WCR This Week

CCN PHOTO | DEBORAH GYAPONG Carol Everett ran 4 abortion clinics in Texas until she converted to Christianity.

Carol Everett operated four abortion clinics in Texas from 1977 to 1983 until an encounter with Jesus Christ turned her into a pro-life advocate.

"I sold abortions," Everett told the annual Rose Dinner May 8 following the National March for Life.

She described her abortion clinics as a "cash cow" that earned her a commission for every abortion, plus a share of the clinic's fees.

A doctor would perform an abortion in one room, and then go across the hall to perform another, often without scrubbing up, she said. As he was across the hall, the other room was prepared for the next woman.

A newly-opened abortion clinic would pay for itself within a month, she said.

Everett took aim at state-funded sex education programs which she said were responsible for breaking down the natural modesty of children and damaging parental bonds.

Children are being taught about sex and masturbation in ways that "shame the children" so they will not be comfortable telling their parents what they heard, Everett said.

Another way children are set up for abortions is the widespread prescriptions for low-dose birth control pills that must be taken at the same time every day to be effective, she said. Most people are not able to do that consistently so they become pregnant while taking the pill.

Everett warned against the abortion drug RU-486, which is in the approval process in Canada. The National March for Life had as its theme this year, "RU-4LIFE" to raise concerns about the drug.

CHEMICAL ABORTION

"We know it kills women," she added. Its side effects have included hemorrhaging, heart attacks and blood clots. "Keep that chemical abortion drug out of your nation. You as citizens have more impact than anyone. It's time for all of us to stand up."

Girls who become pregnant will call an abortion clinic and reach a counsellor, she said. But she noted those who call themselves pro-choice "only talk about abortion."

"Do you ever hear them talk about adoption?" she asked.

The counsellors are really telemarketers who are trained to "overcome objections" and close the deal by making an appointment for an abortion, she said. They are trained to reassure the pregnant girl by saying things such as, "We can take care of the problem," and "No one needs to know."

Everett said she was thinking of expanding her business and contacted a business counsellor for advice. She said she didn't care what he charged. She noted he "didn't cuss, he didn't drink and he didn't chew tobacco."

"I knew that man was a Christian," she said. She told him she kept a Bible in her desk in the abortion clinic and that she prayed no women would die.

She asked him if he were a preacher, and he said he was. He told her God had sent him because there was someone inside that the Lord "wanted out."

He eventually led her to say the Sinner's Prayer, acknowledging she is a sinner and thanking God for sending Jesus Christ to die for her on the cross.

When she returned to the abortion clinic after accepting Christ into her life, she noticed "girls sitting in the corner crying."

"I saw it maybe for the first time," she said. "I used to be the hammer, pushing them towards their abortions."

She realized not only was she a "baby-killing woman," but also she was a "woman-killing woman."

Everett said the people who led her to Christ sheltered her, discipled her and fed her Scripture. She began to realize she did not believe she could be forgiven for having taken the life of her own child in 1973.

At the time, she already had two children, the first conceived out of wedlock when she was 16. Her husband did not want the third child.

RAN FROM THE PAIN

After the abortion, Everett left her husband and ran away from the pain of the loss into the abortion industry. She named the aborted baby "Heidi" and subsequently founded the Heidi Group, a foundation to help women and girls in crisis pregnancies make life-affirming choices.

"She's why I'm here," she said.

Everett said she brought good news from Texas where legislation has been brought in to ensure "no babies 20 weeks and older would be murdered in Texas and the abortionist must have admitting privileges in a hospital."

That latter provision alone has led to the closing of 28 abortion clinics in the state, she said.

Legislation is also forcing every abortion clinic to be licensed as an ambulatory surgical clinic, a move Everett predicted will close nine more clinics and save 40,000 lives.

"The Church is engaged in Texas," she said. "God is moving."