Strategy
Address the rejection and fear of motherhood that causes women to seek abortion by elevating the role and blessing that being a mother adds to a woman’s life.
Tactics
These are the actionable points that you can use to spread truthful information about the abortion pills.
Introduce Support Systems to Women
Introduce women to the support offered by pregnancy centers, non-profit ministries, and government agencies so they know there is help for them be a good mother.
Educate Women About Their Body & Maternal Instinct
Educate girls about their reproductive system and hormone function so they can advocate for their own health and understand natural pregnancy prevention. As well, help them to identify with their natural nurturing character, known as a maternal instinct.
Encourage Adoption as an Option
Encourage women to choose adoption when appropriate. Help her see herself as the mother who is seeking the best for her child, and once she acknowledges her role, the needs of her child become her priority and she can see the value of adoption as the loving choice for her baby.
About Motherhood
While recognizing feminism’s origins were in securing rights for women, sometime in the mid 1960’s, it morphed into fighting for women to be equal to men. The price women paid was seen in the value of motherhood being undermined, relegating women who chose family over career to the role of second-class citizens. It was into this environment that abortion was introduced as the way to ensure women could be equal to men in the workplace. Ensconced in the mantra, “My Body, My Choice” was the reality that a pregnant women could now control whether she would become a mother, even though by default biologically, she was already a mother!
Legalized abortion put the mother at odds with the child in her womb, and instead of celebrating and honoring both mother and child, we now have a generation that questions the validity of bringing a child into this world.
Elon Musk made this observation while discussing the passage of Issue 1 in Ohio in November 2023, “Women in the West have been taught that an accidental pregnancy is the worst thing that could possibly happen to them. Thus, they strongly oppose abortion bans as being an existential threat.”
Therefore, ending abortion must include helping women see an accidental pregnancy as a blessing from God, experienced through the pouring out of help and resources through various organizations and people who seek to ensure a woman has what she needs to embrace Motherhood.
This quote by Kristin Luker, in the book Abortion & The Politics of Motherhood captures the divisive nature of abortion. “The presumed stripping of personhood from embryos has other frightening and horrifying dimensions for pro-life people. It is probably safe to say that in our society (as in most), the relationship between mother and child is assumed to be the most intimate, most sacred, and most self-sacrificing relationship of all. To people who assume that the embryo is a child, the logic is clear: if even this most sacred, least worldly,’ least useful’ relationship can be disrupted, no relationship is safe. As one mother said, `If a baby can’t be safe in his mother’s womb, where can he be safe?’”
Into these truths, we must proclaim the joy and blessings of motherhood!
Tactic #1: Introduce Support Systems to Women
There are about 3,000 pregnancy centers in the U.S. that help expectant moms connect with a variety of support systems that the centers provide, and exists through non-profit organizations, churches, and government agencies. Almost 100% of these centers, partner with local churches to help women facing an unexpected pregnancy. Sadly, most women who need these services don’t know they exist or how to find them.
The most common reason women give for seeking an abortion is that they don’t have the financial or emotional support they believe they will need to be a good mother. Women do not grow-up hoping to have a child out of wedlock – their dream usually includes marriage, a home, and then children. An unplanned pregnancy can threaten their dreams especially if those around them reinforce their fear that they can’t handle motherhood.
Ironically, some people believe if a woman cannot get an abortion, it will ruin her life, but the Turnaway Study, provides evidence to the contrary. The study found that 5 years later, 96% of women who were denied access to abortion, no longer wished they’d had one.
Abortion proponents also like to say that abortion is safer than childbirth, inferring that having a child is dangerous for women but Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie of Miami, explains, “it’s a simple scheme of overcounting the deaths related to childbirth and underestimating deaths from abortion. How they do this would be comical if it weren’t so detrimental to the health and wellbeing of American women.”
When we think about helping a pregnant mother, we need to appreciate how Kristan Hawkins from Students for Life categorizes the pro-abortion supporters: “If killing her child is your way of ‘helping’ a woman, you should rethink your values.”
Finally, women must question their Gynecologists – if the doctor supports, or perform abortions – look for a replacement – as they won’t fight for you and your baby if a anomaly is diagnosed – they will push abortion, to terminate a potential problem.
Additional Resources/Links
Post and promote these resources in your community and church.
- Heartbeat International Pregnancy Centers
- Care-Net Pregnancy Centers
- Comprehensive List of Pregnancy Support organizations
- Embrace Grace
- Choice42 is a Facebook page that offers support for women facing unplanned pregnancies, promoting #ShoutYourMotherhood in response to the #ShoutYourAbortion crowd.
Additional Resources/Links
Tactic #2: Educate Women About Their Body and Maternal Instinct
The female body is uniquely designed to reproduce and typically, young girls learn about their “reproductive system” in 5th grade, but rarely are they taught to understand the hormonal cycles they will experience for approximately the next 40 years of their life. Women need to understand how their body functions so they can advocate for their own health as well as prevent pregnancy naturally.
Awareness about what we put in our bodies, that is either good or bad for us is growing, and we must encourage our daughters to be wary of products that can have long-term damage while promising them short-term rewards. Whether we consider vaccinations and birth control pills to regulate periods or help with acne, or vitamins to enhance our sports performance, all these products will have a lasting impact on our physical health. Furthermore, we need to recognize that our reproductive history can impact future pregnancies, births, and potential miscarriages.
During pregnancy, a woman’s body automatically knows how to provide for the nutritional needs of the baby. Likewise, the maternal instinct to nurture their child’s emotional well-being, creative talents, physical abilities, and spiritual knowledge grows with each child. This built-in ability and desire to care for others is a gift from God but is undermined in today’s selfish culture.
We see this instinct to care for others manifested in the growth of the pet industry. As people shy away from being parents to children who need care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, animals have become a substitute entity to care for, without committing to a lifetime of being responsible for another individual. The problem with replacing children with pets is that dogs and cats don’t create grandchildren, nor can they care for aged parents, or carry on family legacies!
While the life-long maternal connection between a mother and child is natural, a biological link also exists to remind us of God’s intricate human design in procreation.
Did you know, that during pregnancy, some cells transfer from the mother to the fetus and vice versa. Interestingly, a small number of cells from mother persists in her offspring and persists until adult life, whereas a small number of cells from previous pregnancies persist in mother for many years. We are just beginning to understand the implications of these “cells” which may be beneficial or detrimental for the health of the host.
Tactic #3: Encourage Adoption as an Option
It is common to acknowledge adoption as a good solution to an unwanted pregnancy, however, most young women see adoption as abandoning their child to a stranger and believe abortion is a better choice. To help a woman choose adoption, we must first help the woman see herself as a mother, seeking what is best for her child. Once she recognizes her motherly responsibility, the needs of her child become her priority and often she will see the value of adoption as the loving choice for her baby.
Sadly, a recent study entitled “Adoption and Its Competitors,” conducted by Dr. George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University for the Opt Institute, indicates that many women have misinformed views, and/or negative views about adoption. The study included more than 1,000 girls and women, aged 15-44, representing a cross-section of America, were surveyed on various issues, including the perceived value of children and human life, anticipated response to future pregnancies, attitudes and knowledge about adoption, influences on adoption thoughts, and more. The survey focused on private adoption, in which a birth mother voluntarily places her child for adoption domestically. Incredibly, the Barna study found that nearly half of the women surveyed believe that human life has “no absolute value” and only a small majority believed that having children was a “special, God-given privilege.”
Another depressing finding was that among women facing an unwanted pregnancy, only 12% would seek guidance from a church or religious leaders, and only 6% would seek guidance from adoption organizations. Even among women who are most likely to choose adoption, churches and religious leaders would be sought for guidance less than Planned Parenthood.
Given that we are all adopted into God’s family, sharing Scriptures that affirm adoption, as well as testimonies from families and kids who have experience with adoption is critical to change public perception about adoption.
