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Fruitful
Harvest donors are part of the Lindsey story
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
A recent newsletter from Birthright of Rensselaer caught my attention.
It’s an organization serving Jasper, Newton, White, Pulaski, Starke and
Benton counties which responds to women with unplanned pregnancies. It,
along with 12 other crisis pregnancy centers in Northcentral Indiana,
receives support from the diocese through Fruitful Harvest.
Birthright began in Toronto back in 1968. A housewife and mother of
seven children felt something should be done to help women through
unplanned pregnancies. From an initial chapter in Toronto, Birthright
has grown into more than 400 chapters worldwide. An estimated 28,000
women make their first visit to a Birthright chapter every month.
Birthright and similar agencies provide caring, non-judgmental support
to girls and women who are distressed by an unplanned pregnancy.
Positive and loving alternatives are provided to abortion. The agencies
funded by Fruitful Harvest do not proselytize. They do not use scare
tactics or pressure. Rather, they ask, “How can we help?” Services are
free. They include pregnancy tests, as well as maternity and baby
clothes. In some instances, babies receive a layette while in the
hospital. These centers also serve as a referral to available legal,
medical, housing and financial resources.
Fruitful Harvest funding of crisis pregnancy centers began years ago
during a clergy discussion of possible pastoral responses to abortion.
The issue on the table was precisely what does a priest offer when
someone seeks help in a crisis pregnancy. There had to be something
concrete that would give hope to a woman struggling with an unwanted
pregnancy in our culture of readily available abortion.
The late Cardinal O’Connor of New York once had pledged that his
archdiocese would cover the expenses faced by any woman struggling with
a crisis pregnancy. With its limited financial resources, this diocese
cannot make such a pledge. All those engaged in the discussion realized
that was a reality. It would take a very hefty endowment. But, we could
do something. We could provide limited funding to organizations such as
Birthright. And, we do. This calendar year $36,500 has been distributed.
The Rensselaer Birthright newsletter carried the story of Lindsey (a
fictitious name). I found it moving.
Lindsey came to Birthright for a free pregnancy test. She was covered
with bruises, some old, some new. Her hair was dirty and uncombed. She
wouldn’t make eye contact with the volunteer. She was, however, willing
to talk. The volunteer asked if Lindsey was trying to get pregnant. Her
response was, “Oh no, my boyfriend doesn’t want that.” The volunteer
asked gently about all of the bruises. When Lindsey told her that her
boyfriend got mad at her and hit her, the volunteer asked her if she
would consider calling or going into the crisis center. Lindsey refused.
She loved her boyfriend, but he frightened her. The volunteer told
Lindsey that love did not mean hurting the one loved, quite the
opposite. If her boyfriend truly loved her, he would not abuse her.
Lindsey did not deserve to be abused. She was again urged to contact the
shelter, but again she refused.
When asked if she had been pregnant before, Lindsey replied in a
whisper, “Yes, but he made me have an abortion.” The volunteer told her
that she was very sorry that this had happened to her. When the
pregnancy test result turned out positive, Lindsey was quite distraught.
She just hugged herself and moaned, “He’ll make me do it again.”
The volunteer assured Lindsey that no one could force her to abort if
she didn’t want to. Once again the volunteer stressed the need to find a
safe place to get away from the boyfriend. Lindsey said that she would
think about it. She had left him many times before, but for some reason
she always went back. The volunteer asked if she had family or friends
who would be supportive. Lindsey’s family sometimes helped her, but she
could not count on them with any regularity. Sometimes they were there
for her and sometimes not. She was never sure how they would respond to
her. The volunteer told Lindsey that Birthright would always love her,
would always stand by her, would never, ever leave her. If Lindsey
didn’t want to go to the shelter in town, the volunteer would find her
another shelter in another town. What did Lindsey want the volunteer to
do? Lindsey said that she could find a safe place for a few days while
she thought things through.
The volunteer offered Lindsey all kinds of support to help her have her
baby. She asked Lindsey if she would like to pick out a new handmade
quilt or afghan for her baby. Lindsey declined. The volunteer asked if
she could keep in touch with Lindsey to be sure that she was okay.
Lindsey declined this offer also. The volunteer begged Lindsey to come
back to the office any time, that the volunteers loved her and truly
cared about her.
About a week passed. Lindsey called the office to say that she was
scheduled for an abortion the next day. She did remember the volunteer
asking for one more office visit. She was willing to come in one more
time.
When she arrived, the volunteer asked if she could give her a hug. She
agreed and didn’t want to let go. There were no new bruises, so the
volunteer asked if she had left her boyfriend. Lindsey wouldn’t answer.
She did want to talk about the upcoming abortion and her baby. Lindsey
wanted to have the baby. She did not want to have the beatings and abuse
from her boyfriend. She was so confused. The volunteer talked with her
for more than an hour. They both cried. The volunteer told her that even
if she did abort, she could always come back to the office and the
Birthright volunteers would still love her. The love was unconditional.
As she was going down the stairs, Lindsey turned around and told the
volunteer, “I still have to do this.”
Months passed. On a very warm September day the volunteer was sitting at
the Birthright booth at the Little Cousin Jasper festival. A young woman
walked up to the booth and said, “Remember me?” The volunteer was
extremely embarrassed and confessed that she was sorry, but no she
didn’t remember. The young woman said, “I’m Lindsey.” The volunteer’s
mouth fell open. Lindsey! Wow! This woman looked terrific. She looked
tan, healthy, clean and very relaxed and not a bruise on her. The
volunteer told her that she didn’t recognize her because her appearance
had changed so dramatically. Lindsey said that when she left the office
she had every intention of aborting her baby. Her ties to her boyfriend
were just too strong to defy him. All that night she thought about what
to do. She finally decided that boyfriends come and go, but her baby is
her baby. She already aborted one baby for him and it did not change his
behavior and she felt awful. She would feel a lot less awful if she got
rid of the boyfriend and kept the baby.
Lindsey said, “Wait a minute I want to show you something.” She returned
pushing a stroller with the most adorable little baby boy. She was just
beaming. So was the volunteer.
The volunteer has seen Lindsey around town over the past few years. The
old boyfriend is gone. Lindsey has a job, her own apartment and her
little guy is doing just great.
The diocese is also involved in two other pregnancy assistance
ministries: Project Gianna and Project Rachel. Both are under the
supervision of the Pastoral Office for Family Life headed by Joe Dano.
Project Gianna is named for Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian canonized
by Pope John Paul II on May 16, 2004. It reaches out to pregnant women
in need of spiritual, physical, emotional and material assistance.
Project Rachel is named for the Old Testament figure who wept over the
loss of her child. It focuses on the post-abortion syndrome that many
women experience, helping them as they struggle with the emotional and
spiritual pain of past abortions.
The Catholic Church condemns abortion as a grave moral evil. Those who
participate directly in an abortion are excommunicated. But, that’s only
part of the story. The Church also reaches out. Your Fruitful Harvest
dollars are making that possible. |
