HIGHLAND — If there were a single theme that could have described the banquet sponsored by Relevant Pregnancy Options Center at the Knights of Columbus Hall, March 11 it would have been the word “fragile.”

Life indeed is fragile and it’s precious. Just ask the keynote speaker. She recalled her difficult teen years and beyond which left many people crying as they listened to her passionate story of pain and forgiveness.

Today, Nikole Robles is the post-abortive peace ministry facilitator at Relevant Pregnancy Options Center, but once her life was shattered.

She talked about her descent into the despairing hole that abortion took her. She became a sexually active teenager at 16-years-old and soon learned she was pregnant. She was a popular high school student and on her way to winning a scholarship at her college of choice, when the unplanned pregnancy was about to change her life.

With her sister by her side, she broke the news to her mother who was ashamed and disappointed at her lack of judgement.

To fix the “problem,” her mother decided that she should have an abortion. Her mother drove her to the next town where the abortion clinic was located so that no one would know about “the problem.”

“The plan was that I would simply miss school on Friday, recover over the weekend and no one would know.”

Nikole went along with the idea, but when they arrived at the clinic, another mother from her town was among those protesting just outside the clinic.

“You don’t have to do this, Nikole,” she told her. “Don’t do it.”

But a few members of the staff who had come out of the building to meet them dragged her into the clinic.

She was changing her mind about killing her baby. She was crying, and she was upset.

She was given “some medicine” to calm her down. Soon she was groggy and the procedure began.

It was painful. She fought, but it was no good. Within a few minutes, it was over and she found herself in another room — recovering.

When Monday rolled around, everyone at school knew of her visit to the abortion clinic because the word had spread.

She was kicked off of the ball team and lost any hope of going to college on a scholarship. She was shunned and her life was miserable. She had gone from being a very popular girl to being shunned and called names.

Life could not go on like this at her school so her mother paid tuition for her to go to another school.

She became a new member of the team, but that didn’t last long. Soon, the new coach found out about her past and said he didn’t want that kind of a girl playing on his team.

Her life had spun completely out of control. The abortion started her on a path of failing grades, missing school, alcohol and drugs.

Years passed, but the shame and guilt were always there. She was ready to give up.

One day her sister invited her to church. It was there that she was touched and opened her life to God and found peace and forgiveness.

After a few years she married the minister’s son. Today she has six children — all of them blessings, but she still remembers the first child. The one that abortion took from her.

Recently, her life took another turn, as she was dropping a few items off at the Relevant Pregnancy Option Center in Highland.

After talking to a staff member and sharing her story, she was told that the center had recently lost their post-abortive ministry facilitator and they had been praying for someone to fill that position. Nikole knew she was the answer to that prayer.

Now she can talk with girls who may be facing the same difficulty and challenges that she had also faced. She understands completely that facing an unplanned pregnancy is a very difficult time for a young woman. At the center, clients know they have other choices. They know that there is no recovery from abortion, only the forgiveness that comes from Christ.

According to Executive Director Tricia Blasdel, the center had 149 new clients and 2,333 visits, last year. These visits included options counseling, monthly visits, and Earn While You Learn (EWYL) parenting classes, Relevant dad’s classes, shopping in the Pride & Joy Store and walk-ins. There were 26 babies born to the clients who were assisted by the center last year. Pregnancy Options Center was started in a small, almost closet sized room of St. Joseph’s Hospital almost 23 years ago.

Said Blasdel, “We have seen 315 babies given life in the name of Jesus. Praise God.”

Reprinted with permission. Edited for length.