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The Indiana Daily Student

A Planned Parenthood protester reconciles her past with her new faith

A Planned Parenthood protester reconciles her past with her new faith

Jane Miller glides her fingers across the beads of her rosary. Her slender, almost translucent hands move down the strand, blue veins against blue beads.

She affirms her belief in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Jane is not a Catholic yet, but after 65 years of struggling with her Lutheran faith, she plans to 
become one.

On the sidewalk in front of the Bloomington Planned Parenthood clinic, Jane prays to end abortion. She prays for the babies, she prays for the workers inside the clinic, and she prays for the women who she says just aren’t thinking ahead.

Jane Miller and other pro-life advocates pray outside Planned Parenthood centers across the country as part of the 40 Days of Life 
Campaign which ends Nov. 1.

They don’t confront anyone who enters the clinic. They simply pray, as Jane prays, for mercy.

***

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

It’s Wednesday ­— St. John and St. Jude’s day. Two Catholic churches, one in Bloomington and one in Spencer, Indiana share a pastor, Father Daniel Mahan. He asked his parishioners to sign up for one-hour shifts of prayer and vigil from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

One of the volunteers studied at a convent to become a nun, but God called her to a different path before she took her vows. She married and raised a family. Now that her children have left the house, she can again devote all her time to Christ.

The volunteer paces the perimeter of Planned Parenthood. In her hand are several pamphlets about 
contraception and chastity:

Ru-486: What You Don’t Know.

Chastity & Purity – An Invitation to Love.

If Sex Feels So Good, Why do I Feel So Bad?

No one takes a pamphlet.

***

Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

Jane will officially convert to Catholicism on All Saint’s Day, the day St. John Paul II was ordained as a priest.

St. John Paul II is Jane’s favorite saint. He’s one of the reasons she’s converting. She says she liked his openness and his morals as Pope. She finds comfort in Catholicism and its 
rigidity.

“There’s freedom in boundaries,” Jane says. She’s happiest when she follows rules. It isn’t always fun, but Jane said it helps know she’s doing the right thing.

Jane brought a sign that reads, “Aren’t you glad your parents were pro-life?” The sign is plastered with pictures. Some are Jane’s family, some are celebrities. There’s a young Leonardo DiCaprio and a picture of Miley Cyrus from when she was Hannah Montana.

***

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

A college student in a vintage sweater rushes past. She walked 20 minutes from Collins Living-Learning Center. She does not want anyone’s prayers; she just wants to check in her for her appointment. It’s not for an abortion.

***

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Chelsey McNeil, 31, holds a 40 Days for Life sign as her husband looks after their two children, ages 4 and 5.

Chelsey says her children are a blessing. Before she gave birth to Conrad, the 5-year-old, she had several miscarriages, including one late in her pregnancy.

“I don’t understand why anyone would choose to go through that,” she says.

A fire truck speeds down College Avenue. Conrad clasps his hands and prays.

“Dear God,” Conrad says, but his words are drowned out by the siren.

“What did you pray for?” Chelsey says.

“I prayed for the fire truck to arrive on time and for everyone to be safe and for no one to be hurt.”

***

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.

Jane was raised Christian in Illinois and attended a Lutheran teaching college. During her third year, she dropped out and ran away with the pastor’s son. It was the ‘70s.

Jane and her boyfriend lived in a commune and protested the Vietnam War. She was a feminist and believed in owning her body.

She got pregnant out of wedlock.

***

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

From 6 to 7 p.m., Bob and Donna Zapfe sit in lawn chairs and pray the rosary out loud, taking turns.

Bob and Donna are retired. They have seven children and 13 grandchildren. They say they worry about young people today whose morals are loose, who don’t know God, who don’t know life begins at conception.

Bob and Donna know.

They pray to end the laws that allow Planned Parenthood to give abortions. They pray God forgives the women who take their babies’ lives.

Humming motorcycles and squealing brakes obscure Bob and Donna’s prayers.

***

O my Jesus, forgive us of our sins. Save us from the fires of hell.

The year before Roe v. Wade, a 22-year-old Jane found an ad in an underground newspaper for a clinic that provided resources for women who want to end their pregnancies. She paid cash, and they gave her plane tickets to Buffalo, New York, where abortion was legal.

Jane’s boyfriend went with her to her appointment. It was in a strip mall, but it was so early in the morning that all the shops were closed. She descended a flight of stairs and walked down a long, dark hallway to a nearly empty office. A doctor greeted her. He was an old man with white hair.

There was no preparation. There were almost no words.

“This is going to hurt a bit,” the doctor said.

He used a suction 
machine. It hurt.

***

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our Life, our Sweetness, and our hope. To thee we cry, poor banished children of Eve.

The waiting room of Planned Parenthood in Bloomington is quiet.

A young woman wearing a silver cross necklace walks to a table covered in pamphlets and condoms. She examines a female condom and picks up a pamphlet called “Human Sexuality.”

There’s a posterboard on the table covered in pink thank-you notes. Each contains a scribbled message of support. Most are political, some are personal.

“You guys are the only reason I had medical care as a woman without insurance,” one reads. “And this went far beyond unplanned pregnancies. Planned Parenthood has been awesome for just my standard wellness and prevention care, too!”

***

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God.

Jane collapsed in the airport on the way home from her abortion. She told no one about the procedure.

A year later, Jane became pregnant again. She chose to have the child, a girl named Amber. She married her boyfriend. Jane started working in the local schools; her 
husband started drinking.

After nine years, Jane divorced him and remarried. Since then, she’s worked as an obstetric nurse, a school nurse, and as a nurse for children who have special needs. She now has two grown sons, one in the air force and another studying medicine. Both join Jane at her protests.

Amber takes after her mother. She’s an artist and free spirit out in North Dakota. After graduating from IU, Amber hitchhiked all over the country. She followed the Grateful Dead on tours, just as Jane did. 
Amber is pro-choice.

Jane didn’t tell her mother about her procedure until 2010. After her confession, the two visited the Memorial for the Unborn in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Jane purchased a nameplate for her aborted child and named the baby after her grandmothers. Juliana Victoria if the child had been a girl, Julian Victor for a boy.

***

It’s 11 p.m., the end of Jane Miller’s shift. She picks up her sign and climbs into her grey Chevy. The front license plate reads, 
“PROLIFE2THEMAX.”

Jane will be back next Wednesday. She’ll bring her blue rosary and walk around the clinic and pray for 
God’s mercy.

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