This month Planned Parenthood (PP) turns 100 years old. For 100 years the nation’s largest single provider of abortions has helped women abort their children. While many applaud PP for their involvement in women’s health over the century, we cannot help but think of the over 58 million (conservative estimates) lives lost since abortion became legal in the United States in 1973.
Abortion is not only legal but it is also not difficult to find a clinic. With 20 known abortion clinics in Broward County (excluding hospitals and private doctors) many women do not even get the chance to come to a place like Hope Women’s Centers where they can sit and talk through all their options with someone that doesn’t profit off of their decision.
73% of all abortions in 2014 were to women under the age of 30 with 61% of all abortion patients in 2014 in their 20s (Guttmacher, 2016).
The top three reasons patients give for seeking an abortion is: *
Lack of an ability to afford a child.
The fear that having a child would interfere with their work, school or their ability to care for dependents, and
The concern for or responsibility to other individuals.
We see these young women with these above concerns in our centers everyday. In the last five years we saw 30,605 women who received free services and whether their pregnancy test was positive or not, they received guidance in their relationship, hope for their unique situation, referrals if needed and they often welcomed hearing the life-changing message of the Gospel. In 2015, an average of 7 women chose life every day at one of our centers, and an average of 5 per day heard the gospel. We may not be able to compete with the millions of tax dollars given to PP each year but we have the resources that God provides us through our local churches, organizations and individuals who give to Hope Women’s Centers.
With 1 in 3 pregnancies ending in abortion in Broward County, we are not slowing down our reach in Broward County and we have big plans going forward.
January 17, 2017 we will celebrate our 30th anniversary serving women and men by encouraging and equipping them to make informed decisions regarding unplanned pregnancies. We don’t have time to talk about the “good old days,” as we are looking to join with those that feel called to serve women and men that come into our centers with three new initiatives we are praying we can launch in 2017:
Men of Hope – providing male client advocates to provide options counseling for the men who come into the centers with their partners
A new medical center in the Miramar/Pembroke Pines area
The addition of a resource center where we can provide for limited material needs for clients
Will you help be the catalyst to help us see even more women and men in this last quarter of 2016?
Sources: *Guttmacher Institute. (2016). Induced abortion in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states
Comentarios