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We are pleased to announce that Choices Medical Clinic (CMC) opened its doors on Bleckley St. in Wichita Kansas, Dec. 6, 1999. The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform has been privileged to offer ongoing consultation, training and resources to the Board of Directors, staff and volunteers of CMC for the past 3 years. We are delighted that women in Kansas now have free medical care and lay counseling to help them courageously and wisely face difficult pregnancies.
Choices Medical Clinic is the only pro-life (pro-woman and pro-child) medical clinic in the United States located directly next door to a late-term abortionist. In its first few months, this unique clinic has already served many women & families facing unplanned or crisis pregnancies. More late term abortions were performed on out-of-state women than Kansan women in 1998, so CMC is not only serving women in Kansas, but literally has the potential to serve women from around the country. Women regularly travel from overseas to abort their late-term pregnancies at George Tiller's next door abortion facility. He can profit greatly from performing abortions but CMC services are free of charge and this pro-life clinic is supported entirely by donations from concerned individuals.
By mid January, at least 5 women who were planning to abort their pregnancies had changed their minds. CBR has found that most women want to carry their pregnancies to term, but pressure from others and concerns related to areas like finances and health can overwhelm them. CMC volunteer physicians, nurses and lay counselors help women better understand how the child is developing in the womb and what abortion would do to the baby and to the woman's body. These professional and trained lay staff educate women (husbands, families, loved ones) about their options, thus equipping women to make wise decisions for themselves and their babies.
Choices Medical Clinic is also a frontrunner in what CBR hopes will be a new trend in medical care: Perinatal Hospice. This valuable medical service is offered free of charge to a woman/family whose unborn child has been diagnosed with a terminal condition. A team of physicians and other medical experts are on call to serve this family during the difficult time of adjustment to the diagnosis and then to help them learn how to best care for the child during his/her anticipated short life-span. Just as traditional hospice cares for elderly patients whose expected life span is extremely short (generally 6 months or less), so perinatal hospice is caring for the families of the little ones who may only be on this earth for a short time, but who have much to teach us about the value of life and unconditional love.
This cutting-edge clinic is also incorporating 3-D software into its ultrasound services. This software goes beyond traditional silhouetted images of the unborn child to create "models" of the baby. Even distinct facial features are visible, so parents will marvel and say, "he has your nose" or "she has your mouth." (View the software at www.3Dechotech.com) With powerful tools such as this, the humanity and dignity of the unborn child is hard to deny. |
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