[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 108 (Friday, July 11, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1143-E1144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  BABY BOY BORN AFTER BEING SPARED FROM ABORTION FOLLOWING MIRACULOUS 
                              INTERVENTION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 11, 2014

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following:

            [From the Christian News Network, Feb. 6, 2014]

                           (By Heather Clark)

       West Chester, PA.--A baby boy was recently born in 
     Pennsylvania after his life was spared from abortion through 
     a miraculous series of events.
       Baby Roman was 18 weeks gestation when his parents went to 
     Planned Parenthood in West Chester last July for an abortion.
        ``I went to Planned Parenthood because I was stuck in my 
     own world doing everything that I wanted to do,'' Roman's 
     mother, Cartier, who had a previous abortion in 2012, told 
     Christian News Network. ``I was going to go get another 
     abortion.''
       Cartier, 21, had three other children and a stepchild, and 
     was living in government housing, where she was limited to an 
     occupancy of six people. If she had the baby, she and her 
     husband feared that they might have to find housing 
     elsewhere, but had nowhere else to go.
       At Planned Parenthood, Cartier found out that she was too 
     far along in her pregnancy to have an abortion at the 
     facility. She was directed to go to Cherry Hill, New Jersey 
     that day to end the baby's life.
       ``[Planned Parenthood] gave me this paper and said, `Here's 
     other places that will do it,' '' she explained. ``And when I 
     left, my husband and I got in the car [and were going to 
     drive to New Jersey for the abortion].''
       That day, a number of Christian sidewalk counselors stood 
     outside of the facility offering help to abortion-minded 
     mothers. Mary Ellen Caris, who has been active in pro-life 
     ministry since 1989, was one of the counselors that 
     eventually had contact with the couple.
       ``They came out an hour or so after they initially went 
     in,'' she stated, ``They didn't look at us, and they didn't 
     want to take any information.''


                          DIVINE INTERVENTION

       But as Cartier's husband started the car and was ready to 
     exit the parking lot, suddenly the transmission blew--right 
     in front of the sidewalk counselors.
       ``[T]he car died,'' Caris explained. ``[The husband] tried 
     starting it up and it just barely made it to the stop sign 
     and died again.''
       Cartier's husband started the car one more time and was 
     able to turn the corner, but the car again stalled--this time 
     for good.
       ``They had just spent $500 on the car the week before to 
     fix it,'' Caris outlined, ``So probably he's thinking, `Man, 
     I just spent $500. Why isn't this car working?' ''
       Suddenly, everyone began to ask themselves whether the 
     situation was a matter of divine intervention.
       ``The whole time that my husband and I were in the car, we 
     kept saying, `What if it's God? What if He's trying to tell 
     us something?' '' Cartier recalled.
       Caris and some of the other counselors then approached the 
     vehicle to offer help, and minutes later, worked out 
     arrangements to take Cartier home--but with the stipulation 
     that she first go to the local pregnancy care center.
       ``I said to [my husband], `I'm just going to to do whatever 
     this lady wants me to do so that we can get home,' '' Cartier 
     explained, ``and then, forget them.''
       But Caris said that she and the others asked God to 
     intervene in the situation as she drove Cartier and her 
     husband to Chester County Women's Services in Coatesville and 
     then waited patiently for the decision.
       ``We were praying while they were inside,'' she remembered.


                           ``I CAN'T DO IT''

       As Cartier sat in the offices of the pregnancy care center 
     and listened to the words of Medical Director Lisa Thomas, 
     she said that she suddenly ``broke down.'' She texted her 
     mother to tell her about the situation, who replied by 
     congratulating her on the pregnancy--something that stood out 
     to Cartier as she said that her mother had never spoken to 
     her like that before.
       Minutes later, Cartier had an ultrasound, and she knew 
     right away that she couldn't go through with the abortion.
       ``I'm like, `Oh my goodness, I can't do it,' '' she said. 
     ``And me and my husband were immediately like, `Alright, 
     we're keeping him.' ''
       But, Cartier and her husband still did not know how they 
     were going to provide for their son.
       ``I couldn't go to work; my husband was unemployed,'' she 
     explained. ``So now, we don't have a car, no way to get 
     around--nothing.''
       Cartier and her husband decided to pray and trust God. And 
     that's when they began to see amazing things happen before 
     their eyes.
       ``Lisa called us and said that somebody wanted to give us a 
     van, and that we could

[[Page E1144]]

     ride around for free,'' Cartier recalled. ``And we're like, 
     `Are you serious?' ''
       ``They called me again and said, `Somebody wants to give 
     you a baby blessing,' '' she continued, noting that she had 
     begun attending Thomas' church at that time. ``[They said,] 
     `We don't want you to buy anything at all. . . . All you have 
     to do is be here, and people are going to buy you everything 
     you need for the baby.''
       Each time that Cartier and her husband had a need, it was 
     always provided for just in time.
       ``It was like a rush. We went through all of this--we're 
     struggling; we didn't have anything,'' she said. ``[But then] 
     people came into our lives and helped us. Every time we 
     didn't have food in our house, somebody's bringing over 
     groceries. Every time we'd think, `How are we going to get 
     here?' because we didn't have any gas in the car, someone 
     would say, `Oh, the church gave you a gas card, so you can 
     put gas in your car.' ''


             ROMAN IS BORN, AND HIS PARENTS ARE BORN AGAIN

       Baby Roman was born on December 4th, and Cartier, who along 
     with her husband have since been born again, continues to 
     testify to the goodness of God. She shared that every detail 
     was taken care of surrounding Roman down to even the size of 
     the clothing that she was provided during the baby shower.
       ``He's two months old and he's wearing three to six-month 
     clothes,'' she explained. ``If they had bought everything 
     zero to three months, I would have no clothes right now. So, 
     it's like an act of God that even happened.''
       And Cartier's housing situation worked out as well as she 
     was able to have Roman share a room with one of his siblings 
     without issue.
       She gave a word of encouragement for other mothers who 
     might also be considering an abortion.
       ``Instead of being so quick about everything, sometimes you 
     have to be so tied up in something for God to step into your 
     life. Sometimes you've got to struggle in order to see a 
     victory,'' she said. ``Don't get discouraged, because maybe 
     God is trying to show you, `You can't do it all without Me.' 
     ''
       Caris also urged Christians to get out on the streets and 
     love and help women like Cartier who may just need some hope 
     and support.
       ``We don't see behind the veil. We don't know what God is 
     doing,'' she said. ``While praying in our prayer closets and 
     praying about abortion in our homes and churches is really 
     important, being a physical presence at the gates of Hell is 
     just undeniably one of the most most powerful things you can 
     do.''

                          ____________________