MAY tHE unborn PRAY for US

"HEY YOU! YEA - YOU!"
I pointed to myself in confusion, "YEA! DON'T WORRY!" He yelled from across the parking lot, "I'M GOING TO COME TALK TO YOU!" The man kept walking towards his car to put something away. I looked back at the prayer warriors who were beginning another decade of the rosary. It was a Saturday morning at the abortion clinic and this morning, LH had pushed me into doing sidewalk counceling - something I NEVER thought I'd do. 


The man started to walk towards me. Rember to always smile I repeated to myself the tecniques LH had gone over with me before leaving that morning. 

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" I called out across the parking lot. We're not allowed to step foot on the clinic's property and standing on the sidewalk was as close as I could get to him. 
"RORY*!" he yelled as he began to walk towards me. 

"HEY! THAT RHYMES WITH MY NAME!" I answered excitedly.

As he approached me I could make out his face better. He was a handsome looking guy, "Really?! Our name's rhyme?" He said with a smile, extending his hand to shake mine. 

"ha-ha, yea, my name is Tori. How fun is that?" 

Then he furrowed his brows and started to speak in a serious whisper, 

"I just wanted to let you know, you seem like a nice girl and I really wanted to talk to you and tell you that we're - me and my girlfriend - we're not like all those other people in there. We're not like the people who get pregnant and decide to just throw away their babies - I'm a good, Christian man." 

I nodded at him. Always give them the literature LH's voice was in my head. That was the second step. 

"Can I give this to you?" I asked Rory. "Yea, sure." he said taking the post-abortion information that 40 Days For Life provides. 

"Look, we had no choice," he continued , "My girlfriend and I, we just found out today that she's 10 weeks pregnant and so we go here and they tell us that the medications she's - my girlfriend is on causes severe brain damage - and so our baby, he's - he would be born severely mentally handicapped. He'd have no life - no quality of life. So you see, we had to come here."

"Rory, I believe in a God of healing." 


He rolled his eyes, "Look, you seem like a nice girl, and I just didn't want you to judge me and my girlfriend here. We're not bad people - this kid - he's really, really sick. He - he -" Rory started motioning around his head, "He'll not be normal." 

My heart screamed, He is not less human and his soul is no less real! What if he got sick at age 2 or 3 or 5 - you'd fight for him then, wouldn't you?!

"Oh no, I'm not here to judge you. I'm here to pray and give help. Um, how - is she -"

"It's done. It's too late now." He said staring at the ground. 

"Can I say two things?" 
"Yea, sure." 

Adrenaline rushed through my body. Holy Spirit! PLEASE! I need YOU!
"First, this isn't a medically licensed facility. The staff here isn't licensed to make statements about the health of the developing baby. And if you wanted to have a procedure to terminate the pregnancy for any reason, the safest place is at a hospital - not here."

His eyes opened in shock - I could feel how uncomfortable he was. 

"Not -"

"And the second - how far along is she?"

"We just found out this morning, her periods have always been very irregular. She's 10-weeks."

I pressed my hands on the packet of information I'd placed in his hands, "Do you understand what she will go through in the next few days?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"They gave her a shot in her arm, right?"
"Yea."
"That's the first step in the abortion pill process. The shot today shuts off all nutrients from reaching the baby. This kills the baby - but the dead child can't remain inside her. So they are going to hand her a bag with a pill in it."

His eyes widen. He swallowed hard an nodded his head. 

"That pill they give her, was originally for ulcers, but a side affect is that it causes uteran contractions. After she takes that pill, she's going to be in a lot of pain - almost like labor pains, because that's what she'll technically be in, pre-term labor. And what they don't tell you - is that because she's 10 weeks along, when it's over, she's going to look down and actually see a little baby."

With tight lips and another gulp, he nodded again. This time, much slower. "And it can be very very traumatizing for her and, and YOU are going to have to be there for."

He shook his head slowly. "I - I - didn't know." he said softly.

"And this is going to be a greiving process and you have to be there for her. You have to help her through this." 

His eyes glazed over and he began to talk to himself, "But it's too late," he said, "Tori, I'm sorry, but it's already done." His eyes began to brim with water, 

He reached out his arms and hugged me. 

I pressed once more on the information I'd given him, "This pamplet is about resources that you both can use to work through this. You have to be there for her and help her. When she sees that baby - you - you have to be there for her." 

He nodded his head and stared again at the ground. "We, we didn't want this, this way. We want kids one day, but not like this." 
our eyes met again, 

The rush had left me. I took a deep breath and offered the only consolation I thought I could provide, "Take comfort knowing that your son is in heaven praying for you. And he will be praying for you, your entire life." 

Before I could finish, Rory began to weep and embraced me again, in tears. When we'd finished our embrace he patted me on the back and walked back to his car where he sat for the next hour. alone. 
He emerged, carrying a bible, with this head hung low, as he walked into the clinic to meet his girlfriend. 

I know that I am not the perfect speaker - or the perfect sidewalk counselor. I didn't save a child's life that day. Little Rory Jr. stilled died. and all I did was upset his father. and I don't know if what I did next is sacreligous or wrong of me, but I secretly licked my thumb to put water on it, and in the air made the sign of the cross and said in a quiet whisper, "Little Rory Jr, I baptise you in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit. Saint Rory Jr., pray for us." 

To all the unborn souls in heaven, pray for us. 

My whole body aches today. I can't shake it. I can't get the man's tears from my mind. God, forgive us. Please, Christ, forgive us. For we know not what we do. 

Please. someone. anyone. All of you who read this. Please, reach within yourselves and find the courage to defend the lives of your little brothers and sisters. They are dying. but what are we doing about it?
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."  -Edmund Burke
"I tell you the truth, whatsoever you did for the least of my brothers, you did for me." -Matthew 25:40 


*name changed - but his real name also rhymed with mine.