From the Director 

Banquet 2023 was an amazing night to come together and celebrate how God is using Pregnancy Resources to make a difference in our community. Testimonies of hope, courage, and redemption were shared. There was an update on various battles being fought on the state and federal level to protect or attack life, and we were called to action. Here’s a glimpse of that special night…

Pregnancy Resources has identified 3 action steps that will significantly expand care to women and men in crisis and when life hangs in the balance. First, most women in our area don’t receive follow up care in the weeks after an abortion. These women sometimes suffer devastating medical and emotional problems. So, in the last few months, the Pregnancy Resources medical team developed a Post Abortion Medical Screening protocol. Since the first of the year, lifesaving intervention has already occurred several times because of this care. Women who choose abortion once are much more likely to abort again. The hope is that this care, in this moment of crisis, will open the door for a choice for life with the next pregnancy and show our sincere concern for the woman even when her choice is not what we would choose.

Second, expanded access to life affirming early pregnancy care continues to be desperately needed. In 2021, the Mobile Medical Unit began serving in East Moline at the QC Mission on Thursday afternoons. The neighborhood has welcomed us, and lives have been saved. Today, your Board of Directors is excited to announce the launch of a permanent Pregnancy Resources center inside the QC Mission. In the coming months, this additional location will provide life affirming early pregnancy care at least two days per week to our neighbors in eastern Quad Cities and outlying areas.

Finally, abortion clinics in Illinois now offer “abortion on the go” mobile vans to cities bordering the state line. Pregnancy Resources will continue to be the sole ministry offering a life affirming Mobile alternative. We will utilize the Mobile Medical Unit to provide pregnancy testing, limited ultrasounds, and other resources to our friends and neighborhoods that are being targeted by the abortion industry or face extremely limited resources.

Pregnancy Resources has a 2023 Banquet fundraising goal of $170,000. If you have already made a 2023 Banquet gift to support this work, THANK YOU. If you have not yet made your Banquet gift, thank you for prayerfully considering how you might be able to support this life-saving work.

March is Women’s History month. Many of the early champions of the women’s rights movement, in both the United States and throughout the world, were and are unapologetically pro-life.  Today we honor some of those came before us and who walk among us, leading the way to say that all life matters and women deserve better than abortion. Here are some of their thoughts, in their own words…

Elizabeth Cady Stanton called abortion “infanticide” and wrote that “when we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.”

Susan B. Anthony frequently referred to abortion as “child murder” and “infanticide.” She said: “Child murders practice their profession without let or hindrance, and open infant butcheries unquestioned…Perhaps there will come a day when an unmarried mother will not be despised because of her motherhood…and when the right of the unborn to be born will not be denied or interfered with.”

Mother Teresa said: “I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?” She also said: “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”

Author E. A. Bucchianeri said: “Abortion should be listed as a weapon of mass destruction against the voiceless.”

Women’s Rights Advocate and Activist Alice Paul said: “Abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.”

Author and Easter Orthodox Theologian Frederica Mathewes-Green said: “Abortion is not a sign that women are free, but a sign that they are desperate.”

President of Feminists for Life Serrin Foster said: “Most women ‘choose’ abortion precisely because they believe they have no other choice.”

Alveda King said: “Abortion and racism are both symptoms of a fundamental human error. The error is thinking that when someone stands in the way of our wants, we can justify getting that person out of our lives. Abortion and racism stem from the same poisonous root, selfishness.”

As we begin the new year, there are many reasons to PRAISE GOD! Pregnancy Resources has seen a dramatic increase in the number of clients walking through the doors. Compassionate truth is being offered; hearts are being changed and lives are being saved.

Yet, our culture continues to devalue life, especially for the preborn. This was demonstrated just last week in our area when on Jan 10th the Illinois legislature passed more sweeping abortion legislation by way of a giant amendment to an unrelated bill. House Bill 4664 – featuring Senate Amendments 005 and 006 – will expand the Illinois abortion industry in six ways:

• It will allow non-physicians (namely, midwives, physician assistants, and advanced practice nurses) to perform surgical aspiration abortions that do not require general anesthesia. This means that a physician will not need to be present for an invasive surgical aspiration abortion.
• It creates a “temporary permit” for doctors and non-physicians to cross state borders to perform abortions. Abortionists will be able to come from Missouri, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kentucky, and beyond to perform abortions in our state.
• It has made Illinois a “sanctuary state” for disgraced abortionists who’ve lost their licenses for performing illegal abortions in other states. Abortionist doctors will be allowed to be licensed in Illinois.
• Healthcare professionals and medical institutions will no longer be held accountable for the wrongful death of a person caused by a botched abortion, if the abortion was legal and consensual.
• Birthing centers are now legally able to provide abortions in addition to birth services.
• Insurance plans not otherwise exempt from state insurance law mandates are required to cover abortion, abortifacients, and hormonal therapy medication at no-cost to the women and children seeking these services.

While this is not good, we can rejoice that two items were excluded from the bill:

• Language that specifically targeted pregnancy resource centers and sidewalk counselors and threatened legal actions and fines by the Illinois AG was removed from the bill.
• Language that specifically allocated Illinois taxpayer funding for abortion services, transportation and lodging for women seeking abortion services from outside the state of Illinois was removed from the bill.

Please continue to pray that God will speak to the hearts of our leaders on a local, state, and national level regarding the value of life. Please also pray for the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of your Pregnancy Resources Team as these women and men serve every day in a place where life hangs in the balance.