While rescuing moms and babies from the pain and heartbreak of abortion, pregnancy help centers face many daily challenges, some as small as running out of diapers to hand out and some as large as a Supreme Court ruling or a natural disaster.
Yet they persist in showing utter compassion for families in need of support. For Pregnancy Help Appreciation Week (November 12 - November 16), we’ve rounded up the top 10 reasons to show your love for the pregnancy help community this week and beyond.
1. U.S. pregnancy help centers served nearly 2 million people with free services in 2017.
Janai and baby "Marz," two of the millions of lives touched by the work of pregnancy help centers | Photo By: Lauren Bell, Heartbeat International
2. Those free services saved communities at least $161 million.
Click to share on Facebook to show your love for the pregnancy help movement using the hashtag #ThankAPregnancyCenter.
3. And ultrasound services alone saved communities over $100 million.
Last year, pregnancy centers performed 400,100 ultrasounds, illuminating the beauty of human life to women and men who may otherwise not have seen it. | Photo Courtesy: Informed Choices in Gilroy, California | Photo by: Christina Whittaker
4. A total of 67,400 volunteers—7,500 of whom were medical—gave their time to centers in 2017.
Cedarville University nursing student Stephanie Limbers volunteers at Pregnancy Resource Center of Clark County in Springfield, Ohio. | Photo Courtesy: Cedarville University Public Relations
Tweet This: 67,400 volunteers gave their time to centers in 2017! #ThankaPregnancyCenter @HeartbeatIntl
Bill Gautsch and his wife Tommie started the Piedmont Women's Center ministry 27 years ago in Greenville, South Carolina. Now, Gautsch is volunteering endless hours as the center constructs its brand-new 8,000 square-foot building, all in the service of helping more families. | Photo Courtesy: Lenna Smith
5. In 2017, 87 percent of centers offered parenting and prenatal education programs—an increase from 78 percent of centers in 2010.
Moms and their babies bond through classes offered by Pregnancy Choices in northeast Ohio. | Photo Courtesy: Debra Martin
6. More than 500 babies have been born thanks to Abortion Pill Reversal, a life-saving protocol provided at nearly 100 pregnancy centers.
Mom Misdy chose life for Tig Lee (above) not once, but twice—first when she used Abortion Pill Reversal, and again when she rejected a doctor’s recommendation to abort him because he had Down syndrome. | Photo Courtesy: Misdy
Tweet This: More than 500 babies have been born thanks to Abortion Pill Reversal! #ThankaPregnancyCenter @HeartbeatIntl
7. 24,100 clients received post-abortion support at a pregnancy help center.
Sherri Daume (right), director of client services at A Woman’s Pregnancy Center in Tallahassee, Florida, joined the pregnancy help community years after having two abortions of her own. “Now, I’m able to be the hands and feet of Jesus and extend that grace to others who are full of shame,” Daume said. “Abortion is a choice made in fear, and then you’re held captive by the condemnation of Satan. My wound was a gaping, despairing black wound, and He has completely healed it over and now it’s a pink scar that I am willing to use for His glory.” | Photo Courtesy: Sherri Daume
8. Pregnancy centers from Connecticut to Hawaii have faced unjust laws regulating their free speech, yet have continued to serve anyway.
NIFLA supporters rally outside the Supreme Court on March 20 as the Court hears oral arguments in NIFLA v. Becerra. In June, the Court sided in favor of pregnancy centers, essentially striking down a California law that required centers to advertise for abortion. | Photo Courtesy: NIFLA Facebook
Despite the hurdles of California’s “Reproductive FACT Act,” the Informed Choices team in Gilroy, California celebrated being licensed as a medical clinic by the state of California. | Photos: Christina Whittaker
9. Some centers have even had to weather natural disasters, such as hurricanes and fires.
Caroline and her now-husband Will welcomed baby Christopher into the world just as Hurricane Florence passed, thanks to several months of support from Onslow Pregnancy Resource Center. | Photo Courtesy: Onslow Pregnancy Resource Center
In May, the Pregnancy Care office, located in a youth center in Novograd, Zhytomyr—a state in the northwestern part of Ukraine—was devastated by what has been deemed an “accidental fire.” | Photo Courtesy: Mission to Ukraine Facebook
10. And they’ve even gone to bat against issues such as human trafficking and infant mortality.
Left to Right: Cindy Collins (SpeakHope.net), Dawn Lunsford (Heartbeat International), Dr. Laura Lederer (Global Centurion), Betty McDowell (Heartbeat International) led a Senate briefing this spring on how pregnancy help organizations are a critical piece to fighting human trafficking. | Photo Courtesy: Betty McDowell
Debra Martin, CEO of Pregnancy Choices, is working to combat infant mortality in northeast Ohio. | Photo Courtesy: Debra Martin
The emotional toll of work like this is undeniably extreme. Pregnancy help workers and volunteers give of themselves daily. Your prayers, volunteer efforts, donated items, and financial support have the power to lift the burden and help their service go even further.
