In my core, I have always been pro-life. I was raised
pro-life. Truth be told, there was a time when I wasn’t living quite as I should and I wondered
what I would do if I had gotten pregnant. I questioned whether I would be able
to face my mother, and worse than that *gasp*, how would I face my church? That's another post for another time. But in
my heart of hearts, I knew that I could never justify my behavior enough to
warrant killing a baby simply because it was inconvenient.
Fast forward to many years later, I find myself at the helm
of Care Net Pregnancy Center of Southern Maryland (Care Net PCSM). At the risk of exposing myself, I feel compelled to share with you how I feel. This world is a dark and broken place. And it seems that only the loud
voices get heard. And right now, the voices being heard are those screaming for
validation of their choices; for those things that are not godly to be
considered so; for the world to stop acknowledging our brokenness but instead
renaming it, as if it would change anything.
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| The fine print doesn't matter. What matters is that disrupting the nest warrants legal action. |
Add to this the fact that I am a new mother. (No, I am not
blaming hormones for this post.) But I am more acutely aware than ever before
that life is valuable. All life is
valuable. Regardless of how it was conceived, the very principle and morality
of human existence is the fact that we are all valuable. Aside from the myriad
of scripture that claims it to be so – far before science ever proved it – life
is redeemable, life is a treasure, and life is precious. So much so that we are
spending TRILLIONS of dollars sending missions trips to outer space to find any
molecule in order to validate life. And we are arresting people for killing
eggs of endangered species because of the value of life. So how we can spend BILLIONS
of dollars for the right to terminate human life with a clear conscience?
But I digress. There will likely always be a debate about this topic. You
will believe one way; I choose to believe another. But in the end, whether a
pregnant woman chooses life or not, she will need support. And this is where my rocks get rattled. Regardless
of the services offered at PCC’s (Pregnancy Care Centers) across the nation,
there are those who refuse to support what we do. There are a lot of lies
out there as to what we do, why we do it and how it is done; so I will
quickly discuss the three biggest myths we face in in our PCC and the truths behind
them.
Myth
#1: Pregnancy Centers claim they are medical centers, but they are not.
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| Testimonial from an ultrasound client. |
Truth: There are Pregnancy Centers and there are Pregnancy Medical
Centers. In short, some only offer material and emotional support while others have
licensed and certified medical professionals (volunteer and paid staff) who are
able to conduct clinical services. At
Care Net PCSM, we are a medical clinic. As such, we are a facility that
provides medical services, under the direction and supervision of a licensed
physician. We offer medical services that are diagnostic in nature. (Diagnostic
means that a medical test is administered, results are read, and a medical opinion
is rendered.) We currently have three Registered Nurses as part of our medical
team who are trained in providing all our clinical services. Our medical
director is a licensed general practitioner, and she issues standard orders, signs policies
and procedures, and oversees the rest of our medical staff. You can learn
more about our clinic staff here.
As part of our clinic, we follow guidelines by the AIUM,
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and American
College of Radiology (ACR) and are able to offer limited obstetric ultrasounds
and specialized examinations (STD/STI testing, pregnancy testing).
Myth #2: We are
bible thumping do-gooders, forcing you into our religion.
Wow. Sounds like someone is watching too many dramas on TV.
Truth: Yes, we believe in God. We believe in His Son, Jesus.
Because of that, and because of who we believe He is, we also believe that there
is hope in the midst of a world that continually offers none. Because of who we
believe He is, we also believe there is grace and forgiveness that He desires
to give to all those who ask. And oftentimes, we know there is grace because we,
too, have experienced it for ourselves first hand. (You might recall my introduction
where I mentioned my own shortcomings.) Anyone who knows me has heard me say
that we are all the same at the foot of the cross. I know from my personal
experience that God can redeem and renew what the world would consider broken
and useless. And because I have experienced this myself, I can demonstrate this
to others. You can’t pour from an empty cup.
Don’t get me wrong. Yes, these things are the backbone and
foundation of why Care Net PCSM exists. But this only provides the lens through
which we see each client and each other. Do we force our faith on others? No. Absolutely
not. That would go against all that Jesus stands for. But do we greet each
person with a smile, offer them a shoulder to cry on, a safety net where they
can vent their fears and anxieties without judgement, blame, or ridicule? One
thousand times yes. Do we offer to pray with them if the situation allows? Yes,
of course we do. But we also ask their permission and
understand if they
say no. Grace, hope, and love – how refreshing this is in a society that demonstrates everything but these things. And really, who wouldn’t want to come
to a place like that when they feel lost or confused?
Myth
#3: We are Pro-Life, and we will coerce you into carrying the baby to term against
your will.
Truth: Yes, we are pro life. Yes, we want you to choose to
carry your baby. Because we believe in the inherent value of life. Will we
guilt you? Coerce you? Shame you if you choose not to? NO. That would defeat
our purpose of providing hope and grace without judgement. Unfortunately, we do
have pregnant women who call us, come to us for their ultrasound and still choose
to abort. Yes, it breaks our heart. Yes, we always wish we could’ve done more. And
yes, we reassess each time to try to determine what we could say or do in the
future to ease their anxiety or stress they feel.
What we will do is empower the pregnant client to make the
best choice she can. We educate her; we talk about ALL her options, including abortion. We do not hide this option
from her. If she is going to abort, then she has a right to know exactly what
she is doing to her body and her baby – something that most abortion clinics do
not do. We give her room to talk about and think through her decision, however
long it takes. (When was the last time you went to a doctor and were given as
much time as you wanted to make a decision or discuss your concerns?) Because
we are a non-profit ministry, we have no quota to meet, no financial pressure
to ensure you make a decision in our favor. God has blessed us with enough
financial support in our community to give the luxury of time to our clients –
without opinion, coercion, or pressure. Our client advocates are trained to be
empathic, compassionate, and sincere in their approach while still giving the
client the information she needs to make an educated and informed decision.
To that end, we also offer support groups for those women
who have decided to abort. Many women will at some point struggle with their
decision to terminate a pregnancy. And if/when they do, we are prepared to help
them find hope and healing. Click this link to watch a quick video about our Bible Study. Information on the bible study we offer can be
found here:
I know this is a much more serious post than I usually
write. But as of late, God has been impressing my heart for our babies and the
brutality of this world. My heart aches over the callousness of those who think
it is ok. It is a socially charged topic that rarely is discussed
calmly. Both sides of the issue tend to break down and resort to awful tactics
to prove their point. I am proud of the work we do at Care Net PCSM, and I believe
in what we do. I believe that there are more people who have been helped in our
community and are happy they turned to us in their moment of need (regardless
of what choice they made). And I will continue to use my own brokenness to
fight for each life that I can, because I know that each life is worth fighting
for.
*Disclaimer: The thoughts presented in this post are in regards to how Care Net Pregnancy Center of Southern Maryland operates. While we are affiliated with Care Net (national), which includes 1100 other centers nationwide, I can only speak specifically to how our Centers are run.
For more information on Care Net Pregnancy Center of Southern
Maryland, click here.
To compare Care Net’s (National Affiliation) stats with
Planned Parenthood, click here.
