Connecting lives to Christ's mercy

How can you say there are too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers. — St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

When Tara Zettel's mother went up to the front desk at an abortion clinic in Minneapolis in 1979, she was caught off-guard by the question she was asked.
           
“She was only a teenager at the time, so the receptionist asked her if she had told her mother (my grandmother) that she was pregnant,” Tara said. “This was really surprising, because this is not a question that they normally even care to ask at abortion clinics. It prodded her to talk to her mother about it first, so she decided not to have the abortion and went home instead.”
           
The Heavenly Father was looking out for Tara and her mother, working through the heart of her grandmother.
           
“My grandma simply told my mother that having an abortion was not the choice she would make for her, and said they would help her to choose otherwise,” Tara said. “It was such a beautiful response. She wasn't angry with her or ashamed of her. As a family they took care of her and brought her to a Lutheran maternity home in Fargo, where she lived until she gave birth to me.”
           
And as the saying goes, God works in mysterious ways.
           
“My father had left the picture early on, so my mother arranged to give me up for adoption to a couple here in North Dakota,” Tara says. “However, the adoption plan fell through, and I remained 'unclaimed' for the first week of my life. Soon, my mother came back for me and decided she would make the very most of the situation and raise me all on her own. She couldn't live with my grandma because she had five sons, and they didn't feel that their home was fit to raise a baby in, so she had to get an apartment by herself. She has always been my mom, and I am glad she ended up making the right choice!”
           
Joining Connect Medical Clinic

Eventually, Tara became a registered nurse and began working as the staff nurse for Connect Medical Clinic in Dickinson. In 2018, she became the executive director of the clinic, a position which she holds to this day.
           
“I have always enjoyed nursing and have felt especially honored to work in the area of sexual health with my patients,” Tara said. “It has meant a lot to be to be trusted with such a personal aspect of their health. However, when the director position came up, I knew it would take me out of nursing to some degree, but I still wanted to take it, considering what my mother went through with me.”
           
Since Tara has been serving as director, God has done some beautiful work inside the clinic walls and far beyond.
           
“Since I became the director, we have seen a 123% increase in patients,” Tara noted. “More pregnant women have come to us than ever before. It is so great! We also have a mobile unit trailer that we are working on finishing. It will help us bring our services to other places in the state. Our goal is to be able to use it by Sept. 17.”
           
Connect Medical Clinic currently has one nurse practitioner and four staff nurses who help offer services such as well woman exams and pap tests, early pregnancy evaluations and support for women facing unplanned pregnancies.
           
“By doing early pregnancy evaluations, we are able to meet with abortion-vulnerable women several times so that we can give them the information they need to make a good, confident decision about their pregnancy,” Tara explained. 
           
Expanding services

Furthermore, the clinic has been working on implementing the Connect Care Program, which will provide for the physical and practical needs of their patients in a wide variety of ways.
           
“We want to help our patients however we can, with anything they may need,” Tara says. “We would like to offer things like postpartum therapy, transportation and counseling, by making use of the skills our donors have to share.”
           
Furthermore, Katie Vidmar, the former Executive Director of Connect Medical Clinic, is now working in conjunction with PMC Network, a national pro-life agency and serving as a pro-life consultant for various pregnancy clinics nationwide (including Connect).
           
In this position, one of the main areas in which she works is birth control education.
           
“We need to educate women about how different forms of contraception actually work, because most of them are not given proper information in this area,” Katie said. “They deserve to know the harm that contraceptives can cause to their bodies, as well as the fact that they can easily cause spontaneous abortions. Many contraceptives prevent implantation from happening, but not conception, and therefore, they actually work as abortifacients.”
           
“I also provide training and tools to help other clinics follow Connect, because it has become known as a model to follow nationwide,” she said.
           
Education is key

Secondly, Katie coaches the staff at pregnancy clinics on how to integrate fertility awareness education as a medical service. She is working closely with Connect to transition their clinic into a full "cycle care clinic" which will actively develop relationships with young women before they even become pregnant.
           
“One out of three teenage girls are not taking ‘the pill’ because they are sexually active, but simply because they have acne or difficult cycles,” Katie explained. “We want to give girls another option; one that promotes their overall health and doesn't just work as a Band-Aid. We hope to give them natural solutions to address their underlying health issues, such as endometriosis, mood disorders and pelvic pain, and chart their cycles for the sake of their health.”
           
This transition will be particularly helpful considering the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Dobbs v. Jackson case in June, which held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion—effectively overturning Roe v. Wade.
           
“Following the case, preventing pregnancy is at the top of a lot of people’s minds, so we need to help them see what it means to prevent pregnancy in a way that is still pro-life and in line with the Church's teaching,” Katie said.
           
The Catholic Church teaches that the use of Natural Family Planning (NFP) is acceptable to achieve or avoid pregnancy based on naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a women’s menstrual cycle. Thankfully, pregnancy clinics such as Connect are in an ideal position to help couples to learn more about it.  
           
In addition to Connect Medical Clinic, though independent from them, North Dakota is also blessed with the presence of Dakota Hope Clinic in Minot and the Women's Care Center in Bismarck. Dakota Hope Clinic is a no-cost and confidential women's center which offers services to give women “choices for a brighter future” such as: abortion pill reversal, pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, post-abortion support, STI/STD testing and pregnancy loss support. The Women's Care Center provides free, confidential counseling, support and education for pregnant women, free pregnancy testing and ultrasounds among other parenting support programs.
           
For further information about Connect Medical Clinic, or to make an appointment, give a donation or volunteer, call 701-483-9353 or visit connectmedicalclinic.com.