Grandmother starts petition against second-trimester abortions at local hospital

A California grandmother has kickstarted a petition to halt second-trimester abortions at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, turning a local hospital dispute into a wider battle regarding conscience rights, informed consent, and the defense of preborn life.

 Key Takeaways:

• Mary Waldorf, a 40 Days for Life volunteer, discovered that second-trimester abortions were being committed at a California hospital.

• Health care providers are allegedly required to participate in these later abortions.

• Waldorf has launched a petition calling for an end to these abortions.

The Details:

Mary Waldorf, who spearheads a local 40 Days for Life initiative, said that she decided to take action after learning from a church contact and medical staff that hospital workers were required to participate in abortions. Enloe Medical Center is the primary hospital for the region, which means many local residents in the Sacramento area have few other alternatives. 

Vividly recounting  the moment she learned that abortions were being carried out at Enloe Medical Center, Waldorf said, “I spent the rest of the day just bawling because I know what a second-trimester abortion is. Everybody was shocked."

2nd Trimester Abortion | Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) | What Is Abortion?

A pediatrician at the hospital reportedly told Waldorf the administration could rethink the policy if public concern grew strong enough, though Waldorf said local news outlets have ignored the dispute, and portrayed the lack of response as a “media blackout.” This prompted her to launch the petition.

“Why she told me, God only knows,. But I thought, well, if that’s the case, then what if we do a petition? I’m just somebody who goes to church, has grandkids, goes to work — I don’t know how to do [a petition]. I am not a media [figure]. But when God gives you an opportunity, you got to go for it,” Waldorf told EWTN Weekly.

Zoom In:

Waldorf further detailed how hospital employees disclosed that Enloe Medical Center had denied certain staff members the choice to refrain from being involved in abortion procedures. “They were told that the pre-op and the post-op nurses and personnel could not opt out,” Waldorf said. 

Waldorf’s petition has an ambitious goal of 10,000 signatures, which she says would reflect around 10% of Chico’s population. As of late March, the petition had garnered around 800 signatures.  

Ultimately, Waldorf said women deserve real choice, not death.

“If the mindset of people is about death, they don’t consider the child — and you have to consider both," she said. "They’re not counseling these women. What about giving them true choice? The dignity of the human person is so paramount. And I think that that is what’s being lost here completely."

The Bottom Line:

The Enloe dispute is more than a local petition drive. It is a reminder that abortion debates do not stay abstract; they involve hospitals, workplaces, and neighborhoods, where issues about conscience, patient care, and the dignity of unborn children become immediate and personal.

Waldorf’s campaign demonstrates how one worried citizen can try to mobilize a community when vulnerable lives are dehumanized and trivialized.