Saving a life at the State Fair
by Teresa Rizzo
Special to the RLM News

 

Working at the Right to Life booth at the Michigan State Fair is always a blessed experience, but last year the blessings were way beyond measure!

As the victim of rape which resulted in a pregnancy, I chose at the tender age of 15 not to abort my unborn child. This decision made me a pariah in my community back in the early 70s. The right to life issue became very much a part of my life. Though I experienced a miscarriage, I felt that even though the baby was conceived due to rape, the child still had every right to come into this world. Abortion was not legal in Michigan, however a doctor wanted to pay for me to go to New York and abort the baby. There was not a force on this earth strong enough to have made me do anything so evil and vile.

At the State Fair, a young girl came and looked at and held our exhibit of babies at different stages. She confided in me that she was pregnant and considering an abortion. She thought abortion was the only true answer for her. We spoke for a long time, and I shared my experiences with her. I gave her literature on abortion, adoption and the phone numbers of various agencies that would be there for her and help in any way they could. When she left, she was crying. She was happy to know that people and prolife centers do exist; she was not alone. I thank the good Lord for giving me my experiences and using me. By placing me at the fair, God knew I could help a young girl decide not to abort her baby.

Sometimes in the right to life field we feel that we are fighting a losing battle, that it is us against the world. However, when you work at the fair and meet all the wonderful people who chose life and exuberantly stand up for what they believe is right, it truly empowers you to keep on fighting the fight!

Watching the little children hold our "babies" at the exhibit and watching big, burly men who are in awe that they were ever so small is like a giant hug from God. The reception at the State Fair was wonderful, and my heart sang as I was once again reminded that the work that we are doing is not in vain. If you want to educate people on abortion, explain partial-birth abortion to them. It is so decadent and unbelievable that most people blanch at the very idea and become prolife right then and there!

Let us all keep fighting for the unborn. It may seem an impossible task, but we ARE making a difference!

 

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