Daniela* and her boyfriend Rafael* came to our clinic requesting information about abortion. Daniela spoke no English and relied on her boyfriend to translate everything into Spanish. They met with our patient advocates. During the appointment, Daniela’s pregnancy was confirmed. Rafael said he would support Daniela’s decision – but his patient advocate encouraged Rafael to vocalize his true feelings too. After the patient advocate provided Options counseling (e.g., education on what is involved with abortions), the discussion turned to spiritual topics. Daniela was Hispanic and raised with Catholic beliefs. She and Rafael both welcomed prayer with the patient advocate. At the end of the appointment, Rafael spoke up: “I think we have gone from 50% sure we wanted to keep the baby to 75% sure.”
A few days later, Daniela returned for the ultrasound. Rafael had to work, but thankfully one of our nurses spoke limited Spanish and was able to communicate with her. Daniela met her baby on ultrasound and said she had decided not to get an abortion. The nurse gave Daniela some more resources and our team will continue to follow this family throughout their pregnancy.
Daniela left a very positive Google review: “Excellent place. All the staff are super special and friendly. Super grateful for their attention and delighted to have come to that place.”
Daniela and Rafael’s story is encouraging and illustrates the reality that we face daily: many of our patients are not native English speakers. We are actively looking for Spanish-speaking volunteers to help us give them hope and offer other choices besides abortion – in their heart language. If you speak Spanish or if you know someone who speaks Spanish, please encourage them to volunteer with us!
