Recent days have been difficult for the "pregnancy evangelism" ministry outside the Family Planning Associates abortion chamber in Bakersfield. For the past several weeks Kenneth Wright has been the only abortionist at the Bakersfield FPA. Though most women turned a deaf ear to the offers of help from the Christians on the sidewalks, a few women who had intended to abort their babies changed their minds. At the LifeHouse pregnancy help center across the street, most recent test results have been negative, providing many opportunities to encourage chastity. But one of the most unusual and difficult situations was presented by "Opal":

"Opal" never thought that she would go into an abortion center, but she recently felt she had no choice. Opal had been told that her baby was already dead, and that she needed surgery. The hospital staff referred her to the FPA abortion chamber in Bakersfield, because the only obstetricians in her small community were out of town.

Opal traveled over four hours to Bakersfield with her husband "Joel" and sister-in-law "Yvonne." Along the way, Yvonne agonized over the situation, believing that it was wrong to go to an abortion mill, but not knowing what to do. She prayed for a miracle, and asked God to use this experience to renew Opal's and Joel's interest in church.

When they arrived at FPA, they saw Gary offering pro- life literature from the sidewalk. After listening to their situation, Gary explained that sometimes doctors have falsely claimed that a preborn baby died. He told Opal that the LifeHouse pregnancy help center across the street could help her evaluate the situation.

At the LifeHouse, Terri* and Tim* joined in prayer with Opal, Yvonne, and Joel, asking God to use this ordeal to bring Opal and Joel closer to Him. Tim also prayed that God would protect Opal's health and work a miracle, preserving the life of the child who had been pronounced dead. Although the request seemed impossible under the circumstances, in the past Terri and Tim had seen God preserve the lives of children who were thought to be dead (see In Touch With LifeSavers, February 27, 1998).

Terri contacted midwife Brenda Capps, who rushed to the LifeHouse to help Opal. After Brenda could not hear a heartbeat, she set up an appointment with an obstetrician to conduct an ultrasound on Opal.

Terri accompanied Opal to the ultrasound appointment. The doctor provided the final verification of the sad news: the child was indeed dead. Although Opal was 15 weeks pregnant, the child had apparently died at about 13 weeks.

In spite of the sad news, Terri still hoped to help Opal avoid the abortion surgery, having seen many women physically injured by abortion over the years.

The doctor told Opal that she could safely wait a couple of weeks without medical intervention, noting she would probably experience a natural miscarriage process which would be better for her than the unnatural process of forcibly removing the child's body from her womb. But Joel felt that Opal might then find herself in the situation where she would need to go back to the hospital.

So Opal returned to the abortion chamber. She hugged Terri and sobbed with her before she entered. Over and over through her tears, Opal thanked Terri and said "I'm sorry I have to do this."

Once Opal was inside, Joel noticed a change in the atmosphere. The LifeHouse had been peaceful, and he had sensed God's spirit there. The doctor been kind and compassionate. But the FPA staff was rude. "This is an evil place," Joel thought to himself. He began to cry.

As she sat in the waiting room, Yvonne could hear Terri's "sweet" voice calling from the sidewalk outside, pleading with women to accept God's plan for themselves and their babies. Several of the girls in the waiting room were crying.

Thankfully, Opal survived the surgery with no known physical complications. As Opal was leaving the abortion chamber, she stopped to talk to Terri. An FPA nurse noticed, and began berating Opal, saying that she shouldn't talk to Terri. Afraid of the nurse, Opal hurried to her car.

After they returned home, Yvonne spoke to Terri on the phone. She said she had just learned that two babies were born into her extended family on the same day. It seemed to her to be a miracle that on the day one baby was taken, the family was rejoicing over two new children. After the experience in the abortion chamber, Joel told Yvonne that seeing the battle between good and evil made him want to get back into church.

"Nancy," a 25-year old Christian woman, took the abortion pill (mifepristone or "RU-486") at a Planned Parenthood in Northern California last week, but within a few hours God convicted her heart and she changed her mind. Hoping to find a way to save her baby's life, she searched on the Internet for help, and found LifeSavers Ministries.

Nancy called LifeSavers and spoke to Tim, who prayed for her and offered her compassionate counsel. Tim also consulted American Life League for insight on how to respond and spoke to several doctors in Nancy's area in an attempt to find appropriate medical care.

Planned Parenthood told Nancy that in some cases when women have changed their minds after taking the abortion pill, they have later given birth to healthy babies.