In June of this year the Knights of Columbus announced a massive initiative to provide financial support to “pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes and other organizations which give direct assistance to new mothers and/or babies” in both the United States and Canada. The campaign, titled Aid and Support After Pregnancy (ASAP), aims to fundraise and donate at least $5 million to these centers and organizations throughout both countries by June 30, 2023.
Even before the recent U.S. Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade with the decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, there was already an increasing need to support pro-life pregnancy help centers and maternity homes—which provide life-affirming resources and help to pregnant women choose life for their unborn child even when facing difficult circumstances such as unplanned pregnancies or financial hardship.
Now with more law restricting abortion access anticipated across the U.S., it is also expected that more women will be turning to pregnancy help centers and maternity homes for support. Most of these centers and maternity homes survive solely on private donations and the generosity of organizations like the Knights of Columbus and others to keep their doors open.
Many such centers and homes additionally operate on the generosity of their volunteers so that more funds can go directly to helping pregnant women as well as mothers and babies in need through life-affirming resources. The disturbing increase in attacks on pregnancy help centers following the overturning of Roe v. Wade has also required centers to boost security measures, which is yet another financial burden.
This is where the Knights’ ASAP initiative is stepping in to fill the needs of pregnancy help centers and maternity homes.
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In a press release about the initiative, Supreme Knight Kelly stated:
“Mothers and children need our help now more than ever. As Knights, we are called to courage and self-sacrifice. Standing for life means making personal sacrifices for women and children in need—being willing to give of our time, skills and financial resources, and accepting the fact that the fruits of our labors are often hidden.”
With over two million members globally, the Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal organization and the largest of its kind in the world.
The organization already has a long history of providing financial support to pregnancy help centers through their Ultrasound Initiative, which has provided over 1,550 ultrasound machines since 2009. The ultrasound machines have been donated from Florida to Alaska and everywhere in between.
Why ultrasound machines? Both the data and the personal stories are clear—seeing a child in-utero via an ultrasound leads to more lives saved from abortion.
Additionally, from just 2018 to 2021, Knights donated over $18 million in funds and volunteered over 1.7 million hours of their time to pregnancy help centers and maternity homes, along with providing material support through maternity and baby clothes, diapers, food and other items to women and children in need.
But they are not alone in their work! The passion and commitment of the Knights to help women and children is part of a growing movement across the world to engage men in defeating abortion and step up to support life from conception to natural death.
In response to the ASAP initiative, Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications & Marketing at Heartbeat International, shared:
“We were pleasantly surprised when we heard of the new Knights of Columbus’ Aid and Support After Pregnancy (ASAP) initiative. Pregnancy help organizations provide such necessary services in communities nationwide at no cost, so we know the value this investment means. Women will be served, and families will be saved thanks to this opportunity.
Every donation is a blessing to a pregnancy center. Whenever an entire organization invests their time, effort, and money into a campaign designed to help pregnancy centers thrive, lives are changed. We hope to see more groups mimic the work of the Knights in order to meet the nationwide needs of the pregnancy help movement.”
You can learn more about ASAP (Aid and Support After Pregnancy) HERE, as well as learn more about the impact of pregnancy help centers here.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
