FORMER VIKINGS CENTER MATT BIRK

SHARES STORIES WITH AROUND 1,200 TO BENEFIT FIRSTCHOICE CLINIC

Birk tells why he declined White House invite after Super Bowl

When Matt Birk approached the packed room of FirstChoice Clinic supporters recently at Fargo’s Holiday Inn, where he shared about his transition from NFL player and Superbowl ring-bearer to public speaker, he made special note of the crowd’s size.

“Forget about North Dakota being the Bison state,” said the former Minnesota Vikings center, hinting that there’s more than just football going on here, given that comparable events in the Twin Cities where he lives with his wife and six children aren’t nearly as well-attended.

After stopping in March in Fargo, where over 600 had gathered at an evening banquet, Birk spoke at another event in Bismarck, reaching around 1,200 people in all who heard, with a flash of humor, Birk’s growing passion for being vocal about the value of every life.

Birk said his convictions began with the birth of his first child―an event he called “miraculous.” “I knew that I’d just witnessed God,” he said. “Just because something happens millions of times a day doesn’t mean it’s not a miracle.”

After the family relocated to Maryland so Birk could play with the Baltimore Ravens, he was asked to speak at an event where he ended up talking to several post-abortive women who shared their experiences of anguish following their decision years earlier.

“I was shocked at how many women who’d had abortions were there marching … and also in awe of their courage,” Birk said, adding that the women became, in his mind, “the real heroes on the field,” and that those conversations “sparked something inside.”

When the Ravens won the Superbowl, Birk was invited with his team to the White House. But he hesitated due to a growing conflict within his soul.

“I couldn’t think of a good enough reason to tell my kids why I was going to go,” he said. “As a parent you want to be that person, that father, that at the end of the day your kids can look up to you and respect you and hopefully love you , so I just quietly turned it down.”

Birk said the most compelling reason to uphold life is simply that kids are awesome. “Kids are pure, they’re in the moment, and when you share one of those moments with a kid when, for that split second, nothing else matters, you’ve glimpsed heaven.”

Others who spoke at the event included Tom Frei, FirstChoice executive director, who said the growth the clinic is experiencing shows there’s a real need for its services here.

“We want to become the first choice for those facing unplanned pregnancy,” he said, noting that humility is required in the endeavor. “We are working cooperatively with God to create the right environment for good to happen.”

Denise Cota, who works as client services director for all three of the clinics in the region – including the facility in Devils Lake – said it’s sometimes hard to convey the daily work of FirstChoice Clinic to others.

Following the banquet, Cota explained that it’s about building a relationship with clients. It’s both healthcare and social work.

“Sometimes in the safety of the clinic, it’s easy to see a bright light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “Then (the clients) walk out the door and back into the world of their reality, and it becomes much harder again.”

FirstChoice Clinic wants to journey with its clients through those hard times, to be a voice of truth and give them choices based on information, she said.

“It’s choice for a reason,” Cota said. “You can only make a decision after you have heard the truth and the facts, and that’s what’s often missing.”

Cota said at FirstChoice Clinic, an effort is made to separate the complexities of an unplanned pregnancy with the reality of what is happening, and to help present options based not on just emotion but logic and love.

“The moment you become pregnant, you start bonding with that baby, otherwise you wouldn’t have any emotional turmoil over this decision,” Cota said. “We try to remove all the exterior stress so (the client) can truly know and feel what that experience is all about, and then move on from there.”