News for May 2013

My 17-year-old daughter finally convinced me to let her get a second set of ear lobe piercings. Off she went to the mall with my wife. When they arrived, they were surprised that she could get pierced only if accompanied by a parent. Furthermore, my wife was required to complete a consent form. It was no simple form; she needed to initial it six times and sign four times. Ten points of consent. Now that is getting parental permission.

Juxtapose this with the recent judge’s ruling that opened the door for Plan B to be available over the counter for all ages. Previously, those under 17 years of age were not allowed to buy it.

Pray the following prayer before reading the scripture below: Father, I can’t understand your Word without your grace. I acknowledge my weakness so your power can reach perfection in me. Send your Holy Spirit to remind, teach, and guide me to the Truth. And may I share, as soon as possible, whatever you teach me. Amen

John 2:1-5 – On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

What is the Lord saying to you personally? How can you put this into practice in your everyday life?

If you receive the updates about COLFS through this newsletter or by email, you know that we have eagerly awaited the move to our new San Diego office in Mission Valley, across the freeway from Planned Parenthood’s administrative offices.

On April 10, 2013, Coadjutor Bishop Cirilo Flores blessed all the areas in the new space. This event was celebrated as an open house for all our supporters to witness. Tours of the facility were led by the employees, staff, and board members, and appetizers were served in the open-air common-space courtyard of the building.

We would like to thank Bishop Flores, a passionate advocate for life, and all who attended to show that the office blessing bears important relevance to our mission. In addition, we would like to extend our gratitude to Sam and Edna Aziez, who generously prepared and donated the delicious Mediterranean food.

View photos from our Open House >

After over 20 years of marriage, COLFS’ board member Tom Dobrino and his wife, Marianne, welcomed their first child! Born on January 8, 2013, and weighing 5 pounds, 4 ounces, Abigail Marie’s adoption was the culmination of prayers answered in the affirmative for the doting parents, their extended family, and friends.

The Dobrinos are living examples of COLFS’ mission to prevent abortion through helping mothers either keep their unplanned babies or place them for adoption in loving and stable homes. Without the courage of birth mother Hannah, Tom and Marianne would not have been blessed with their daughter.

Well, where do I begin? I found out I was pregnant in July. My boyfriend and I had just broken up a few days before. We were trying to get pregnant, so it didn’t come as a shock to me. To him, I think it did. I feel he was having second thoughts, and I was right. We were broken up, so the idea of getting an abortion came from everyone. Myself, personally, I’m totally against it, but everyone put the thought in my head, so I thought about it—a lot.

I was about 7-8 weeks along, and I called an abortion clinic, where the process was explained to me. While I listened, I cried and cried. I hung up, called back, asked to hear the process again, and cried more. I made an appointment then canceled the next day. I couldn’t imagine going through such a horrific procedure that will kill my baby, let alone the baby we tried for.

So a few weeks passed, and I was going back and forth in my mind. Then my boyfriend and I sat and talked. He came to the conclusion that an abortion was best for both of us. I agreed, but deep down I knew it wasn’t what I wanted. I left for a family reunion, then the next week I had an appointment. The Friday evening before the appointment I called COLFS and talked to Vita. She insisted I came in before my appointment the next morning, but I couldn’t promise her I’d make it. She just told me to follow my heart and do what’s right for me, not my boyfriend or anyone else.

It has been a blessed and busy couple of months for COLFS’ Campus Outreach Project. The Lord is faithful and great strides have been made. For starters, back in March, I was so blessed to meet with Casey Vroman from Students For Life of America. We discussed possible ways to utilize student-run pro-life clubs as a means to attain access to public high schools and colleges. For the remainder of her stay, we visited California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), UCSD, SDSU, Mater Dei High School, Our Lady of Peace Academy, and Cathedral Catholic. We spoke with preexisting clubs,“clip boarded” flyers around campus to raise awareness, and visited Newman Centers as well as other campus ministries.

Later in the month, I was invited to speak at CSUSM’s “Catholic Cougars” club. It was only one day later that the students initiated the efforts to begin Cal State San Marcos’first ever Students for Life chapter. God is good!

In April, I had the privilege of speaking to students of Mater Dei High School as well as the high school youth of St. Mark’s parish in San Marcos. The next day, students began to form their own pro-life organization at Mission Hills High School.

In an effort to reach as many students as possible, please feel free to contact me at etobin@colfs.org with any referrals, suggestions, or feedback. Most importantly, I ask that you continue to pray for this growing ministry. Words cannot adequately express my joy and excitement as God paves the way for His young people to rise up and restore the culture of life.

As we settle into our new Mission Valley office, plans are underway to move our Escondido office to a bigger location— directly across the street from Planned Parenthood. Look for more details in the June newsletter.

Our hearts are saddened by the federal judge ruling and subsequent court battle that may result in making Plan B available over the counter to girls of all ages. As you read Dr. Delgado’s column about Plan B, consider Erica Tobin, our Campus Project Coordinator, at high schools, quickly expanding the presence of COLFS and our life-saving mission to the youth. Erica plans to partner with other groups to establish pro-life clubs and show a viable alternative to Planned Parenthood on every local campus. Through these efforts and our advertising campaign, our presence is known on dozens of San Diego County public and Christian high schools, and it continues to grow.

Please pray for our outreach, the youth, and young adults who are pressured into taking birth control and seeking abortions.

The North Dakota legislature passed a bill that, if approved by the citizen voters, will defend the rights of personhood for all North Dakotans, born and pre-born. The one-page Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4009, if ratified by the voters, will simply insert the following powerful verbiage into the state constitution: “The inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and defended.”

This is the first time any U.S. legislative body has passed a personhood declaration. Indeed, this is an exciting step for defenders of life.

While we know that abortion and euthanasia proponents will fight this bill, those pro-lifers who are “incrementalists” may not be too happy with this amendment, either. They fear that a full assault on Roe v. Wade will predictably lead to a U.S. Supreme Court case, which they prefer to avoid unless they feel they have a slam-dunk victory. They are concerned that the present court will issue another judicial setback to the pro-life movement. Stay tuned as the drama unfolds.

Pray the following prayer before reading the scripture below: Father, I can’t understand your Word without your grace, I acknowledge my weakness so your power can reach perfection in me. Send your Holy Spirit to remind, teach, and guide me to the Truth. And may I share, as soon as possible, whatever you teach me. Amen

John 7:37-39 – “On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, ‘Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’ He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in Him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

What is the Lord saying to you personally? How can you put this into practice in your everyday life?

What do you suppose Jesus is calling us to drink? We sense He is calling us to drink of His love, His forgiveness, His mercy. He longs for us to come to Him when we feel lonely, unwanted, and most of all, unloved. When we come to Him, we satiate His desire to love us, heal us, and make us whole. So many of us look to others to fill that void in our hearts for love and accep- tance, when, in reality, He is the only one who can fill us with the love we so long for. How many fill their need with food, drugs, or even another person, who can never satisfy that longing in our hearts to be loved?

Spring is a great time to sit in your garden and have tea with friends. How about 300 of your closest friends? May is the month of Mary, and there’s no better way to celebrate our Blessed Mother than to have an event in her honor on May 19th, which is Pentecost Sunday this year. Without the protection of the mantle of Mary, COLFS would not be able to receive the graces of her Son, who gives us the strength to persevere in protecting life for the glory of God. Claire Reiss has generously offered her stunning home for the event, and I hope to see many of you there to enjoy the day.

In other news, as Vita LaFond demonstrates in the Crisis Pregnancy story on the next page, we have experienced a dramatic increase in clients due to the national exposure of treatment for abortion pill reversals through our website and word of mouth. A client can call from anywhere in the world to seek help after taking the first dose of a chemical abortifacient, such as RU486.

(from L-R) Clarissa Longo, Malika Berens
& Sofie Delgado

(Sofie Delgado is President of Saint Joseph Academy High School Associated Student Body)

On March 18, 2013, my school, Saint Joseph Academy, hosted our first golf tournament to benefit our sports’ program. God blessed us with beautiful, sunny weather for an enjoyable day of golf. It was truly inspiring to see many Catholic organizations and individuals join forces to raise money for Saint Joseph Academy.

The event was co-hosted by COLFS. Saint Joseph Academy is blessed to have close ties to such an incredible organization. Without the help from COLFS, the event would not have been nearly as successful as it was.

When I receive calls for medical abortion reversals, the voice on the other end is usually that of an anxious woman: afraid, confused, sometimes angry, but almost always female. This voice, however, was that of a young man calling about his girlfriend. I asked “A” some questions to find out why he was calling.

“So, what does it mean to you that your girlfriend (“M”) is going to have your baby?”

A answered, “Hey, that’s my child, MY baby! I want it, yeah, and I want M to be okay.m”The Sunday before, M’s parents had taken her to a doctor, where she was injected with something. A had no idea what it was, didn’t even know the doctor’s name, but M’s parents were angry and didn’t want her to be pregnant.

Tickets are Sold Out!

Please contact Erika Santana to be placed on a waiting list, email or 619-564-3307.

The COLFS staff and volunteers are busy preparing for the 3rd annual Our Lady’s Tea, which attracted over 300 attendees in 2012. This year, it will be held in the garden of the beautiful home of Claire Reiss in La Jolla on May 19, 2013.

Actress Shari Rigby will be the keynote speaker. Shari, who is known for a variety of roles, played the birthmother in the powerful pro-life movie October Baby.

Shari Rigby

Last year’s event received rave reviews, especially for the tea cuisine. We are happy to announce that Surfside Catering will again provide the fare for this popular COLFS function. So grab your favorite tea attire—hats are a plus—and visit our website, www.colfs.org, for registration information.

Sign up today while tickets are still available!