The Power of One Call

We recently received a call from a young woman who was at Planned Parenthood. Sarah* had just been told that her pregnancy test was positive and was waiting for information about taking the abortion pill. She could barely breathe. 

She called us because we had walked alongside her and her partner during her first pregnancy. That pregnancy resulted in a precious son, almost 2 years old now. She said that she felt prompted to call us. I knew the prompting came from our Heavenly Father. 

Our receptionist gently invited her to come to Informed Choices right away. Sarah showed up at the clinic 10 minutes later. She was so heavily ladened, still crying so hard. As she came through the door, I remembered that the last time I had seen her she was full of joy as she and her partner showed me their baby boy. 

As I approached her, she collapsed in my arms. Through her tears, she told me her story. This pregnancy was unplanned, unlike their first baby. Her partner, who was a kind, protective, loving father to their son, was now feeling filled with fear. He was trying to complete his degree, hold down a full-time job, rent had gone up, and the utility and food bills had gone up. How could he provide and care for another baby so soon he asked her? 

Sarah told me she couldn’t even emotionally process what he was saying. She told me how he had pulled up the number of Planned Parenthood on his phone and said that she should go there and get information about their options for this pregnancy. 

That’s how she ended up at Planned Parenthood that morning. She told me when she was in the exam room, she felt an overwhelming need to get out of there. She said she knew  we   could  help her  and that   she just  needed   the comfort of the consultation room that she had been in two years ago to talk things through a bit. 

I knew our Heavenly Father was moving in her story. 

She talked, I listened, and we both cried. I brought her into the ultrasound room, and with a shaky hand yet a powerful sense of our Heavenly Father’s presence, we saw her baby on the ultrasound screen, with a heart beating so strongly as if saying, “Yes Mom. Here I am living, growing inside of you.” 

I looked over at Sarah expecting tears, but instead I saw a softening of her brow and the beautiful smile that I had grown to love so much when she came to the clinic after her first baby was born for much needed supplies. I asked her what she was feeling, and she said three words, “There’s my baby.“ 

Then we just watched the screen for a little longer, both in awe of this new life. After the ultrasound, I stepped out to let her get dressed. When I came back in, without me even saying anything, she said, “Jenna, I’m having this baby.“ 

She was heading home to talk to the father, and she said that no matter what he said, she was going to have the baby.

I noticed a distinct tone in her voice, a mother‘s tone. It was the voice of unconditional love, the voice of protection, the voice of a mother. 

As I walked her out, the two front office admin staff remembered her and gave her big hugs and offered words of encouragement, along with a bag of supplies they thought she might need. 

When an elephant is about to give birth, the female elephants in the herd all surround her. They face backwards around the birthing elephant, watching and providing protection for her until the baby is born. That day, we were Sarah’s elephant herd - encircling her, stomping our feet, raising our trunks against the enemy, providing her with protection as she chose life for herself and her baby. 

I followed up with Sarah the next day. She told me she had told the father of her baby the whole story of how she started at Planned Parenthood and ended up at Informed Choices. 

She showed him the ultrasound pictures of their baby. He cried when he saw the images and said he felt ashamed that he had pressured her to go to Planned Parenthood. 

As she listened with a more gentle ear and let him process, they were able to talk through his fears. She said he had accepted the fact that they were going to have another baby, and although he was fearful, he knew this was the right thing to do. 

Therein lies the beauty of our clinic. We are a place where women are heard, supported, and encouraged. A place where the Holy Spirit moves. A place where life is protected, honored, and celebrated.

*Name changed to protect our patient’s privacy.