By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
To commemorate Respect Life Month in October, Catholic Messenger Conversations spoke with The Woman’s Choice Center’s executive director, Christie Schaefer, about the organization’s efforts to change hearts and save lives.
“We serve women who are unsupported in their pregnancy or are unsure of what to do,” Schaefer said in the Oct. 21 podcast recording in KALA Studios at St. Ambrose University of Davenport. The Bettendorf-based center offers ultrasounds, medical care, counseling and resources to women and their families. “Everything we provide for them is free: pregnancy tests, STI testing, diapers, formula, clothing up to age six, maternity clothing, shoes… you name it, we provide it.” The center has helped save 2,392 babies to date, “which we’re very thrilled with.”
She estimates that 30% of the women who come in have an abortion appointment set up elsewhere and need an ultrasound to proceed. During the ultrasound, staff and volunteers share information about the fetus’ stage of development and the risks of abortion. Abortion providers generally don’t provide the whole picture, she believes. “It would be wonderful if they did, because even if you go to an abortion clinic and they tell you all this information, you would consider not having the abortion.”
When women and their partners see their baby on the ultrasound, it can be life-changing, Schaefer observes. “They see that beating heart. They see those little arms and legs wiggling and their hearts are changed. They become protective. They want that baby to survive.”
Prayer is an essential part of the process, she believes. “The Holy Spirit does a lot of guiding in those counseling rooms.”
A two-step regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol — commonly known as a medication abortion — is the most common way to terminate a first-trimester pregnancy. Iowa bans most abortions after cardiac activity is detected — generally around six weeks of pregnancy. Women are increasingly turning to telehealth appointments from out-of-state providers to obtain these medications (www.guttmacher.org).
This remote approach can put women at risk, Schaefer said. “We did have a situation where a young girl came in, and she wanted to get the abortion pill. We insisted that she first have an ultrasound (and we discovered) that her pregnancy was ectopic. She was in the emergency room within an hour.” Medication abortions do not treat an ectopic pregnancy since they occur outside the uterus, according to Yale Medicine.
If a woman takes the first abortion pill — mifepristone — and has regrets, The Woman’s Choice Center may be able to counter its effects through “abortion pill reversal,” she said. “It has a 70% success rate, but we need the woman to call within 48 hours (of taking the first pill) so that we can administer this protocol,” Schaefer advised. The regimen is generally ineffective if the second medication — misoprostol — has already been administered. “If you know of someone who’s considering the abortion pill, please tell them about this protocol in case they change their mind.”
Working at The Woman’s Choice Center is a difficult, heart-moving job, Schaefer said, “but we all love it.”
Listen to this and other Catholic Messenger Conversations podcasts at www.catholicmessenger.net/ podcasting or on your favorite podcasting app.
