Pregnancy Center in Portland saving lives

Bishop Mulvey blesses Portland clinic while Beverly Moore looks on.

Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic
 

To celebrate their one-year in existence and the receipt of a new ultrasound machine, Bishop Michael Mulvey bestowed a blessing on the Pregnancy Center of the Coastal Bend in Portland on June 23. In addition to the new ultrasound machine donated by the Knights of Columbus, the center also has a clinic, a baby store and counseling rooms. 

After the blessing, the bishop told clients, staff, volunteers and supporters in attendance that he supported the preservation of life. “Life is a gift from God, and only from God, and if there is anyway to preserve it and to encourage others to choose life, I’m here to support that,” Bishop Mulvey said.

The bishop thanked the Knights of Columbus in San Patricio County and across the country for making it possible for the center to have an ultrasound machine, “so that young women can see the life that’s inside of them and embrace that life.”  The fourth degree Knights were challenged at the national level to raise half the money and the Supreme Council matched it.

According to Esmie Fisher, a staff member and registered nurse, the pregnancy center does more than just give women a pregnancy test; they help them get to the next gestational age to determine how far along the mothers are in their pregnancy. 

“We give them all kinds of resources; we point them in the direction of doctors, help them with WIC (supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children), we get them housing, we have a ton of resources,” she said. “We have a program called ‘Earn While You Learn’. They (the mothers) come in weekly and watch these wonderful educational videos and they earn points and those points get them the material things like baby clothes.”

The center was stocked with all sizes of baby clothes and accessories donated by churches in the Portland community, including Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The Christian radio station 91.7 KBNJ is also a generous donor to the clinic.

The staff agree that the most rewarding part of their job is seeing anxiety and fear turn into joy and relief on the faces of mothers who have chosen life or the grateful couple–unable to have a child of their own–adopt twins from a mother who had once walked through their doors.

“We try to fight for them to choose life,” Fisher said. “There is no judgment or condemnation here, but if the staff is unable to talk the mothers out of having an abortion, we walk them through post abortion healing. We have a counselor. We talk to them about Jesus Christ’s forgiveness.” 

The Pregnancy Center of the Coastal Bend has another office in Corpus Christi, which has been open for the past 26 years, but they are looking to expand that office, because space is limited. They received an ultrasound machine six years ago and according to Executive Director Jana Pinson it makes a big difference in the mother’s choice for life. The office is located on 4730 Everhart Road. 

“Some of our volunteers have had an abortion and want to make a positive difference by changing something horrible into something good,” Pinson said.

Fifty employees and volunteers, including nine registered nurses, staff the centers. They provide confidential, cost-free services, which include information on the risks of abortion, adoption agency referrals, adoption information, maternity and infant supplies, medical referrals, parenting education, post-abortion support, pregnancy options information, pregnancy tests, STD/STI information, support for men and the on-site ultrasound machine.

From June 2016-May 2017 the centers saved 262 babies who were abortion-vulnerable. “Thirty of them were here in Portland,” Pinson said. “God does most of the work. God showing up and people praying. We love what we do.”

“We’ve had a couple of girls come in and say ‘an abortion clinic told me about you,’ so rather than drive to Houston or San Antonio for an abortion they come to us for a free ultrasound to find out if its a viable pregnancy,” Pinson said. “We tell them if it has a heartbeat, then we measure it and tell them how far along they are. Then we get this chance to try to save her and try to save her baby.”

Beverly Moore, employed by State Representative J.M. Lozano, said he allows her to take off on Fridays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. to volunteer at the center. 

“What I love about this place is that we are all of different faiths and go to different churches, we all love God and we all want the best for all of these moms, dads and babies and we all work together,” Moore said. “It’s just beautiful.”

The staff prays for each one of the moms who choose abortion. They pray that God uses their experience, so that one day they come back and become a volunteer, because only they will understand the pain of abortion. 

“We make mistakes in life, it’s heartbreaking, but God uses this,” Pinson said. 

The clinic has a peer counselor who walks clients through the steps to heal. When they host a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat they have a licensed counselor available.

During the blessing Bishop Mulvey prayed for the center and staff, “Grant that in this place–this pregnancy center–that those young women and men will come here with their child and meet those who are here to assist them and that they may find loving and tender care here. May they come and be restored in spirit and in body and choose the life that is within them.”