At this juncture, it is so important to win hearts and minds with loving logic and an attitude of care for women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy situation.
It happened—something Christians standing for the lives of the preborn have dreamed about and hoped for in the years following the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade judgment decided nearly fifty years ago. Today's Supreme Court justices overturned it on June 24th, 2022!
Pro-life people are probably done with pinching themselves now to ensure they were not just dreaming. So… where do we go from here?
The sad fact is that there are many leaders and legislators on the state and federal level who are chomping at the bit to entrench abortion as a “right.” Yes, Roe v Wade was overturned on the basis that the majority of Supreme Court justices could find nothing in the United States Constitution guaranteeing the right to an abortion. But, at this juncture, it is so important to win hearts and minds with loving logic and an attitude of care for women who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy situation.
So, how can those of us who stand firmly for the value of the preborn let others who don’t understand that perspective see both truth and compassion in us?
1. Pledge to Support Your Local Crisis Pregnancy Center
Pregnancy Care Centers offer a wide range of services to women who may already know that they are pregnant or to those who think they may be. For example, Hope Pregnancy Care Center in St. George, Utah offers the following services:
Adoption information and agency referrals
Abortion information—Note: The abortion information provided is purely for educational purposes, and the pregnancy center does not provide or offer referrals for abortion services.
Community referrals
Maternity and baby supplies
This list is only a small sampling of the needed services provided by many pregnancy care centers.
Sadly, ever since the draft decision regarding Roe v Wade was leaked, pregnancy care centers have been attacked by firebombing, graffiti, and other destructive actions. According to opentheWord.org, 23 pro-life groups have been attacked somehow. There have been continued efforts by a group named “Jane’s Revenge” to intimidate pregnancy care centers and other pro-life groups. In fact, the group issued a “communique” stating (in part) the following:
“We promised to take increasingly drastic measures against oppressive infrastructures. Rest assured that we will, and those measures may not come in the form of something so easily cleaned up as fire or graffiti.”
Additionally, some politicians, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, have even supported shutting down these centers days after Roe v Wade was overturned. While pregnancy care centers seek to offer compassionate assistance to women in a crisis pregnancy, there is a frightening level of opposition to their existence. With this in mind, if you can support your local pregnancy care center in any way, they most likely need you more than ever at this time. Call your local center to find out where your help is needed.
2. Engage with Kindness Those Who Favor Abortion
One pro-life group is setting the example for compassionate engagement regarding the issue of life and abortion. That group is Students For Life, and they are making a positive impact in many of the places they speak out for the lives of the preborn, which are primarily college campuses where the pro-abortion message is louder than in many places. The beauty of Students For Life is that its members are in the same age range of one of the most targeted groups that pro-abortion activists pursue, which are college and high school students.
A column on LIFESITE highlighted this group as a makeover of the reputation that some pro-life activists have acquired over the years. The author of the column, Tina Whittington (who is also vice president of Students for Life of America), wrote that in the past, pro-choice people have caught pictures of pro-life men and women yelling at women going into abortion clinics or harassing them in other ways. She wrote, “So it’s really no wonder that pro-choicers don’t want to engage in discussions with pro-lifers and automatically write them off.”
Whittington recounted her experience participating in the compassionate engagement that SLF members conducted with fellow students to whom they wanted to carry the message of valuing the preborn. They generally set up factual exhibits to draw people into conversation and offer a listening ear to those who come to talk with them.”
She concluded her column saying, “We aren’t going to change minds if we can’t have a civil discussion with people who disagree with us.”
3. Do You Know Anyone Facing an Unplanned Pregnancy?
Do what you can to help them. You may someday find that a friend, relative, or even just an acquaintance learns that they are pregnant and is afraid and confused about what to do next. This is your opportunity to shine the light of Jesus’ compassion on them, regardless of your feelings about the way they may have become pregnant. Remember when Jesus was confronted with a woman who had been caught in adultery? He calmly pointed out that those who wanted to stone her were not without sin themselves, and they all ended up walking away from the confrontation. He didn’t excuse her, but He didn’t condemn her either. He simply told her, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:2-11, NKJV).
So, regardless of how a woman, or young girl, finds herself in the difficult position of dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, you can stand with her and help her decide how to best deal with her situation in a life-affirming way.
Your first step in assisting the woman facing a pregnancy that she feels ill-equipped to handle is to track down a pregnancy care center near you. According to a fact sheet by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, there are 2,132 life-affirming pregnancy care centers throughout the United States. So there is a good chance that you can find one near you if you’re not already familiar with your local center.
A pregnancy care center can get the ball rolling in terms of confirming a pregnancy with a standard pregnancy test or an ultrasound confirming the presence of a viable uterine fetus. Then the center can help the woman sort out how she will move forward. Your mission will be remaining at your friend’s side throughout the pregnancy and directing her to the help she needs by either consulting with the pregnancy center or referring her to other sources of support—possibly Medicaid or other government safety nets such as the Women, Infants, Children program (WIC) if she finds herself with very little regarding financial resources. Be there for her as she goes through pregnancy by offering a listening ear or helping hand as needed.
4. Join in Helping Ministries That Offer Free Ultrasounds for Women
While the Lozier fact sheet points to the existence of ultrasound facilities at 8 out of 10 pregnancy care facilities, there is also another type of ministry that takes the ultrasound services to women who are more inclined to abortion. The Christian Post wrote about a ministry that takes ultrasound services to women rather than waiting for women to come to them. The ministry’s name is Image Clear Ultrasound (ICU). The acronym actually works as a play on words because it can also be interpreted as “I See You,” as in “I See You in the Womb.” The ministry has 22 mobile ultrasound vehicles and has visited 19 cities so far. Michael Homula, executive director for ICU, told the Christian Post, “We’re very interested in appealing to women who are considering aborting their children.”
The principle of the ICU ministry, Homula says, is “no judgment, coercion, or politics - just love, grace, and truth.” Meanwhile, the ministry goes on the offensive against the devil by using technology to find algorithms allowing them to “draw reasonable conclusions by neighborhood[s] where abortion is most prevalent.” This information directs them to where 15 to 28-year-old women are. As a result, ICU is able to minister to these young women’s lives.
Although this method of sparing the lives of the preborn is still in its “infancy,” compared to other pro-life ministries, financial assistance from ministries such as Focus on the Family and partnerships with other ministries provide the potential for this pro-life strategy to grow. If you are considering participation in this kind of ministry to women with crisis pregnancies, this ICU web page provide informations about ICU’s locations (with phone numbers). Just scroll to the bottom of the home page.
5. Engage Lovingly with State and National Leaders Supporting Abortion
In the firestorm following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, many legislators and President Joe Biden have pledged to take action to preserve access to abortion nationwide. The president just signed a second executive order on August 3 to make it easier for women to cross state lines to obtain abortion services.
When you hear of action being taken by legislators or the current administration, you may want to try pleading with these leaders on behalf of the preborn. Sadly, it seems that such pleas generally fall on deaf ears, but you never know whether your letter to a legislator or the president may be the one that appeals to their heart and changes their mind.
If you are writing to a leader to plead on behalf of the preborn, here are a few suggestions:
If you have heard the leader profess a Christian faith of some kind, gently point out God’s love for all His creation, including the preborn, using biblical references.
If you are not aware of any expressed faith by a leader, approach them from purely the scientific point of view, for which there is no shortage of evidence.
Do not yell at them in print. Instead, approach them by gently laying out the facts about the reality of abortion.
Whether they express a personal faith or not, let them know that you are praying for them, and then bathe that letter in prayer as you send it.
Remember that God saved the Israelites by parting the Red Sea, and many people thought that Roe v Wade would never be overturned. Who knows what other awesome miracles God may do?
“With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27, NKJV)
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Napatcha
Cathy Wentz lives with her husband, Brian, in Cedar City, UT, and has been a believer in Jesus Christ for more than 30 years. She has two grown children and four grandchildren, all who live in Cedar City. Her writing experience includes working as a newspaper reporter for eight years, and she currently serves as a public relations assistant for a local orthopaedic surgeon, which involves writing blogs, social media posts and other web content.
