Written By: Ariadne Wolf
As I observed the Benton County Right to Life fair booth for an hour on Friday, August 5th, five families speaking three different languages stopped by the display. The children marveled at the plastic fetal models representing the actual sizes of unborn babies at four stages of development.
For fair veteran and Right to Life advocate Mary Lou Carey, the children’s excitement over the fetal models is the most enjoyable part of her volunteer work. The goal of the booth, Carey explains, is to “help young people be aware of what is happening inside the mother — that the child is not just tissue or something to be gotten rid of.”
Carey found her motivation to be involved in pro-life work after taking a class during her nursing studies that detailed the unborn child’s growth in the womb. “We studied the nine months of pregnancy and I thought it was the most awesome thing I’d ever seen.”
Eric Sandoval volunteers out of a sense of loss over the death of his unborn daughter, Gina. He began volunteering reluctantly, but his involvement has helped him make peace with his daughter’s short life and death.
The fair’s informative, peaceful display stands in contrast to media attempts to paint pro-lifers in a negative light. The children who wander by seem filled with awe, their parents delighted to explain facts regarding the development of unborn babies to their children.
Oregon Right to Life chapters sponsored fair booths in the following counties and cities: Benton, Clackamas, Clark, Coos, Clatsop, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Gilliam, Harney, Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Manheur, Marion, Morrow, Tillamook, Umatilla, Union, Washington, Wheeler, Yamhill, and in Cottage Grove, Milton-Freewater, and the Oregon State Fair in Salem.
