Liz* couldn’t forget that day even if she tried. The confusion when she found the pregnancy test in her daughter’s trash can, and her heart stopping when she saw the two lines. When Rebecca* got home from school, her face said it all: shock, embarrassment, and fear.
After a long and difficult talk, Rebecca admitted she was planning to get an abortion to spare her mom and dad the embarrassment of their church friends finding out. Liz was speechless but, after thinking it over, realized how difficult this situation really was for her daughter.
It was no secret that some people at church thought women who got pregnant out of wedlock were ‘terrible sinners’ or ‘raised by bad parents.’ Some even went as far as to say ‘girls like that should be thrown out of church.’ Knowing all this, Liz realized that those unforgiving attitudes would just feed the fear and shame her daughter was already feeling. Maybe they didn’t realize that their judgement was driving young women like her daughter into the abortion clinic as an “easy” way to escape their condemnation.
Remembering an ad she’d seen online, Liz gave a quick call to the Pregnancy Decision Line, Care Net’s national hotline for those considering abortion. After hearing her story, the coach promised to pray for them and mentioned a local center that could help with some of their basic needs. It was good to know someone was on their side. Hanging up, Liz’s worries didn’t go away.
Would there be people at church willing to show the same kind of compassion, hope, and help to her daughter?
Shocking as it may sound, 40% of women having their first abortions were regular church attenders! Ironically, many of them feel pressured into getting one for fear of discovery by their circles at church; and the judgment that comes with it. But Jesus calls us to give grace the same way He has given us grace.
By hosting a Making Life Disciples course at your church, you can provide a place where women and men faced with pregnancy decisions can receive the help they need and avoid making a mistake they’ll regret for the rest of their lives.