Last August, Ni-Ima pulled into the parking lot of Planned Parenthood in Hempstead, on Long Island.
She wasn't feeling good about being there. She'd been there once before, about two years earlier, when she'd had an abortion. She never imagined she'd be in the same situation again.
A small group was along the sidewalk out front, and they appeared to be praying. The man closest to the driveway waved a paper as Ni-Ima drove in, so she rolled down her window.
"Whatever you're here for, they can help you with for free right up the street," the man said, pointing to an address and phone number on the paper. Ni-Ima took the paper, closed the window, and parked. She was looking at the picture, thinking and 'sort of praying.'
Planned Parenthood with the 40 Days for Life vigil/Life Center
She was early for her appointment, so she sat in her car, and decided to look up the pregnancy center that the paper she held talked about. It was just up the street.
Just then, the same man tapped on her window.
As she looked up, he said, "Go ahead, give them a call. They have real help …. This isn't real help here in this place," he said, gesturing toward the abortion center.
Ni-Ima said, ‘Ok,’ and called the Life Center.
She explained that she was scheduled for an abortion but wanted to come in and hear what they had to say. A friendly woman encouraged her to come right over, that they would be happy to talk to her.
As she drove out of the parking lot of Planned Parenthood Ni-Ima waved to the man who had told her about the pregnancy center.
"I thought to myself, this guy's out here in not great weather, and no one's paying him, and the look in his eyes, he really cared, I could tell,” she said. “It just made me stop and think and slow down."
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At the Life Center Ni-Ima was given a pregnancy test, confirming her pregnancy. She was shown fetal models, and the sacred, rapid development of her unborn child was explained to her.
Ni-Ima was concerned about the father's disinterest in having a child and the fact that she didn't earn a lot of money. She learned that the pregnancy center could offer her maternity and baby items at no charge until the child was two years of age, as she and the counselor discussed the support of family and friends around her, other job prospects, and the possibility of adoption.
When the pregnancy counselor asked about prior pregnancies, Ni-Ima said she had a 9-year-old son and got out her phone to share pictures of him. Then she mentioned that she'd had an abortion two years ago at the same Planned Parenthood up the street. She was asked whether she’d experienced any psychological ramifications since then, such as nightmares, depression, drug, or alcohol use, etc.
It was then that Ni-Ima shared the callous way in which she'd been treated at the abortion center.
"Right after the abortion I saw they'd written something on the paper,” Ni-Ima said. “It said ‘A and B.’"
“I said to the nurse, "What's 'A and B'?” continued Ni-Ima. “She goes, 'Oh that means twins. You were carrying twins."
That was the way Ni-Ima found out she had been expecting twins.
Planned Parenthood staff knew before they started the 'procedure' because they'd performed an ultrasound, but Ni-Ima did not know because the screen had been turned away from her. And they hadn't bothered to tell her.
Now two years later, Ni-Ima wanted so much to avoid the same desperate decision she had made that day.
She knew that people who would fail to tell a mother she was expecting twins could not possibly care about her - and now here she was with people who were encouraging her and offering her love and ongoing life-affirming support.
The Life Center personnel told Ni-Ima:
"You don't have to decide today whether you can raise this baby or should you choose an adoptive family. You only have to decide you're not having an abortion today. Ask God to come into the situation and let Him guide you. We'll be so happy to help you consider both options in the coming months."
With the assistance and support of the Life Center and the presence of one persistent pro-life sidewalk counselor, Ni-Ima was helped to see that she didn't need abortion and that she could choose life for her child.
This past December Ni-Ima brought her new baby girl and her older son to a Christmas party held for the clients of the Life Center.
The people who pray at the nearby Planned Parenthood brought gifts for all the client families, including clothes and toys and books for the older children.
Ni-Ima was beaming, holding her daughter, and said, "I can't believe I was even thinking of aborting this baby."
“God really answered my prayer,” Ni-Ima said. “She is the easiest, sweetest baby. I thank God for that man who tapped on my window - he really saved her life!"
