Ideas To Support Mothers

Roe v. Wade has been overturned. The question of abortion has been returned to the states to regulate. Some states will make abortion illegal completely. Some will make it completely unrestricted. Others will be somewhere in between. Regardless, there are more women now than ever who need help and support. How can we help promote life and empower these women to life-affirming choices?  I've collected a few ideas.

1. Get involved in your local pregnancy center. There are thousands of pregnancy centers around the country. Odds are good you have one nearby. Contact them and see if there are ways you can help. Even something as simple as helping with a mailing is beneficial to them.
   
2. Get your church involved. Our pregnancy center does a fundraiser with local churches using baby bottles. For my church, we hand out plastic baby bottles on Mother's Day and then people bring them back on Father's Day full of coins and cash. Churches can support pregnancy centers financially and be great as a referral resource.
   
3. Throw baby showers. I love this idea! If you know of a mother facing an unplanned pregnancy, get a group together and throw her a baby shower! You can also ask your local pregnancy center for names of mothers who need extra help if you don't personally know of anyone. Or ask your community/church if they know of someone. Some people make an Amazon registry and then anyone can participate and others throw in-person showers. It's an amazing way to show love to these mothers.
   
4. Support families who are adopting/doing foster care. Many people are not called to foster/adopt and that's okay. But those of us who are not called can help support the families that are called. Prayer and financial support are of course huge, but also you can offer to babysit to give the parents a break, go grocery shopping for them, make them a meal, clean their house... Foster care and adoption are huge undertakings but they are so needed and any support we can give, we should.
   
5. Join SAFE Families. I only know a little about this organization from someone I know who has done it, but it sounds AMAZING. From what my friend said, these are short-term placements for kids whose families had a sudden emergency and they don't have anyone to help them. Normally that means foster care but SAFE Families is filling the gap. Check them out and consider joining their mission in some way!
   
6. Give to pregnancy centers and organizations like Live Action. Money is an important way to get involved. Supporting your local pregnancy center ensures that the women in your community have help and support when they need it. Organizations like Live Action are visible and help educate people about the harm of abortions and that there are better ways.
   
7. Support post-abortive counseling organizations. My local pregnancy center works with another organization to offer post-abortive counseling for women who have had abortions in the past or for women who come to them and still chose abortion. These organizations fill an important need because Planned Parenthood won't talk about the emotional damage that abortion does. Those who choose abortion need to know there is forgiveness and grace and that they are still loved.
   
8. Pray. This one is obvious and feels like a cop out, I'll admit. It doesn't seem to really do much but we are commanded to pray so pray we will. Many pregnancy centers will have email lists where you can get specific prayer requests. Now, post-Roe, we need to pray for protection for the buildings and workers and clients of pregnancy centers, as many are under attack and being vandalized, if not destroyed.
   

You'll see there are levels. Some people can only pray and give money. I say "only" but not that those are not important. They are extremely important!!!! But for those of us who can act, we need to act. On some level, prayer and giving money are easy. Giving of our time hurts more. It demands more. Getting personally involved takes more.

Here's something even harder; do you have a Planned Parenthood in your community? We have one just down the street from my church. How can we reach out to them? How can we show grace and compassion to them?

Never forget that, for so many women who go to Planned Parenthood for an abortion, they don't think they have any options. They're scared. They're ashamed. They lack support. We can be their support. We can show them that there are options. We can show them love and grace and compassion.

The main thing is to get involved. We've prayed for this time and now it is here and we need to stand up and do the work that is now in front of us. Church, let's be the hands and feet of Jesus to these women.

What ideas have you had or heard of to support women and families facing unplanned pregnancies? Please share in the comments so we can have even more ideas!