By: Rebecca Miller
In our world today, life versus death has become a political topic. It is drowned in terms such as moral and immoral, pro-life and pro-choice, baby and fetus, abortion and anti-abortion along with a plethora of other words that stir up emotional responses. One such term that was formerly reserved for doctors’ offices, concerning the care of pregnant women, has now been thrown around in the political arena in ways that are very misleading. That term is “pre-natal care.”
During the Northwest Ohio Community Pregnancy Centers Spring Benefit which was held at the Archbold High School on Tuesday, April 23, 2019, the keynote presentation was a powerful “CPC Benefit Video.”
Enlightening the audience concerning what pre-natal care is (The care of the mother and child during the pregnancy), and where a pregnant woman can find such care, the video showed two or three politicians who were saying that Planned Parenthood offers Prenatal Care. Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood, said on a TV show, “Some women come to us because they are pregnant and we council them on all options.” In order to verify this, ninety seven Planned Parenthood facilities were called and asked, by women, if they could set up an appointment to get started with prenatal care, or to get assistance with adoption. Ninety two of the ninety seven facilities, stated that they do not do prenatal care.
In Austin, Texas the caller said she was calling “about your prenatal care that you offered,” and was told, “So we actually do not offer prenatal care here. I apologize…”. When asked about adoption services she was told that they do referrals. The caller continued, “Oh, well,…do you do any of the services in your clinic?” And the answer was, “We offer abortion services here.”
When Planned Parenthood was called in Corning, NY, and asked what services were offered there, the answer was, “We tell you you’re pregnant and then we offer at Planned Parenthood to do the abortions.” For more of the answers given, part of that video is posted on YouTube with the title “Pregnant women call Planned Parenthood to hear their options”, along with other short videos that show the same type of answers.
Also in the CPC Benefit Video, Nancy Pearcy, the author of Love Thy Body; Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality, told interviewer Mike Huckabee that pro abortion speakers believe that “merely being human is not enough” to stop the killing.
Carol Everett, a major advocate for life in the United States, went from doing thousands of abortions in “the abortion industry where I saw the millions of dollars I could make,” to being the exact opposite now. She explained that abortion procedure is done without hardly any regulations. They don’t have to even have hot running water. She also said that many of the doctors are not board certified. “We lied to them,” she explained. “We told them it was not really a baby, but after the abortion, we had to reassemble the babies to be sure we got all the parts.”
The explanation of exactly what happens to the baby in an abortion, given in the video by Dr. Anthony Levatino, was delivered with such a matter of fact voice, no religious message, and just a statement of the facts, that anyone listening would have to seriously consider their stance on abortion. (Can be seen on YouTube under heading “Dr. Levatino Destroys Abortion in two minutes”.)
Besides the video, the evening held some other emotional moments. Dr. Timothy Hogan, CPC Board Chairman, opened with a welcome stating how this evening’s presentation was not a “show”. He shared sadly about the 290 who were killed in Sri Lanka and stated that Christianity is not a spectator sport. “Yes, this is a Spring Benefit for monetary reasons, but ask God if you are to get involved in a way that is not just about money.”
Executive Director, Mark Pitman, welcomed all and thanked them for coming, saying “We appreciate the opportunities God gives us and we want to be affective and have a harvest. We resonate with stories so the program is filled with stories from staff and clients.”
Some who shared from their hearts about their part in the staff of CPC were Kelly Boulton, Lori Yoder, Bobbie Brown and Tami Rhodes. They spoke of how personal the ministry is and how they get to council and bless young women, and get the blessing of knowing young men are also receiving good council from the male counselors.
CPC offers free services: Pregnancy and STI Testing, Limited OB Ultrasounds, Nurse Consultation, Confidential Counseling, Parenting Classes, Life Skills Classes, Spiritual Counseling, A Spanish-speaking Liason, Diapers, Formula and Baby Food, Maternity and Baby Clothing, Baby Care Products, Abstinence Education, Cribs, Mattresses and bedding as well as Car seats and Gas cards.
Over the past year of 2018, in the Northwest Ohio area, CPC has had 5,678 office visits, 5,781 phone calls, 142 births, 41 decisions to follow Christ, 6,916 Volunteer Hours and 53,176 units of service. (Units of service are items needed, from diapers to cribs).
Brock Rohrer and Taryn Myers, two of the Project Respect facilitators, shared that they help young people learn about boundaries, safety in dating, and abstinence only, along with being good listeners for the teens in the area schools. Rohrer shared that they are excited that soon they will be able to share in an assembly setting as well as going into the classrooms.
A Highlight of the evening occurred when Nurse Julie Hagen did an Ultrasound and it was put up on the large screen for the audience to see.
“The Ultrasound is one of the most incredible things available to us,” Hagen said. The baby that she showed the audience was 13 weeks along, the same age as the baby who was aborted in the movie Unplanned. The baby’s heartbeat was seen, and even heard for a tiny bit of time, while Hagen pointed out the arms, legs, head and other body parts of the very active little one. She explained how she talks lovingly and quietly with the mother as she does the ultrasound and near the end, she takes a picture of the baby and types, up in the corner, Hi Mommy! I love you! Then she does one that says Hi Daddy! I love you! And sometimes one for Grandma. Hagen pointed out that the baby is completely formed and functioning.
Following The Ultrasound, Erin Webb shared her story of how she entered a CPC years ago at the age of 16 and how life changing it was for her. She went on to say that the love and guidance she received has never stopped, as she became friends with her counselor and even named her and her husband as her son’s God-parents.
A call to help financially by Pitman, the performance of a song named, “Clean” by Leah Pitman and Grace Monichino, and piano music by Peter Rupp during the program, all were parts of the evening as well. To close, Pastor Kent Norr from Pettisville Missionary Church, prayed for God to continue to bless CPC and to continue the ministry of love through them.
Rebecca may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com