Pro-life leaders sent a strong message Friday to pregnant mothers struggling with the news that Roe v. Wade has been overturned: We’re here to help.
Amid the celebrations and tears of joy after the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling, pro-lifers also emphasized that the movement will work harder than ever to help families in need so that no mother ever feels like she needs to abort her unborn child. The ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health allows states to protect unborn babies from abortion again, and experts predict anywhere from a dozen to 26 states soon will do so.
“We were there for her before Roe v. Wade. And we’ll be there for her after Roe v. Wade,” Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, responded Friday.
Heartbeat International is the largest pregnancy help network in the U.S., with more than 3,000 pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes across the country. These organizations served almost 2 million people in 2019, providing free medical, education and support services – from diapers, pregnancy tests and cribs to temporary shelter, clothing and parenting classes – to help mothers and their babies.
The organization runs OptionLine, a 24-7 hotline and website to help connect mothers to community resources, as well as the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline, which links mothers who have taken the first abortion pill with local doctors who can help reverse the abortion and potentially save their baby’s life.
In many ways, the pro-life movement’s work is just beginning, said Andrea Trudden, vice president of communications and marketing at Heartbeat.
“Women still need compassionate care and support, and we continue to be here to offer practical resources and life-affirming options throughout our network of pregnancy help, as we have been doing for more than 50 years,” she said.
Pamela Whitehead, executive director of ProLove Ministries, said they have been preparing for this day for years, reaching out with love and mercy to women struggling through difficult situations.
Her organization provides financial and material support, counseling and other services to mothers and children in need, as well as training to help other pro-life organizations provide better individualized care to families in their communities.
“The situations that these women who are pregnant and in desperate need of help are facing are complex, but abortion will only make their lives worse as they live with the emotional, physical, and spiritual pain that abortion leaves behind,” Whitehead said. “We are uniting as a movement and standing in the gap for women, walking with them in their mess, encouraging men to stand up for their unborn babies and mothers of their children.”
Other organizations like CareNet, Human Coalition, Let Them Live and many more also provide non-judgmental counseling, education and support services to help pregnant and parenting mothers and babies.
Christian Employers Alliance president Shannon Royce challenged Christians to support these organizations more than ever now that states are allowed to protect unborn babies from abortion again.
“The unborn need protection, and their mothers need help and hope,” Royce said. “Now, more than ever, people of good faith must continue to save the lives of babies and serve their mothers. We can love them both.”
At the government level, state leaders also have been working to expand support and encourage mothers to reject abortion and choose life for their babies.
Texas lawmakers recently increased support services for pregnant and parenting mothers and babies, ensuring that they have resources to choose life. They voted to invest $100 million into the Texas Alternatives to Abortion program, which provides free counseling, parenting classes, diapers, formula, job skills training and more, as well as additional funding for the Healthy Texas Women program.
And CNN reported recently about several pro-life Republican-led states expanding Medicaid coverage for new mothers.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who brought the case that overturned Roe to the Supreme Court, was a single mother herself once. In her comments celebrating the victory for life, she also urged others to join her in supporting legislative efforts to promote life and empower women.
“The task now falls to us to advocate for the laws that empower women – laws that promote fairness in child support and enhance enforcement of it, laws for childcare and workplace policies that support families, and laws that improve foster care and adoption,” Fitch said. “We must renew our commitment to weaving a safety net that helps women in challenging circumstances and gives their children life and hope.”
