Thanks in Part to ‘The Little Old Man From the Sidewalk,’ Amy Chose Life for Her Baby

By Kelli
Live Action News

Sidewalk counselors are the unsung heroes on the front lines of the pro-life movement. As the 40 Days for Life sidewalk outreach holds its 2018 Summer Symposium this weekend, it’s a fitting time to celebrate sidewalk counselors’ courageous work touching the lives of countless women in this country by offering help and hope in their time of crisis. Because of them, many women chose life — and continue to choose life — for their babies.

One woman, Amy Blackwell, recently shared her story on social media, singing the praises of her personal hero, “the little old man from the sidewalk.” She wrote in a Facebook post about the day she went to an abortion facility to get a consultation for an abortion, and had an encounter she would never forget:

Today I met him! Who is the him? The little old man from the sidewalk. 7 years ago I went to this Hope Medical Group for women abortion clinic. This man was on the side walk (they call it sidewalk ministries. They pray and try to talk to the ladies who are headed into the abortion clinic.)

He turned and looked at me. I saw his mouth moving and in his hands was a rosary. I could see the look and sadness on his face and the eagerness in his eyes to speak with me. I sat there in my car covered in shame for what seemed to be an hour but was around 10 mins. He finally turned around and I bolted out of the car. The Holy Spirit was at work as I was a complete basket case while I was in there….

So after 7 years of thinking of him and loving him for his part in my daughters life, God brought us together today. He, who now I know as Mr. Brocato, has the blessing of seeing the fruits of his labor. He is now 90 years old and not able to stand on the sidewalk anymore – BUT in his place, I now stand.

In a separate video on Facebook, Amy shared her full testimony, in which she said that as she began to get out of her car that day at the abortion facility, “he turned a 180 and stared right at me…. It seemed like I sat there for about 30 minutes… he just kept on looking at me. And I just have to know that man was praying for me. He knew why I was there.”

READ: 12,206 babies have been saved from abortion due to 40 Days for Life campaigns

Amy described the abortion facility as “a dark, musty-smelling place” where she “had to pay $50 for an ultrasound,” and the whole time, she was telling herself, “there’s no way I can look at my baby on an ultrasound and go through with this.”

She describes a deceptive, “beautifully worded” booklet she read at the abortion facility, which talked about “people just not ready to have kids, financially not ready, or emotionally not ready, and they make them into beautiful stories.” But it was all a deception.

Amy was 30 years old, and says she was in “a deep, dark place” mentally at the time. Her friend had printed out information on fetal development and continued trying to talk her out of an abortion. Amy says that for 30 miles on the ride to the abortion facility, she was in a sort of “trance” and wasn’t in a right state of mind until her friend’s words “finally broke” her emotionally and “God used her in that moment” to help Amy realize that she could not go through with the abortion.

She chose life for her daughter, and has no regrets. She says in the video above, “I’m so thankful that I get to look at my little girl every day… She’s a gift from God… that little girl saved my life.

Website: Live Action News

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  

Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Baby Oliver Saved in U.S. After UK Doctors Said His Heart Couldn’t be Fixed

By Cassy Fiano
Live Action News

Most parents would readily cross oceans to save their child’s life, with no thought as to the cost or distance. But for some children in the UK, like Alfie Evans and Charlie Gard, that simply wasn’t an option they were given. Oliver Cameron is one of the fortunate ones, though, and thanks to the tireless efforts of his parents and doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital, Oliver is alive and thriving today.

When Oliver was born in the United Kingdom, he had a large, non-cancerous tumor in his heart, called a cardiac fibroma. It was so rare that doctors in the UK weren’t able to treat it. Only a handful had even seen it.

“They couldn’t treat the tumor in the U.K. because they didn’t have any doctors with the right expertise,” his mother, Lydia, said. “They said our only option was a heart transplant, but we thought there must be another route, so we started doing our own research.”

READ: Alfie Evans is just the latest victim in Europe’s culture of death

Their research led them to Boston Children’s Hospital, where another little girl, Francesca, had successfully had her large cardiac tumor removed. Her story was posted on the Boston Children’s Hospital Facebook page the day after Oliver was born, which Lydia took as a sign. So she reached out to Francesca’s doctors, Dr. Pedro del Nido and Dr. Tal Geva, and sent Oliver’s records to them. They responded that he would be a good candidate for the surgery — even though the NHS doctors were insistent that Oliver’s tumor could not be removed. But the difficulties of getting Oliver treatment weren’t over yet; the Cameron family now had to find a way to pay for it.

At first, the NHS refused to pay. 

“Oliver’s cardiologist spent hours of his own time trying to get Oliver to Boston — he kept applying and reapplying for the National Health Service to cover the surgery in the U.S., but with no luck,” Lydia said.

“So, we started our own fundraising campaign, because we had no other way to get him there.” But after they successfully raised most of the money, they got good news: not only would the NHS pay for the surgery, they would also send two cardiologists and a cardiac surgeon to learn from the doctors at Boston Children’s.

In November of 2017, Oliver underwent the eight-hour surgery, which went better than expected. “Dr. del Nido warned us that they may not be able to remove the entire tumor because it was so large, but that he would remove as much as possible,” Lydia explained. “So when they told us he had removed all of it, we were so happy we just burst into tears.”

The tumor ended up being one of the largest the doctors had ever seen.

After the surgery, Oliver continued to stun doctors by making a rapid recovery, and was able to return home by Christmas. “This experience has shown us how much good there is in the world,” Lydia said. “So many people supported us along the way, from near and far. And without Dr. Geva and Dr. del Nido, we would have lost Oliver. Miracles do happen — and we are grateful to be celebrating ours.”

The Camerons were exceedingly fortunate that they were able to bring Oliver to the United States to receive treatment. It’s a blessing not given to everyone, denied most notably to toddlers Charlie Gardand Alfie Evans. 

The parents of both boys were told that treatment was futile and that they should just be allowed to die; when the parents raised money to seek treatment outside of the United Kingdom, hospitals and courts refused to allow it, and forced both boys to be removed from life support.

Live Action News article continues here

She Almost Aborted Her Baby. But a Pink Rosary and Unexpected Text Message Held Her Back

Alina Dulgheriu and her Daughter

By K. V. Turley
Life Site News

On a winter’s day in 2009, a young Romanian woman was walking down a London street on her way to an abortion center. She was eight weeks pregnant. The weeks prior to her decision to go there had been traumatic.

On 3 October she had found she was pregnant. She telephoned the father of the child, her then boyfriend’s response was immediate: “You have to have an abortion.” But she didn’t want to. Instinctively she knew it was wrong and wished to carry on with her pregnancy.

He pressed her further: “Are you going to be a father to the child?” She was confused. He then told her something she did not know: “I can’t have another child.” With this new information, the pregnant woman knew she was on her own, in more ways than one. And then, when he realized that she was going to continue with the pregnancy, he began to laugh mockingly down the phone line at her predicament.

A few weeks later the same boyfriend re-appeared in the woman’s life, this time with his cousin. Together they tried to pressure the woman into having an abortion.

Still, the woman persisted in her desire to have the baby. That said she had never felt so alone. Everything had changed on that morning she discovered she was pregnant. She had collapsed on seeing the test results. Later, all she could remember was how everything had suddenly turned black, and, indeed, seemed to remain so in the weeks that were to follow.

At that time she had been working as a nanny in London. Until then, her employers were happy with her work. They had made her part of their family. She had a job, money and accommodation. All of that changed when she told her employers she was pregnant. They asked her to leave immediately. As well as pregnant she was now unemployed and homeless in a foreign country.

She called her parents in Romania. Her mother told her to have an abortion. Her parents had little else to say to her.

Now she was becoming desperate, increasingly so. Frantically, she searched for help – any help - practical, emotional, anything, but found only indifference. It was clear that she was alone and that everyone around her was pointing to one solution only. Reluctantly, she started to listen to that advice. In the end, she decided to have an abortion.

So on that winter’s day, it was a solitary figure that made its way to an abortion center in central London. As she drew near the place, she began to cry. She steadied herself as best she could, as all around her the impersonal hustle of the city continued, but still the tears rolled down her cheeks. And, yet, inside her head there seemed to be two competing voices, one telling her to stop and turn back, another telling her to go through with the abortion. Through her mounting depression, she struggled on.

Finally, the street name she had been searching for came into view. As she drew near to the doorway of the abortion center, a woman approached her. She held out a leaflet with the image of a baby in a womb. The Romanian woman recognized the image instantly for she had gone for a scan weeks previously. 

Then, she had witnessed with delight the images on the screen of her own baby moving in her womb; while watching, the expectant mother had felt an unexpected joy. She turned to the stranger beside her still holding the photograph.

“Can you help me?”

The woman facing her replied: “ Yes, I can help you.” The two began exchanging some information, included phone numbers. At that moment, the door of the abortion center flew open. An employee of the center stood staring at the two women talking. Recognizing the woman holding the leaflet, the employee’s face turned to anger.

The stranger who had offered to help was an older woman. She continued to look straight at the Romanian woman, before drawing something from a pocket and handing it to the woman. It was a pink plastic rosary. The younger woman took it. And, as she did so, she turned to the abortionist in the doorway and said: “They can help me.” And with that, she left clutching the recently received rosary accompanied by a woman whom she had just met.

That was not the end of the matter though. Days later the Romanian would return to the same place.

The advice and the promises of help seemed too good to be true for the pregnant Romanian. The voices in her head kept telling her this, and more so now that “the clock was ticking”, if she did not go through with the abortion soon she would have to keep the baby. So, days later, she returned to the abortion center.

The same woman who had given her the rosary was again standing outside. This time the Romanian went straight past her into the center.

Inside the abortion center, she now recalls only two emotions: fear and tension. She also remembered a distinctly uneasy feeling from the moment she found herself there. It was as if the center walls were closing in on her, suffocating her, crushing the life within her.

A disinterested center receptionist gave her a form to fill out, and then sent her off to a dingy waiting room. As the Romanian was sitting there, form in hand, her phone lit up unexpectedly. There was a message:

“We can help you. We can help you today. We can help you now”. 

Life Site News story continues here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

How Samantha Saved Her Baby with Abortion Pill Reversal

By Jay Hobbs
National Right to Life

Though the abortion lobby loudly derides the Abortion Pill Reversal as “unproven” at best and “junk science” at worst, don’t count on a Massachusetts woman named Samantha to join in with the chorus of science-deniers who oppose the life-saving medical intervention.

To Samantha, the only important thing about the breakthrough treatment—which is really a new use of a decades-old, FDA-approved prescription dating back to the 1950s –is that it saved her daughter’s life earlier this year.

One of 300 mothers and counting to have saved the life of her unborn children in the past five years, Samantha is on the cusp of welcoming her daughter into the world this December.

When she does, she won’t be alone—at least not if the women at Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center can help it.

It was at Abundant Hope, which is just down the street from an abortion business in Attleboro, Mass., that Samantha found out about Abortion Pill Reversal during a visit to the center. Ironically, Abundant Hope has come under fire in recent weeks from the pro-abortion Campaign for Accountability, which lodged a formal complaint with the state, accusing Abundant Hope of tricking women into rejecting abortion.

The complaint was filed less than a week after the staff and volunteers at Abundant Hope held a baby shower in Samantha—and her unborn daughter’s—honor.

“They gave me strength to not go through with that that abortion—that horrifying thing that would have affected the rest of my life,” Samantha said. “It was just an ongoing struggle with what to do in my heart and my head. Abundant Hope has changed my life by being a good support system. When I don’t have anyone else to turn to, I give them a call—even if I just need to talk to them.”

Following her initial visit at Abundant Hope, Samantha tried to abort her baby three separate times. On her third attempt, Samantha took the first of two pills in the chemical abortion regimen. She immediately regretted her decision, however, and reached out to the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline (877-558-0333) for help.

Within hours, Samantha was in the office of Abundant Hope’s medical director, receiving an emergency dose of progesterone. One of 350 physicians who make up the national Abortion Pill Reversal network, the doctor then worked with Samantha to prescribe an ongoing progesterone treatment plan to get her pregnancy back on track.

National Right to Life report continues

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

This Little Girl is Alive Today Because Pro-Life People Were Outside the Abortion Clinic

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
Life News

Yesterday, a mother’s testimony of how she was helped by pro-life counsellors outside an abortion clinic was read out in Parliament. Sir Edward Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough, delivered the testimony of “Kate”, during a debate led by Rupa Huq MP on public order legislation outside “family planning clinics”.

Since the decision by Ealing council to try and impose a public spaces protection order (PSPO) around the Marie Stopes centre in Mattock Lane, Dr Huq has been campaigning for nationwide legislation, claiming that pro-life groups outside abortion clinics “harass” women. However, the testimony from “Kate” illustrates how untrue these assertions are, and how vital it is that women are allowed access to alternative choices. 

I Leapt Out of the Window

“I never wanted to go through with an abortion but I felt a lot of pressure from people around me who offered it as a no brainer solution,” the testimony began. “On the way into the clinic at the Marie Stopes clinic at Ealing I was offered a leaflet by a woman who I spoke to briefly. She just told me she was there if I needed her.”

Still not happy with being there for an abortion, Kate “leapt out of the ground floor window and cleared 3 fences to escape. I talked to the woman on the gate again, who offered any support I needed to keep my baby and this gave me the confidence to leave where I was supported by the group that this women worked with.”

What Would Women Like Me Do?

She didn’t find any aggression from the pro-lifers outside the clinic, but was given help to keep her daughter. Her story ended with a powerful message to MPs: 

“The potential introduction of buffer zones is a really bad idea because women like me, what would they do then? You know, not every woman that walks into those clinics actually wants to go through with the termination. There’s immense pressure, maybe they don’t have financial means to support themselves or their baby, or they feel like there’s no alternatives. These people offer alternatives."

“I had my baby who is now three and a half years old. She’s an amazing, perfect little girl and the love of my life. I want MPs here today calling to introduce buffer zones to realise, that she would not be alive today, if they had their way.”

Sir Edward Leigh spoke to offer a different perspective to that offered by Rupa Huq, who compared the pro-life groups outside Ealing to the “talk all over the media about the harassment of women in Westminster.” 

Life News article continues

Baby Saved at Texas Fire Station Under Safe Haven Law

By Nancy Flanders
Live Action News

A baby was brought to a Plano, Texas, fire station under Texas’ Safe Haven Law on May 18 and placed with a foster family.

According to ABC, a woman arrived at Plano’s Fire Station 1 on K Avenue around 11:30 in the morning. She told a firefighter that the baby was two days old and that she didn’t feel as though she could take proper care of the child.

The child was then taken to Children’s Medical Center Plano and found to be healthy. After Child Protective Services received custody of the child, the baby was placed in a foster home.

This is the third baby to be left at a fire station in Plano since the Texas Safe Haven Law took effect in 1999.

“I believe this is the ultimate act of love,” said Fire Chief Sam Greif. “This mother knew, for whatever reason, she could not provide the home that others so badly want to provide. I hope others that find themselves in her position will show the love and compassion she demonstrated.”

Under the Safe Haven Law in Texas, parents can leave an infant 60 days old or younger with an employee at a hospital, fire station, EMS station, child welfare agency, or freestanding ER if they decide they can’t care for the baby.

Safe Haven laws exist throughout the United States, but vary from state to state. Parents can drop the baby off anonymously without fear of arrest so long as the child has not been abused in any way. Safe Haven laws were put in place to protect babies from being hurt or killed by parents who believe they are unable to be a parent or who are at risk of abandoning their child.

Rather than place the child in a dumpster, as has has happened so often, parents can remain anonymous and keep their child safe. As of 2017, 3,317 infants have been saved through Safe Haven laws. More information on Safe Haven laws is available here.

Website: Live Action News

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call or text 610-626-4006 

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Baby Saved at Planned Parenthood in NE Philadelphia During 40 Days for Life

Photo of NE Philly Planned Parenthood

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon on a 'killing day' at Planned Parenthood in NE Philadelphia. A number of women were being dropped off at the front door. Two PP 'escorts' were on guard to ensure that pro-lifers would not try to speak with them.

Five women were participating in the 40 Days for Life praying on the opposite side of the PP building. As they prayed, women arrived in cars, cabs and public transportation. One of these women walked up the driveway. A pro-lifer walked over to speak with her. She handed her information about help in a crisis pregnancy. She took the handout and walked into PP. 

As we continued praying, two teenage boys started walking up the driveway. We asked them why they were going into PP. They told us they were students at a public high school and were going to get tested for HIV.

The boys went in and exited the building within a few minutes. When asked what happened, they were told that PP does not do HIV testing. This PP website  contradicts what PP told them. They were given an address miles away to get tested. Since these boys were taking public transportation and were concerned about confidentiality, it's doubtful they went to the 'referral'.

A trucker exited his parked 18 wheeler near the building. As he approached us, he thanked us for being there to help women save their unborn babies. He shared that he and his wife could not have children. As a young woman walked up to the door of PP, he said, "Don't go in there. I'll take your baby." An intercessor told him to pray for those having an abortion, as well as the abortionist, that God may bless him with a baby.

Shortly before PP was closing, a young woman approached us. She said she decided not to have an abortion after viewing a video. Even though she was 15 weeks pregnant, she said an ultrasound was not done. She told us that PP's fee for the abortion procedure was $700. 

As she waited for the bus, she was asked if anyone knew about her pregnancy. She said she told no one. A sidewalk counselor gave her a brochure with our local hot-line number and comprehensive services to help her. She told her about all the homes and crisis pregnancy centers in our area. 

She said she would tell her Christian grandmother about her pregnancy. We offered to have someone go with her to speak with her grandmother, if needed. She was confident that her grandmother would be supportive of her and the baby and thanked us for the information. 
   
Please pray for this young mother that she will follow up with our hotline. Also, pray the teenagers would get tested, medical help and Christ-centered counseling, and that the trucker and His wife would be blessed with a baby.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call or text 610-626-4006  

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Baby Saved from Abortion After Mother Sees Him on Ultrasound

By Sarah Terzo
Live Action News

Danielle Kleber of Pennsylvania found herself pregnant after being raped by someone she knew. She was victimized while under the influence of pain medicine, which was prescribed for a severe illness.

Kleber had always believed that abortion was permissible in cases of rape, but she struggled to decide what to do about her pregnancy:

I had just fallen into the category of women I said that was okay to have an abortion. I was raped and carrying his child. I had made no choice in the matter, yet I was stuck.

I wrestled back and forth with abortion or continuing the pregnancy. I had a second test done at a women’s center to confirm the home one. I went on auto pilot mode I guess.

Still uncertain what her final choice would be, Kleber scheduled an appointment with an obstetrician. What happened at the appointment changed her life:

They had me schedule an ultrasound because they were unsure of gestational age. Once I saw the screen and I saw he had already formed into a baby. My mind was made up… I realized all that I couldn’t abort this child inside of me.

'Life wouldn’t be the same without my precious little man Eli'

Live Action News continues