030374 osv INFANT Challenges Pro-Abortionists

FIND it inconceivable," said the white capped young nurse at the podium, "that we would be expected to assist at a life-saving intrauterine transfusion in one room and to dispose of a mutilated fetus in another." Her fellow RN's applauded vigorously, and another monthly meeting of INFANT was under way.

INFANT (Illinois Nurses Who Feel Abortion Not Tolerable) was formed shortly after the Supreme Court decision of January, 1973, by Chicago-area nurses who believe the legalization of abortion shakes the very foundation of the nursing profession. "Nurses are trained to save life, not to assist at its destruction," says Mrs. Eileen Dolehide, a South Side Chicagoan and mother of eight, who, was instrumental in beginning INFANT.

" Another nurse and I started the group," Mrs. Dolehide explains, "at the urging of many of our fellow RNs who feared being pressured by their hospitals into assisting at abortions.2' To announce INFANT's formation, the women mailed an explanatory packet to the director of nursing at most area hospitals with a request to publicize the contents. "The results were amazing! " Mrs. Dolehide recalls. "Initially, we received over 1,500 responses, and more nurses have continued to join INFANT each month."

Define Goals

INFANT RNs define their goals as the unity of pro-life nurses, the securing of legal assistance as a precautionary measure, and the continuing education of each other and the public-at large in the relatively new science of fetology.

"Surprisingly, unless they are surgical nurses, many RNs are uninformed as to the true facts about abortion," says Mrs. Dolehide. "In spite of their training, many initially regard the embryo as merely a disposable blob. However, after being made aware of the humanity of the unborn child, most nurses do a complete about-face and willingly join our group. After all, saving lives is what nursing is all about! "

Education of this sort is not limited to adults, however. Recently members of INFANT created a filmstrip presentation entitled, "The Story of You," intended for junior high and high school students.

"It's a narrative, with pictures showing what each of them looked like before they were born," smiles Mona Lukas, an RN who often gives the presentation in Chicago's suburban schools.

Pictures of aborted infants are not shown until high school level, and then only a few are inserted. INFANT nurses prefer to emphasize the positives, the beauty and dignity of creation, and the marvelous medical truths of intrauterine life. The formal INFANT presentation lasts about 40 minutes, but Mona has often stayed for several hours answering the questions which pour forth from her rapt young audiences. "The kids seem to find it helpful that I am a nurse," she reports. "They are curious about pregnancy and the results of drugs on the unborn. "

The youth also ask about the consequences of a teen-age abortion on future pregnancies. Although United States statistics on this subject are still scarce, the nurses can discuss the high rate of prematurity, sterility and stillborn babies being experienced in foreign abortion-on demand countries. "Without frightening the kids, we do want them to realize that an abortion now will subject them to a substantial future risk," Mona says. "We are hurting our youngsters if we are not honest with them. No one can prevent them from choosing an abortion, but we can at least make sure that theirs is an informed decision. Hopefully. we can also impress upon them a respect and reverence for all life. "

In addition to working with area youth, INFANT members publish a newsletter as well as hold monthly meetings to keep each other informed of new projects, as well as to boost each other's morale. Moral support is crucial, the nurses feel, at a time when they are being pressured into abandoning their principles. Speakers at these meetings include doctors, lawyers and state legislators. The nurses are proud of the fact that their organization was partly responsible for the passage of a "conscience law" in Illinois, safeguarding the rights of medical personnel to refuse to perform or assist at abortion. INFANT RNs also lend their support to pro-life marches, letter-writing campaigns on behalf of the unborn child and agencies which offer counseling and help to women with problem pregnancies. At present, they are expanding their activities to include in-service meetings for LPNs and student nurses .

What of like-minded nurses in other states who wish to lend their support to such an organization? "There are many nurses' groups across the country, all formed within the past year," says Mrs. Dolehide. One of the best known is National Nurses for Life, P.O. Box 4818, Detroit, Michigan 48219, which already has chapters in 11 states. INFANT nurses, too, can assist their out of-state contemporaries to begin local groups and can be reached by writing INFANT, c/o Illinois Right to Life, 53 W. Jackson, Chicago, Illinois.

INFANT is non-denominational and attracts members of all faiths. Abortion, the women feel, is a human, civil rights issue - not a religious issue. "We feel that a strong united nurses organization can be very effective in fighting the 'death syndrome' plaguing our society," the nurses believe. "The anti-life processes which were given the green light by the Supreme Court decision of January 22, 1973, affect nurses so profoundly that it is time for us to stand up and be heard - for LIFE! by Joan Wester Anderson

Joan Anderson is a journalist living in Arlington Heights,

She also writes for the Family Digest,