Antiabortion Centers Offer Sonograms to Further Cause

When Kirk was shown a video depiction of a fetus's head being severed during a surgical abortion, she walked out.

"I was outraged," Kirk said. She recalled saying: "This is horrible. I can't believe you do this to women who are lost and looking for help."

The abortion clinic, as it turns out, was next door. Kirk arrived late for her appointment that day and ultimately decided to have an abortion. The decision felt like "a relief," she said, giving her "another chance" to achieve her goal of finishing school and becoming a veterinarian technician.

The Severna Park Pregnancy Clinic moved in the spring into the former offices of an abortion clinic. The new management removed the bulletproof glass from the former waiting room and turned the late-term abortion room into an area for meditation, with Bible verses on the wall and a small blood stain preserved under an area rug. The clinic's director said up to five women a week walk in, seeking an abortion.

For Cheryl and Makiba Smith, ending up at the wrong clinic was a mistake they say they are deeply glad to have made. "God sent me to that clinic," Cheryl Smith said.

In August, they returned to Severna Park for another sonogram, this time with Makiba's 17-year-old boyfriend, Gregory Byrd. In the waiting room, they talked about plans for a baby shower and a day-care schedule so Makiba can finish 11th grade.

In the exam room, her fetus filled the monitor once again, this time 7 months old. The sonogram showed the beating heart, the rib cage, the right hand a tiny fist held close to the face. The fetus yawned, fell asleep, woke up again.

"He's a cutie," the nurse said, taking screen captures of different poses.

"He's fat!" cried Cheryl Smith.

Only the parents-to-be kept quiet. Makiba covered her mouth with her hand and Gregory stared straight ahead. Their eyes were glued to the screen and the moving image of their future.