When the woman stepped out of an Uber and approached Planned Parenthood, Mary, a new SAFL co-leader, was ready. She greeted the woman and asked why she was going to Planned Parenthood — was it because she was pregnant?
The woman–we’ll call her Susan–said yes. Mary replied, “They’re not going to tell you all the options you have.” Mary handed Susan some literature, and then was inspired to ask, “Can I give you a hug?”
“We all love you, and there’s so much help available,” Mary explained as she hugged Susan, who hugged her right back.
But Susan went on to her Planned Parenthood appointment, leaving Mary on the sidewalk along with Joanna, a local pregnancy center employee, and a couple young people from Students for Life, all of them praying.
A half an hour later, Susan emerged from the facility with tears in her eyes. “I cannot be a mother who murders her baby,” she said. “I’m just really scared.”
When Mary asked why she was scared, Susan opened up about her medical issues—hypertension among them. Upon hearing this, Mary was flooded with peace.
“When I had my two kids, I had Type 1 diabetes,” Mary shared. And I worked for about 10 years in the perinatal center at the university hospital here, and all we saw were high-risk women who were pregnant. We saw a lot of women with hypertension… Most pregnancies have really good outcomes.”
Susan smiled and said,
“Thank you. God put you here today for me.”
The miracle didn’t stop there. When Mary asked where Susan lived, she discovered it was five minutes from the pregnancy help center where Joanna worked. She called Joanna over to help Susan make an appointment that very day at the center. Then the students praying on the sidewalk called and paid for Susan’s ride to the pregnancy resource center to receive an ultrasound.
After this amazing day, Mary reflected, “A life was saved … actually, two lives: the mother and the baby. There is hope.”
Submitted by Sidewalk Advocates for Life – Cincinnati
