Abortion supporters frequently claim that pro-lifers want to force women to give birth in difficult circumstances while offering no support to them. But this is simply false.
Quite simply, abortion is the homicide of an undelivered child. And telling a woman that she needs to kill her baby because she is too young, too old, too poor, or too uneducated to be a mother — or that mothers can’t also go to school or have a career — is discriminatory, and it pits women against their own children. It turns children into the enemy and women into oppressors.
What pro-lifers want is for women to succeed with their children alongside them — so pro-life organizations offer a multitude of resources to ensure women’s success.
Material assistance
At this point, everyone has likely heard about pregnancy resource centers, sometimes referred to as crisis pregnancy centers. Their names have been slandered by abortion activists who see them as competition and therefore take every opportunity to label them as fake medical clinics with an agenda.
But pro-life pregnancy centers are largely staffed by volunteers who provide women with an array of services completely free of charge. The goal is to help mothers overcome obstacles that are pushing them towards abortion. Those services don’t stop at a free pregnancy test and ultrasound. Pregnancy centers also provide free material items that moms will need after their babies are born, including diapers, wipes, baby clothes, car seats, strollers, hygiene products, and more.
Housing
Maternity homes are also run largely by pro-life organizations. One such home is St. Raymond’s House in Missouri, which has two locations where women and children can live while mothers take part in a self-sufficiency program. One mother said of the program:
I’ve always wanted to continue my education, but it wasn’t possible before now. I had to work two jobs just to be able to pay all our bills so I didn’t have time to go to class and to study. I thought that was the way I would have to live the rest of my life, barely scraping by. But living at St. Ray’s, I have time for school, because I only have to work one job.
I am eager to accomplish my education goals and begin my career. I love the attention and the celebrations we get with each accomplishment. It is something I never had before. It feels good to have people that want you to succeed and believe you can. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity! I am making the most of it.”
The Gabriel Network in Maryland is another example. It offers a maternity house as well as scholarships for mothers who wish to continue their education, and Angel Friends who will walk with mothers throughout their pregnancies so they never feel alone. Marisol Homes provides housing for pregnant women and homeless mothers. The life-affirming Maternity Housing Coalition is a resource for mothers searching for a safe place to live. Formed by the pro-life organization Heartbeat International in 1971, the coalition provides a housing locator on the website.
Financial Assistance
For pregnant women who are struggling to pay the bills, there are pro-life organizations that offer financial assistance to help pay for the rent or mortgage. Cradle of Hope offers this support for women in Minnesota as does St. Raymond’s Society for women in Missouri. Catholic Charities is a nationwide organization that also offers financial assistance to families who are struggling, including helping with utility bills, prescription costs, housing payments, clothing, and more.
These organizations are all pro-life.
READ: Pregnancy centers are just one way pro-lifers care for people from womb to tomb
Education and Career
As stated above, pregnancy help centers and maternity homes both offer support to women when it comes to earning a degree and building a career. St. Raymond’s Life Skills Program helps women secure a job in their chosen careers. In addition, Students for Life of America’s “Standing with You” initiative offers support to pregnant students, ensuring their rights are protected.
“We fall short when we tell a woman in crisis to have a baby if we aren’t willing to do anything to help them afterward,” explained St. Raymond’s co-founder Mike Hentges. That’s why these pro-life organizations help pregnant and parenting women to prepare for life after their child’s birth so that they are successful instead of struggling.
Abortion businesses, on the other hand, get paid to kill babies and then send women back to their same circumstances.
Domestic Violence
One of the leading causes of death among pregnant women is homicide; it even surpasses the most common pregnancy-related complications. Pro-life pregnancy centers help mothers living with domestic violence find a safe place to live. Likewise, Catholics for Family Peace also offers support, including The Hotline, where women can reach out for help without being discovered by their abusers.
Adoption
There is no data on whether pro-life or pro-abortion individuals adopt more children, but Chuck Johnson, president of the National Council For Adoption, told The Atlantic that adoption is not adequately promoted as a viable option to mothers by either pro-life or pro-abortion facilities. However, while the option abortion facilities most often provide is abortion, the adoption alternative that pro-life centers offer most often is parenting. Pro-lifers are helping women to parent their own children, which is the ultimate goal.
Adoption is a great option for women who are unable to parent, but pro-life centers work to help women overcome the obstacles that cause them to believe they cannot parent, allowing them to raise their children. Abortion facilities kill preborn children, so if 99% of the women who choose life with a pregnancy center’s help are parenting their own children, and one percent are placing their babies for adoption — that’s a pro-life win.
Many pro-lifers have adopted children at birth, but it is estimated that 36 families are waiting to adopt for every child placed for adoption — yet more than 600,000 babies are aborted each year, according to the CDC.
Health Care
Many women who face unplanned pregnancies don’t know that quality health care is available to them. Planned Parenthood claims it is the only health care available for these women, but there are pro-life options that help women through pregnancy and birth.
Marisol Health, a service of Catholic Charities in Denver, is a pro-life service that helps pregnant women. In 2017, Marisol Health provided care to 821 clients, 70% of whom had incomes under $30,000 and 45% of whom had no income or incomes under $15,000 a year.
Obria centers offer a broad range of care with their “whole person” approach. Pregnancy centers can also help women access similar care near them.
Overall Support
Care Net is a nationwide pro-life pregnancy help center which also runs a program called Making Life Disciples. This program works with churches to build up the culture of life by helping women in a variety of ways. Individuals from the churches offer support to mothers in any way they can: babysitting, driving them to appointments, tutoring their older children, helping to fix things around their homes, helping them secure affordable childcare, and more. It’s pro-lifers walking alongside women for life, not just nine months.
Pro-lifers work hard to help women choose life with confidence and help them to raise their children and achieve their goals and dreams. Pro-choicers fail to recognize these efforts and continue to spread the lie that pro-lifers don’t care about babies once they are born. The evidence is very clear — it is pro-lifers who are stepping up and offering women real help when they face an unplanned pregnancy.
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