The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 111

ffeir They teinrcaftSwe MwMi Tmfr'' tf I feci Glover Baker heads the Nashville Birthright liv MAX VOKK IT BEGINS with a ringing telephone. On lie other end of the line, a woman's voice is pleading, but trying to remain calm. She needs help. She is pregnant. She is not married.

What can she do? On this end of the line, the oluntcer knows she has 30 to CO seconds to show she cares, that she will help. "Right away, you have to let her know she isn't being judged." says Mrs. VVaneta Strick-ert. "You have this short period of time to establish rapport. If there is a least hint of judgment in your voice, you hear a click at the other end.

and you have lost your chance, perhaps forever." Mrs. Strickcrt is in charge of volunteers tor organization called Birthright. Birthright's aim is to offer women an alternative to abortion. The backers of the organization say simply that every mother lias the right to give birth and every child has the right to be born. The organization has been in Nashville only since last October, but already it is averaging 12 calls a month from women seeking their services.

Memphis, where the organizat ion is a bit older, gets 500 calls a month. in Nashville there was the unmarried pregnant career girl. She didn't know what to do. What about her career? 1 low could she have a baby alone? What about costs? What about medical help now? What about her parents'1 year waiting list of couples wanting to adopt babies at Public Welfare. The list would be longer, but they just won't take them beyond that period.

There is a similar situation at other agencies. So the baby isn't unwanted." A teenaged girl called. Her boyfriend and her parents were pressuring her to have an abortion, She wanted to have the baby. Sbe needed some help, someone who could assure her she was doing the right thing. "The callers are not all teenagers by any means." Mrs.

Baker says. "They arc married, divorced and separated women, too. They are not all young either." There was the woman who ah ead had seen unteer answering the phone isn't likely to ever see the person calling "We are basically a referral service," Mrs. Baker says. "In Nashville we are blessed with agencies who can help.

In some other cities. Birthright must hire social orkers to do their own counseling For counseling in Nashville and surrounding areas. Birthright relies on such agencies as Family and Children's Services. Agape, Catholic Charities and Nashville Christian Service. "At this time in their life, a troubled woman just can't break though the red tape alone." Mrs.

Baker says. "They hae too many things on their minds. We can help take some of the pressure off them so they can see the problem more dearly. "We are pro life. It's a bigger commitment.

We are committed to the tinhorn child and the mother. We want to help both, not just choose one ou the other." The Birthright group here is a regional program. It serves a wide area from l.awren-celung. to Dickson to Franklin. Ky.

The group represents no particular religion. The people involved represent many religions. Ministers from all denominations have offered their services, and should a caller wish to speak with a clergyman from her faith. Birthright can rnit her in touch with one willing to listen and help Birthright says every pregnant woman should have the chance to have her baby, and every baby should have a chance to be born. lllK I volunteers don't claim to have all the answers.

Such quest ions are far too complex to be answered unhurriedly over the telephone by a with limited training. The volunteer's job is to show that she cares and to assure the caller that she will fine! the needed help. "They just don't know where to go," says Mrs. Auric Kagsdale, the office manager. "We are the first step." "I or the girl who wants an abortion, there are half a dozen service's listed in the phone book." says Mrs.

Clover Baker. Birthright president. "Until Birthright came into being here, it seemed that abortion was the whole thing. We feel that is not a solution. woman needs an alternative.

"We feel this woman needs some counsel ing. 1'i egnancy is just one symptom of a problem. We feel he whole person needs some attention. We feel she needs an option "Her child is not unwanted There is a thrce- children. She was hysterical.

She didn't want the baby. Her husband said he was going to feed no more months. The woman was totally unreasonable. It was some time before the volunteer could calm the woman sufficiently to begin searching for solutions to her problems. Birthright protects the identity of their callers In fact, they may never know the caller's identity.

A first name will do. That helps identify the client the net time she calls. Kventhing is handled by telephone. The vol BIKTlHUCaiT could not know what problems some of the callers might present. One young girl said she believed she could make it on her own if she just had a job Nolxtdy.