The fight of their lives

"Our goal is to end abortion in the Brazos Valley peacefully and prayerfully."

By: Calli Turner

Posted: 7/10/08

Bryan-College Station residents may notice the individuals standing outside Planned Parenthood day to day - some may honk, others wave - but few know who they are.

Shawn Carney, class of 2005 and executive director of the Coalition for Life, said the organization is made up of more than 60 churches and thousands of individuals, including students and community members.

"Our goal is to end abortion in the Brazos Valley peacefully and prayerfully," he said.

The coalition formed in 1998 after Planned Parenthood announced they would build the first abortion clinic in Bryan-College Station.

The Coalition for Life stands outside Planned Parenthood to offer sidewalk counseling, and puts on a 40-day campaign in the fall to stop abortion.

"We stand outside of Planned Parenthood because that's where abortions are happening. Oftentimes we see communities like Bryan or College Station and we think that everything is OK and it's not," Carney said.

Elizabeth McClung, class of 2008 and director of communications for the coalition, said the first time she came out to pray was during the 40 Days for Life campaign in fall 2004, her freshman year.

"One of my friends told me that there's this really cool campaign going on and I had no idea what it was - all I knew was that it was 40 straight days of praying, fasting and keeping a presence in front of the clinic and I thought that would be something pretty interesting to get involved with," she said.

The campaign began in Bryan-College Station in 2004 and the first national 40 Days for Life campaign began in 2007, with more than 35,000 volunteers participating.

McClung said abortion rates dropped 28 percent by the end of the first campaign.

The campaign will spread to 275 additional cities in the fall, and to four other countries: England, Ireland, Brazil and Peru.

McClung said it was a tremendous blessing to work with Coalition for Life while attending A&M.

"I was able to come out here and see people in my classes on the other side of the fence - going into the abortion clinic - and I felt like I could relate to people," she said. "It opened my eyes to the fact that so many people are going through so many different things during their lives, and everybody is coming from different backgrounds, but regardless, everybody still needs prayer."

Carney said the coalition is opposed to Planned Parenthood as an organization.

"Abortion is the most hopeless answer to the world's greatest gift, which is children," he said. "We bring hope to where the pain is happening - right inside those doors - and we've been fortunate to have so many women choose life at that very last moment that they're making a decision that could hurt them for a lifetime and certainly end the life of their child.

"Their view of the human person is one without dignity. They think that the human person is something we can choose or not choose," he said.

Carney said Coalition for Life opposes services Planned Parenthood offers because of the funding that abortion offers.

"We're here to not only offer alternatives to abortion, but also to all of their services," he said. "Without abortions, planned parenthood would have no other services. They survive on abortions."

Carney said the coalition does not support individuals visiting Planned Parenthood for free or reduced medical care.

"There's reduced and free health care options across the Brazos Valley. Women don't have to come to Planned Parenthood. That's one of the goals for the coalition for life," he said.

"The coalition for life is made up of a lot of students, professors, parents and community members," he said.

The majority of the coalition's volunteers are A&M students. "When students come to planned parenthood, they are advised by their peers," Carney said. "It's very powerful to have someone looking out for what is in your best interest."

Carney said the sidewalk volunteers are organized through a program called stand and pray, and that volunteers are always on hand during Planned Parenthood's business hours.

"We pray because we believe prayer is the solution to this problem," he said. "Abortion happens because of a lack of hope and nothing brings hope back to heart more than prayer."

Carney said the coalition offers alternatives to Planned Parenthood's services through sidewalk counseling.

"We're also out here to offer tangible solutions so we can back our prayer up," he said.

Every volunteer that participates in sidewalk counseling must sign a statement of peace.

"Also every volunteer that reaches out to woman inside is a trained sidewalk counselor, which we train before they approach any woman that enters the clinic," Carney said.

He said sidewalk counseling entails reaching out to a woman who is walking inside the clinic. "The sidewalk counselors are there to give them that choice at the very last, most crucial moment. Without sidewalk counselors, there would be no choice [other] than abortion."

McClung said when she sees a friend or acquaintance entering Planned Parenthood, she is never angered of frustrated, it just makes her want to reach out to them more. "It motivates me that much more to share the truth that we have with them," she said.

McClung said reaching out on campus is different from sidewalk counseling.

"There isn't the tension of being at the clinic when you're on campus because whenever you go to campus, it's so easy to say howdy to a random person that you're walking by," she said.

"If you wear a pro-life T-shirt or something like that, people notice and striking up conversations is so easy, especially in classes," McClung said.

Carney said the public's general reaction is extremely supportive of us. "We do something that we know is difficult and controversial but is necessary because abortion is a real problem, and it's not just a real problem in the political realm or in the courtroom, it's a real problem in the community," he said.

Carney said the volunteers learn from negative feedback.

"All negative feedback could be good, because we learn from it, we move on, and that is just part of the pro-life movement," he said. "If you're not making somebody angry, then you're not really being a Christian at some point.

"We always improve upon what we are doing."

Carney said the coalition has a good relationship with the Planned Parenthood employees.

"We're the ones looking out for them, bringing hope and giving them an opportunity to leave their jobs," he said. "They know that we're praying for them. They know that we're here in the interest of them and their clients."

Carney said the coalition's relationship with the Planned Parenthood employees is about respect.

"Ultimately although we obviously disagree because we're trying to close this clinic, they respect us," Carney said.

Coalition for Life's is a nonprofit organization and funding comes from churches and private individuals.

"It's been tremendous to see the support," he said.

"It's a necessity that we bring hope to these sidewalks"