Pro-life sign assists sidewalk counselors outside abortion clinic

Published: 2004-09-01

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- Sidewalk counselors at abortion clinics have a challenging job. The women they try to serve often ignore them. But now the men and women who seek to help those who come to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Indianapolis have a tool in their pro-life work that will be difficult to overlook. A large sign designed to attract the attention of the clinic's clients was recently painted on the wall of a commercial building perpendicular to the clinic. It faces the clinic and its parking lot. The sign's message does not condemn the women who have come there. Instead, it offers them help. It shows a hand holding a heart. Next to the hand is the message: "There is a better choice." It also provides the telephone numbers for both the English and Spanish lines of the Gabriel Project, a network of pro-life people who give help and support to women who are experiencing crisis pregnancies. Maureen McHugh, a member of St. Matthew Parish in Indianapolis, spearheaded the effort to have this sign painted. She has often served as a sidewalk counselor outside the clinic.

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