project rachel ad campaign

Radio Ad Campaign Plants Seeds for Healing

By Henrietta Gomes
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 3/15/07)

This Lent a simple radio ad could change lives and bring tremendous healing to women and men who have suffered from an abortion. One soul at a time, the Project Rachel radio ad campaign has been effective as the calls have been coming in, said Sarah LaPierre, diocesan director of Project Rachel and Gabriel Project.
“We’re helping more clients than we would have without the ads … . We’re just excited and elated,” said LaPierre, noting that regularly Project Rachel receives about 24 calls a month from women and sometimes men who are searching for healing. However, since the ads have aired, they have received more than a month’s worth of calls their first week.
The four ads in the campaign feature excerpts of actual testimonies from post-abortive women who have experienced trauma. In short clips multiple women discuss their suffering caused by feelings of shame, guilt and emptiness. Many women discuss how they were encouraged to have an abortion and were told “everything was going to be fine.” In one ad a woman describes the hole she felt after the abortion, which nothing seemed to fill.
“That’s the epitome of the truth,” said Josephine Balsamo, program coordinator, who has taken many calls from women who seek healing after an abortion. “The only thing that can fill that hole is God’s mercy,” said Balsamo.
In addition to the Diocese of Arlington, the ads are co-sponsored by Vitae Caring Foundation, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Archdiocese of Washington. The ads primarily target women ages 25 through 49 and are being aired on popular music radio stations including WPGC 95.5 FM, WIHT 99.5 FM and WASH 97.1 FM. It has come seven years after a similar ad campaign in the Jubilee Year, which also utilized billboards and bus placards.
According to LaPierre and Balsamo, many callers have heard about Project Rachel and Rachel’s Vineyard, but after hearing the ad on the radio they are compelled to actually make the phone call and seek help and healing. The great response to the ads is due to the fact that post-abortive women and men hearing them can relate, said LaPierre. The ads “plant seeds.” The haunting stories in the ads are intended to bring people to the realization that there is hope and they can seek healing.
Many people believe that abortion is “an unforgivable sin, but Christ came to save us from our sin. God’s mercy is huge. Once people know that it gives them hope,” said Balsamo. Forgiveness is one of the major concerns for most of the callers, even the ones who refer to themselves as “atheists,” she said. Even those who claim to not believe have asked if they are “going to hell,” said Balsamo. “The beginning of healing is being reconciled to God.” Once the client understands God’s mercy is unfathomable, it will lead them to “the path of healing,” she said.
Some calls came from women who had been contemplating having an abortion or had one scheduled in the future. “We talk to them and encourage them to really discern and pray about it,” said Balsamo, who explained that often women are making the decision of abortion impulsively or even under pressure. “They perceive that they have a problem, and need to do something about it.” Callers are often surprised that Project Rachel offers assistance with finding help such as prenatal care. “We want to make them more informed and realize that this choice really isn’t a choice,” she said.
Most of the callers are Catholic, said LaPierre, and whether they are practicing or non-practicing, “We want to welcome them back to Christ and the Church and provide the support that Project Rachel gives.” The timing of the ad campaign during Lent is not a coincidence. “People are just naturally looking for reconciliation during that time. They just instinctively look for healing during [Lent],” said Balsamo.
Shortly after the four-week ad campaign on the weekend after Easter, the feast of Divine Mercy, the diocese will offer a Rachel’s Vineyard healing retreat for anyone who has been involved with an abortion.
The ad campaign ran from Feb. 26 through March 11, and will air again from March 19 until April 1. For more information go to www.hopeafterabortion.com/listen.cfm.

Henrietta Gomes can be reached at hgomes@catholicherald.com.