Last week, I shared with you my Pro-choice to Pro-Life journey. This week we continue the discussion by sharing the different ways members in our Tri-State Regnum Christi members are working for the Pro-Life cause. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Marie Hack, long-time RC member in NJ on the Chatham team, about the work she does with Life Choices Resource Center in Metuchen, NJ.
A Registered Nurse, Marie was trained to counsel women by Birthright, Life Choices and then on to Heartbeat International. She dedicates 4 hours per week in the center helping 2-3 women per shift often helping with post-abortive counseling. “I focus on the fact that this is the loss of a child. I figure since I had several miscarriages, I know what it is to lose an unborn child. This helps me connect.” But it is not always post- abortive. “Someone will come in and tell you their story, how they are living, how they got pregnant. We do a pregnancy test and an ultrasound. We are just there for them. We tell them we will be there throughout the pregnancy. And we follow up. If they do not want this support, we are very careful not to harass them.”
I asked Marie to describe a typical encounter. “There is no typical. Their stories are all so different. I pray to the Holy Spirit to guide me what door to go in. After they start to tell their story, you can get a sense of which door to go in. You learn how to talk to them and how to love them, how to bring out their good points. We give them information about what an abortion is since most of them do not really know and what it might be like if they do that. Some come having had several abortions already. Only God can give you the wisdom to know which way to go with each person.”
“Sometimes we meet with failure when someone chooses abortion, and sometimes it seems like a success, but you always have to believe that God is working even in the failures. Because he is!”
**The following information is taken from their website.
“The mission of Life Choices Resource Center is to promote and defend the sanctity of all human life, born and unborn, through the provision of abortion-alternative services and resources that empower mothers and families to CHOOSE LIFE. We provide loving help, hope, and healing, recognizing each human being is made in the Image and Likeness of God, and we value each LIFE as His Gift.
We are guided by the Christian principle that human life is sacred from the moment of conception. We promote chastity, family life and Natural Family Planning. We do not refer our clients for abortions or any birth control devices.”
