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National Sanctity of Human Life Day

Today is National Sanctity of Human Life Day.

Why?

47 years ago, the Supreme Court made one of the most devastating legal and moral decisions in history.

Roe v. Wade established a death sentence for over 60 million innocent baby boys and girls of every race and socioeconomic background in the US.

Now, this day is recognized by pro-life Presidents to remember the babies lost to abortion and commit to protecting life. 

And with that, there is hope.

2019 was an incredible year for the pro-life movement. We learned that the number of US abortions has fallen to an all-time low since Roe v. Wade. Numerous states passed pro-life legislation. And President Trump removed taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood.

And we’re not done yet. The upcoming generation of students, activists, and professionals are the most pro-life in decades.

But we can’t leave this fight to the activists and lawmakers. Our strategies must be multi-faceted to reach women in need, providing the information, support, and services they need to choose LIFE and provide the best life possible for their child, whether that be through parenting or adoption.

In honor of this mission, we’d like to share the story of a wonderful SAVE we witnessed here at Options United – a woman intent on getting an abortion who experienced a change of heart after calling us.

Glenda* called Options United after taking a home pregnancy test. She was only 16 years old so she decided to get an abortion.

We referred Glenda* to a local, life-affirming clinic for free testing and a consultation to discuss all of her options. She accepted the referral, but when we followed up to check in on her, Glenda* told us she’d decided to go to Planned Parenthood instead.

We checked in with her again days later and Glenda* said she had not gone to Planned Parenthood yet. In fact, she asked us if she could make an appointment with the clinic we recommended before making a final decision!

Glenda* went to the clinic for information on all of her options and made an appointment for an ultrasound – one she later missed. Glenda* said she felt she couldn’t have this baby and didn’t want to consider adoption because of the effect it would have on her knowing she had a child somewhere in the world. We encouraged Glenda* to reschedule the ultrasound, but her mind was set on abortion.

Two days later, Glenda* contacted us with some news! She rescheduled her ultrasound appointment and told her mom about the pregnancy. To Glenda’s* surprise, her mother was encouraging and supportive, leading her to choose LIFE for her baby.

After seeing the ultrasound, Glenda* was happy to report that she already loved her baby. We’re continuing to follow up with Glenda* through her pregnancy to ensure she feels supported, with the help of parenting resources and supplies at the clinic we referred her to! 

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National Human Rights Month: Recognizing the Humanity of the Human Fetus

December is National Human Rights Month – a time to recognize and protect the rights of each human being.

The pro-life movement isn’t just pro-baby or pro-birth. It’s about respecting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.

In honor of this month, we’d like to share some of our favorite pro-life facts which really illustrate the beautiful, intricate design of each human child, even in the womb.

  1. Between 16 and 22 days gestation, the preborn baby’s heart starts to beat its own blood.
  2. The preborn baby develops noticeable facial features at 4 weeks.
  3. At 6 weeks, the preborn baby reacts to touch and has detectable brainwaves.
  4. Preborn babies yawn, suck their thumb, and play in the womb starting at around 8 or 9 weeks.
  5. At 9 to 10 weeks, babies develop the unique fingerprints that will stick with them for the rest of their life.

From the moment of fertilization, the new life created at conception has its own unique DNA. Abortion indisputably ends a human life. Modern science proves this.

Every day, we dedicate ourselves to protecting human life – both mother and unborn child. We provide abortion-minded women with a support system of referrals to life-affirming clinics, centers, and organizations. Our partners offer honest information and free services to help these women choose parenting or adoption instead of abortion.

When a woman visits an abortion clinic, they’ll often refuse to give her an ultrasound separate from an abortion appointment. And when they do perform an ultrasound, it’s usually for staff eyes only in order to assess how far along she is for the type of abortion procedure and cost.

Why don’t abortion clinics allow mothers to see their child and hear the heartbeat?

Because this process undoubtedly exhibits the humanity of the preborn child. The ultrasound provides mom a unique chance to see what’s going on inside her womb – to connect with the child she can feel kicking and moving – which oftentimes changes her mind about abortion.

These babies deserve a chance at life. These mothers deserve to know the physical and emotional repercussions of abortion – a decision that could haunt them forever or even lead to their own death.

We have better options available for both mother and child. All we need to do is reach these women with love, compassion, and mercy.

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A Pro-Lifer’s Reflections and Prayer this Christmas

As Christmas morning rapidly approaches, I must remind myself of the reason we celebrate this wonderful season.

As we all know, it isn’t about shopping, decorating, baking, and caroling. It isn’t about Santa Claus, elves, reindeer, and snowmen. It isn’t even about the charities we support during this season of giving.

Of course, those things all contribute to the Christmas spirit, but this holiday is about one thing and one thing alone – the birth of Jesus Christ. Everything else is secondary.

Without the coming of Jesus Christ – humbling Himself, joining us on earth as flesh and blood, manifesting first as a vulnerable baby in the womb – we would not have His teachings, His church, His death, and ultimately, His glorious resurrection that offers us eternal life.

Life. Full life. Eternal life. That’s what this time of year is truly about.

Now, I won’t repeat the intriguing, yet cliche comparison of Mary’s unexpected pregnancy to the decision abortion-minded women face nowadays. I feel that’s akin to comparing apples and oranges – the circumstances are familiar, but ultimately quite different considering who she is carrying and how she conceived.

But I will say that it’s hard for me to understand “pro-choice” Christians, especially in light of the Christmas story. Jesus wasn’t in Mary’s plan. She was young, unmarried, and facing a judgmental world, not unlike ours. But Jesus was in God’s plan for Mary. Similarly, God weaves every decision, every consequence, every life into His plan for us. God recognizes the fetus as a preborn child in countless verses, especially when the Gospels describe Mary’s pregnancy. Although well-meaning Christians may see the “pro-choice” position as “compassionate,” we know for a fact that abortion violently ends a baby’s life and harms the mother both short and long-term physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.

And with that, I hope that you’ll pray with me – today and every day – for the lost women who seek quick fixes with eternal consequences, for the precious and vulnerable lives in the womb, and for the warriors fighting for both in every field of work every single day.

From a precious babe, we have been saved, but thousands more babies need us to help save them.

Heavenly Father,

First and foremost, I thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to live and die and rise again for us sinners. I thank You for allowing Him to come as a vulnerable baby, to live and grow amongst us, to witness temptation and reject it, and to understand what we experience here in this broken world. I thank You for the mediation He provides us and for the love You have for us – a constant, unfailing, unchanging, reliable, life-changing, and life-saving love that we can only accept by Your grace.

I thank You for the urging You’ve placed in our hearts to fight for the unborn and their mothers. We recognize that we cannot end this atrocity with laws alone, but by placing ourselves in every field of work and every area of life, making ourselves available to be guided by Your hands. I pray for the doctors, nurses, ultrasound technicians, center and clinic directors, counselors, lawyers, activists, lobbyists, lawmakers, judges, and every other Saint You’ve anointed to be involved in this important work. Important isn’t even a strong enough word.

We know how heartbreaking the tragedy of abortion is to You. We thank You for taking care of the little ones already lost, but found in Heaven. We pray that this atrocity would be stopped – and quickly – through softening hearts, changing minds, and establishing laws that see abortion as it is – unthinkable, unethical, and unbearable. Please help us reach women in crisis and show them there are other options – life-affirming options – that will make them proud and save them a tremendous amount of grief in a multitude of ways.

We pray for the mothers and fathers who’ve made the tragic mistake of ending their child’s life. We pray they’d find us, reach out to us, and seek the healing we have to offer so they may use their past for good going forward, making better decisions and encouraging other people to choose the life-affirming route. We pray for those working in the abortion industry – that You’d help them see the error of their ways and seek the help they need to abandon it and work by the Hippocratic Oath – to do no harm. May they be accepted by the pro-lifers around them with love, patience, and grace as You have gifted us in our sin time and time again. We ask that You’d continue to raise up the next generation with a passion for this mission, mobilizing them to get involved, to talk to their peers, and help change this broken world.

We thank You for all of the women who have called Options United – who have found compassionate help, real options, and honest information – services they needed to realize there’s more to an unplanned pregnancy than abortion. We thank You for the over 2,600 lives that have been saved through calls made to us over the past 10 years. We pray for many more calls and saves in the years to come.

Despite obstruction from big tech, we ask that You’d help us reach these women in crisis and that You’d open their ears and melt their hardened hearts to receive the information we provide, accept the referrals we give them, and truly desire a life-affirming option for both themselves and their baby. Please speak into their lives, urge their loved ones to provide the support they need, and give them peace in their life decision.

We thank You for the partnerships You’ve allowed us to create with pregnancy resource centers and clinics worldwide, as well as adoption organizations and post-abortion counselors. We humbly ask that You continue to use us all and expand our reach as we work together to save the precious little ones You love so dearly.

We thank You again for Your everlasting love, grace, and mercy, and for sending your Son Jesus who we remember this Christmas day.

Amen.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and prayers, too! Feel free to leave a comment below.

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Happy National Adoption Day!

“We look at adoption as a very sacred exchange. It was not done lightly on either side.”

-Jamie Lee Curtis, Actress and Adoptive Mother of 2

This National Adoption Day, I was inspired to look into some facts to better understand adoption. Three statistics stuck out to me the most:

  1. Only 2% of women facing an unplanned pregnancy choose adoption instead of abortion or parenting.
  1. Approximately 90% of adoptive couples say their relationship with their adopted child is “very close.”
  1. Over 90% of adopted children ages 5+ have positive feelings about their adoption.

In light of these statistics, there seems to be a huge discrepancy in the way adoption can be perceived versus the actual results of adoption. Although the vast majority of parents and children involved in the adoption process have a positive, happy family situation, very few people actually choose adoption for their baby, particularly with an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy.

In fact, there are 36 couples ready and waiting to adopt for every one baby placed for adoption.

There are many reasons behind the choices a pregnant woman makes. Perhaps one of the main reasons 40% of women facing an unplanned pregnancy choose abortion over adoption is misinformation.

Many women languish over the idea that they have a child somewhere in the world, never knowing what happened to them. Others feel they have too much or too little involvement in the process.

The reality is, adoption comes with a variety of CHOICES.

A birth mother may choose an open or closed adoption, even selecting the child’s adoptive family if desired. Some birth mothers may be able to arrange financial and material assistance during their pregnancy. Additionally, many pregnancy resource centers, clinics, and maternity homes can provide support and resources through the pregnancy and after.

If you’re interested in adoption – either as a birth parent or adoptive parent – there is help, support, and obligation-free information. It’s merely a call away.

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Feeling Grateful on National Philanthropy Day

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the creative light of altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness… Life’s persistent and most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is National Philanthropy Day – a day to celebrate charitable work, sacrifice, and generosity. Everyone can make a difference in their community, whether it be with money, resources, or time. You need only choose a cause you feel passionate about.

At Options United, we care about the women, babies, families, and communities impacted by abortion. We know that abortion ends the life of an innocent human being and forever alters the lives of everyone around them. We know mothers can experience physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual consequences after an abortion. We know that women are often manipulated by the abortion industry, feeling they have no other choice.

Our mission is to remedy this by connecting women facing crisis pregnancies with local pregnancy resource centers and clinics where they will receive the information and resources they need to choose LIFE.

To do this, we rely on partnerships with many incredible people.

Call responders and managers operating the crisis call center, lovingly responding to callers and their difficult situations.

Pregnancy resource centers and clinics, adoption organizations, and post-abortion counselors who provide the free services these mothers need.

Generous monthly and one-time donors who enable us to be fully-staffed and market to women who need help and support.

The definition of philanthropy is “the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.” As we reflect on this national holiday, I can’t help but thank God for all of the amazing people who have believed in and supported our mission – resulting in lives being changed for the better!

We couldn’t help mothers and babies without your support. In the last 10 years of Options United’s existence, we’ve confirmed over 2,600 women have decided to keep their baby after calling Options United!

It is a wonderful thing to give life. $76 is all it takes to save a life.

If you’re inspired by Options United’s mission and work this National Philanthropy Day, we would greatly appreciate your financial partnership, whether it’s a one-time gift or a monthly commitment that can be canceled at any time. You can donate here!