Twenty-four years old, unmarried, without family support, embarked on plans for her own future–but lacking the kind of financial security that would permit her to undertake single parenthood. That was Josephine S’s situation when, approximately eight months ago, she found herself expecting a baby in early April 2019. Although she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of abortion, her panic led her to make an appointment at a Planned Parenthood office nevertheless.
Her first Planned Parenthood appointment left Josephine unconvinced. She announced to the staff there that she would go home and consider her options. When no new choices presented themselves at home, she returned to Planned Parenthood for a second appointment on a Saturday. Of that session, her strongest recollection is that the abortion pill was essentially thrust upon her almost as soon as she walked in the door.
It’s a woman’s prerogative, tradition informs us, to change her mind. No sooner had Josephine swallowed the first of two abortion pills than she regretted it. The distress of her unplanned pregnancy paled in comparison to the distress of deliberately seeking to kill her child. Urged on by a frantic Josephine, her baby’s father made a hurried series of phone calls to area medical providers to see whether the pregnancy could be saved.
It was Dr. Bruchalski who found himself responding to Josephine’s request. After listening to her situation, he advised her that it could be possible to save her child and continue the pregnancy until birth. Although Tepeyac OB/GYN’s offices wouldn’t reopen until after the weekend, Dr. Bruchalski made a Monday appointment for her and, meanwhile, wrote her a prescription for the progesterone necessary to counteract the effects of the abortion pill.
Then it was off to the pharmacy with Josephine and her baby’s father. With a great sense of relief, she gulped down the initial dose of two prescribed progesterone tablets, took a deep breath, and silently prayed that all would be well with her child. Subsequent appointments with the Tepeyac patient advocate helped Josephine obtain, through Divine Mercy Care, the necessary financial aid to receive prenatal care. Meanwhile, appointments with Tepeyac doctors showed, and continued to show, that her baby was unaffected by the abortifacient she had taken. The little son (as later sonograms revealed) who would be named “Emmanuel (God with Us)” was continuing to thrive.
Within just a few weeks now, Emmanuel will be born. Still slender and radiant of face, Josephine shows few traces of advanced pregnancy—but many indications of deep joy in her decision. “I’m really glad to have found Tepeyac and Divine Mercy Care; really thankful for their help,” she says earnestly, “And so happy that, because of that help, my baby is healthy and strong.”