As we approach a new year, it is a fitting time for the pro-life feminist to consider realistic, effective ways to reduce and eliminate abortions in our communities. A prominent message among the pro-life community is that abortion is the single biggest social justice issue of our time. If this is true, it remains so no matter who sits in the Oval Office - and it compels us to incorporate pro-life activism into our daily lives.

But, the question remains: How?

Below are five ways we can support parents considering abortion and their unborn children.

1. Listen and learn.

When we listen to women who have personal experience with abortion, we learn that seeking an abortion is rarely an easy or simple decision. In the words of Sherry Weddell, we must never “accept a label in place of a story.” Before deciding what form our pro-life activism should take, we must listen to post-abortive women and learn from what they have to teach us. One place to begin is our 2018 article, “What Women Considering Abortion Need.” This collection of responses from women who are post-abortive highlights the issues that might influence a woman’s decision to seek an abortion: lack of resources, support, and/or education - and a culture of shaming or fear. 

Before deciding what form our pro-life activism should take, we must listen to post-abortive women and learn from what they have to teach us.

In addition to learning what women considering abortions need, we must also examine the relationship between poverty and abortion. The Guttmacher Institute stated in 2019 that 75% of women who received abortions in 2014 were living in abject poverty (meaning they were earning $15,000 a year or less as a family) and 59% of women who received abortions in 2014 had carried at least one pregnancy to term. These numbers show us that a majority of women who received abortions had a previous pregnancy that led to the birth of their child, and also lacked the material resources they needed to carry their current pregnancy to term. While education around the development of a fetus is important, these numbers also show us that the majority of those who receive abortions understand on some level what takes place during pregnancy. In these cases, then, we might point to ‘lack of resources’ as the catalyst for abortion.

That can be a hard reality for us to wrap our heads around, especially if we are surrounded by a strong pro-life community. What about adoption? What about crisis pregnancy centers? While it’s true that there are resources in place for a woman in poverty who wants to carry a pregnancy to term, the question is often not whether the mother wants to receive the help, but whether she is able to access these resources at all. For example, most minimum wage jobs do not offer paid medical or maternity leave, and working these jobs requires (paying for) childcare. Simply carrying a pregnancy to term could therefore mean a severe loss of income. Before birth, attending regular doctor’s appointments and/or coordinating with different agencies would mean requesting time off of work and losing hourly income that could tip the scale of survival. After birth, even if the mother decides to give her child up for adoption, she would still need some kind of medical leave to heal properly - and while FMLA offers unpaid, job-protected leave, the loss of income could be devastating to someone living in poverty. The stakes of these situations are even higher for women who have older children to feed, clothe, and house. In such cases, we can imagine why an abortion would seem like the option that allows the woman - and her already born children - to survive.

[I]t is important that we understand the very real logistical barriers that exist for most women who are pregnant and believe that abortion is their best (or only) option.

But what about healthcare? Shouldn’t that cover some of these costs? Those living at or below the federal poverty level either have state healthcare through the Affordable Care Act or no healthcare at all (Health Insurance Coverage of Adults 19-64 Living in Poverty). One visit to the ER could ruin a family financially, let alone the type of medical care required for prenatal care, labor and delivery, and the child after birth. Even in the best case health scenario, this level of medical care is not financially feasible for women living in poverty - and it becomes all the more difficult when complications or complex medical diagnoses arise.

In addition to healthcare, the next major financial hurdle is childcare. With childcare costs for multiple children totaling upwards of $400 per month (Childcare Costs in the United States), we can understand why the logistical and financial issues of parenting their children - along with the medical costs of pregnancy for those who live in poverty - contribute to a woman’s decision to seek an abortion. 

We can’t solve those problems overnight, and these issues are best handled on the legislative level. A national conversation needs to take place about the legislative steps we can take to reduce abortions - but that conversation won’t happen today, this week, or even this month. Even so, it is important that we understand the very real logistical barriers that exist for most women who are pregnant and believe that abortion is their best (or only) option. Listening to and learning about their experiences can help us support them with an informed mind and a compassionate heart.

2. Use your gifts.

Reach out to your local crisis pregnancy center with a phone call and ask how you can get involved. Be realistic about your availability: instead of committing to something you can’t do, see if there is a way you can use your gifts to support people who do daily work in the field. This could be as simple as dropping off diapers, making fundraising phone calls, editing articles, or sharing things on social media. You never know what a center might need or how you can use the gifts God gave you to support their mission. This website lists pregnancy centers by state and can help you find your local center.

3. Support pro-life organizations.

We all know about the organizations that focus their efforts on speaking engagements, protests, and/or legislative actions (such as DFL, Respect Life ministries, or Students for Life) - but how many of us know about the groups who do tangible work on the ground to support women and children? Allow me to introduce you to two of my favorite pro-life organizations: Rehumanize International and New Wave Feminists. I was blown away when I learned what these groups do for not just the pro-life cause, but for individual women and their children. Consider following them on social media, donating to their campaigns, and buying their merchandise - all of which can make a difference in the lives of the women and children they serve.

A great follow on social media is Catholic Bandito on Twitter. She runs a non-profit called Mercy Missions, does sidewalk counseling, and actively supports women who are seeking abortions and in need of assistance. She has an innate gift for connecting with the women she serves, and she posts regularly about how we can pray for and financially support individuals who are fighting for their survival and that of their children.

4. Train to become a sidewalk counselor.

This is a concrete way to help women who are considering abortion. If you feel compelled, take some time to become a trained sidewalk counselor and hit the pavement once the pandemic has passed. There are organizations such as Sidewalk Advocates for Life who provide training videos and support systems for people who feel called to this ministry. You don’t have to be perfect to be good at sidewalk counseling - you just need tough skin, a kind heart, and the ability to see Christ in the person standing in front of you.

Learn how to accompany women and their partners who are living these challenging situations. Make your passion for the unborn something beautiful by advocating for them and their families, face to face. Your supportive, loving presence could be the catalyst that empowers women and saves the life of another person.

5. Pray.

Pray regularly for an end to abortion, for all women seeking abortion, and for women who are post-abortive. Prayer is a powerful tool, and one that we must not overlook. We may not be capable of sidewalk counseling, making donations, or volunteering with our local pregnancy center - but we are always capable of praying. Prayer is the most important part of any Catholic’s activism. Servant of God Dorothy Day once wrote about this very idea when reflecting on criticism of her work:

“You people are impractical, they tell us, nice idealists, but not headed anywhere big and important. They are right. We are impractical, as one of us put it, as impractical as Calvary. [...] but there is a strong faith at work; we pray. If an outsider who comes to visit doesn’t pay attention to our praying and what that means, then he’ll miss the whole point of things.” 

Prayer may seem pointless or ineffective to someone who has not encountered the mystery of belonging to the Body of Christ; but our prayer matters more than we know. It is, as my friend Dorothy so concisely put it, “the whole point of things.”

We may not be capable of sidewalk counseling, making donations, or volunteering with our local pregnancy center - but we are always capable of praying.

♦♦♦

Friends, we don’t have to be in ideological lock-step with the pro-life movement as a whole to do the good work of supporting women and ending abortion. Unfortunately, we know that division exists within the pro-life movement, and it can be easy to look at the face of the pro-life movement, see people we don’t trust, and write the movement off as a whole.

We can also become overwhelmed by the heartbreak and evil of abortion, and then funnel all of our energy into fighting tooth and nail for our lawmakers to end it - once and for all. But, if this is indeed the biggest social justice issue affecting our society, we must understand it better and grapple with its complicated darkness. We must acknowledge that the issue of abortion is too complicated to be solved by reversing one or two SCOTUS rulings.

Our work needs to be consistent, authentic, and fueled by prayer.

We must see the individual persons who are affected by abortion, and take tiny, important steps each day to ease the burden of those who are suffering. Our activism needs to transcend the conservative and progressive politics of the “culture war” and focus on supporting just one more woman, saving just one more child. Our work needs to be consistent, authentic, and fueled by prayer. As Pope Benedict XVI said, “Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.” The work of pro-life activism is necessary because each human person is necessary. Take a step, and be not afraid.