The Rev. Dr. Amy C. Schifrin, pastor of Mission in Christ and Faith Lutheran Churches in Iowa, writes about the time she went to a Planned Parenthood clinic to get a pregnancy test:
Lacking a home physician, we made an appointment at the local Planned Parenthood clinic where I could have a pregnancy test.
Sitting together in the waiting room anxious for the results, a healthcare worker called me in and said that my husband would have to stay in the waiting room. I didn’t understand; couldn’t he come in with me? No, she said, they wanted to talk to me alone first. I didn’t understand. Even more anxious and worried that something was terribly wrong with me, I was finally given the news that I was pregnant. Overjoyed, I wanted my husband to hear, and that’s when I found out from Planned Parenthood that they always tell the mother alone first in case she does not want to continue the pregnancy. In fact, she was surprised that I did, for I had been the first woman in many weeks for whom the news was heard as good news.
Word spread like wildfire among the doctors, nurses, and technicians, who then treated us like royalty. Even those who dealt in death could yet be surprised by life, and in that moment our joy was contagious. I can only hope that in some small way it had a lasting effect to help turn their hearts to life.
The rest can be found at the website of the Christian Leadership Center , a very impressive project headed up by frequent First Things contributor Leroy Huizenga.
