Beginning in May of 2018, I began working at Coalition for Life St. Louis, an organization dedicated to ending abortion in the St. Louis, Missouri area. In addition to being the coordinator for 40 Days for Life, the non-profit organization acts as a liaison between women in crisis pregnancies and resource centers in the area.

As a LIFEchoice intern, my job was simple. Wearing an orange safety vest, I would hand out pamphlets listing the contact information and directions to medical resources and charitable organizations in the St. Louis area while standing outside of the lone abortion clinic left in the state of Missouri: the Planned Parenthood on Forest Park Ave.

Six days a week, for more than 40 hours in total, sidewalk counselors stand outside of the clinic attempting to pass along alternative resources to every car that drives through the gates. We have a small window of opportunity to leave a favorable impression for our cause: the cause of protecting life within the womb.

As a sidewalk counselor, I was faced with many challenges from standing through the harsh humidity of St. Louis weather to facing off with Planned Parenthood escorts. At times it made me question if it was worth the struggle, if it was all just a waste of my time.

Growing up in the Catholic faith, the issue of abortion was not a topic that my family shied away from. It was a black-and-white issue. Abortion was murder. All throughout my life I've proudly clung to the label of being pro-life. Having attended the March for Life in Washington D.C. on three occasions, I've held up signs and shouted chants proclaiming the pro-life messages.

Yet, here I was in the middle of October 2018, five months in, questioning my purpose behind standing outside of Planned Parenthood. Was I really making a difference for women facing crisis pregnancies?

With my new job as a sidewalk counselor, I found my beliefs being challenged in ways I never thought possible. The issue of abortion always seemed to be straightforward and simple to me, but after inserting myself directly in the fight against it, I've realized just how emotionally draining this topic can be.

After countless encounters with women in crisis pregnancies, over a year of sidewalk counseling, and personal time of reflection, there is still no doubt in my mind that abortion is wrong and is never justified.

But in addition to reaching this conclusion, I would like to share with everyone a list of lessons that I have learned from my experience.

1. Being pro-life means more than being anti-abortion

Standing along the sidewalk in the Central West End, I have encountered individuals from all walks of life. With a resource center for those facing extreme cases of mental illness right now the street, we got to know those individuals seeking assistance fairly well. As they walked passed us on their way to the center, we would say hello to each other and greet each other by name. I had the opportunity to get to know individuals that society has told me to be afraid of, to ignore.

Being pro-life meant to show the homeless veteran and the schizophrenic black man the same love and consideration as I would the woman and her unborn child driving into the clinic. It means to love and respect life in all of its stages and forms and to also do everything in your power to preserve it.

2. Women should be met with compassion, not with judgment and condemnation

"Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy" — Warren W. Wiersbe

While a sidewalk counselor and a pro-life enthusiast may know of the evils committed inside the doors of the clinic, it's important to consider how our message to the woman is conveyed. We may think that sharing the stages of fetal development, or holding up a four-foot cross outside the gates is enough to lead to a change of heart, and for some women it might be.

However, from my experience, what women in crisis pregnancies truly need is financial and emotional support in order to even consider carrying their baby to term.

I, as a 20-something-year-old, may not be able to provide a woman in crisis with all the support that she needs. However, I can humbly lead her on the path where her needs can be met.

I don't know anything about the women who decide to go to Planned Parenthood for an abortion.

I don't know what they've been through, or the struggles they face.

It would be easy for me to allow my emotions to take over and to condemn these women for even considering abortion.

But this isn't about me, or what I think is right. It's about meeting these women with where they are at and showing them compassion with whatever choice they make.

3. Abortion isn't completely and totally safe

Prior to Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the Supreme Court cases that legalized abortion in the United States, many women would seek to end their pregnancies in unsafe ways, including the eponymous term "coat-hanger" abortion. Many pro-choice advocates argue that banning abortion will simply lead to the endangerment of women's lives as they return to such unsafe methods.

Abortion is considered a safe procedure. According to a 2012 paper published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, women are 14 times more likely to die from a complication associated with childbirth than a legally induced abortion. While the mortality rate is higher for women in childbirth than those undergoing an abortion, it does not discredit the fact that complications can and do arise with abortion.

According to a document released by the St. Louis Fire Department, between January 2009 and April 2016, there have been 58 emergency calls to the Planned Parenthood in St. Louis. Twenty-three of those calls reported hemorrhaging, a possible side effect of abortion. Since 2016, Students for Life of America reports that an additional 22 ambulances have been called to the facility.

I was present one day when the ambulance pulled into the parking lot. Pro-choice advocates claim that in comparison to the more than 35,000 abortions committed at the facility since 2009 that 80 emergency calls is such a small number — it would make the complication rate of abortions less than 1 percent for that clinic. But is 80 ambulance calls really that small of a number? I don't think it is. I think it's a concerning amount. I think one is too many, but I guess it all depends on how you look at it.

4. The clinic workers, escorts, and abortion providers should be treated with respect

As sidewalk counselors, we could tell if it was an abortion day just by looking for the expensive black car parked right along the front of the gates. We could tell by the glare that she would give us as she pulled through the driveway what she was here to do. I would always ignore her, but the other sidewalk counselors would in complete sincerity smile and say hello to her. In fact, they would say hello and smile to all of the Planned Parenthood employees as they walked across the sidewalk and into the gates. The workers would normally just ignore us, act like we weren't there, but some would return a small smile.

At Coalition for Life, we have a motto we would always say which was to first show love. It's easy for us to villainize the workers and the abortionists of Planned Parenthood. We don't have to like them or be tolerant of what they do, but we do have to remember that they are still human beings worthy of our respect

5. At the end of the day, it's her choice to walk through those doors

Since Coalition for Life's inception, more than 100 babies have been saved. While this is an impressive amount, this number pales in comparison to the number of abortions that have been committed at Planned Parenthood. There are so many women that we have met with that ultimately decided to terminate their pregnancy. With the laws currently set in place, it is within a woman's legal right to get an abortion.

As upsetting as I find this, we can't stop abortions from occurring. But if you feel the same way, you can vote your conscious to elect government officials that strive to protect life.