Vigil in Medina supports Right to Life

 

Marina Malenic

   
  About 40 members and supporters of Medina County’s chapter of Right to Life walked in freezing temperatures and a light snowfall to walk silently around Medina’s Public Square during a candlelight vigil against abortion rights Saturday evening.

The event began on the steps of the county courthouse with Samantha Rinehart, of Canton, discussing her experiences. Rinehart talked about having an abortion in 1986, her healing from that experience and her efforts since then to counsel other women via the International Helpline for Abortion Recovery.

The organization, which began as National Helpline in the United States, offers free professional counseling to women all over the world, Rinehart noted.

Tom Sawyer, of Hartville in Stark County, an Evangelical Presbyterian Church minister and former pastor at a congregation attended by Rinehart, said “giving testimony” about their own experiences is one way for women to heal and to help others.

Rinehart told the crowd gathered in front of the courthouse that she had an abortion while serving in the U.S. Army and stationed in Europe.

While the procedure was encouraged by her commanders as a “responsible” decision to safeguard her military career, Rinehart noted that military health insurance did not cover abortion.

“So I had to go to Planned Parenthood in Germany,” she explained.

Rinehart, who was married when she underwent the procedure, said she hopes that more men will support their partners in choosing not to have an abortion.

“What women want to hear is not, ‘It’s your choice,’ ” she said. “They want to hear, ‘We’re in this together.’ ”

Rinehart discussed her healing process after the experience, which she said led her to work in counseling others who either had or are considering an abortion.

Rinehart’s remarks were followed by a candlelight procession around the Square.

Several participants, including Tom Corall of Medina, said they heard about the event through St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Medina.

Like Corall, many were first-time participants in the annual vigil held since Medina County Right to Life’s founding in 1976. The group has about 100 members, organizers said.

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