The Abortion Exception's Story

She walked into the Community Pregnancy Center, looking for a specific answer. She didn’t want to hear a single word about adoption. She really didn’t want to hear too much about parenting, either. She couldn’t bear either path as possible options. She made her appointment, because she wanted someone to assure her that an abortion would be ok. The operation was morally wrong to her, yet she wanted it anyway. She convinced herself that her situation was the exception to the rule and her abortion would acceptable. She just needed that outside confirmation.

Knowing only that her General Information read “Undecided” on the question of abortion, our client advocate led the teenager to the counseling room. She asked the basic questions about STIs and LMP, but the young girl simply began explaining her story—her reasons for a justifiable abortion.

Our client first revealed her age. She was just eighteen years old. She wasn’t one of those twenty-something church women with the dream job and the dream husband and the planned pregnancy. She was just eighteen years old, a student still living with her parents. She didn’t have a job. She wasn’t married. She wasn’t in the life where a baby made perfect sense. She had never been pregnant before now. She hadn’t even told her parents yet, because she knew and already feared their disappointment.

She then confessed her isolation. She couldn’t bring herself to even speak the name of the baby’s father. When he learned that she was pregnant, he broke up with her. He told her to abort, because he certainly was not going to accept that life with her. If she actually gave birth to this baby, he promised her that she would never see him again. If she chose life, she would be alone in all doctor’s appointments. She would have no financial support from a loving partner. She would have zero acknowledgement from him. Their baby meant nothing, their relationship meant nothing, and she meant nothing. Sex was never a commitment for him. She was alone, completely unwanted and abandoned.

The weeks passed, but they did not pass quickly. She ignored the abortion clinic, hoping against all hope that somehow her situation was a horrible nightmare. She could somehow wake up, and her future of a loving marriage with kids would still be possible as she always wanted, but she never awoke to such a reality. She was growing further into her pregnancy, and she couldn’t deny it any longer. Before she could pay for an abortion, she needed someone to tell her that she was right in getting one. Society told her that her situation, all her reasons were more than enough to warrant an abortion.

She was a teen--She was a student--She was unemployed--She was unsupported

Even still, she needed someone else to assure her that this was right. She took a breath after unleashing her story, ready for that confirmation. Our Client Advocate didn’t hesitate. She asked the client about her relationship with God. Confused by the seeming irrelevance of the topic, the client admitted that she wasn’t really sure. She grew up Catholic, but didn’t quite understand what an actual relationship with Christ meant. Praying for the words, our Client Advocate shared the unfathomable love that God Himself personally feels for her. The counselor didn’t skip or skimp over any detail. The Maker of Heaven and earth wanted her so desperately that He sent His only Son to pay the fatal price—just so a relationship could even be an option for her to choose. With Him, she would never be alone, never unwanted, and not even for a moment abandoned. She would be His, treasured and protected.

Our client prayed and accepted Christ!

After the positive pregnancy test, our client waited a few weeks for her ultrasound. Our nurse led her to our sonogram room and began to explain the images on the screen. Finally, for the first time, our client saw her ten-week old baby!

This was more than a teen pregnancy,
more than disappointed parents,
and more than a disappearing boyfriend.

This was a moving body, a beating heart, and a verifiable life!

She chose LIFE!

In the weeks since, God has provided a new man, a boyfriend who supernaturally supports our client’s decision to keep a baby who is not even his! Her Savior softened the hearts of her parents to accept and encourage their pregnant daughter. She is now attending our Points to Success classes on Thursdays to better provide and parent her growing baby.



“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19

Nothing is beyond Christ’s control to reverse. Nothing is too broken for His Hands to rebuild.

Contrary to media and culture, no unsupported, unemployed, teenage student is beyond Christ’s ability or beyond His passion to redeem!

 

The Sex-Addict's Story

                Miles away from the heated, abortion debate in Austin, TX, The Community Pregnancy Center opened our doors last Monday. Some girls were hoping for a positive pregnancy test. Others were indifferent, but able to provide for a new baby. At noon, however, a girl sat in our waiting room, staying to see if we had time to counsel a walk-in. Personally ordained by the hand of God alone, one of our scheduled appointments failed to show. Our client advocate prayed over the new client file, and led the woman to the second counseling room. Waiting only to hear a “Welcome to the Community Pregnancy Center”, our client burst open in her confession:

“I have a sex addiction.”

                In over 10 years of service, the client advocate had never heard a client reveal that struggle. She took a deep breath, and immediately asked if she could pray. Only the Undefeatable Savior could bear the weight of this client’s struggle. The counselor prayed and spoke absolute deliverance over her life through the generous grace of Christ Jesus. Together, they moved even further into the painful story.

“I need an abortion today.”

                She already was a mother to two children. At twenty-four years old, our client had a 5 year old and a one year old. The oldest child’s father sits in a prison cell to this day, while the other father threatens to take away their toddler on a regular basis. The father of her current pregnancy scare-not even a boyfriend-has already given her money to have an abortion. He doesn’t want relational ties to this woman, much less a child with her. These, of course, were only the men who fathered a child. Her sexual partners extend into a much longer list. As she revealed this past, she suffered panic attack after panic attack in the counseling room. The client advocate kept stopping the conversation to pray, asking God to encircle them in His peace.

                She was alone. She couldn’t even confide to her family about her sexual addiction. Her family, like her, is actively involved in their church. They don’t go a couple Sundays out of the month. This family goes to worship, Sunday School, and any scheduled weekly activities. It was embarrassing enough to have a single mother for a daughter when she was 19 years old. She couldn’t stand the thought of admitting the depth of her situation to her family. She couldn’t stand the thought of humiliating them.

“I was driving to Planned Parenthood this morning

-in my car, actually driving there,

but I couldn’t make it.

The money in my pocket, yet I couldn’t make it.

I exited I-45, and parked in the Walmart parking lot.

Something brought me here.”

                God brought her here. Her attentive, loving Savior carefully held every shamed tear she cried those empty nights. He heard her desperate sighs for a different life. He watched her car drive forward on I-45 to the largest abortion-operating clinic in the northern hemisphere, and He supernaturally intervened, reminding her of a pregnancy center in Pasadena, TX. He wanted that baby, and He wanted that hurting soul.

                The client advocate assured her that she is still and always will be loved. No matter the sex addiction and no matter the abortion determination, she is forgivable. She is restorable.  She is pursued. She is wanted. She is noticed as the carefully designed creation of the King of the universe. The counselor explained how such unbelievable mercy is even possible. She reminded her that she could never run farther than God’s grace reaches. The client calmed, and absolutely reveled in the truth of the Lord! She prayed, and made her relationship with God right again. Her heart immediately shifted.

The pregnancy test read positive.

She’s choosing adoption for her new baby.

A changed decision from a changed woman by an unchangeable God!

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

2 Corinthians 5:17