March for Life Year-Round Guide | Page 36

Women come to the clinic for an abortion, usually accompanied by a friend, boyfriend or husband. The pro-life sidewalk counselors hand out brochures explaining the many local resources available for pregnant women in need, including: housing; financial, medical and legal support; help with education and employment; and, equally as important, friendship. Some of the women stop and talk to the sidewalk counselors.  While each story is different, the common thread is that these women are afraid. Not afraid of the people praying for them across the street, but afraid of how their lives will change with a baby. Are we really “empowering” women by encouraging them to give in to this fear and abort their child? It certainly doesn’t seem so after spending 40 days watching women leave the abortion clinic hours after their appointment, clutching their abdomen, dejected, crying, barely able to walk down the street (or even worse, carried out on a stretcher and into an ambulance, as we witnessed on October 14th). Th HZ\