Courtesy of the Dallas Pro-Life Committee   May 7, 2001                                                   Standing with Ann DALLAS, Texas – “A Choice for Women” abortion center has ceased performing abortions.  Of the ten abortion centers operating in Dallas seven years ago, six remain.  The closing of the ACW center will be marked by a prayer service on Thursday, May 10, at 7:00 p.m., at the former site located at 9222 Markville Dr., just east of the intersection of Markville Dr. and Greenville Ave. (two blocks south of LBJ), in Dallas. Since 1996, Ann Hollacher has been a pro-life missionary and sidewalk counselor, spending most of her time outside ACW.  She has stood on the sidewalk in every kind of weather, week in and week out, sometimes with a friend or two, sometimes with a larger group, but many times, alone, for one reason:  Ann believes women should be informed about their full options, as well as their full rights, before, during, and after their pregnancy.   Ms. Norma McCorvey in prayer at the service commemorating the closure of "A Choice for Women," the abortion clinic at which she once worked as Jane Roe. As a sidewalk counseling Team Leader for the Catholic Pro-Life Committee, Ann has helped organize others to join with her in regular sidewalk counseling and prayer.  Ann states, “I never went there to reward myself.  I was just there because God wanted me to be.  I just had to show up.  Very seldom does God tell us to do something and then do it Himself if we don't show up.  He works through us.  I had to be obedient to Him.  If we show up and are obedient, then it brings more attention to the glory of God when something like this [the end of abortion at this facility] takes place.”  In Ann's conversations with hundreds of people over the years, she has informed them both about the abortion procedures with their accompanying physical and psychological complications, and about their full range of other options, which include financial assistance, free counseling, pregnancy tests, sonogram services, adoption information, and strong community support.  Often, her message has been rejected, but many times she has seen God work wonders in changing the minds and hearts of those who came to ACW. Thursday evening, representatives from the Catholic Pro-Life Committee of North Texas, Roe No More Ministries, Texans for Life Coalition, Operation Rescue/Save America, Angels in Heaven Ministries, Knights of Columbus, Young Serra Community, Texans Against Violence and Discrimination, the San Antonio-based Texas Justice Foundation, area churches, and many others will stand again with Ann Hollacher.  Karen Garnett, Executive Director of the CPLC, states, “We will gather for this final, closing prayer service at this site to offer thanksgiving to God that no more innocent blood will be shed here; to remember all the innocent children who were killed here; to pray for the healing of all the mothers and fathers whose children died here; to pray for the conversion of all of ACW’s former staff workers who are still in the abortion industry; and most of all, to give thanks for those whose lives were spared when their mothers and fathers turned away and chose life here.” Public Figures and organizations joining the CPLC at the prayer service: Ms. Norma McCorvey, the former Jane Roe with Rev. Flip Benham, director of Operation Rescue and Karen Garnett, executive director of the Dallas Pro-Life committee pray outside the closed abortion clinic as which Norma once worked. Norma McCorvey, the former “Jane Roe” of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, now Director of Roe No More Ministries, will be a notable presence at the prayer service.  Norma was working in the ACW abortion center in April 1995 when Operation Rescue moved into the offices next door.  There, Norma's heart was “won by love” by the pro-lifers, especially 7-yr-old Emily Mackey, daughter of Ronda Mackey.  Norma ultimately left the abortion industry, and was baptized a Christian by Rev. Flip Benham, Director of Operation Rescue, on August 8, 1995.  She later felt called to be in full communion with the Catholic Church and, after taking instructions in the Faith, received the sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation at St. Thomas Aquinas Church on August 17, 1998.  (ACW is the second abortion center where Norma was employed to close in Dallas, the first being A to Z.) Fr. Edward Robinson, O.P., Pro-Life Coordinator of the Diocese of Dallas since 1974, states, “Our immediate pro-life objective is to protect, from deliberate abortion, the lives of our fellow humans who are waiting to be born.  Our wider objective is to promote respect for all human life and to assist in preserving its dignity against any threat, whether accidental or of willful origin.  Our concern is not only for the unborn baby, but also includes the parents and the whole of our political society.” Operation Save America/Operation Rescue National Director Flip Benham states, “Abortion is, at its root, preeminently a Gospel issue. When the Church of Jesus Christ allows its theology to become biography in the streets of our cities, the battles are being won.  What changed Miss Norma's view on abortion was a heart change.  Only Christ can do that!  There are no legislative remedies.” Katie Orth is an associate with Texans for Life Coalition, which seeks to reestablish in law and in the culture the principle of respect for all innocent human life.  TLC has implemented informational programs whose goal is to change hearts and minds in order to cultivate a populace that is spiritually able to discern the truth, to reject abortion and choose life.  Educational programs focus on the younger generation in order to reach them before abortion becomes an issue in their lives. Debbie Heydrick, Director of Angels in Heaven Ministries, a non-denominational ministry dedicated to sharing the hope of Jesus Christ with families who have suffered the loss of a loved one, particularly that of a child, through unique Memory Keepsakes and Cards. Salem McLean, Knights of Columbus Pro-Life Chairman for the Diocese of Dallas; Greg Meldrum, Young Serra Community of Dallas; Tom Cyr, Texans Against Violence and Discrimination; Allan Parker, Texas Justice Foundation (San Antonio) Statement from Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, Staten Island, NY: “Today you rejoice that in the space once occupied by ‘A Choice for Women,’ the sin of abortion has ceased, and innocent blood no longer pollutes the ground.  I join with you today in prayer, in praise, and in thanksgiving.  I remember praying at that place, and reflecting on what an insult the title ‘A Choice for Women’ actually is.  As you all know, women do not get abortions because of ‘freedom of choice,’ but precisely because they feel they have no freedom and no choice.  …Let us move forward with great confidence, and look forward to many more occasions like this one today, when we will stand above the remains of an abortion empire that is no more.” Persons from some or all of the following churches: St. Anthony, Wylie (bringing parishioners on a chartered bus); Good Shepherd, Garland; Our Lady of Fatima, Quinlan; Our Lady of the Lake, Rockwall; Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Garland; Sacred Heart, Rowlett; St. Joseph, Commerce; St. Joseph, Richardson; St. William, Greenville; St. Pius X, Dallas; St. Philip the Apostle, Dallas; Holy Spirit, Duncanville. These churches will now direct their concentrated and faithful prayers to the conversion of one of the six remaining abortion centers in Dallas.