The following comes from a March 12 email from the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants San Diego:

Dear Pro-life friends,

The miracle started about 6 weeks ago when the 40-year old woman became pregnant. She had been told by her doctor that she could not become pregnant, because she had already stopped ovulating. So the pregnancy came as quite a shock. She has teenage children from a prior marriage/relationship, and she is currently engaged to a handsome, wealthy man about her same age. Having a baby at age 40 and starting a new family was not a part of her plan.

They arrived at Family Planning Associates sometime after 11:00 am, shortly after most of the counselors had left. There were four counselors comparing notes and getting ready to leave when the couple pulled into the parking lot driving a newer $70,000 luxury car.

The counselors’ first thought upon seeing the car was that whoever was in it, they were most likely going to one of the furniture stores in the complex. But we have been wrong in the past, so we usually play it safe and approach the car anyway, asking first if they are going upstairs to see the doctor. The man rolled down his car window and indicated that they were going up into the clinic. Statistically, the chances of turning around a couple in their 40’s arriving for an abortion in a luxury car are somewhere between slim and none. Throw in the yellow-shirt “escorts”swarming around the vehicle, and the chances drop closer to none. So the counselors had a daunting challenge.

The yellow-shirts quickly began crowding around the car, trying to over-talk the two counselors, saying in loud voices to the man “Tell them to go away! These are protesters! You don’t have to listen to them! Tell them to leave and they have to leave!” During all this, the counselors were showing a picture of the paramedics in front of the clinic, and telling the man how a woman almost died. The man indicated that he had been trying to talk the woman out of going to the abortion clinic for 3 days. The man wanted someone to speak to the woman in Spanish. One of the yellow-shirts jumped forward quickly and started speaking in Spanish to the woman. The man at first thought the yellow-shirts were part of the counselor’s group. The counselors explained that the yellow-shirts want them to have the abortion, and to please tell them to leave so we could talk. He said that he wanted to talk to us, and for them to back away. They stood back a short distance, watching and listening.

One of the counselors asked the man if he could interpret what the counselor was saying for woman, since neither of the counselors speak Spanish. He said he would, but first spoke to the woman privately, and then told the counselors that she could understand some English. She had been looking down most of the time, but now faced the counselors as they spoke. The counselors talked about the woman who had to be transported to the hospital, the litigation history of the doctor, and the risks and side effects of having an abortion. One of the counselors asked the woman how far along she was, and if this was a medical referral. She told them 6 weeks, and that they had already had an ultrasound, and that there was nothing wrong with the baby.

The counselor showed her a picture of a pre-born baby at 6 weeks, and began to talk about the emotional trauma most women will experience after an abortion, particularly when they realize the humanity of the unborn baby. The counselors talked about the value of family, and that she would love this unborn baby as much as her other children, and that to remember that they too, were once in the womb. At this point, the counselors assumed the couple was married, but the man shared that they were engaged. The counselor advised them that an abortion would put a huge strain on their relationship, and that killing their child would be the wrong way to start a marriage.

The counselors told them that if they love each other, they would be wonderful parents, the baby would bring joy to their marriage, and that it was apparent they had the financial means to raise the baby. The counselor told them that this baby was a gift from God, and that God gave them this baby for a reason. When asked if they believed in God, they both said they did. Both the man and woman were tearing up, and the man took his fiance’s hand and held it, while the counselors continued to talk, contrasting the happiness and bond of a child, to the emptiness and regret of an abortion.

When the woman explained that she was told she could not become pregnant, the man said, “See, I told you it was a miracle”. The woman shared that she was afraid to tell her older teenager that she was pregnant, and was concerned that she might not be able to get married in the church because she was pregnant. She is Catholic, and the man does not belong to any religion, but strongly believes in God. The man asked the counselor if he was Catholic, and to explain the Church’s teaching on abortion to the woman. The counselor told her that abortion is a very grave mortal sin, and that whatever her situation was concerning marriage in the church, abortion will never solve any problems, it only makes matters worse.

The counselor told her not to be afraid to tell her children, and that they would get over whatever uncomfortable feelings they might have, and would take great joy in having a baby brother or sister. Further, if she were to have the abortion, she would find it very difficult to ever tell her children what she did, and she might carry this dark secret with her the rest of her life, causing much pain.

After about 20 minutes, she was nodding in agreement with the counselors as they talked about how having an abortion would bring sorrow and regret, but having the baby would bring love, and strengthen the bond between her and her future husband. There were tears and a look of relief on her face. The counselor handed the woman a pink Rosary, and told them to drive some place and have lunch, and to hug each other in joy for their new baby.

The couple thanked the counselors and waved as they drove away.

Please remember them and their “Miracle Baby” in your prayers.

– the sidewalk counselors of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants San Diego