A woman in crisis needs love, and pregnancy centers are there to extend that love when women are facing unplanned pregnancy. The executive director of a New Jersey center is taking a venerable approach to serving women in pregnancy help to a broader audience so that more women can benefit.
Debbie Biskey is the executive director for Options for Her, a pregnancy help medical clinic with three locations across New Jersey.
As a center director she has seen firsthand the impact of the LOVE Approach, the longtime training from Heartbeat International that has supported pregnancy help organizations for years in their work, been the inspiration of a book, and the foundation for an innovative method of limited obstetric ultrasound. Heartbeat is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and the world.
In 2018, Biskey began taking LOVE Approach teachings to churches in the community, and her efforts to bring the approach beyond pregnancy help quarters continue.
The LOVE Approach is an acronym describing the method by which advocates minister to women in need: Listen and Learn, Open Options, Vision and Value, and Extend and Empower.
Close to 300 individuals have been trained in the LOVE Approach by Biskey’s team in New Jersey and parts of Philadelphia. Biskey is now preparing to take the training into college territory, beginning with a session scheduled to take place on campus at Princeton University this coming fall.
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“I’ve been in this (pregnancy help) mission for 10 years,” Biskey said, “I need to be an empty vessel. We (as believers) need to learn to approach women like Jesus did at the well.”
“When we first meet these women, we need to realize there is so much more to understand how we meet them in crises and on that level,” she said. “We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus without pounding them with the gospel.”
A typical training on the LOVE Approach with Biskey’s program begins at 9 a.m. and lasts until 3:30 p.m. Options for Her will supply binders for the trainees or the church will provide the binders. Lunch is part of the day. The facilitator leads the class through the LOVE Approach manual. The cost for the program ranges from $10 - $35 per person depending on specifics of a given training event.
Biskey said sessions have had groups as small as four and as many as 50 in attendance.
Biskey used to conduct much of the teaching, but once the demand increased, Options for Her hired an additional teacher.
“The training is a great way to calm the fears as to how to approach a woman in pregnancy crisis,” said Biskey.
Tweet This: The LOVE Approach training is a great way to calm the fears when approaching a woman in a pregnancy crisis.
Some women in the training have wanted to share their own abortion story, she said, and others want to focus on just the baby.
Biskey said the training is effective in helping participants to understand how to connect with women in a loving way.
The Listen and Learn component prepares individuals to listen to the woman’s story without comments or giving opinions. It allows the trained persons to ask open-ended questions, such as “tell me more about…”
The Open Options portion allows the advocate to take what was learned while listening and learning and talk to the woman about her options with factual information. The focus should remain on the woman, not the baby.
The Vision and Value part has the advocate helping the woman envision a life for herself that is possible. It is when her value is emphasized.
Lastly, the Extend and Empower section is where the haze of hopelessness is lifted and the advocate extends all resources and referrals. It is when hope is offered, and the woman is encouraged to proceed with a healthy plan of action.
Options for Her faithfully utilizes the LOVE Approach not only in its three centers but also in its two mobile units.
The pregnancy clinic took one of the mobile units to Princeton University to be available for students.
The president of the Princeton University pro-life student group Princeton Pro-Life noticed the unit and contacted Options for Her. The student asked how their group could have a better way of reaching out to the abortion-minded on campus. Options for Her took part in a pro-life event last all in conjunction with the student pro-life group and Save the Storks.
“Hundreds of students were outside on their phones taking photos,” Biskey said.
But additionally, after Biskey had explained the LOVE Approach and offered to bring a session to campus, the Princeton Pro-Life leadership expressed interest.
This September will be the first time the program is taught to college students. Biskey said her next step is to continue this extension on other college campuses.
Having pro-life Christian persons outside of the pregnancy center engaging in the LOVE Approach helps given the true vision of the movement, Biskey said.
“It’s a great business model, too,” Biskey said, allowing more listening and understanding of one another.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
