A Care Net-affiliated pregnancy center was the recipient of the 100th ultrasound machine placement by the Psalm 139 Project.
In May, The Mercy House Pregnancy Resource Center in Elizabethtown, N.C., held a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the arrival of its first ultrasound machine, a gift that will now enable the staff to give women and men a window into the child growing in the womb.
In an article in the Biblical Recorder, Megan Knight, executive director of The Mercy House Pregnancy Resource Center, said it was both humbling and inspiring to receive the new equipment.
“This ultrasound machine means so much more than technology. It represents hope, opportunity and the chance for mothers and families to see the precious gift of life,” she said.
The Psalm 139 Project is a ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission that raises funds to provide ultrasound machines to pregnancy centers at no cost and helps support the training needed to use them. Inspired by Psalm 139 and its affirmation that every person is “fearfully and wonderfully made,” the project partnered with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina for the Mercy House placement.
Leigh Britt, nurse manager for The Mercy House, told the Biblical Recorder that the new machine will allow the center to provide more comprehensive care by giving women in Bladen County access to free ultrasounds in a safe and supportive environment. She credited the prayer, donations, volunteer hours and encouragement of local churches and community members with making the center’s work possible as it expands its services.
The addition of ultrasound services at The Mercy House comes as North Carolina has become a regional destination for abortion access. A study published in JAMA Network Open found that the number of out-of-state patients traveling to North Carolina for abortions more than tripled in the year following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, rising from 5,596 to 17,703.
The Psalm 139 Project has increasingly focused on equipping pregnancy centers in states where abortion remains accessible and women are traveling across state lines for abortion services.
Ultrasound services are also becoming more widely available nationwide. The Charlotte Lozier Institute’s 2025 report, Pregnancy Centers: Rising to the Occasion with Unwavering Care, included data provided by Care Net and other national pregnancy help organizations. The report found that 81% of the pregnancy centers included in the study offered ultrasound services in 2024, providing more than 636,000 ultrasound exams. It also found a 60% increase in the number of ultrasound exams provided by pregnancy centers between 2017 and 2024.
In the report, Dr. Sandy Christiansen called the overall findings “priceless.”
“As an OB/GYN physician, I am astounded by the numbers presented in this report because they represent thousands of lives saved and touched by the Christ-like support and skilled medical care provided by centers,” she said. “From 2017 to 2024, there was a 60% increase in the number of ultrasound exams—each one affecting three lives: babies spared from death, and women and men protected from the heartache and risks associated with abortion.”
Since the May donation to Mercy House, the Psalm 139 Project has continued its work with additional ultrasound placements at pregnancy centers across the country.
For Knight, the new ultrasound machine offers another opportunity for women to connect with their babies while Mercy House staff walks alongside them, discusses their options and shares the hope found in Jesus Christ.
“Our prayer is that we will be able to help moms see their baby and bond with their baby,” Knight told the Biblical Recorder. “We know that 60% to 80% of women who see their baby on an ultrasound will choose life. We talk with them about options and help them to see that life-affirming choices are good, but a picture is worth a thousand words.”
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