To meet Cheryl Calire is to meet a beacon of the culture of life and the pro-life movement. She is the person you know will walk with you when you are most in need, because that’s what she does.

Calire recently retired from her longtime position as the Respect Life office director of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, where she and her husband ran the Mother Teresa maternity home. There’s so much more to say — and I have offered a little over the years, including here, and at a National Review Institute lunch for pro-life leaders that has become an annual mainstay of January pro-life days in Washington, D.C., over the past decade or so.

Cheryl is now the executive director of Eternal Choice of Love, which offers sonograms to pregnant women, because that’s what heroes do in retirement. Here are some of Cheryl’s thoughts on Dobbs at three years:

Today is the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. This ruling eliminated the constitutional right to abortion and allowed individual states to regulate or ban abortion.

I am speaking from the heart and from 15 years of direct experience with this most delicate issue.

I use the word “delicate” from firsthand knowledge from post-abortive women and men, who come seeking understanding of a decision they have found they regretted. While many argue they “don’t regret it,” statistics have shown the repercussions that abortion has had particularly in women, young and more mature. Many do not realize until years later that they covered the pain in alcohol, drugs, more sexual activity, and subsequent multiple abortions. When they have the opportunity to reflect on broken relationships, communication issues, and trust problems, many have found that the root cause has been not reconciling their feelings of the deep-rooted cause; their choice at the time to have an abortion.

Many shared that the timing was bad due to school or career, others, not the right person or the right time. In the end, they discover that their choice came with the consequence of guilt, secrecy, remembering when the “birthday” would have been, and so much more.

My hope this anniversary is that we as a nation can realize that help is available to those who have found themselves in such circumstances, and with love, compassion, and understanding, we may direct them to those ministries that are there to help accompany them to forgiveness. What I found is they need to forgive themselves first, so they may continue on the healing journey and feel at peace.

As a pro-life advocate, one of my greatest passions is recognizing that abortion, in my humble opinion, will always exist, but what are we committed to doing to increase our understanding, education, and action on this issue? Once we can agree that we disagree on the issue, we should be able to find the common denominator to love one another, regardless of the circumstances, and give hope to those struggling to find that desired inner peace.

Hope and Healing, Project Rachel, Forgiven and Set Free, Entering Canaan are just a few examples of ways in which you can be the conduit to help them find those resources available without judgement.