If you are a pro-lifer who loves the Lord, loves people and a stay-at-home person, I have just the job for you: It can be as simple as placing an ad in your local phone book with either your home phone number or a new one. This ad should be placed under the classification, "Abortion Alternative Organizations." (This hot line, of course, can be manned by more than one pro-lifer. This can be accomplished by hiring an answering service or with a phone device that can be programmed to reach more than one home.

     Because you are a stay-at-home person, you can be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Since you are already on call for three times as many hours during the week plus week-ends as the abortion clinics and groups like Crisis Pregnancy Centers, the small amount of time you are away from the phone (for shopping, church, etc.) is really negligible.

     You'll find many calls come from people who have already tried to reach Planned Parenthood before 8:00 or after 5:00 and are getting a recording.

     The main thrust of your efforts will be to Talk Them Out Of Abortion. You will definitely bring God into counseling. Your biggest support will be from the Lord. You will find yourself praying as the call comes through and during the conversation. Just about every pregnant girl and woman who calls has been already humbled by the experience and is reachable on a spiritual level.

     To reinforce what you have been telling the caller, you will want to place pro-life literature in her hands as soon as possible (including pictures of abortions, spiritual information). If you have an arrangement with a local pro-life doctor for pregnancy test (does not necessarily have to be an obstetrician - we have pediatricians who provide this service for us), this is the best way to make sure she gives you her name, address and phone number. She is getting a Free test.

     I have provided you with the basic plan of action to set up a Life Line for girls and women who would otherwise kill their babies if you had not had the opportunity to talk to them. If you are interested in setting up such a phone line in your area and want more detailed information, call (209) 521-4947

Angela called on a Friday morning. (During the course of our conversation, she told me that she and her live-in boyfriend were disfellowshipped Jehovah’s Witnesses.) She said she was pregnant and was now considering an abortion. Angela was depressed over her boyfriend’s attitude which she said had been "changing lately." When she had their first baby, he was good to her and gave her a lot of help. Now he had been starting to lie to her and drink too much.

     I told Angela that abortion is totally wrong and went into detail on the physical and mental effects. I also told her that living together with her boyfriend was wrong and that she had to stop doing this if she wanted God’s blessings. When we got on the subject of her belief in God, she told me she didn’t believe that Jesus is God. I began to quote Scripture to her: "WHEREFORE GOD ALSO HATH HIGHLY EXALTED HIM, AND GIVEN HIM A NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME. THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, OF THINGS IN HEAVEN, OF THINGS IN EARTH, AND THINGS UNDER THE EARTH. AND THAT EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER." (Philippians 2, 9-11) I then asked her why the name of Jesus Christ should be ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME, and why should we BOW OUR KNEE and CONFESS THAT HE IS LORD if He isn’t God? WOULDN’T THAT BE IDOL WORSHIP?" Angela said "yes" when I asked her if I could mail her pro-life literature and call her back. When I talked to her a few days later, she said she had read the literature and had changed her mind about the abortion.

Shirley called on a Monday afternoon following our distribution of literature at ALAMEDA COLLEGE. Her first words were, "I’M A PRE-MED STUDENT AND I CALLED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE DISGUSTING MATERIALS YOU PUT ON MY CAR. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THIS." I told Shirley we did have a right, and why was she so upset over a picture of abortion? Didn’t the fact of abortion bother her, the fact that 4,000 babies are dying everyday in this country. I thought she was going to hang up any minute, but our conversation lasted about 15 minutes. We finally got on the subject of her spiritual life. She told me she didn’t believe in God and made a wisecrack about working for the Devil. I told her that I didn’t think she really believed what she was saying but that if she did, she was headed for an eternity in Hell. That seemed to bother her. "I SHOWED YOUR LITERATURE TO MY MOTHER AND SISTER AND A FRIEND." She exclaimed, "AND THEY THOUGHT IT WAS TERRIBLE." "WONDERFUL!" I answered. "PLEASE KEEP DOING THIS. WE WANT EVERYONE TO SEE OUR LITERATURE." "I’M GOING TO TEAR IT UP," she said angrily. Then she said she was going to take a survey of all the people who received the literature on their cars to see how they felt about it. "PLEASE DO," I answered. "WE ARE MORE THAN INTERESTED IN HEARING ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE FEEL WHEN THEY RECEIVE OUR MATERIAL." As she hung up she said again that she was going to take a survey. "PLEASE CALL ME BACK AND GIVE ME THE RESULTS." I challenged her.

     A few minutes later the LIFE LINE phone rang again and another female voice said, "I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU THAT I’M A FRIEND OF SHIRLEY’S, A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN WHO HAD BEEN TRYING TO CONVERT HER. NOW SHIRLEY SAYS BECAUSE OF YOU SHE ISN’T GOING TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN." "I REALLY CAN’T BELIEVE YOU," I answered. "IN THE FIRST PLACE, YOU’RE NOT A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN. THEY’RE MANY PEOPLE SAYING THEY ARE BORN AGAIN, BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT SO. IF YOU WERE A REAL CHRISTIAN, YOU WOULD HAVE A STRONG STAND AGAINST ABORTION AND WOULDN’T BE CALLING ME TO COMPLAIN," Our conversation lasted only a few minutes.

     I enjoyed talking to these two young women. This gave me an opportunity to plant some seeds of truth. As I told Shirley, "HOW OFTEN DO YOU TALK TO SOMEONE WHO TELLS YOU THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH ABOUT HOW YOU ARE LIVING YOUR LIFE?"

I had already gone to bed and was half asleep when the LIFE LINE phone rang about 11:00 PM. It was a fifteen-year-old girl (Mary) calling me who begam with the questions, "HOW SOON CAN YOU TELL YOU’RE PREGNANT? WHAT ARE THE SIGNS?" Apparently, she had had intercourse a few days before for the first time in her life, and she was going through a lot of mental torment. Even though her boyfriend used a condom and I had told her it was not likely that she was pregnant based on the days of the month when she was fertile, she was still worried. As we talked, Mary told me she is a Christian and knew she had made a mistake. She had already told the boy that she wasn’t going to do it again.

     I began to lecture Mary on the importance of not having sex before marriage - all the pitfalls - and now she was experiencing one of them with all the mental anguish she was going through. I told her now important it was to have a relationship with Jesus - to set aside a time every day for prayer and reading the Bible. She agreed that it was important and said she was going to do it. At the end of our conversation, she asked me to pray for her. As I prayed aloud, I asked Jesus to chase away all her disturbing thoughts and give her peace of mind so that she could go to sleep.

     A few days later Mary called again and told me she was still upset. I told her to stop worrying. It was nearly impossible from the information she had given me for her to be pregnant. Finally, we called back about a week later. She said she was four days late now and still didn’t have her period. She told me that in a couple of days her family was going to move to another state. " MARY, DO YOU WANT TO GO IN FOR A PREGNANCY TEST JUST TO SET YOUR MIND AT REST?" (Enough time had elapsed for an accurate result.) She had some misgivings about possibly being seen by someone - that her mother would find out, etc. I assured her that it would be completely confidential and that the medical lab where she would go for the test was in a quiet area with few people. "THINK IT OVER AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING," I told her. About 7:30 the next morning she told me she had decided to go in. When I called her to give her the NEGATIVE result, she thanked me for all of my help, "ESPECIALLY FOR YOUR PRAYER." She said , referring to the first night she had called.

Margie called from Oakdale in early August. Her voice was uncertain as she talked about counseling for an abortion. "WHAT KIND OF COUNSELING CAN YOU GIVE ME?" she asked. "OUR COUNSELING IS AGAINST ABORTION," I told her. "IT IS BASED ON THE FACT THAT ABORTION IS WRONG BECAUSE GOD SAYS IT IS." She immediately announced that she was a believer. She was in a lot of financial hot water. She had a two-year-old child who had some heart problems, which were now resolved, and she had been paying on a $7,000 medical bill which her insurance company refused to pay.

     I talked to Margie for quite a while, long enough to tell her everything I could think of to change her mind about the abortion she was considering. I told her to trust in Jesus - "PRAY TO HIM BECAUSE THERE IS POWER IN HIS NAME." Margie then began to cry as we talked about faith in God and how He provides and how happy she will be to hold her new baby in her arms. She would then wonder how she could ever have thought of an abortion. "MARGIE," I asked, "HOW DOES YOUR HUSBAND FEEL ABOUT THIS?" "OH," she answered, "HE WANTS TO HAVE THE BABY." "MARGIE, HOW WONDERFUL." I told her the story of a Moslem woman who had called recently whose husband was pushing her into an abortion.

     Finally, Margie thanked me for talking to her. She told me I had "set her straight" and that she wasn’t going to have the abortion. I asked Margie if she wanted me to send her literature to "finally settle it" in her mind. She gave me her name and address. "I’LL BE PRAYING FOR YOU," I told her as we hung up.

Mary, the mother of a nine months’ old baby girl, called LIFE LINE in early February She told me she was seven weeks’ pregnant and her husband was trying to push her into an abortion. Mary said she didn’t believe in abortion but didn’t know what to do about the situation. They were newly married, and the baby girl was not her husband’s child. She said her husband told her he wasn’t ready for this baby and was worried about the finances. He threatened to leave her if she had the baby.

     We talked about 20 minutes as I tried to encourage her. "JUST TELL YOUR HUSBAND YOU CAN’T MURDER YOUR OWN CHILD AND THEN STAND FIRM. PUT IT ALL IN THE LORD’S HANDS," I said. I told Mary the literature I was going to mail to her could very likely change her husband’s mind.

     A few days later I called Mary back. Her husband answered the phone (a pleasant sounding voice) and I told him I wanted to speak to Mary. When Mary got on the phone, I asked her how things were doing. "EVERYTHING IS FINE!" she said, with a happy tone in her voice. "DO YOU MEAN THE LITERATURE I SENT TO YOU CHANGED YOUR HUSBAND’S MIND?" "YES," Mary answered.

     She told me she had a five-year-old son and that she had not been able to get pregnant since then. She and her husband had all the tests, and there didn’t seem to be anything medically wrong. She felt God was punishing her for something and now was experiencing feelings of jealousy for other women who had more children, angry at her husband, and almost angry at God for putting her in this position. As we talked, I told her that the most important thing she could do was to learn to accept her situation. "DO YOU REALIZE," I asked her, "THAT IF YOU DIDN’T HAVE THIS INFERTILITY PROBLEM, THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE ANOTHER PROBLEM TO TAKE ITS PLACE THAT COULD BE WORSE? YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO HAVE PERFECT HAPPINESS HERE ON EARTH, YOU KNOW." I asked her if she was a Christian. "OH YES," she said. "I PRAY ABOUT FOUR TIMES A DAY ABOUT THIS, ASKING GOD TO HELP ME, BUT I CAN’T SEEM TO GET OVER THIS." "PRAY FOR ACCEPTANCE OF GOD’S WILL," I told her. "JESUS KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU AND CAN SEE WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU. MAYBE IF YOU LEARN TO ACCEPT HIS WILL, HE MIGHT GIVE YOU THE BABY YOU WANT. WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS FALLING INTO SATAN’S TRAP OF REBELLION. HAPPINESS CAN ONLY BE FOUND BY ACCEPTING EVERYTHING THAT COMES YOUR WAY AS THE WILL OF GOD. START TO PRAY EVERY DAY TO ACCEPT GOD’S WILL." "I HAVE TO GO TO WORK NOW," she said, "BUT I’ll TRY TO PRAY THAT PRAYER."

I had already gone to bed and was half asleep when the LIFE LINE phone rang about 11:00 pm. It was a fifteen-year-old girl (Mary) calling me who began with the questions, "HOW SOON CAN YOU TELL YOU’RE PREGNANT? WHAT ARE THE SIGNS?" Apparently, she had had intercourse a few days before for the first time in her life, and she was going through a lot of mental torment. Even though her boyfriend used a condom and I had told her it was not likely that she was pregnant based on the days of the month when she was fertile, she was still worried. As we talked, Mary told me she was a Christian and knew she had made a mistake. She had already told the boy that she wasn’t going to do it again.

     I began to lecture Mary on the importance of not having sex before marriage - all the pitfalls - and now she was experiencing one of them with all the mental anguish she was doing through. I told her how important it was to have a relationship with Jesus - to set aside a time everyday for prayer and reading the Bible. She agreed that it was important and said she was going to do it. At the end of our conversation, she asked me to pray for her. As I prayed aloud, I asked Jesus to chase away all her disturbing thoughts and give her peace of mind so that she could go to sleep.

     A few days later she called again and told me she was still upset. I told her to stop worrying. It was nearly impossible from the information she had given me for her to be pregnant. Finally, she called back about a week later. She said she was four days late now and still didn’t have her period. She told me that in a couple of days her family was going to move to another state "MARY, DO YOU WANT TO GO IN FOR A PREGNANCY TEST JUST TO SET YOUR MIND AT REST?" (Enough time had elapsed for an accurate result.) She had some misgivings about possibly being seen by someone - that her mother would find out, etc. I assured her that it would be completely confidential and that the medical lab where she would go for the test was in a quiet area with few people. "THINK IT OVER AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING," I told her.

     About 7:30 the next morning she told me she had decided to go in. When I called her to give her the NEGATIVE result, she thanked me for all my help, "ESPECIALLY FOR YOUR PRAYER," she said, referring to the first night she had called.

Linda called for an abortion She asked how much one would cost. I told her we only did pregnancy tests. "WHY DO YOU WANT AN ABORTION?" I asked. She told me about how bad she was feeling. Her husband had been living with another woman and had been taking drugs. I told Linda that abortion is morally wrong. "IF YOU THINK YOUR HUSBAND IS DOING SOMETHING BAD, WHAT ABOUT YOU MURDERING YOUR OWN BABY? YOU WOULD BE WORSE THAN HE IS." I asked Linda if she could cut up one of her children in little pieces "BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT IS HAPPENING WHEN YOU HAVE AN ABORTION, ONLY THE BABY IS SMALLER. I KNOW THIS IS STRONG TALK, BUT I HAVE TO CONVINCE YOU THAT WHAT YOU ARE CONSIDERING IS WRONG." Linda began to cry. She said "YOU’RE RIGHT." I told Linda that most husbands come back after an affair and that she should stand tall and firm. "START PRAYING TO JESUS ABOUT THIS. JESUS SAID, ‘COME UNTO ME ALL YOU THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.’ TELL THE LORD WHATEVER HE WANTS IS OKAY WITH YOU. LINDA, GOD DOESN’T MAKE MISTAKES."

     Linda told me that she had two miscarriages and she still mourns over them - in response to my remark that women mourn for their babies after an abortion. "HOW DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD FEEL, LINDA, IF YOU KILLED YOUR BABY? A MISCARRIAGE IS AN ACT OF GOD. THIS WOULD BE DELIBERATE MURDER. IN A FEW MONTHS YOU WILL BE HOLDING THIS BABY AND WONDERING WHY YOU EVER CONSIDERED HAVING AN ABORTION. YOUR LITTLE CHILDREN (7 ½ AND 9) WILL BE ALL EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW BABY. IT WILL BRING YOUR FAMILY A LOT OF JOY WHETHER YOUR HUSBAND IS AROUND OR NOT." I ASKED LINDA IF SHE PRAYED. SHE SAID SHE DID. "GET YOUR BIBLE OUT AND START TALKING TO THE LORD ABOUT THIS. HE WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO CARRY ON. THIS BABY IS A GIFT FROM THE LORD."

     I let Linda know that I would pray for her and that she should call me if she ever got depressed again. By then she had, apparently, forgotten all about the abortion!

Twenty-five-year-old Diane called LIFE LINE on an early morning in November. "DO YOU COUNSEL PEOPLE OVER THE PHONE?" she asked. "YES, YOU CAN TALK TO ME," I answered. Diane told me she is the mother of two boys, aged 1 ½ and 4. She had lived with their father for about seven years without being married and then they decided to separate. Afterward she had had an affair with another man and now discovered she is pregnant. She then told me her mother had made an appointment for her to have an abortion the next day. "I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO," she said. "MY MOTHER IS THREATENING TO KICK ME OUT OF THE HOUSE IF I DON’T HAVE THE ABORTION."

     Diane’s life was full of hard-luck stories including being homeless at one time, living on Welfare, etc. She said as long as her children had a place to say and had something to eat she really didn’t care too much what happened to her. I began to counsel Diana, telling her that she must get to the root of the problem - having sex without being married. I asked her if she went to church. She surprised me by saying she did. "THEN YOU KNOW, DIANA, THAT WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING IS WRONG, DON’T YOU?" "YES," she answered. I stressed to her how important it is to have God take charge of her life. I told her how important it is to have daily prayer. She told me she had a Bible. "DIANA, ABORTION IS UNTHINKABLE - GOD WON’T OVERBURDEN YOU. IF YOU DO THE RIGHT THING, YOU WILL HAVE GOD’S BLESSING AND PROTECTION IN YOUR LIFE." We talked for at least forty-five minutes in which I described the pitfalls of an abortion and the importance of the love of Jesus in her life. At the end of our conversation, I asked for her address so that I could mail her pro-life literature. "DIANA, YOU KNOW THIS LITERATURE CAN SOFTEN YOUR MOTHER’S HEART AND STOP HER FROM TRYING TO PUSH YOU INTO AN ABORTION."

     A few days later Diana called again. She said she had been at the doctor’s that day and found out she is about 4 ½ months’ pregnant: "I CALLED MY MOTHER AT WORK AND TOLD HER IT WAS TOO LATE FOR ME TO HAVE AN ABORTION." We chatted close to an hour as she told me about her relationship with her mother and her life in general. Again, I stressed the importance of a pure life. At the end of our talk she told me, "I JUST HAD TO CALL YOU BACK AND LET YOU KNOW THAT WHAT YOU SAID TO ME THE OTHER DAY CHANGED MY LIFE. MAYBE SOME DAY WE’LL BE ABLE TO MEET EACH OTHER IN PERSON, AND AFTER THE BABY IS BORN, I COULD COME OVER TO YOUR HOUSE AND SHOW YOU THE BABY." "DIANA, THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME THIS" I said. "GOD BLESS YOU! CALL ME WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE TALKING."