When a boyfriend, friend or even an entire family encourages a woman to abort her child, one Auburn-based clinic steps in to educate her about all the options available.
Women's Hope Medical Clinic celebrated 29 years of service to Lee County Thursday, Oct. 25 with its annual fundraising banquet in the Auburn Arena.
The theme of the night was "Chosen by God, Chosen to Serve," and was underscored by keynote speaker Tony Evans, a pastor, author and radio host from Dallas. The pastor at Greater Peace Missionary Baptist Church in Opelika, Clifford E. Jones, gave the invocation for the event.
Kaitlyn Croughwell, a client advocate at Women's Hope, shared her experience with the clinic. It was August 2011 when Croughwell, then a junior at Auburn, learned she was pregnant.
"I was sitting in a small client's room at Women's Hope Medical Clinic, awaiting the results of my pregnancy test," Croughwell said. "I asked myself, 'how did I ever get myself into this situation?' Before I knew it, a woman greeted me at the door ... looking back at that moment of my life, the voice of that nurse was the only thing I could remember from that day."
Croughwell said she was hysterical and that everything felt like a blur. She asked herself how she was ever going to raise a baby. Advocates at the clinic offered support and provided her with options.
"I wasn't alone at all," she said. "With the love of our Savior, and the grace of Women's Hope, I could do this."
Croughwell held Hudson, the child she was referring to, in her arms as she spoke.
"I never thought I deserved something as amazing as this little boy," she said.
Evans likened the work of the clinic to the Book of Jeremiah in the Bible.
"You see, Jeremiah 29:11 says, 'I have plans for you sayeth the Lord,'" he said. "'A plan for your wellbeing and not for your calamity; to give you a future and a hope.' It is a very well-lit verse in a very dark chapter ... You are a well-lit location in the lives of dark places that so many of these ladies face."
Eighty to 85 percent of those who come in to the clinic ultimately choose life, but there is a small percentage that does not, said Julie Klarenbeek, interim executive director and nurse manager of the clinic.
"We never want to forget (those lost to abortion), but even more importantly, we never want to forget those moms and dads who struggled with that decision and felt that that was their only choice," Klarenbeek said.
Klarenbeek said 129 clients in 2011 alone changed their minds and chose not to abort their children. Tables at the event were decorated with photographs of some of these babies.
Former executive director Larry Webb expressed a similar level of passion when describing the work of the clinic. "We met the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of thousands of young women and men, and enabled them to make decisions to have that baby \0xAD- how they could have that baby - all the while not having any judgment toward those who did not choose to have that baby."
Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, R-Lee, has been involved with the clinic since he and his wife first married. "We believe in what they do," Hubbard said. "We know firsthand of the success they've had. We've had experiences with people who have been saved in more ways than one."
Though he describes himself as a "staunchly pro-life" politician, Hubbard said his support for the clinic extends back long before he ever began his career in politics.
Hubbard also said the state will see more pro-life legislation now that Republicans have the majority.
"We already passed some last year, and I believe there's a great opportunity for more pro-life legislation in Alabama," he said. "That was really an impossibility before we took over as the leaders."
The staff at Women's Hope could also be described as leaders in the state. According to the fundraising pamphlet, clinic employees provide free pregnancy testing, courses on parenting education, limited ultrasound and early prenatal care, STI testing for men and women and post-abortion recovery, among other services.
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