Saturday, July 28, 2007 – Planned Parenthood, El Cajon

“The sight of that sign, with Jesus' name on it, seemed to bring out the worst in some of the drivers passing by on East Main Street. Someone yelled ‘Psychos!’ at us, and others honked and gave us ‘middle fingers pointing toward Heaven.’ Amazing how the name of our Lord Jesus Christ incites such expressions of hatred...”

It was a hot, dry summer morning, and Planned Parenthood did not appear to be overly busy. We were able to speak with and give literature to a few people. One mother came over to us from the McDonald's parking lot next door to ask for materials for her 15-year-old son. We gave her brochures on chastity, STDs, and the dangers and pitfalls of various contraception devices.

Another couple, who said they were married and showed us the rings to prove it, drove out saying they had been to Planned Parenthood to get birth control. I gave them information on STDs and contraception. Then I asked them if they were planning to start a family, and they said they would someday, after the husband finishes medical school. I congratulated him for becoming a doctor, then asked to them to wait one more moment while I got them another brochure about natural family planning. I gave it to them saying it is a superior method to any contraception, that it goes with a woman's natural menstrual cycles, and doesn't carry the risks that the pill or other contraceptive devices do. They accepted the information gratefully.

One very beautiful young woman with long dark hair drove in with an older woman at the beginning of our prayer vigil. I offered information to the young woman as she entered the parking lot. She rolled down her window to accept it, and I said, "Are you here to visit Planned Parenthood today?"

I gave her pamphlets on what every woman should know about contraception, the connection between contraception and abortion, teenage abstinence, how Planned Parenthood exploits teens, and a couple of others. She and the woman drove into the parking lot and proceeded upstairs to the clinic.

While they were inside, I noticed a new brochure that Debbie had placed in our rack, titled "Chastity and Dating" from the group ProLife Across America (www.prolifeacrossamerica.org). As the rest of our group prayed, I read the brochure and loved what it said. It is written by Mary Ann Kuharski and contains a beautiful message about chastity, and how chastity in dating is different and more special than simple abstinence. It also listed several advice points regarding dating, such as never to spend too much time alone on dates, to date in groups, to dress modestly, and to set your boundaries clearly up front. I prayed that I would be able to see the beautiful young woman again before our prayer vigil ended.

Well, God answered that prayer, and the young woman, with the older woman, came out of the clinic and drove out. I waved at them again, and they rolled down their windows again, and I asked if I could give them just one more brochure. The young woman said yes, so I gave her the Chastity and Dating brochure and explained some of its contents.

I then began to ask her some more questions. "Are you planning to get married?" "Maybe, someday," she said. "How long have you been dating this young man?" "About three years." "How old are you?" I asked. "Twenty-five," she answered. "Well, then, you're past college age now, so perhaps it's time you thought about getting married." The young woman said that she didn't have a big problem with avoiding sex, but that her boyfriend does. "Well, then, perhaps you should think twice about going out with him if he doesn't respect you and can't control his urges. Do you know the old saying, 'Why buy the cow when you can have the milk for free?' That means, why should he marry you when you allow him to have sex? You are such a beautiful young lady; you deserve to have someone who respects you. You can reclaim your spiritual and emotional virginity by refusing to sleep with him any more until you are married." I also talked to her about how sex before marriage can become the central activity between a couple, blinding them to other aspects of each other's personalities and incompatibilities that don't become apparent until after marriage.

Then I turned to the older woman and asked, "Are you her mother?" The older woman said, "Yes." I said, "Have you talked to her about these issues?" The mother said, "She won't listen to me." As I continued talking to the young woman, the mother kept saying, "Thank you, thank you," in appreciation for the counseling we gave her daughter.

A little later, toward the end of our prayer vigil, our good friend Ron who does not attend St. Kieran but who often comes out to witness with us, arrived and set up a big, bold "Jesus Saves" sign at the bus stop in front of the clinic. The sight of that sign, with Jesus' name on it, seemed to bring out the worst in some of the drivers passing by on East Main Street. Someone yelled "Psychos!" at us, and others honked and gave us "middle fingers pointing toward Heaven." Amazing how the name of our Lord Jesus Christ incites such expressions of hatred, but then He told us, "Ye shall be hated of all men for My Name's sake." Some passersby, however, gave us the "thumbs up" and other expressions of goodwill.

We gather to pray and provide counseling in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic every Friday at 8:30 a.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m., and you are welcome to join us. We have noticed a falling-off of pray-ers since we began these vigils last September, so that we now have a "core group" of about seven regular pray-ers, and we would love to have more of you join us. If you cannot join us in person, please pray during these hours.

Your prayers and sacrifices make it possible to reach some of these young people who come to Planned Parenthood thinking it is their only alternative for "reproductive health care." The clinic is located at 1685 East Main Street, El Cajon, just off the Greenfield offramp from Interstate 8.

"'Why buy the cow when you can have the milk for free?' "

I had not heard that saying until last week! It is true!!

I am glad their vigil went so well....unfortunately, it doesn't go so well here in SD. The security guard tried to stop one of us last week from talking to anyone if they stopped to talk with us. Some brochures were given out, but the contact opportunities had been so small that the sidewalk counselors pulled back last year at about this time. Now, the parking lot is so full that the clients can't hide behind the building any more. The city, the churches, have fallen into spiritual leprosy...lethargy... We are trying to raise the movement back to its feet. The defeat of the bill in November took the wind out of many here, and PP just keeps on killing.

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enter the Table of Contents of the Catechism of the Catholic Church here

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (click on the book for the link.)

2399 The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).

2370 Periodic continence, that is, the methods of birth regulation based on self-observation and the use of infertile periods, is in conformity with the objective criteria of morality. These methods respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them, and favor the education of an authentic freedom. In contrast, "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil:

Thus the innate language that expresses the total reciprocal self-giving of husband and wife is overlaid, through contraception, by an objectively contradictory language, namely, that of not giving oneself totally to the other. This leads not only to a positive refusal to be open to life but also to a falsification of the inner truth of conjugal love, which is called upon to give itself in personal totality. . . . The difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle . . . involves in the final analysis two irreconcilable concepts of the human person and of human sexuality.

Sidewalk counseling is a wonderful thing. Standing up for what the Lord and what is right will not make you popular in this world. The Lords say, “If the world hates you, remember it has hated me first”.

I participate in another pro-life forum. One of the posters said they were sidewalk counseling outside PP. A car came in with a woman and a teenaged girl around 16 years old. She got out of the car crying, and she tried to walk over to the pro-lifers, but PP’s escorts, who I call the deathscorts, grabbed her and hurried her inside. I’ve heard from other sidewalk counselors that the deathscorts love to get a person away from the pro-lifers inside the clinic. They hurry them in or encourage them to go in, and they appear quite happy if they successfully get a patient into their killing mill.

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