The Tablet

“It’s an entirely different world to pray on the streets of New York City,” said college student Greg Webb on a recent cold and blustery Saturday morning in Queens. “It’s bustling. It’s distracting. It’s a great penance. But the power that comes from the prayers there is overwhelming.”
He stood alongside fellow St. John’s University Students for Life members praying the Rosary on Roosevelt Ave., a strip in Jackson Heights that is known to many in the pro-life movement as “Abortion Row.” Thirteen abortion clinics stand within one mile of each other.
They were also there to support the recent opening of the first full-time Expectant Mother Care (EMC) crisis pregnancy center in Queens and pray during the 40 Days of Life international campaign that began on Ash Wednesday. It is a focused pro-life effort that consists of 40 days of prayer, fasting, peaceful vigil and community outreach.
This spring, local pro-life advocates in an estimated 167 cities from the U.S., four Canadian provinces and three Australian states are taking part. Among them is New York City, known as the “Abortion Capital of America,” with Chris Slattery serving as director for the 40 Days for Life Bronx and Queens campaign, as well as founder and president of EMC – FrontLine Pregnancy Centers.
“In 2008, the last reported year, there were an astounding 89,469 unborn babies killed in New York City, in part, because we did not do enough to reach their mothers first,” he said.
This Lent, Slattery has asked pro-life supporters to “join us at the doorsteps of three abortion mills, in front of two side-by-side abortion mills in Jackson Heights, Queens, and one in the South Bronx.”
Coordinating the Queens movement is Ray Mooney, who recently gave a tour of the new EMC Pregnancy Care Center. It is one of 12 such centers in New York City operated by EMC, which also manages mobile clinics with ultrasound and counseling. The Queens clinic opened in December 2009 and is located just over a 100 feet away from side-by-side abortion clinics.
“Our outreach is more than anything for the Hispanic community,” Mooney said.
It’s partly a response to “the sad reality” that the abortion clinics “target the undocumented Hispanics, from Mexico and Ecuador, who populate the area,” explained Carmen Biggers, a full-time EMC counselor and director of the new center in Queens.
On any given day, eight to 12 abortion ads appear in El Diario/La Prensa, the popular Spanish-language newspaper serving NYC. One ad included a 10-percent off coupon for an abortion if done in the first 12-weeks of pregnancy.
“Once you look at these ads, you can see the Hispanics are being targeted,” Mooney said. “You see the word ‘Aborto’ all over the page. There is nothing discreet about it. These women are not being told these are babies. They’re being told ‘it’s a blob of tissue.’ They are uninformed about fetal development and the stages of pregnancy. When they see diagrams of the actual procedure, they are appalled.”
“The people here are in dire need,” added Biggers. “A lot of them are unemployed. Most are undocumented. When they become pregnant, their employers fire them. They feel trapped, so they look at it as ‘getting rid of the problem’ to keep working. Many times, the men leave when the woman gets pregnant. They feel abandoned and alone. And they feel there is only one way out.”
When women first call the Expectant Mother Care center, they are given an appointment and then meet with Biggers. “We try to show them that we really do help them, and that what we say isn’t a broken promise,” she said.
She refers the women for employment opportunities, such as housekeeping and babysitting. She has also helped women with housing arrangements, applying for Medicare, buying groceries and providing clothing. EMC works hand-in-hand with Catholic Charities and Bridge to Life, to “really get these women the help they need.”
A certified technician works at the center on Tuesdays and Thursdays for five-hours each day, giving sonograms to women. They also refer women to obstetricians in the area for their pre-natal medical care. EMC is currently looking for a pro-life obstetrician to come to the center one day a week.
They are also praying for bilingual women who could be trained as counselors “so that we can have our office open on Saturdays and have extra help during the week as we continue to grow,” said Mooney.
While Biggers has “hundreds” of stories of women who have chosen life over abortion, she shared one in particular of a woman who was five-months pregnant and wanted to abort. She counseled her and she was given a sonogram. “It ended up she was having twins,” Biggers said. “She changed her mind. We referred her to a social worker for help. The twin girls are now seven-months old and the mother retained a scholarship to obtain a teaching degree.” Biggers is godmother to the twin girls.
“While this work is very tough sometimes, it is also very rewarding. I have a lot of godchildren,” she said with a smile.