💝💝 Showing Up 💝💝

When I first started working as a pro life advocate I noticed that others who came out to stand in front of Planned Parenthood seemed to have different purposes for being there. A few just felt called to support but many others had a story. I started to realize these stories helped me understand the different reasons, purpose and fears of those entering the clinic who were experiencing crisis pregnancies. I like to hear other people`s stories because it helps create a community. It`s a form of communication that has been part of life within families and communities since the beginning of time . I think sharing these stories helps everyone involved . It helps those who are telling the story to have an avenue to tell their secrets and to share their wisdom. 

I think in the pro life circle it can also have a healing effect. Standing in front of an abortion clinic trying to help in whatever way you can has a way of humbling everyone involved. Seeing the pain of the mother in crisis or the father who doesn't have any rights or the grandmother grappling with the situation of knowing but not wanting to know hits home in almost everyone`s heart. The helplessness of it all crosses every boundary. 

One of our volunteers shared the reason he started coming out decades ago. He was the child of a single mom. She lived a life of promiscuity while he was little. The promiscuity led to unwanted pregnancy and then to abortion. He vividly remembers going with his mother and brother to an abortion clinic and not being sure why they were at this clinic but then watching her come out pale, sad and weak made him know something wasn't right. Later in life he realized he`d been a witness to his mother`s abortion day. He knows he had at least one other sibling that never had a chance. He wonders if there were more children. This drove him to literally take a stand in the best way he knew how. He has been religiously, in many ways, standing up for life, saying rosaries and trying to show these women in crisis that someone sees them. He`s been doing this for decades. He knows he can't bring his sibling back but he can be a part of saving others from his pain and the pain he saw on his mother`s face by simply showing up to help support the pro life cause.