By Joseph Patus
Voices for Life’s most recent abortion clinic mission trip visit was to Access Health Center in Downers Grove, IL. It was a great and well-rounded experience for everyone, and especially for me as it was my first abortion clinic trip that I’ve been on. I’ve heard crazy stories of assaults, verbal abuse, cops being called, and many other scary things happening on previous visits, but this one was pretty chill and quiet.
I was told that this clinic was unusually slow, likely due to it being more out of the way from the main city, but we also attributed it to the pro-life presence in the area opposing such clinic’s activities and to our fervent prayers for women coming to them.
Part of me was honestly hoping to bear witness to some of the heated encounters I’ve heard about, and I’m certain they’ll come if I continue going on these trips, but there was also great merit in all the other things happening during our visit. We were graciously welcomed in the morning by another local group that was praying the Rosary outside the fence of the clinic. They were on the older end of the demographic range, so they were very pleased to see so many young volunteers willingly offering their Saturday morning to come fight for the pro-life cause.
There were also a handful of other groups that split off at different points. One manned the entrance to the clinic parking lot ready to hand out support bags, share information on free pregnancy resources, and warn people that this is an active abortion clinic (which some were unaware of). Another group held pro-life signs along the highway, quietly displaying our presence to passersby. There was also a couple groups that went door knocking in the adjoining neighborhoods to share our work and to discourse about the clinic that was so close to their homes. Many others also just filled in the cracks, helping with different groups, silently praying for the clinic workers and its victims, and attempting to talk with those walking by or entering the clinic.
I began by praying with the group in the morning, and their witness reminded me that this is a spiritual battle being fought. I was tempted at times to believe this wouldn’t accomplish anything, but I realized quite clearly that this was Satan whispering in my ear trying to discourage my participation in this truly necessary element of the visit.
I then held a sign along the highway and further got to know some friends standing there as well. It was a little intimidating to stare people in the face as they drove by, but seeing some of their reactions to us being there, both positive and negative, gave me more courage to see I was making a small impact on them. Lastly, I went door-knocking with a small group, which I’ve done multiple times, but was a little more uncomfortable given that we were out of our normal area of South Bend.
All in all, I’m very glad to have gone on this experience. The vibrant and diverse group of volunteers, many of whom I knew but some that I had the privilege of meeting, filled me with confidence that we were doing something impactful for this clinic and local area of Illinois.
I had some reservations going into it as I mentioned earlier, but I was grateful that this was a more “entry-level” visit in that it had less activity than others that Voices for Life has visited. I got to spend more time focusing on my intentionality for participating in the pro-life endeavor, and preparing myself for the bigger storms ahead at future mission trips and opportunities. I am very excited to continue volunteering and sharing experiences with the wonderful people at Voices for Life, and especially to keep being challenged in coming out of my comfort zone.
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