“Valerie” was like many women who walk into pregnancy centers every day. Despite numerous visits to a pregnancy center in Houston, this woman decided to allow Planned Parenthood to accommodate her to abort her child. The pregnancy center’s efforts were not in vain, as the impact on this woman was felt at just the right moment.
Staff members from Houston Pregnancy Help Center recently shared this miraculous story with Pregnancy Help News with consent from the client.
Staff members including Executive Director Sylvia Johnson, Sandra Ontiveros, senior director of operations, and Ingrid Faircloth, pregnancy case manager, spoke by phone about the client known as Valerie (a pseudonym).
Faircloth said Valerie had been a client in 2022 but after counseling had chosen to have an abortion. A year later in the fall of 2023, she remembered the kindness at the clinic and returned. She was pregnant and once again considering an abortion.
Valerie was desperate and dreading the thought of another abortion, even though it seemed like the best option in her circumstance. She had no support. The father of the baby was jailed for abusing Valerie, Faircloth said.
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Women in Valerie’s situation know that since 2021, Texas does not allow the abortion pill to be used by women for ending a pregnancy. Obtaining the abortion pill meant she needed a ticket out of state.
Valerie thanked the women at the Houston Pregnancy Center and left the building with her decision made. The abortion clinic also “seemed to care” about Valerie and were offering to make this experience as easy as possible.
“The abortion clinic flew her to Colorado,” Faircloth said, and provided a flight to her mother from Wisconsin to come to town to sit with Valerie’s two children.
Once in Colorado, Valerie took the abortion pill and bled for a week. Her pregnancy test continued to read as positive, which caused the young woman to return to Houston Pregnancy Help Center. Valerie told the staff she had reached out to Planned Parenthood. When she explained she thought the abortion pill did not work, the abortion clinic staff were no longer friendly and compassionate. It was discovered Valerie was 19 weeks pregnant. The Planned Parenthood staff coolly told Valerie they would send her back to Colorado for a surgical abortion.
Faircloth said she spoke to Valerie on the phone about this decision to return to Colorado.
“I told her my own experience with abortion and explained this procedure is different,” Faircloth said.
Valerie still decided to go.
While on the table at the clinic in Colorado, Valerie said Faircloth’s words rang in her ears. Valerie felt a tug in her heart she could not ignore.
Valerie told the surgeon and medical staff she had changed her mind.
“She took the first flight home,” Faircloth said.
Valerie’s daughter was born at the beginning of 2024.
The staff at Houston Pregnancy Help Center has not stopped assisting Valerie after her decision. Someone from the office checks in with her daily. She is receiving help finishing her education and finding affordable rent.
Johnson said women like Valerie enter their pregnancy center locations every day. She said many abortion pill attempts have failed, and young women return to their center for assistance. Women in Texas seeking abortions commonly fly to New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona.
In the fall of 2023 it was reported that Colorado saw a 30 percent increase in abortions due to neighboring states crossing state lines to obtain a legal abortion.
Many of these women have had previous abortions, much like Valerie.
“None of her abortions in the past solved her problems,” Johnson said. “Coming to us and our pregnancy center helped her find someone who understands the plight. We don’t judge them. We ask them, ‘How can we help?’”
Tweet This: None of her past abortions solved her problems. Coming to us and our pregnancy center helped her find someone who understands the plight.
Johnson said the center has “in writing” that they will assist Valerie until her child is 36 months old. She is offered parenting support, pediatric occupational therapy, and speech therapy for her daughter. Valerie also qualified for a scholarship to obtain a career in the medical field.
“We train soldiers here,” Johnson said, “It’s a concept of battle. And it has increased in intensity and numbers since Dobbs.”
The center in Houston is also an Abortion Pill Reversal location. During its 2023 banquet, the center presented 14 moms and children before donors. These were the faces of APR, and they were met with astounding applause.
“Miracle" is part of the name Valerie gave to her daughter.
While Valerie’s story is one of success, the staff at the Houston center take each day at a time and each client at a time before the Lord knowing not everyone will change their mind.
Johnson said the center performs 40 pregnancy tests daily and 500 ultrasounds a month, hoping for at least one miracle.
“We’re warriors,” Johnson said. “We go to prayer every time. Everything we do is because of Jesus.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News.
