Abortion is traumatic. It hurts individuals, families and communities. That is why the crisis intervention programs and services provided through Pregnancy Decision Health Centers (PDHC) are so critical.
PDHC opened its first pregnancy resource center on the eighth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Jan. 22, 1981. At the core of PDHC’s four pillars of services are its 24/7 hotline and four pregnancy resource centers. Hotline staff and volunteers serve women and families by answering calls, texts and chats, often as the first point of contact for an individual seeking help.
They are the listening ear, the voice of hope and reassurance and the resource to get individuals connected to services to meet their needs in a moment of crisis. This year, they have responded to more than 27,000 calls, texts and chats.
“The opportunity to communicate God’s grace and hope to the uncertain, the undecided, the hurting, is a humbling privilege,” said Rachel, PDHC’s Hotline Connections Manager. Rachel recalled one individual who called the hotline requesting information on Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) services. This individual shared how ashamed she felt about initiating an abortion by taking the first set of abortion pills and had changed her mind.
“When praying for the abortion reversal client, especially this one, God always impresses on my heart the humility, strength and courage it takes to initiate this process: To say, ‘I was wrong, will you please help me?’ To share parts of a very personal story and choices made in secret and shame. To place faith in strangers and in an unknown outcome.
“I marvel at the heart of that mother, who although she did not think she was ready to be one, acted out a mother’s heart in every decision thereafter. That is the Holy Spirit’s work in which we have the honor to share a small part, to be the tangible voice of reassurance, of hope, of the love of the Father.”
After successful APR services at PDHC, this new mom was connected with ongoing prenatal care. She shared her news with family members, was reunited with the father of her unborn child, planned a baby shower and is expecting her little boy’s birth very soon.
APR services are critical because chemical abortions via the abortion pill continue to increase and represented 80% of the abortions in Franklin County in 2020. The abortion pill is available in local abortion clinics and can be ordered online. The average success rate of APR services is 64% to 68%, and at PDHC, babies have been saved with this service.
PDHC’s pregnancy resource centers are run by a team of nurses, staff members and volunteers who serve the whole woman – body, mind and soul. More than 900 ultrasounds have been provided this year. And we are thankful for the blessing of more than 700 life decisions.
As another pillar of service, PDHC has been walking alongside women and families throughout pregnancy and beyond, providing pregnancy and parenting education and practical support and resources through the Family Empowerment Center.
New moms and dads have been empowered through more than 500 in-person class visits and more than 5,700 online parenting class visits this year. Each parenting class participant is matched with a volunteer family advocate, who provides communication and emotional support throughout the program.
PDHC’s prevention pillar of service was added in 1984, known as Common Sense Culture (CSC), and serves Franklin and Fairfield counties. This program aims to reach youth in the community to prevent their involvement in a crisis pregnancy.
Middle and high school students are taught skills to build character and establish healthy relationships. CSC educators provide sexual risk avoidance education, teaching students that they can choose the habits that form their futures.
In 1989, PDHC added the fourth pillar of service, our Abortion Recovery (aR) ministry because there was an unmet need in the community. Some center volunteers were struggling with unresolved grief over their past abortions as they were meeting with women in crisis pregnancies.
With today’s increase in at-home abortions via the abortion pill, women are immediately traumatized by what they see and experience during a self-managed abortion and are reaching out for help much sooner. The mission of aR is to provide a safe, confidential, non-judgmental place for individuals to restore, reclaim and recover from a past abortion.
In these challenging times, the mission of PDHC becomes more critical. There will always be unexpected and challenging pregnancies, and women and their babies will still need love, hope and practical help for healthy outcomes for their families. We continue our mission of rescuing lives and impacting families for generations.
For more information, visit SupportLifePDHC.org.