Our June 2006 move to New York, the big city of little neighborhoods as I have discovered, is turning out to be the best decision my husband and I ever made. As a young family with a rambunctious toddler, we have somewhat made this big city our new home.

I recently found myself writing a letter to the editor at the newspaper I grew up reading, the Herald-Star in eastern Ohio. I felt pressed to write about an incident I encountered in Long Island City in early March.

I have had the opportunity to volunteer as a sidewalk counselor with the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants at an abortion clinic not far from our apartment in Astoria. My task, and that of other counselors I work with outside this particular clinic, is to counsel both the men and women who are entering about their decision. We tell them that if they are doing what they are doing because of financial or family stress, then we can help. Some do turn around, and we put them in touch with nearby life centers that can help them financially and even house them through their pregnancy and, in some cases, after their baby is born.

Most of the women I encounter are African-American or Hispanic and are around my age, 24. Last Saturday, a 17-year-old girl and her 19-year-old boyfriend, both Caucasian, came toward the clinic. I said hello and asked them where they were from. They said “the Pittsburgh area,” and, knowing that I usually say that also (because hardly anyone outside of Ohio knows about my hometown of Steubenville) I asked them where in Pittsburgh. “Across the river” was the reply. It turns out they came from my old stomping grounds.

Why would they come to New York City to have an abortion? Because at 17, the girl didn’t need permission from her parents here, like she would in Ohio, or its neighboring states of Pennsylvania or West Virginia. So they told their parents they were staying over a friend’s house for the night, and they began their drive to New York City at 1 a.m. to make it in time for the scheduled abortion time at 8:30 a.m. They would leave for home following the appointment.

The conversation brought me a sense of mourning for the young adults I spoke to, their unborn child, and their parents, who had no idea. It brought the reality that even in the happiest of places, the world and its culture of death have permeated my generation and the ones younger than me. They didn’t turn away for help. Instead they told me they had already driven too far, and it was too late. They came with a mission, and they couldn’t leave without it being accomplished. I thought that in some way it was fate that I met them. I pray for this young couple every day and I hope that they are OK.

The Herald-Star did print my letter, and I was glad that they took the issue seriously. There are too many of our friends, sisters, brothers or anyone we know and love that I could have met that Saturday morning. I challenge all of those who are pro-life to join the Helpers this Saturday, March 24, for what will surely be a vital prayer vigil. Retired Bishop Thomas V. Daily will be at the 7:15 a.m. Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church, Jackson Heights, and then he will lead the Helpers to pray outside of a local abortion mill. Unfortunately, there are many just around the corner. There are many moms, dads and unborn babies who need our prayers and support to make the right choice, the “life choice.”

Stefanie Gutierrez is a full-time reporter and photographer for The Tablet. She is a graduate of Franciscan University, Steubenville, and a convert to Catholicism.