By Los Angeles Daily
News
Heaton honored for
gifts, attends Paraclete
rally
Two-time Emmy-winning actress
Patricia Heaton was the
guest of honor at the second
grand opening of the
anti-abortion Antelope
Valley Pregnancy Counseling
Center, which received a
ultrasound device donated by
Heaton.
Heaton, a star of the CBS
series "Everybody Loves
Raymond" and president of
"Feminists for Life,"
donated five ultrasound
devices to the Right to Life
League last year to outfit
five counseling centers, and
the Palmdale center got the
first.
"We needed a miracle, and
Patricia Heaton was that
miracle," said clinic
Director Marc Boileau. "We
just want Mrs. Heaton to
know that we took her
sacrifice very seriously and
that we used the ultrasound
to its fullest potential."
Heaton made several stops
Tuesday around the Antelope
Valley. At Paraclete High
School, she spoke to more
than 700 teenagers at an
assembly where teachers Al
Landa and Erica Rattay were
honored by the counseling
center.
Heaton then attended an
invitation-only luncheon at
Cascades restaurant, where
she posed for photographs,
signed autographs and gave a
talk. The center gave Heaton
its annual "Gift of Life"
award.
At the center, Heaton met
with volunteer counselors
and medical staff. Life
Services coordinator Suzi
Rodela presented roses and a
book of more than 20
ultrasound images of babies
whose mothers changed their
mind about abortion and kept
their babies.
The center was renamed at
the ceremony as the Women's
Clinic of the Antelope
Valley.
Heaton's last stop was at
the Lancaster Knights of
Columbus hall, where she was
presented a plaque
recognizing her support of
the counseling center.
Since its conversion to a
clinic last June, Boileau
said, the center's clientele
has increased greatly.
Thirty-six women who visited
the center between January
and April decided against
having abortions, compared
with six in the same period
last year, he said.
