Life Saver :: Interview Essays

Life Saver The phone starts ringing as soon as Rita Murray enters the office of the Birthright House in Richmond, Indiana. A teenage girl asks for information about a free pregnancy test. While Rita is scheduling an appointment for the girl, a new mother comes in needing diapers and formula for her baby. Rita starts for the diapers, but another mother walks in the door bringing a bag full of baby clothes and a handmade quilt to donate. Just as the office begins to settle, two girls, "Christy" and "Heather," walk in without an appointment wanting pregnancy tests. After the tests are given, the girls wait for the results and watch a video of fetal development. Rita returns with the results and several pamphlets about teenage pregnancy, dating, abstinence, and the effects of abortion. Christy's test is positive and Heather's is negative. Christy starts to cry, "I can't have a baby, I'm too young." She asks Rita, "How can I tell my boyfriend . . . my parents? What do I do now?" She has many questions about the medical aspects of her pregnancy, and is unsure about what will happen now to her and to her baby. Rita asks her about her family and sex life, goes over the various pamphlets with her, and talks about decisions she will now have to make. She sits quietly with Christy and talks about the decisions that must be made. Christy walked into Birthright a teenage girl with few worries, but as she leaves, she seems much more burdened with the many choices she now has to make. Birthright is a Pro-Life international movement with offices throughout North America and Africa. In 1968, Louise Summerhill, a homemaker and a mother of seven, founded Birthright in Toronto, Canada, starting the service with $300 and promises of help from 60 women, 20 doctors, and other professionals. Richmond's Birthright branch consists of 30 volunteers, like Rita, with assistance from six local doctors. If further assistance is needed, Birthright may refer a client to additional community services, including affordable medical services, legal services, housing, maternity homes for unwed mothers, adoption information, educational guidance, and employment assistance. If the client is in serious financial need, Birthright will offer its assistance.