Pregnancy and parenting can be an overwhelming experience even for someone who has planned and prepared for it, let alone those who are not expecting it. It’s tough. While there are resources and support services available to women to help alleviate many of the difficult factors that come along with pregnancy, carrying a pregnancy and choosing to have a baby is a lifelong commitment that will have its challenges, to say the least.
No matter the political, religious, or ethical arguments behind abortion, everyone knows that abortion can be an option for women who have found themselves in these unwanted situations. While not in every state, it’s available, and to some women in crisis pregnancies, terminating a pregnancy may seem like the easiest, most accessible solution. Despite how easily accessible it seems to be, many women who choose to terminate their pregnancies end up feeling a sense of regret or remorse following an abortion. The impact of such a decision can have emotional and physical repercussions that last for months, and for some, indefinitely.
What Are We Doing About It?
Pregnancy Help and Education
HELP Pregnancy Aid provides a safe and confidential space for women to come for emotional support, personalized pregnancy help, and information about all options available. Providing these important services to a woman at no cost during a time when she is likely feeling overwhelmed, vulnerable, and are most likely to rush into a hasty termination decision, allows them an opportunity to take a pause, to learn about her pregnancy, share her story, and walk away with knowledge of all of the options available to her.
Our Goal is that women who walk through our doors will feel better equipped to make a confident decision based on the best interests of herself and her unborn child rather than out of desperation for a quick solution and lack of support in learning her alternative options.
The following are some of the offerings we help to provide to women at HELP Pregnancy Aid thanks to the generous support from our donors:
- Free lab-quality pregnancy testing
- Free limited ultrasound services
- Emergency reversal options for women who have recently taken the abortion pill
- Opportunity to select free maternity clothes and baby essentials to help prepare for birth and bringing the baby home from the hospital
- Continued help with baby essentials (diapers, formula, clothes, etc) from birth up until the baby’s 3rd birthday
- Ongoing classes on and education on birth, infant & child care, nutrition, and other helpful topics
Post-Abortion Healing and Support
For women who have been faced with making the difficult decision to end their pregnancy, the effects can be emotionally painful and challenging for the mother. Often called abortion grief, abortion pain, abortion loss, or abortion depression, the associated emotions are very real and valid. Depression, worrying about not being able to conceive again, and abnormal eating behaviors have been reported as common in recent studies.
HELP Pregnancy Aid offers referrals and assistance in finding outside resources and programs to help women in these situations to process and heal.
How Can YOU Help?
Abortion is most often a result of a pregnancy or a circumstance during a pregnancy that was unplanned. Not all unexpected pregnancies are a product of poor planning or careless decision-making. HELP Pregnancy Aid of Grand Rapids understands that behind each abortion decision is a woman who has a story that brought her to the decision to terminate her pregnancy. We offer hope and healing to those who have experienced the impact of abortion and we offer support facts.
With the help of our donors, we also provide the support and resources to those who have not yet made a decision with services that better prepare them to confidently make a decision. A decision that will hopefully allow them to avoid regret and the emotional and physical impacts of abortion.
