2011 – 2012 Success Stories
Florida International University, Jon Scharfenberger
About 5-6 members of a newly created pro-life group at Florida International University recently went to pray at Miami’s largest abortion clinic, A Women’s Choice. They spent an hour or so silently praying and noticed a young woman, around 18 years old, who entered the abortion clinic. She came out twice within the hour but went back in both times. She came out an hour later – noticeably upset – and went over to the students who were praying. She informed them that she had scheduled an abortion but did not go through with it after seeing them outside praying. She noted that seeing young people her age praying made her rethink her situation. In the end, they exchanged contact information.
This group was started just one week prior to this child being saved and they already have recruited over 40 students via clip boarding on campus. Two students met with SFLA Pregnant on Campus Coordinator, Jon Scharfenberger, just two weeks prior to this save and now have an up-and-running pro-life group making an impact within their local community!
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Dear Kristan,
You have been such a blessing to me these past three years. I have come from a conservative family and joined the “Abolish Abortion” cause not really knowing much on the issue, besides the basic “abortion kills babies” and “Republicans are pro-life”. Because of the information well-given in the cause, because of you and the SFLA team, I have really gotten into the pro-life movement. After being on facebook and in your cause less than 6 months, I had borrowed and read every book in my church library on abortion. I learned so much I never even knew and had no idea of, and all because SFLA motivated me to “know what was going on”. Nearly 3 years later and at 16, I now have attended my state’s pro-life camp and will be going again this year, and hope to work full time in a crisis pregnancy center for counseling. Thank you for being such a blessing, Kristan. Have a wonderful birthday, and may God continue to bless you.
Love,
Amelia Luise Haynes
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I just wanted to tell you how much I admire your tireless efforts to abolish abortion. I have two children, 14 years apart, and was told by specialists that I wouldn’t survive either pregnancy. My son is 15 and my daughter just turned 1. My son was a triplet but the girls died in the womb. With my daughter, I had 3 specialists insist on terminating the pregnancy due to a uterine tumor that was growing fast. I refused and explained that regardless of the complications, this was my child and not only was I speaking for myself, but for her as well, and she doesn’t wish to be murdered… this conversation took place during a sonogram and just as I said it, she put her face and one hand right up to the camera as if to say ” Hi!”. The doctor, with a tear in his eye told me that he understood but could not participate in my care.
My daughter was born by C-section, weighed 7’3 and the tumor that was crowding her out weighed 7’1. Although she was conceived after a partial hysterectomy and a uterine ablation ( was not planned, heck, not even supposed to be possible ) she is a wonderful blessing in my life. She is a happy, healthy, intelligent little girl.
Keep fighting for the preborn children. They need all the voices they can get to speak for them… they are simply too small to speak loudly enough to be heard.
Sunshine
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I received an email about a production the SFLA is doing about surviving abortion. I am a survivor with, what I think is, an important reason that ultrasounds should be required prior to considering abortion. I am a twin, my mom is a twin and I wanted twins. I found out I was pregnant while I was in college and I thought I could not deal with having a baby. I had an abortion. I was feeling very sick about two weeks later and I went back to the doctor that did my abortion. It turned out that I was still pregnant! I had been pregnant with twins! I was devastated! I would have borne the shame and told my parents and had my twins if I had known. Woman need to be completely informed about what is going on inside her body before she can make an informed decision. Abortion is wrong and I believe if women were to have an ultrasound, they would see that life growing inside them and they would reject the lie that the “choice” people push. Life begins at conception!
Sincerely,
Christina
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Hi there! My name’s Rylie, I’m 16 years old, and when my mom was pregnant with me, the doctors told her to abort me. When they did an ultrasound, they found that my brain was supposed to be completely liquid. They told her immediately that she should have an abortion because the quality of my life would be so poor with a brain consisting of liquid. My mom didn’t want to abort me, she never even considered it, even though the doctors were persistent. One of my mother’s doctors even harassed her about it, she wouldn’t leave her alone. Still, my mom didn’t abort me. A few months later when I was born, I was completely healthy. Later, my parents found out the the doctors were just using the ultrasound machine wrong, and if my mom would have had the abortion, they would have aborted a completely healthy baby. I learned about this story shortly after expressing my interest in pro-life action. And really, I think it just shows that doctors are only human and never 100% accurate, you’ll never know for sure about the health of a baby until it’s born. Maybe it’s just my opinion, but I think telling my mom that I’m so thankful she didn’t abort me is probably one of the most meaningful things I could tell her. And as many disagreements as I’ve had with my mom through out my short 16 years, I honestly think she’s incredibly strong and brave for not being pressured into aborting me, and I love her very much. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my story!
Rylie C.
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Dear Students for Life staff,
I’d like to share a success story with you from Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Pro-Life (or Case for Life), of which I am the president, brought in Dr. Clement Persaud (thanks to your very handy list of guest speakers) to speak at Case Western Reserve University during the first week of November. Through the help of a couple other pro-life organizations in the area, we were able to also book him for 6 other presentations in the area! A few days after he returned home, Dr. Persaud received an email from the president of one of the high schools at which he had lectured. He said that a senior girl had come into his office and told him that she had had an abortion about a month ago. She had really hardened her heart against God’s voice and refused to admit her wrong. However, during Dr. Persaud’s presentation, and during the moments of silence before the prayer that he lead afterwards, she realized that something needed to change. She has now repented and has begun what looks to be a new and wonderful relationship with Jesus! Praise God!
On this day of great thanks, I would just like to thank you for all the incredible work you do. Without you, I would never have found Dr. Persaud, and perhaps this girl’s heart would never have been changed. I also had the amazing privilege of getting to know Kortney Blythe, who skyped and emailed with me as I got this group up and running. We also skyped her in for our second meeting of the semester, and she gave us tips on talking to students on campus and on sidewalk counseling. May God rest her soul, and may He bless all of you abundantly!
In Christ,
Alena Merimee
Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Music ’12
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See past Success Stories below!