center determined to kill her baby.

I have had this conversation a thousand times or so in the past six years on the sidewalk in front of the southeast’s busiest abortion center. 

Today, I perused an article in The NY Times about elderly people traveling to Peruvian jungles to take part in ayahuasca healing ceremonies. Ayahuasca is a psychedelic drug that causes hallucinations, vomiting, and diarrhea. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? The kind of healing we all can sink our soul into.

Apparently, it is touted as bringing about momentous healing to one’s tortured soul. One person in the article is described as saying after she took the hallucinogen, her soul told her it had been trying to talk to her a long time to say, “I’m okay.”

The increasing numbers of elderly people engaging in these healing ceremonies are described as seeking to find their purpose in life. The hallucinations, vomiting, and diarrhea apparently lead them to find it.

“Do you know the Lord?” I asked the woman who stopped to talk to me outside the abortion center yesterday.

“Of course,” she said.

“Would He have you abort your baby?”

She opened her mouth...but then closed it. With reluctance, she admitted He would not, shaking her head slowly.

“Please, let us help you. Let me talk to you about your situation and resources that can help. Let me show you your baby on the ultrasound before you make this life or death decision.”

“Oh it’s ok. I’m good...”

“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the LORD. Thus says the LORD, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it. ’”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭6:14-16‬ ‭

Pausing in the Face of Fear

A mother recently chose life at the abortion center, but she was as determined as anyone I have met to kill her child when I first encountered her. She stopped her car and looked at me, giving me an opportunity to speak. I think she was a little bit lost and was hoping I would direct her. 

I DID direct her…to Jesus rather than the abortion clinic.

Her window opened just the teeniest crack.

“Are you headed to the women’s center?” I asked.

“Yes…is this where it is?”

“We have information that can help you. Would you take it? We have so many resources including a free ultrasound on the RV parked just down the street.”

She shook her head and didn’t open the window any further.

“I CANNOT have this baby.”

I saw the tiniest tear creep out of the corner of one eye.

“You really don’t want to abort, do you? Do you know how far along you are?”

“I think eleven weeks.”

I opened my booklet and showed her the photo of an 11-week baby in the womb. “By now your baby has a heart beat, brain waves, ten fingers and ten toes, unique finger prints, every organ in place. What is your situation that makes you feel you have to abort?”

The window rolled down a crack further.

“I can’t have this baby. I can barely provide for the one I have.”

“Do you love that child at home?”

She nodded.

“Would you send that child back? Listen, I don’t know the specifics of what you face, but I know we can help. For example, we provide baby showers that give up to two years of the clothes and supplies your baby will need. We have so many other resources we can point you to. Please, take my booklet. My name and number are on it so you can contact me at any time, no matter what you decide.”

The window rolled down a little more. She reached for the booklet. I slipped it in to her.

“Do you know God?”

Now the tears began to cascade.

“What would He have you do?” I asked.

She cried out as though in pain, and slammed her fist down in a torrent of tears. Her shoulders shook with her cries. I think she knew exactly what Jesus would have her do…and abortion was not it.

“Oh honey,” I said, “would you consider coming on the RV and let’s talk about how we can help you?”

She lifted her head and looked down the street at our Cities4Life team stretched along the sidewalk.

“Are those protesters? I don’t want them to pressure me. They cannot talk to me at all!”

“They are with me. They are not protesters, they are offering hope and help. But they won’t talk to you.”

Honestly, I didn’t know how I could guarantee that. They are a friendly, loving group. They often offer help and encouragement to the moms who approach us. How could I telegraph to them this mom didn’t want them to come near?

“Drive down and park behind the RV,” I said. “I’ll meet you there.”

She nodded, rolled the window back up, and drove down the street. As I jogged behind her, I prayed she did not turn instead into the abortion center. She didn’t. She parked behind the RV. Our team, sensing the situation, didn’t speak to her. They smiled, but then continued reaching out to other moms entering the center. I am convinced the Holy Spirit guided all of them in that perfect response.

I walked the woman (who I will call Sarah) into the RV where the HELP Pregnancy Center sonographer, Kelly, met us. Kelly set up for the ultrasound while I talked with Sarah about her situation. As she listed her concerns, I wrote each one down. I then explained how we could help in each area. A friend who was meeting her at the abortion center arrived. That friend was visibly pregnant. In fact, she told us she had come to abort her baby just a few months ago at this very place. In the end, she changed her mind but didn’t tell any of us on the sidewalk. 

“I am so glad I didn’t abort,” she said.

I offered her the same resources we now offered Sarah. Then we went to see Sarah’s baby on the mobile ultrasound. When the baby’s image appeared on the screen, Sarah’s mouth fell open and she cried out in a voice filled with wonder. “I thought it was just a clump of cells! Oh my. This is really real. Oh my.”

She continued to gasp in shock and delight as the little baby moved and stretched. I knew at that point there was little doubt the baby was safe now. His mama had seen him for what he was — her child. A precious tiny vulnerable human whom God had perfectly designed Sarah to protect.

When I walked her to her car, she stopped before getting in. “Thank you so much. I feel so much better. And I feel humbled. I learned that I should not be in such a rush. I need to think more before I take action.”

“You were in a crisis and let fear take over,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Fear is a nasty liar. A life and death decision should never be made on the basis of fear. Trust God to guide you instead.”

*****

Psalm 34:4

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

*****

God Meant it For Good

Our city council recently passed a buffer quiet zone ordinance prohibiting amplified sound within 150 feet of medical facilities, schools, and churches. It was all a big smokescreen to prevent amplified sound from being used in front of the three local abortion centers. One of the brave city council members who voted against it was quite vocal in saying this was the case. He saw it as a sneaky subterfuge to silence the first amendment rights of the peaceful pro-life group offering hope and help in front of the abortion centers. Our presence affects their profit margin. I’m pretty sure they don’t like that at all.

Despite a huge outcry from the pro-life community, the ordinance passed and went into effect Monday, October 1.  For the ordinance to be applied, the facilities are required to post a sign declaring themselves a quiet zone. As far as I know, not a single school, church, hospital, or legitimate health care facility posted such a sign. Only the abortion centers. Notice the photograph of the professional sign posted at the “health center” where 20-50 babies lose their lives every day but Sunday. You would think with the millions they make off of the extermination of little people that they would spring for a professionally produced sign, but they probably need to save their money for all their “health” promotion.

Of course, the ‘pro-choice’ side was gleeful. As the women streamed in for abortions, the ‘pro-choice’ escorts went on, business as usual. They approached the cars with amplified music blaring under umbrellas they carry to block us. They smiled at the young man who blasted his car radio to drown us out as we called out with our un-amplified voices to offer baby showers and myriad resources, free ultrasounds, free mentorship programs, the truth of fetal development, and the clear Biblical truth regarding sanctity of life.

Fortunately, our director is well versed on the ordinance and our rights. He summoned the police. After they examined the ordinance and likely consulted with superiors, the car owner was told to shut off his blasting car radio. The umbrella ladies were told to silence their music. We had a clear quiet zone to call out to the women who have been deceived into believing abortion will solve anything or that taking an innocent baby’s life is a valid answer to struggles.

At the end of the day, a woman who was meeting a friend was cutting through the parking lot. She approached me immediately as I called out to her. She was not there for an abortion but was just cutting through from a neighborhood behind the center. As soon as I told her what we were there for, her eyes teared. I immediately knew she had an abortion in her past. When I asked, she began crying in earnest and I urged her to come to a quiet place across the street to talk with me. She told me a terrible tale of rape that led her to abort. And then she broke down. The abortion had not healed the trauma but in fact, had made it worse. She was filled with remorse, self-revulsion, suicidal despair, and deep shame. She knew God, but she did not know how she could be forgiven.

Out of my own past and sorrow, God had brought me to a place where I could minister to this grieving woman. After five years of suffering from what she had done,  now she listened as I shared the truth of the Gospel. I didn’t sugarcoat abortion. There is no healing if terrible sin is not recognized for what it is. She knew that. I spoke of sin, repentance, confession which leads to forgiveness through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, and upon following that process, the creator of the universe would love and heal her. Her tears flowed and then she threw her arms around me and thanked me. I gave her a list of abortion recovery programs in our area, as well as my name and number. “Call me anytime if you want to talk.”

No blaring music trying to cover up the horror and sin of abortion ever healed her soul.  “For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30:15‬ ‭

Praise God for that quiet zone.

********

If you are interested in joining us in speaking for life on the sidewalks of the abortion center, please click on the following links:

https://charlotte.cities4life.org/take-action/volunteer/

https://charlotte.cities4life.org/donate/