A friend of mine organizes a baby items round up a few times a year at our church.  She asks for items, either store bought or homemade, which would help a new mom in a crisis situation have everything she needs when her baby arrives.  She arranges a collection site at the church and designates the dates donations can be made.  Then, people come in and leave diapers, wipes, layettes, etc. On a few occasions there have been cribs and infant car seats!  She then collects the donations and takes them to our local pregnancy care center. All this takes very little of her time, but the rewards are overwhelming. Often times, just knowing the necessities are covered when her baby arrives is enough to cause a frightened young woman to have enough hope to see a pregnancy through.

Oh thank you, Arwen, for this one! I’ll be watching closely to see what other moms say.

Our parish is just starting a sewing group, with lessons for beginners, for baby clothes. Our diocese’s outreach for women, children, and families in need--the specific outreach to pregnant women was fairly recently rolled in with it--is next door to our church. Like Nikki’s example above, these are largely to address the material needs of those in crisis pregnancies, but there are volunteer opportunities from sorting clothing to conducting interviews for those interested. Just picking up the phone is a good start to find out how you can help.

Some of the girls in my homeschool group also crochet baby blankets. It seems to me that using such skills--the feminine arts, I’ve heard them called--to make something beautiful and personal for babies and/or their moms can give heart to those who need encouragement or emotional support.

Looking forward to reading more.

I frequently feel bad for not doing more, since we were very active in pro-life groups in college and my husband used to do pro-life work full-time.  We do little things when we can.

About once or twice a year we go out and pray at an abortion clinic or go to a march, with the kids.  At our homeschool group’s baby showers, we make an extra basket of gifts to give to a crisis pregnancy center.  My husband and I try to attend the yearly benefit dinners for local pro-life groups.  I try to email or call our state reps when I read about an important pro-life issue coming up.  We take part in the phone and email campaigns to petition suppliers and builders of new abortion clinics.  We try to choose pro-life doctors.  We support pro-life groups financially when we’re able.  We read pro-life books to our children (ie “Angel in the Waters") And almost every night we pray “for all mommies with babies in their bellies”

We adopt!  As a mom of many already, adoption fits perfectly into my “schedule”!  I know many other pro-life moms who also do foster/respite care.  The need is so great!  I would urge the entire pro-life community to prayerfully consider answering this call.

God Bless!

I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of ministry our moms group at church can do- besides hang out with each other and complain about incessant toddler whining. It would be SO EASY to do a collection every once in a while like Nikki was saying. Sometimes I get frustrated because a lot of the pro-life press isn’t always too compassionate about terrified mothers and this seems like a great (and totally doable) way to minister to THEM. Thanks!

As a former big time pro-life volunteer who has surrendered these activities to become a mother, I love this topic!  I also have so many suggestions to offer, I could right a column.  I’ll just give a few simple ones that ANYONE can do.

1) Put a pro-life sign in your yard, and a pro-life sticker on your car.

2) Offer to supply your church’s literature rack with pro-life brochures.

3) This comes from a friend:
I wanted to share my idea of a pro-life ministry that we started at our church.  It is very unobtrusive and going quite well.  Two women in the parish had asked our pastor if we could start a spiritual adoption.  When he said yes, they came to me and said, “Now, what do we do?” So I explained how it is done and printed up about 150-200 spiritual adoption cards with about 50 in Spanish and the rest in English.  I put them in a small basket at the back of church with blue and pink ribbons and Father announced it at Mass.  They were gone in a little over a week.  So I put more out and when I went back, they were all gone, so I started adding other pro-life stuff:  stickers, small bumper stickers, other prayer cards, information about the Missionaries, little pro-life devotional books, etc.  Each week these disappear, money appears in their place for me to restock, which I do.  This has been going on for about 8 weeks now and my little pro-life basket ministry is thriving at our church.  Plus, the fun part is no one knows who is doing it because I have kept myself a secret which is easy to do because we have perpetual adoration and my times are late in the evening when there is no one else in the church except the guardians.  So I can restock then.  Thought you might like to try this.  It’s a very nonconfrontational way to get the message out anywhere where you can have a basket.

4) Do just as suggested above.  Call your local Pregnancy center and tell them you will do whatever you can from home.

******* Look into become a Missionary of Evangelium Vitae!!!!!!************

http://www.priestsforlife.org/missionary/index.htm

John Paul II told us that every Catholic is to be a missionary for life!  In his encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” he tells mothers that their most important way of advancing the Culture of Life is by being open to life and sacrificing of themselves to raise their children and bear witness to life!  Check out paragraphs 86-93 (I think) to read more. 

As a Missionary of Evangelium Vitae, you do not need to “do more”; you are already doing what you are called to do!  Simply join in the daily prayers (they are small! ), and your work as a mother becomes part of the society.  This is a lay affiliation of Priests for Life.

We have done spiritual adoption at our parish as well.  It is nice to begin the adoption prayers 9 months prior to Mother’s Day, ending with a baby shower to collect items for local pregnancy care centers, maternity homes, etc.  During this time, I place a weekly insert in the bulletin letting the parishioners know of the growth of their spiritually adopted child in the womb (great way to educate folk’s on fetal development).  We encourage participants to name the child they have spiritually adopted & to pray this pro-life prayer by Archbshop Fulton Sheen daily: “+Jesus, Mary & Joseph - I love you very much & I beg of you to spare the life of the unborn child whom I have spiritually adopted & who is in danger of death from abortion.  Amen+.” Lord willing, what a joy it would be to meet this child in heaven someday!

I’m not a mother, but I’ve worked with a local pro-life organization for years, and I know something even stay-at-home Moms with toddlers can do: be a pro-life liaison between their local Right to Life chapter and their parish or church.  Some of the comments have alluded to something like this, but often the support is to either a) a local crisis pregnancy center, or 2) merely in the form of things like spiritual adoption movements.  Both of these things are worthwhile and necessary, but what can really help pro-life chapters is fundraisers: bake sales, Mother’s Day flowers, Life Saver Sundays, Cutest Baby Contests - there are all manner of ways to raise funds for Right to Life chapters, but for them to work in a parish, there has to be someone “inside” coordinating it.  It doesn’t need to be anything more than making some phone calls to coordinate volunteers and acting as a contact point for the chapter, but without such a coordinator, the parish doors remain closed.

I don’t want to denigrate the vital work of CPCs - I heavily support ours here in our county - but Right to Life chapters also fulfill an important mission.  Parishes and churches are an important source of fund raising, but to work, they need parish representatives - and that’s something even parents of young children can do.  Ask your pastor who your right to life church rep is.  If you have one, contact them to see what you can do.  If there is none (which is likely), pray about becoming one, and call your local Right to Life chapter.

Prayer is always needed and something we can do.  Offering up those frustrating mom moments for those who are too afraid to take those moments on (along with the joys of mom-hood) is a small but effective thing to do.  And witnessing to our culture about the joys of family is a big thing too; so many people just complain about their families.
Specifically right now, getting involved with the Nineveh Journey would be a major spiritual contribution.  http://www.ninevehjourney.org

I’ve worked at a crisis pregnancy center.  First, I recommend Joe Scheidler’s book, 99 ways to stop abortion.

Some older ladies would knit or crochet booties, and we would give them to our clients after a positive pregnancy test, as a welcome gift for their babies.  Perhaps you could care for the children of other volunteers?  Add prolife stickers to your correspondence, bumper sticker on your car, etc.  Show the world that not EVERYONE thinks abortion is good/acceptable/normal.  Perhaps a mentorship program could be started, giving practical and emotional support for women in crisis pregnancies?  Someone to help with the first bath, and so on, in the spirit of Titus ch. 2.

Someone could take on the gardening, making sure there is a welcoming flower bed in front of the clinic, or cleaning the center, or washing/mending donations.  All of these things can be done with children underfoot.

When my son turned one year old, I hosted a big party and invited everyone to bring donations for the local pregnancy center in lieu of gifts (my son was too young to care and we still had plenty of stuff for him!).  I think I will do this with our second child’s baptism and first birthday.  Close friends and relatives still brought gifts for my son, in addition to donation items or money.

The children in our Catholic homeschool group have volunteered to do yard work for the local Christian maternity home, made baby blankets, prayed the Rosary for pro-life intentions, participated in the annual March for Life in Wash., DC, provided the music (piano, violin & vioce) for the annual pro-life fundriser dinner, got involved in the state Teens for Life chapter, annually pray outside the local IVF clinic on the Feast of the Anunciation, & participate in Life Chains & Face the Truth Tours.

My mother has a unique one--she’s the garage sale lady for her parish/town crisis pregnancy center. She hunts for good, cheap stuff at area garage sales, and mends any clothes that need mending.

Several friends from church and I chartered the Respect Life group at our parish.  We are all busy moms, but we manage to actively support our local crisis pregnancy center.  During Respect Life Month (October), we pass out empty baby bottles and ask parishioners to return them filled with change at the end of the month.  We also staff a table outside the church doors after each mass with pro-life literature to hand out, much of which is available for free from our archdiocese and Priests for Life.  We also have a pro-life Rosary after the Sunday evening Mass each Sunday in October.  There are a hundred other little ways that we support our local pregnancy center and try to help further the pro-life cause.  Some of these are as simple as having a pro-life decal on our cars, or having a political sign in our front yards supporting parental notification or against assisted suicide bills on the ballot.

I have am a stay-at-home mom of 5 children (ages 4 mos - 11 years). Over the last 5 years I have developed a pro-life website.  It has ideas on little things you can do, important topics regarding all life issues, how to start or be active in the pro-life committee and links to other reputable pro-life sites.  It is called http://www.choosethechild.org. I am always researching and adding & updating information on the site. Also, I know that there is a national campaign that will be launched on September 24th-November 3rd called 40 Days for Life.  There is information about this at http://www.40daysforlife.com Like everyone else has mentioned there are so many little, but significant things you can do at home and with young children - including just being a mom and being open to life.

I like your work over here, neat!

Perhaps your friend who is running the center might consider a ‘mentorship’ program, pairing a mom in a crisis pregnancy with you or other moms in the area? So many times moms in a crisis pregnancy just need to check in with an unbiased person over the phone, who can encourage them as they prepare for their baby, give advice, etc.  And then of course, to be a support person post-birth as well.  I think a lot of that work could be done over the phone, or meeting up for tea/coffee in a neutral location from time to time.

I work every single day with moms who are at risk of aborting—I do it over the Internet!

I’m a volunteer and forum moderator for the Hyperemesis Education and Research (HER) Foundation. (http://www.helpher.org)

I support, encourage and give advice to pregnant women with hyperemesis gravidarum—severe, life-threatening nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Studies show 25 per cent of women who have the disease abort at least one child.

So I talk to them, I listen to them, I encourage them. We give advice on medications and treatments and when they need IV fluids and when they need a new doctor who will actually treat the disease. I phone them in the hospital, send baby gifts, listen to them cry without tears (they are too dehydrated to actually cry.)

If they live close by, I help with hospital visits, meals for the family, cleaning their houses. (I work full-time, though, so this can be a challenge.)

I mourn with the mothers who aborted much-wanted babies due to abhorrent medical ‘care’, and help them plan their next pregnancy treatment so they don’t abort again.

But most of all, I love them.

Abortions due to life-threatening illnesses during pregnancy are one of the places where CPCs are not doing enough, I have to say. Women who are sick need companionship and support while pregnant. They need people who will clean their house and cook for their husband and other children (outside the house, so the cooking smells don’t cause a vomiting cycle). CPCs need to step up to the plate and advertise they will help these women. This is a group that doesn’t WANT to abort.

Please, add pregnant, sick women to your prayers. Pray especially for courage for them.

Congratulations to everyone here who is doing her part to stop abortion! That includes prayer—it is essential.

We participate in demonstrations as a family from Stand Up for Life, 40 Days for Life, and always attend the March for Life in Washington, DC. We collect baby items wherever we find them, and drop them off at the CPC’s, and I occasionally do fundraising talks at local parishes during Sunday Mass(I’m going anyway).
And of course, my blog desribing day to day life with a child with Down syndrome is meant to be a pro-life witness.
How to I volunteer for the pro-life cause? A little here, and a little there.

My girls and I crochet hats, booties, and the like to donate to CPC’s. Years ago (when I had only one child) I used to sew maternity dresses for CPC’s as well. I also was able to volunteer at the center organizing their donated items while my toddler played. Praying at clinics and attending pro-life Masses is doable with a toddler and a most powerful witness. And like Leticia, I see my blog as a pro-life witness.

Arwen, I love this post. 

I am going to try to pray for women who have unplanned pregnancies and consider abortions out of fear, or go through an entire pregnancy and don’t get care for themselves, out of fear.  I will pray that they find the courage to tell someone who will not judge the decisions that got them here, but will offer support to help with the ramifications.

This is a link to something that happened at my alma mater.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teri_Rhodes

I don’t know Teri’s religious background, but I felt like many girls, Catholics too (perhaps especially) would have made a similar decision by getting an abortion.  Isn’t it odd that at my Catholic university there was not one pregnant/young mother student that I encountered?  My 3 sibs went to public unis and all have stories of classmates with young kids, perhaps because the non religious do not feel the shame that religious do when they are unwed and pregnant.  When I went to university and had occasional scares about being unwed and pregnant, I prayed that I would have the courage if necessary to tell my parents and ask for help.  Luckily I was never put in the position of having to find out.  I know that from a Catholic perspective I shouldn’t have been having sex in the first place, but in spreading the pro Life view it is necessary to reconcile reality with ideals.  Of all people it was my lesbian roommate who got my head on straight about what to do if I ever did get pregnant.  It took her one sentence to do so during a light hearted conversation. 

Like all Catholic kids I was taught abstinence until marriage.  As young as age six, I remember adults at my Catholic school, and at coffee having visits talking harshly about parishioners’ daughters who had gotten pregnant and were now having babies and had effectively ruined their own lives.  My interpretation of this?  Pregnant and unwed/broke = shame on you and your family.  Perhaps better to get an abortion and tell no one.

My parents took me to peaceful ProLife demonstrations when I was very young.  My mom volunteered at a ProLife office and took us kids there too, when we were young.  When I was a teenager and went off to college, my parents never said, hey you know what? I hope you practice abstinence but if you don’t, and get pregnant, you can tell us and we will help you.
I know for a fact that if I had gotten pregnant they would have helped me.  But I didn’t have this clarity back then and can I or anyone else honestly say what they would have done until faced with the situation.

So, I guess 3 ways to make Pro Life part of my life everyday:

1- pray that those making decisions based on fear have the courage to ask for help
2- speak up when I hear someone admonishing someone for getting pregnant young/unwed
3- talk to my kids in a direct way and state clearly that if they ever have an unplanned pregnancy my husband and I would love and support them as much as ever.

Do not forget that young Catholic women may need just as much, if not more, support on this issue.

As the Executive Director of a life-affirming center, I really enjoyed all of the suggestions.  Collecting and bringing diapers, clothing and other supplies is a great blessing to the mom’s and really allows us to be the hands and feet of Christ.  There is no such thing as too much prayer so all of the prayers for the staff, volunteers and women who come to PRC’s are so necessary.
One suggestion I did not see is for stay at home mom’s to participate in (or even organize) fund raising events to benefit pregnancy centers.  Our center is totally funded by caring people, churches and businesses.  We do 3 major fund raisers a year.  Like us, many centers do a Walk for Life.  This is a fun family event that anyone can participate in and strollers are welcome!!!  I would call your local center and see what events they have...I know at our center we also need cleaners, someone who is willing to come in and clean so the staff does not have to do this...our cleaning person comes after hours at her convenience.  Again this is an activity that even young children might be able to help with...these are just a few simple suggestions from someone “on the inside”.  Every person who helps us through their prayers, donations, whatever is so greatly appreciated.  I hope more will be motivated to reach out to centers in their communities - thank you, Betty