The Anchoress
Recall that the only reason we ever heard about monster-abortionist/baby-feet collecting Kertmit Gosnell was because of an investigation into drug charges. Absent that investigation, we’d never have known about the filth, incompetence and reckless disregard for human life that comprised his profitable “services” to “women in need.”
And here, again, we discover abortion mill squalor, only because of a peripheral investigation:
the Muskegon Fire Department has posted closure notices on the Women’s Medical Services in Muskegon, Michigan, and boarded up the abortion clinic until further notice…WOOD-TV has published photos of the inside of the abortion facility. They, along with the inspection report, reveal conditions that “pose a danger to human life and welfare.”
It sometimes seems to me that abortion places are the least-inspected, least regulation-enforced public entities around. Tattoo parlors are regularly inspected. The local jeweler has inspections because he pierces ears. Abortion mills apparently get passes on all that cautionary stuff.
Despite the noble-sounding rhetoric of the pro-abortion side, abortion has nothing at all to do with the dignity of women. There is nothing dignified about having a developing fetus sucked or scraped out of one’s body in these filthy, terrifying surroundings. There is nothing there that recognizes or serves the inherent dignity of the human person, visible or hidden.
This is treating people like cattle in order to make a buck. It’s disgusting.
And somehow, I can’t imagine that any of our elite female voices — the ones who, in every election year, can be counted on to take up the fake “war on women” mantras and tape PSA’s about “keeping abortion legal” because it “empowers women” — have any sense of the realities of these under-inspected, under-reported hell-holes, where the only ones being empowered are the profiteers.
Take a good look at what is supposed to be “empowering” women, especially poor women. If there is a “war on women” going on, the walking wounded are the ones who enter these places carrying life, and leave it shorn of that life, and a good piece of themselves and their personhood besides.
And who is doing this to women? Who is telling them they have no other options? Who is telling them that they have nowhere to turn when a pregnancy is scary, or inconvenient, or is creating tension in a relationship? Who is telling them that they are worth so little that they should accept being seen (“serviced”) in a foul, decrepit, mildew-laden office? Who is telling them that — for a price — their lives can be made “better” thanks to that environment?
Hint: it’s not the Catholic church.
“. . .any woman, of any religion, of any color, race or ethnic background from anywhere, who is pregnant and without funds can come to New York, and the church will make every effort to arrange for her medical expenses, hospitalization and other needs. If she wishes to keep her baby she will be welcome to do so; if she wishes to give the baby for adoption, she will be equally welcome. — John Cardinal O’ Connor
Our missions are carried out with the heart of the Church and with the hope of revealing to those we serve the inherent goodness and beauty of their own lives, so that each person may see and experience the truth that they are an unrepeatable creation of the Master.
— We welcome pregnant guests to live with us in the Holy Respite of one of our convents
— Assist pregnant women in need of practical assistance through our Visitation Mission
— Invite those who have suffered abortion to hope and healing through day and weekend Entering Canaan Retreats
A Good Counsel mom may live in a home throughout her pregnancy, and then up to a year (sometimes more) after the birth of her baby. Each residence becomes a woman’s home where she is able to learn parenting skills and is encouraged to work or attend school while living with us. All mothers share household responsibilities like cooking, cleaning and other chores.
This week begins National Vocation Awareness Week — a week wherein the Catholic church talks about a simple reality: God loves us into being, and creates each of us for a purpose and a calling. The calling is our vocation, and our vocation is more than our work — it’s more than our doing; it is the wholeness of our being: who we are, and who and what we serve.
“Who and what is being served” is always a good question to ask.
UPDATED:
You may have seen this ad floating around our Patheos site: 
9 Days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage. We could use it. Check it out, and sign up!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In