Roe v. Wade Memorial Rally

I love the questions that I am asked when people find out I work at a Pregnancy Resource Center. My favorite - What exactly does a Pregnancy Resource do? I repeat to them the short mission statement of the Portland Pregnancy Resource Center - We exist to empower individuals to make life-affirming decisions through education, counseling and compassionate care based on the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Some comment on how big the battle is against the pro-choice groups and if resource centers really make a difference? I wonder too sometimes if we really make a difference.

And then the Lord reminds me of Psalm 136; GOD'S LOVE NEVER FAILS...this statement is repeated 26 times in the Psalm. Now I am no bible scholar but I think God is trying to get a point across. His love, his mercy does not fail, it does not give up, it does not stop working. And with God’s help we won’t stop loving or give up on those who we are called to serve.

For 25 years, the Pregnancy Resource Centers of Portland have been working to protect and save the most vulnerable in Greater Portland. With five centers in the area we serve over 9,000 clients each year. We minister the pro life message in 3 primary areas: Intervention and Support in our Centers, Prevention/Abstinence Education through Reality Unlimited and Healing and Restoration for Post Abortion Stress.

Intervention and support starts as soon as women and teens come into our center. Most are in need of a pregnancy test.

Many of the women whose pregnancy tests results are positive feel unprepared for a pregnancy. They feel scared and confused, thinking abortion is their only option. We listen to the difficult circumstances surrounding their unplanned pregnancy and evaluate how we might help in the decision process. We love our clients as Christ loves them ...right where they are.

We listen carefully as she shares her plans for her pregnancy. If our client is a minor we always encourage telling her parents. We talk about each available option sharing accurate information about all her choices. Our trained ultrasound nurse then gives her the opportunity to see with her own eyes images of her tiny unborn whose voice and opinion is absent from this decision. We happily can report to you that 9 out of 10 woman who see their baby on an ultrasound, choose life for their little one.

There is no pressure towards one option or the other, we do not heap them with guilt or shame about one decision versus another. We encourage her to not only think of what choice she can live with today, but how it will affect her in the future.

A couple of weeks ago Jazmine stopped by the Gresham center to show off a small baby boy wrapped in a blue blanket that she received from the Center. I was smiling inside as I recalled how things had changed for her. How what started as a crisis situation and inconvenience for her nine short months ago is now her joy and reason to live. She told me that her son would not be here if it wasn't for us and thanked us for everything. She said she felt so supported and so loved by us.

Do we make a difference? Absolutely.

• Hundreds of thousands of women facing unplanned pregnancies have been given a safe place to hear the complete truth about their options.
• Tens of thousands of babies have been born in our community who would otherwise have perished.
• Tens of thousands of women and girls have been helped to avoid choosing abortion and its damaging consequences.

Another area where we are called to minister is through abstinence education. The Reality Unlimited team brings creative presentations to public schools, private schools, community groups and church groups on the positive benefits of postponing sex until marriage.

We also speak with clients whose pregnancy test is negative about the benefits of postponing sex until marriage. We share with them how valuable and precious they are to God and to us. We educate them on the signs and symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases. We love them enough not to fill their purses with condoms and birth control pills sending them off with the false message that these things will protect them. We share with them the truth about premarital sex.

Do we make a difference? Hundreds of thousands of youth have been introduced to abstinence until marriage as a positive lifestyle choice. Many have chosen to save themselves for their future spouse, and to protect themselves from the epidemic of STDs, and avoid the emotional and relational consequences of premarital sex.

The third area of the ministry is our post abortion support groups called HEART Healing Encouragement for Abortion-Related Trauma. These safe and confidential bible study groups help to bring forgiveness, healing, and restoration to those hurting from their past.

Do we make a difference?

Yes. Since 1988 over 900 women and 60 men have successfully completed the HEART/Healing A Father's Heart Bible Study Support Groups. Both men and women are being set free from the guilt and shame associated with a past abortion, unleashing their voices to share the truth.

Throughout the state of Oregon there are many pregnancy centers, perhaps working under different names or affiliations but all are collaborating with hundreds of churches, and thousands of individuals. Caring people work on the front lines and behind the scenes to assure that our doors stay wide open to women and teens facing unplanned pregnancy.

As this day comes to an end and your mind continues to absorb all you heard here please keep in mind that tomorrow morning the battle for the unborn still continues. Find a way to join in the battle...it's a matter of life and death.

In closing I want to encourage you to celebrate and rejoice over the thousands of babies that have been saved here in Oregon. GOD'S LOVE NEVER FAILS...and with his help we won’t either. Together we are making a difference, together we can help change the hearts and minds of men and women, and yes we can and do save babies.