When I walked into the abortion clinic the first time in 1987 I was terrified. My boyfriend and I weaved throughout the parked cars on a breezy, warm, southern California summer day on our way into where our lives would forever change. Hand in hand we moved forward and nothing was stopping us. No words, no person, no visual existed to suggest there was another way.
This was almost 30 years ago. Clinics then didn’t offer alternatives. At least not this one. They didn’t for my first abortion and they certainly didn’t for my second abortion. In fact, because I was a repeat client, I got through even faster.
Fast forward 28 years and I am introduced to Jeff Gilbert. Jeff works with an amazing organization called Save The Storks. Actually, Jeff used to live in Southern Oregon. The same town where we lived for 18 years before moving to Nashville. Some of you might know of Jeff from the band Kutless.
Jeff reached out to me after seeing a post my husband tweeted and he immediately connected with my story. He saw, right away, how Save The Storks and I could partner. He called me and we talked for almost an hour. A couple months later we all met and Jeff shared more about Save The Storks and I knew I just had to be a part of it!
I couldn’t help to drift into a what-if moment. What if Save The Storks was around when my boyfriend and I were walking into the clinic the first time? Would it have changed our minds? Would it have allowed me to see something the clinic didn’t offer…an ultrasound? I would have heard a heartbeat…that may have changed it all for me. You might be wondering how.
This is how…
Save The Storks is a mobile ultrasound unit that is every bit beautiful, safe, and professional. They accomplish their mission by making the highest-quality and most beautiful mobile medical vehicles available. Stork Buses allow their affiliates to go where abortion-vulnerable women are likely to be, such as in front of abortion clinics and on university campuses.
These units allow you to connect with mothers where they are instead of having to wait for them to come to you.
I mean…this could have changed it all for me. I can’t go back and change what I did. I will never get those two lives back. I dismissed them. But, I can help be a part of stepping in to a young woman’s life, and her unborn child’s life, and be the safety net she is looking for through Save the Storks. There is no way I can’t be involved.
You can get involved too and partner with me. I am raising money to build my very own And Now I Choose Bus!!!! Oh yes I am!!! I have to. I just have to. My heart won’t let me not do it. I believe in this outreach that much. And you can help raise money for the bus and become a sponsor.
It would mean the world to me! You all know how important this is to me. I’ve written about my regrets for years. I can’t undo them…but I can help prevent women from ever being in my position.
It takes a village. It takes a community locking arms and passions to make changes. I believe that’s what you are. You are that community – you are that person. Would you prayerfully consider partnering with me and Save The Storks?
