Pursuing an Intense Cause: Why Doreen Jansson Advocates for Pro-Life

After a long day's work of being a leader and an activist, Doreen Jansson de-stresses by preparing a meal and decorating the table with flowers for her family.

Jansson is the executive director of Soundview Pregnancy Services, a women's health clinic with two locations on Long Island. The clinic is an important part of Jansson's mission to empower women with unplanned pregnancies.

"We started out as a small counseling ministry that was a non-medical clinic, and since 2011, when I stepped into this role as executive director, we were able to accomplish that goal of going medical and we now have two centers," said Jansson.

While Jansson and her staff have seen the ministry grow, they have also faced resistance in growing financially and forming relationships with churches and organizations for supporting a pro-life cause. In fact, in a poll on isidewith.com, 75 percent of participants from New York identify as pro-choice.

The abortion debate has been a hot topic since the 1960s, becoming more complex with scientifically based arguments and politicians regulating abortion. Despite the topic's hostility, Jansson decided to join a pro-life ministry because of her own experience.

Jansson became pregnant at the age of 14 after she was raped. Not knowing what to do, her pregnancy continued until she was about 22 weeks pregnant. After an intervention from her friend's mother, Jansson confronted her mother about the pregnancy.

Panicked, Jansson's mother brought her to the hospital to have a sonogram. The doctor told her mother that she had to make a choice about abortion immediately, as the 23rd week of a pregnancy was the last week that an abortion could be performed.

Jansson was then immediately admitted into Nassau Medical Center where she received a saline abortion, a procedure that lasts 12 to 48 hours and is used on less than one percent of women receiving an abortion today.

"It was two-day process, which was very traumatic and very damaging to me; emotionally, spiritually and, physically," said Jansson.

The following years for Jansson was a "slippery-slope", as she experienced depression. A significant change came to her life when she became a Christian at the age of thirty.

"I received the healing that I needed and was able to healed. You cannot help someone else if you are not healed yourself. I feel that I am healed from that experience and now I want to help others," said Jansson.

After learning about Soundview Pregnancy Services at Northport Baptist Church in the late 1990s, Jansson began volunteering for Soundview. In doing so, she discovered her passion of speaking.

"She's a wonderful speaker. I felt a tug at my heart, like I needed to speak with her, get involved, find out a little bit more with that ministry" said Laura Brodrick, the nurse manager of Soundview Pregnancy Services.

According to Jansson, there are people who do not always want to hear about her ministry.

"Personally, I have never been attacked for who we are as a pro-life ministry, but I have had in presentations, even at churches, people get up and walk out" said Jansson.

A more direct method of resistance impacted Jansson and Soundview Pregnancy Services when "spies" from the campaign, "ExposeFakeClinics" called Soundview pretending to be clients.

The campaign intends to draw attention to crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), what they believe to be fake clinics that manipulate women into not having an abortion.

The website, "exposefakeclinics.com", provides a list of CPCs across the United States. Participants in the campaign are asked to pick a CPC on the list, call the clinic as a client, and ask questions about abortion, birth control and pregnancy options, Participants are then asked to review the clinic online with the hashtag, "#exposefakeclinics".

While phone calls from fake clients may interrupt Jansson and her staff's work, it does not stop them from having a positive impact on women and relationships.

"We develop these friendships and love for our clients and when they come in, it's just like seeing a girlfriend and I believe they feel that way too" said Diana Heuman, a volunteer at Soundview Pregnancy Services.

Jansson recalled one situation where herself and two other counselors worked with a young woman who was 22 weeks pregnant, the same level in pregnancy as Jansson when she was 14. The woman had scheduled an abortion because her boyfriend wanted to end their relationship while still being involved with the child's life.

"We spent three hours with her in this room, and we were pleading with her to just let us help her. You're trying not to manipulate her, but to really get her to think clearly about what she was doing. We showed her the sonogram, we showed her the baby, and the baby was very much developed at that point," said Jansson.

The woman decided to go through with the late term abortion until the next morning, when an unexpected snow storm fell down on New York. The woman was not able to make it to her appointment at an abortion clinic in Queens. When Jansson checked in on her, the woman said she had reconsidered abortion.

"She now has a beautiful baby boy, and she is thrilled," said Jansson.

All services, such as ultrasounds, referrals, counseling, etc., are all free of charge. The non-profit clinic is supported by partners, donors and fund raisers.

"Watching my mom build up this ministry has been such a blessing to watch" said Noelle Gelesko, Jansson's daughter. She added, "that shows me I should be doing something that I am passionate about."

Jansson's next goal is to launch a radio show called "The Real View", where she plans on discussing important topics and spreading her message.

"If there is one thing I could say to a young woman, it would be, you are worthy of love. From my faith perspective, I believe that the purest form of love comes from God Himself and he created you in His image, and you are beautiful," said Jansson.