Oh, sure, there may not be a clinic in your suburb doing surgical abortions. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any doing abortion referrals either.
In 2010 Planned Parenthood had 318 facilities. Not all of them do surgical abortions. The ones in large cities do, but the rest, by and large, do abortion referrals, instead.
In the past I spoke about the importance of praying outside abortion clinics and doing sidewalk counseling. Well, today we’ll explore sidewalk counseling of a different sort.
Let’s run through five reasons we pro-lifers should commit to praying outside any and every clinic that does abortion referrals.
1. PRAY FOR THE FEMALE CUSTOMERS
Clearly, the women visiting clinics that do abortion referrals need your prayers. Pray that God will send them the grace needed.
They are often confused, looking for help. Your presence and your prayers could make the difference in their lives.
As well, a friend of mine who often has prayed outside clinics doing abortion referrals made an interesting observation. He says, in his experience, the clients going into such facilities are much more talkative than those pregnant mothers entering clinics doing surgical abortions.
Many will approach to make it be known they are not there to get a surgical abortion. This can be grace-filled moment as it opens the door for dialogue.
2. PRAY FOR THE STAFF MEMBERS
Do not forget to pray for the staff members who work at these clinics. They think they are doing women right. They do not realize the errors of their ways.
I interviewed Ramona Trevino, in the past, for ProLife365.com’s Pro-Life Warrior Spotlight Series. She ran a Planned Parenthood clinic doing abortion referrals. Then God intervened, giving her the grace to get out. Now she is an author and national speaker.
3. PRAY FOR THE BABIES BEING SCHEDULED TO DIE BY ABORTION REFERRALS
Your prayerful presence could make the difference on how long a child has left to live.
Planned Parenthood’s facilities that are not in urban areas will do abortion referrals to their clinics in the big cities.
Thus, a woman in a small town who learns she is pregnant can drive to the closest Planned Parenthood office. She can tell them how she is not sure how she will be able to care for her child. That Planned Parenthood clinic can then refer her to the big city surgical abortion center, if she is far enough along in her pregnancy.
Thus, your prayers for the child to be spared that later surgical abortion may be the saving light needed to spare his or her life.
4. PRAY FOR BABIES TO BE SPARED CHEMICAL ABORTION
We must not forget that women going inside may still end up procuring an abortion—just not a surgical one.
Planned Parenthood and other clinics are more than willing to sell abort-inducing drugs. Per Planned Parenthood’s own website:
“‘Abortion pill’ is the popular name for using 2 medicines to end a pregnancy – mifepristone and misoprostol. In general, it’s used up to 70 days — 10 weeks — after the first day of a woman’s last period. Women who need an abortion and are more than 9 weeks pregnant can have an in-clinic abortion.”
So, women can and often be administered drugs that can cause an abortion, including RU-486.
Beyond that, abortifacient contraception is sold at these places like candy, as well. As has been covered several times on this site, birth control pills and other contraceptives serve as abortifacient drugs. This means they can cause a chemical abortion.
So, despite your local clinic not doing surgical abortions, they may be still killing the unborn with abortion-inducing drugs and abortifacient birth control.
5. WITNESS TO YOUR COMMUNITY
The final point I will add remains an important one not to be dismissed. Praying outside any clinic doing abortion referrals serves as a good public witness to your community.
If you can pray outside such a clinic run by Planned Parenthood, then all the better. We need to be publicly protesting the nation’s largest abortion provider as often as possible.
Perhaps people will stop to ask you what you are doing. And you will be there to educate them. Knowledge is power, as they say.
YOUR TURN
Can you think of some more reasons to pray outside clinics doing abortion referrals?
Please add them to the comments below.
You are also welcome to add your thoughts on anything else on this topic, as well.
