A friend of mine recently published her first book, a memoir titled Finding the Good: A Journey Through Love, Loss, and Learning. She shares the path she and her husband traveled after his brain cancer diagnosis, and though a painful, emotional journey, she discovered “the good” God provided … and continues to provide after her husband’s passing.
Similarly, those of us in the pro-life movement know the darkness that prevails in the U.S. and around the world when it comes to life issues, from abortion to euthanasia.
Sometimes that darkness roars like a hurricane, enveloping our pregnancy help organizations (PHOs) and the staff and volunteers who operate them.
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We hear the news touting abortion as a “right” for a woman and her body without regard for the “right” of an unborn child to live.
We experience clients and patients choosing to abort despite seeing the ultrasound that clearly shows life, with a beating heart, limbs that move, and/or the form of an unborn child.
We talk with women who lack emotional support from partners, family members, or friends to continue the pregnancy and those who have little to no housing, finances, employment, and other necessities. Many of them deep down want to carry their babies but feel pressures to abort. Such darkness then closes in on us as individuals, as a PHO, and as a movement.
There is also the pressure on centers, from state governments attempting to suppress free speech and religious liberties and by protesters and vandals who yell vile words, tell lies, and leave graffiti (or do worse mischief).
Lights shine in the darkness
Despite the darkness, there is light, and, thanks be to God, the glow continues to grow brighter.
More people support PHOs and the pro-life movement, and more women experiencing unplanned pregnancies are seeking PHOs and discovering the resources available to help them. More pregnancy resource centers/medical clinics and maternity homes are forming. Pregnant women are finding community with various types of support, they are finding answers to their needs, and they are finding the God who loves them.
For example, the number of maternity homes jumped 17 percent in the past few years, offering safe housing and community for women experiencing unplanned pregnancies. These facilities also provide other resources to help women thrive, such as garnering a higher level of education and providing job training and counseling.
Additionally, although chemical abortion accounts for more than 80 percent of all abortions in the United States, the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) recently celebrated the milestone of 7,000 lives saved through the Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) protocol.
According to Heartbeat International’s latest Life Trends Report, there has been a 43 percent increase in the number of Abortion Pill Reversal starts since 2020, and now more than 1,400 healthcare professionals are part of the APRN. An average of 77 percent of mission-critical calls to the hotline are received within 24 hours of a woman taking the abortion pill, indicating the message that women don’t regret their abortions is a myth. More than 2,100 calls came to the APR hotline in 2024, and the hotline receives calls for help from all 50 states and several countries.
The light grows brighter because PHOs meet women where they are. Expansion of services, including counseling, fatherhood programs, and pre-natal care in addition to establishing maternity homes, helps meet the needs of women experiencing unplanned pregnancies.
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According to the recent Life Trends Report, 43 new centers opened in 2023, and 1,949,457 total client visits took place at Heartbeat-affiliated pregnancy centers.
More centers are offering STD testing/treatment, abortion recovery programs, and APR services, and some, such as a three-year-old PHO in Illinois, provide pre-natal care. Also, more are investing in mobile units in order to reach even more pregnant women.
The light also grows brighter because supporters come alongside pro-life organizations, including PHOs.
The center I worked at for nearly 13 years recently hosted its annual Walk for Life, bringing numerous sponsored walkers as the organization celebrated 20 years of Walk events. A center in Michigan hosted a jubilee year event this spring, and last year a Texas center received more than $40,000 from one church alone during a Baby Bottle campaign. Such events connect PHOs to the community, bringing in more supporters in order to help more women who need the services and programs centers provide.
Light, help, and hope
Although the uptick in the number of abortions during the past few years can be disheartening, especially the increase in the use of abortion drugs, knowing there is help through APR, Sidewalk Advocates for Life, 40 Days for Life, and other organizations that come alongside pregnancy centers, also offers hope and encouragement. And when abortion clinics close, such as that of the late-term abortionist in Colorado, we can cling to that hope, knowing God, through His people, is saving the lives of women and their unborn children.
As summer dawns this year, the good work of pro-life pregnancy centers, maternity homes, other pro-life organizations and individuals is alive and well.
Let us continue to find, and to be, the good, and may our lights shine as bright as the summer sun. Remember the words of Jesus that, as His followers, we are the light of the world, and these words from the writer of Hebrews: “Do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased,” (Hebrews 13:16 – NIV)
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people
light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see
your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
– Matthew 5:14 – 16 (NIV)
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought bt state AGs concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
