Toni sat in the surgery room of the abortion clinic with an IV in her arm. At 20 years old, she discovered she was pregnant. She was afraid, and she had been desperate to abort despite being further into her pregnancy. Toni was from Houston, Texas, where abortion is illegal. At the advice of her friends, she applied to be sponsored by an organization called the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC). The organization paid for her travel, boarding, and the abortion itself.
So, after enduring hours of traveling and conversations with medical staff, she was walked through the clinic and sat down to be prepped for surgery.
As the nurse put the IV in Toni’s arm, she turned to her and said, “I just can’t do it.”
It was nine am when Toni decided to leave the clinic. She had traveled across states to do one thing and couldn’t do it. To add to her distress, she was alone in an unfamiliar place with no one to talk to. As she walked out of the clinic, her mind racing, she caught eyes with a friendly face outside the clinic. This friendly face was a sidewalk advocate.
A Chance Encounter with a Mobile Medical Clinic
Toni immediately approached the sidewalk advocate and started to tell them her story. After a few minutes of getting to know Toni, the advocate walked her over to our Mobile Medical Clinic, which sat outside the abortion clinic.
Inside the Mobile Medical Clinic, Toni was greeted by a nurse and counselor who were there to hear her story. Toni explained that she hadn’t done much research about her options; her friends had done everything for her. The nurse on board shared with Toni the risk factors associated with late-term abortion.
The medical staff on board then gave Toni a pregnancy test and an ultrasound on the mobile clinic and determined that she was 34 weeks along. In her third trimester of pregnancy, Toni was able to see the baby inside of her for the first time.
The nurse and advocate on board encouraged Toni and gave her the confidence to return home. She had yet to tell her parents about the pregnancy, but after speaking to the women at the Mobile Medical Clinic, she had the confidence to share the truth with them when she got home.
Would RCRC Support Her Decision?
Although Toni decided she could not abort her baby, she remembered the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice had paid for her to travel to get a late-term abortion. She expressed concern that the organization might not pay for her to return home since she chose life. This is a very common concern for women who are sponsored for out-of-state abortions and go on to choose life.
After Toni spoke with the organization, they paid for her to return home. The caring staff of the Mobile Medical Clinic connected Toni with a life-affirming women’s health clinic in her home state so she would have the same support when she got home.
Giving Women the Power of Choice
In a single moment, Toni transitioned from a place of desperation, on the brink of an abortion, to finding herself surrounded by support and filled with hope. A chance encounter with a Mobile Medical Clinic can empower women to make a real choice. For Toni, when faced with the reality of abortion, the decision she truly desired was to embrace motherhood.
We believe God orchestrated her encounter with a sidewalk advocate and our Mobile Medical Clinic. Through their compassionate care, she gained the support needed to stand by her choice with confidence—to recognize that she had the strength to choose life for her baby.
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