An Alabama OB-GYN has helped more than 350 mothers change their minds about abortion by offering them free ultrasounds of their unborn babies.
In a special “People to Watch” series this month, the Montgomery Advertiser highlighted Dr. Matthew Phillips and his life-saving work through his nonprofit Life on Wheels.
An obstetrician and gynecologist in Montgomery, Phillips founded Life on Wheels about five years ago to provide free ultrasounds and pregnancy tests to women considering abortion, according to the report. The nonprofit has three mobile facilities in Montgomery and Birmingham that offer free services outside abortion facilities, pregnancy centers and the Alabama State University campus.
Since Life on Wheels began in December 2016, more than 350 mothers changed their minds about getting an abortion after they provided her with a free ultrasound of her unborn baby. In total, they have served nearly 6,000 clients, according to the nonprofit’s website.
“I realized the power of ultrasound in empowering a woman to make a decision about her pregnancy,” Phillips told the newspaper. “It does change your life, a child, but just like all crises in our lives, if someone can step alongside you and help you, most crises can be overcome. So that’s kind of what we do with the bus.”
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He said they link mothers to local pregnancy centers and other charities, too, because they understand that raising a child can be an overwhelming challenge.
Here’s more from the report:
He told the story of one of their former patients who lost her job and almost lost her house after giving birth. When she called the organization for help, one of the board members was able to get Catholic Social Services to pay two months of her rent, and she ultimately got her job back.
“That’s when we’re doing our job really well,” Phillips said. “It is a unique story, though, I confess. We’ve seen over 5,000 women, so if we were doing that for every single one of them, it would be a lot.”
Life on Wheels is pro-life, but Phillips said they do not pressure women one way or another and they support women even if they decide to have an abortion.
Through the outreach, he said they also hope to dispel negative stereotypes about pro-lifers being pushy or judgmental.
“We’re not angry,” he said. “We love the woman. We love the baby. We love the people across the street.”
Eventually, Phillips said they hope to expand to have a mobile pregnancy center outside every abortion facility in Alabama.
“We’re unashamedly pro-life, and we’d like to see abortion go away, but that’s not the purpose of our bus,” he told the newspaper. “Our bus is to love women where they are and meet them where they are. We think that’s the way Christ would do it.”
