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Next Step Invites You!
Next Step Interview on Sacred Heart!
She Still Needs You
| OCTOBER 5: Today my life began. My parents do not know it yet, but it is I already. And I am to be a girl. I shall have brown hair and brown eyes. Just about everything is settled though, even the fact that I shall love flowers. And thus begins the anonymous letter titled “Diary of an Unborn Child” published in Watchtower Bible and Tract Society’s AWAKE! Magazine in 1980. The haunting and soul-stirring narrative continues from the voice of the unborn child. OCTOBER 19: Some say that I am not a real person yet, that only my mother exists. But I am a real person, just as a small crumb of bread is yet truly bread. My mother is. And I am. In the September 1st issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry following a study analyzing data on 877,000 women – 164,000 of which had had a abortion, “Results indicate quite consistently that abortion is associated with moderate to highly increased risks of psychological problems subsequent to the procedure.” The women who had experienced an abortion were “34% more likely to develop an anxiety disorder, 37% more likely to experience depression, 110% more likely to abuse alcohol, 155% more likely to commit suicide, and 220% more likely to use marijuana.” (Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018) OCTOBER 23: My mouth is just beginning to open now. Just think, in a year or so I shall be laughing and later talking. I know what my first word will be: MAMA. In an article from a physician in 2016 she recalls volunteering as an abortion counselor in 1973 as an undergrad. She remembers being told that abortion was “risk-free”. It was many years later she learned about abortion-related distress. Distress such as severe depression not unlike PTSD, nightmares, thoughts of suicide and self-harm, insomnia, substance abuse, anger, and feelings of guilt and worthlessness. More – relationships with abusive partners, and various self-destructive behaviors. And these stresses are long lasting and relentless. Dr. Shuping says, “In my clinical experience, I have worked with women ranging in age from teens to more than eighty who continued to have distress they attributed many years later to the abortion.” (Shuping, M. (2016). Counterpoint: Long-lasting distress after abortion. (pp. 153-177). NOVEMBER 2: I am growing a bit every day. My arms and legs are beginning to take shape. But I have to wait a long time yet before those little legs will raise me to my mother’s arms, before these little arms will be able to gather flowers and embrace my father. And what about the father? “In a national web-based study of 135 men who have experienced an abortion, 48% of men stated that they opposed their partner’s abortion and 69% reported moderate to very high stress following the abortion (Rue, Coyle, & Coleman, 2007). Yet no state requires a husband or boyfriend to be informed of the impending abortion.“A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.”— Billy Graham DECEMBER 13: I am just about able to see. It is dark around me. When mom brings me into the world it will be full of sunshine and flowers. But what I want more than anything is to see my mom. How do you look, mom? No woman can forget the child within her womb. No woman truly wants to have an abortion. And no one woman is ever the same following one. The profound effects of an abortion fill her heart and mind. Sometimes loud and garish causing every movement to be harsh and tiresome. Other times quiet and isolating. An endless frost. DECEMBER 24: I wonder if mom hears the whispering of my heart? Some children come into the world a little sick. But my heart is strong and healthy. It beats so evenly: tup-tup, tup-tup. You’ll have a healthy little daughter, mom! The heartrending end to this poem I am sure you know. According to various sources some 619,591 abortions were performed in 2018. There is no readily available data up to the present at this time. That is not only the approximate number of precious blood spilled but also the number of souls torn in half and left empty and broken from having taken the life of their child. She still needs us. Our prayers. Our compassion. Our help. Pray for those whose lives are damaged by this horrific crime and pray for and help bring about her the healing she needs. Support Pregnancy Care Clinics and our efforts to “Love them Both”. ~Heather Vasquez |
The Devaluing of Life
Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign.”
– St. Mother Teresa
Dear Friends of Next Step,
It is cold, bright, and at times dismal and we are bombarded with news, numbers, opinions, anger, and changes daily. It is enough to make one put their head back underneath the pillow and desperately try to get back to the blackness of sleep.
But we cannot hide our heads, Netflix and chill, or hideaway in our homes until this all passes. That is not what we are called to do is it?
There is an enemy, not a new one, but one that has until recently resided in stark clinical rooms and discussed among the list of ‘offerings’ to those finding themselves ‘in a pickle’. But with the human connections getting fewer and fewer and venturing from our homes discouraged it is now a very real and a dangerous ‘service’ being foisted upon our community.
The abortion pill, also known as RU-486, has been circling the U.S as early as 1994 under the Clinton Administration.
So, what is the Abortion Pill?
The Abortion Pill is “a chemical compound that, taken in pill form, can induce abortion in women up to nine weeks pregnant.” (https://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ru486/)
In the United States it is sold under the name Mifeprex, also known as the “Early Option Pill”. It operates as an artificial steroid that impedes the action of naturally occurring progesterone (a hormone essential to early pregnancy progress) in the woman’s body.
“Progesterone stimulates the proliferation of the uterine lining which nourishes the developing child. It also suppresses normal uterine contractions which could dislodge the child implanted and growing on the wall of the mother’s womb” (https://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ru486/).
The Abortion Pill takes the place of the progesterone. Without that hormone to begin the natural process of pregnancy the women’s body shuts down the preparation of the uterus and normal menstruation begins. The baby, whose heart has already taken its first beats as early as five weeks and is about 2mm long, deprived of necessary nutrition starves. He or she detaches from the uterine wall and is swept out of the body with the decaying uterine lining.
That is, it in a nutshell. This is all very researched and laid out factually in many places. I found the most helpful information on the National Right to Life website (nrlc.org).
Over the last several months – or year is it now? – since the countrywide pandemic has taken over, those who push abortion as a basic human right have taken the opportunity to reach even further into our homes than before by offering to send the abortion pill to pregnant women to take in their homes without the basic monitoring of their health and well-being. The argument being that due to COVID and “out of an abundance of caution” women are being asked to “stay home and stay safe” and they will send the ‘abortion’ to you!
But that is not the only pill the woman is sent. Alone RU486 can induce an abortion only between 64% and 85% of the time. “Therefore, two days after taking the RU486, a woman is given a prostaglandin, usually misoprostol (trade name: Cytotec), to induce powerful uterine contractions to expel the shriveled corpse.” (https://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ru486/).
During the clinical trials in France, prior to the FDA deciding the process was “safe and effective” in 1996, the Abortion Pill was administered typically within or adjacent to emergency facilities. Why? Because some of the women in the trial began hemorrhaging (in other words bleeding out). In addition, women were screened for several health conditions that may have ruled them out from using the drug due to some severe short- and long-term effects.
“After women are given prostaglandin (e.g., misoprostol), they are monitored on site for approximately four hours so that allergic reactions, cardiopulmonary “events,” hemorrhaging and the like can be treated promptly before they become life-threatening.” (April 12, 1990 letter from the French Republic, Department of Solidarity, Health and Social Protection, reprinted in Child & Family 21:102-103, 1990).
A 1990 directive jointly signed by the French Republic’s Director General of Health, Director of Hospitals and Director of Pharmacy and Medication, states that “whenever prostaglandins are given in association with RU 486 the following technical conditions … are indispensable and are to be followed”
And the article goes on to describe having a defibrillator handy, resuscitative cardiopulmonary equipment as well as blood pressure checks every 30 minutes. The most common side effect being bleeding extensively and excessively. “Women taking RU486 usually bleed for at least a week or two, with 9% bleeding for 30 days or more.” (https://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ru486)
Today, in the world of COVID, there seem to be little precautions taken.
According to an article in ViceMediaGroup from February of this year, the new thing is to perform a “self-managed abortion”.
“Though it’s a violation of the Food and Drug Administration’s rules to sell abortion medication online—the agency’s restrictions on mifepristone require it to be administered in person at a hospital or clinic—there are several websites where people can buy the drugs online.” (ViceMediaGroup, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884m9x/how-to-do-your-own-abortion-with-pills, Maria Solis, February 17th, 2020)
And thus “perform your own abortion” in the relative comfort of your own home. Away from physicians or nurses or any medical personnel or monitoring. If anyone watched the 2019 film “Unplanned” based on the life of pro-life champion Abby Johnson, you will see what I mean.
The nonchalance with which this procedure is marketed saddens us greatly. That the killing of an unborn child is relegated to the equivalent of an amazon package. The patient is encouraged to have herbal tea, a blanket and Netflix ready.
Luke 1:41
And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Celebrate National Sanctity of Life Day!
This day marks the landmark ruling back on January 22nd, 1973 when the horrific abortion procedure was legalized. It was under the Reagan administration that a day of remembrance was created and celebrated ever since each year on the anniversary of that terrible decision and as a promise to continue to fight for an end to the taking away of life in the womb.
(click on the link and put your volume up!)
Attached is a very short video I hope you will watch that celebrates the beauty of life in the womb and beyond.
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” ~ Winston Churchill
Dear Friends of Next Step,
Back in 1940 a speech was given to gathered MPs and staff in the House of Commons, England. The speech though not made live to the public or broadcast has been hailed as one of the most inspiring speeches ever given. In it Sir Winston Churchill expounds upon the duty of all those in the British Empire to fight, to never flag, to stand firm, to defend their island and all its people, principles, hopes, and visions until the end, the very end, “whatever the cost may be”.
Churchill’s words struck me as particularly fitting as we inch closer and closer to the Election for Commander in Chief (among other positions and amendments) for our great nation. As well as the appointment of a new Justice in our highest court.
The last year (give or take) has taken on an almost surreal quality in its barrage of hate, anger, lies, violence, oppression, injustice, media blackouts, and suppression.
All in all the country stands poised to either retain her freedoms of religion, of speech, of the press, and of the right to peaceably gather as well as the right to all those living (born and unborn) to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – or to surrender those things which were “endowed by their Creator”.
As a Pro-Life clinic Next Step Pregnancy stands to have our mission protected, celebrated, and most importantly moved forward to a time when the slaughter of the unborn is not just rare but indefensible. Or – to face overwhelming opposition against our purpose. That is how much the next few weeks will affect our cause.
This is not a “get out the vote” connection. But a plea for courage, discernment, and action. Much like the Prime Minister during the Second World War declared from the House on June 4th, 1940 following the evacuation of Dunkirk – “whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,”.
We can not be the silent majority any more than we can let others decide our outcomes. We need to live bravely. We cannot surrender. The future of our unborn children is dependent on you.
“We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month!
“I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” – Art Williams
Since the beginning of time mothers have breastfed their young. It is as natural and organic as breathing. In every aspect of the world and every species on the planet it is there. The connection between mother and young during this simple act is one of the most profound in the human experience and there is no comparison.
The grace that flows naturally from a woman is a unique strength. Not only has she the power to sustain a life within her own body but even after birth her body still brings life and nourishment to her child.
One of the many beautiful superpowers a woman possesses.
Breastfeeding is not always easy and is not always a beautiful experience. I can recall my own obstacles with my oldest child even years later. The late nights, the fatigue, the frustration of both mom and baby at not being able to latch on properly. But once again I was not alone. There were other women who had been there and knew. They understood. The resources I was given, the patience, the encouragement was yet another testament to the capabilities and communion between women.
Despite working hard to maintain breastfeeding and pumping milk daily my daughter decided that she had had enough at about 6 months old. I remember feeling tender about it and even a bit rejected. This was natural I realized. As soon as you become a mother they begin separating from you. Your child is her own unique person, unlike any other.
I would not change those times for anything, the quiet of the night, the curve of my baby’s head in my arms as she nestled. There is nothing that compares.
My second child was a bit different in every sense of the word. Due to health concerns sadly, I was unable to breastfeed for very long and had to turn towards formula for my child. Formula is not horrible. It contains the nutrients your baby needs without a doubt. I will not proclaim to say it is worse or better. Like many mothers who are unable to breastfeed I found bottle feeding still a treasured moment with my child. A fleeting time for sure, but a gift just the same.
There are a multitude of benefits to breastfeeding not the least of which is the possibility of losing pregnancy weight! There is also a myriad of breastfeeding resources in the community –
La Leche League – llli.org
PEPS (Program for Early Parent Support) – peps.org
WIC – wicbreastfeeding.fns.usada.gov
And for more help or questions – there’s Next Step! (425)329-4569
“If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” John 15(v18-19),
Dear Friends of Next Step,
I would like to touch on something that I think we can all agree has become quite a tool for evil, especially in recent months with so many people relegated to living life behind their phones and laptops. Social Media – it is like a bucket of beautiful shiny red apples – but as you sift through you realize that was only the top layer and the rest is rotten.
Earlier this week I received an email recommending I create a Next Step Pregnancy Services business page for the Next Door application, which is an application for neighbors and neighborhoods to connect on local events, issues, buying and selling things and the like; the app gets a lot of traffic I’ll say. It sounded like a sound idea to get the word out about Next Step and our services, so I created a page with our services, our mission, and our location and contact info.
Not ten minutes later I got a notification of a comment, and then another one, and another. It went on all day. The comments were centered primarily on pregnancy care centers as a whole and why these few people believe pregnancy centers are anti woman, deceiving women into coming in, working without medical regulations or medical personnel, withholding contraception, pushing religious agendas, and the list goes on and on…. There were even comments about what Next Step’s stance was on Referendum 90 and sex education courses and ended with an invite from one neighbor to another to join “Catholics for Choice.”
As you can imagine I was fairly blown away by the viciousness and negativity. You would think I would not have been given Facebook and Twitter and the like spewed out there, but I guess I just thought – it is a business listing for our services, end of. To make a long story short, I did answer the legitimate questions about Next Step Pregnancy’s services, confirmed we are a pro-life organization, confirmed we do indeed have licensed medical professionals to boot. And I thanked the few people who chimed in in our defense. Thankfully there were a few.
I contemplated removing the business site from Next Door but in the end decided against it. Next Step Pregnancy Services is a beautiful, compassionate, and life-saving place that puts the health and well-being of families, including the precious unborn – first. And we will not back down, we will not be silent about the sanctity of all life, and we will not be cowed into compromising our faith. We are pro-woman. A woman is more than capable enough to be a mother, planned or unplanned. Make no mistake, this is a battle. We can do it.
“He has chosen us out of the world.”
“What Does it mean to Empower Women?”
“The woman’s soul is fashioned as a shelter in which other souls may unfold.”
~ St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Pope John Paul II once described women’s unique capabilities as “feminine genius”. In his beautiful “Letter to Women” written from the Vatican in 1995 before he addressed the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, he went on to describe women as “having a particular and special sensitivity to the human person”.
Further he said, “A woman is strong because of the fact that God has entrusted the human being to her. It is this awareness of this entrusting that makes her strong.”
From the Vatican, 29 June 1995, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.
What a beautifully true sentiment. Women are strong. Women are resilient. Women are capable and always have been. The modern women do not seem to comprehend her own worth. Her own value and capacity for fulfillment and achievement. It is there. And has been.
“I do not wish to give (women) a first place, still less a second one- but the complete freedom to take their true place, whatever it may be.” ~ Elizabeth Blackwell
Pioneers of women’s rights knew it and fought for it. They shine a light to the world about what women could accomplish and should be recognized as. Fully functioning equals. Integral, valuable, resilient and full of promise.
It seems today a lot of what is churned out in the name of feminism is contrived, stony, and intolerant. Independence is pushed at the cost of connection. Self-sufficiency at the cost of nurturing. Toughness is encouraged as a replacement for tenderness. To terminate a child held in the womb is decreed a right.
No! This is a serious distortion on womanhood, and we all suffer as a result.
Again in the words of Blessed John Paul II, “the face of women the reflection of a beauty which mirrors the loftiest sentiments of which the human heart is capable: the self-offering totality of love; the strength that is capable of bearing the greatest sorrows; limitless fidelity and tireless devotion to work; the ability to combine penetrating intuition with words of support and encouragement. — Blessed John Paul II Redemptoris Mater (46)
A Day in the Life
There is a right time for everything:
2 A time to be born; A time to die; A time to plant; A time to harvest;
3 A time to kill; A time to heal; A time to destroy; A time to rebuild;
4 A time to cry; A time to laugh; A time to grieve; A time to dance;
5 A time for scattering stones; A time for gathering stones; A time to hug;
A time not to hug;
6 A time to find; A time to lose; A time for keeping; A time for throwing away;
7 A time to tear; A time to repair; A time to be quiet; A time to speak up;
8 A time for loving; A time for hating; A time for war; A time for peace.
9 What does one really get from hard work? 10 I have thought about this in connection with all the various kinds of work God has given to mankind. 11 Everything is appropriate in its own time. But though God has planted eternity in the hearts of men, even so, many cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 (TLB)
What does a day in the life of a pregnancy services center look like right now? We all know that every day things are changing. For good or bad the sun continues to rise each morning and continues to set each evening. What is constant if not the sun? And deeper than that is the desire to live, to breathe and be vital. And how can these needs be met in times like these? Lovingly, creatively and without pause.
Each morning the lights come on and the first order of business is cleaning. Music on, gloves on, and armed with Clorox we walk from room to room, door to door wiping down desks, counters, sinks, light switches, doorknobs, chairs, keyboards, phones and finally the coffee pot! Floors are swept while joe brews. Computers are turned on and the door is unlocked ready to welcome those in need.
The first family comes in. Mom cradling a sleeping little girl while her other two children cling to her pant legs. She stands within the blue square on the floor as asked while I look up her profile. Diapers size 2, 3, and 5. Blessed with wipies I can hand out two packs to her grateful smile. Cereal and fruit? Yes! Now for some clothes. Explaining that our boutique is temporarily closed I pick out 3 or 4 summer outfits for each of her children and fold carefully into waiting bags. Big brown eyes smile at me from behind mom’s leg as I offer little blue teddy bears that were just donated.
Another knock on the door and a masked head pokes in. Upon seeing the woman and her family the new client waits without to help us maintain the social distancing. I finish up with this young mom and she leaves inviting the other family inside and the process starts again.
Another woman comes into the center uncertainty etched on her young face. She’s hoping for a pregnancy test. She has missed her period and is just feeling off. Can we help? Her boyfriend is waiting in the car. The nurse takes her temperature and gives her a mask to wear in the consultation room. She sits down with the nurse. She’s not sure when her last cycle was but feels sure she’s pregnant. The nurse helps her with a urinary test and gives her the news. They sit together for a long while talking.
Families come and go. Several women come in alone asking for formula and one is hoping for a stroller. We all stand apart from one another smiling in hopes the welcome is felt. I help a happy father carry out a high chair and a nice exersaucer, his smile of thanks warm and genuine.
The doors and counters are wiped down again and again. Several calls asking if we are open or closed because of the virus.
The nurse finally comes out with the young girl and I am asked to set up an ultrasound 2 weeks from now. The smile is hesitant and wavering. And after she leaves the small Next Step team sit down in a larger circle to separate and pray. The young girl is happy to be with child but young and unsure. She thinks her boyfriend will be happy but what if he isn’t? So we pray. For peace and comfort for the girl and for the health of her and her unborn baby and we pray we’ll see her in two weeks for her ultrasound.
In the back we are gloved up and donation bags are unpacked and soft little onsies are sorted into piles by size. Warm sleepers are stored in winter boxes and colorful summer dresses are hung up. More coffee is made as envelopes are stickered ready for mailing. Thank you cards are written and plans are made.
The day starts to wane and we do final wipe downs of the office. We close the doors and say our goodbyes. A lot of families were helped today. A lot of smiles were seen. I feel good about our day. It was a good one despite the ever changing landscape outside. We’ll do it all again tomorrow and feel blessed at what our ministry brings to the community and to our own lives.
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