Truly Caring for Women

Pregnancy Resource Centers continue to be attacked by pro-abortion supporters. VP Kamala Harris along with other pro-abortion supporters have a history of working to shut down pro-life pregnancy centers.

What would happen if they succeeded? 

An important resource that is only provided by the pro-life resource organizations – housing and addiction recovery assistance – would disappear. This is an area where Planned Parenthood and their affiliates offer no assistance at all. Pregnant women who have addiction issues can only find care for themselves and their babies in the pro-life movement.

Increasingly, pregnancy centers realize that if they want to aid these women, they needed to open a maternity home. There are 196 maternity homes in the United States that are part of the Maternity Housing Coalition (MHC). This coalition is a project of Heartbeat International whose goal is to provide training and tools, share knowledge and experiences, and foster fellowship among coalition members. Some of the homes have been set up by pregnancy resource centers because their clients were telling them that a lack of affordable housing was the number one cause for considering abortion. Valerie Harkins, the director of the Maternity Housing Coalition, said that she saw a 21% increase in maternity housing offerings in 2023.

Maternity homes are seeing an increase of pregnant women with addiction issues seeking housing. These homes understand that many women are motivated to seek help for their addiction After discovering they are pregnant. This presents an opportunity to help them overcome their addiction and begin a journey toward healing and health.

Maternity homes have always worked with these moms.  According to a white paper study by the National Maternity House Coalition, 10 to 15 years ago pro-life maternity homes would refer these moms to local programs for assistance with their addiction problems.  The moms could receive help with their addiction problem, become stabilized, and then transfer to the maternity home. The last five years have seen an increase in opioid addiction especially among women. This increase has led to a drop in rehabs for pregnant women. Maternity homes are working to pick up the slack.

One of the benefits of choosing life for a mom with addiction problems is a motivation to overcome her addictions for her child. Maternity homes are working hard to help them achieve their goals – not only to get clean but to stay clean after the birth of her baby.

Using many different strategies, maternity homes are working to care for addicted women and their babies.  The study created by the National Maternity Home Coalition lists a few of the strategies being implemented in various maternity homes across the country; 

• A maternity home might adjust its rules in order to assist a mom who is working to overcome her addiction. Hannah’s Home in Ohio personalizes areas for women in early recovery: no cell phone use, nor internet access, more structure and accountability related to enabling relationships and potentially more precautionary methods to support cutting off dangerous relationships.
•  A maternity home might facilitate women who have reported addiction issues to participate in groups such as AA, NA, or Celebrate Recovery. Some programs have a trusted staff or volunteer also attend meetings, especially if they are in recovery. This could be a way of easing women into regular participation.
• A maternity home may adjust its no tolerance policy to offer a second chance if a mom tests positive, understanding that this mom might need more support so additional counseling could be introduced.
• A maternity home may require either an addiction counselor or participation in an Intensive Outpatient Program in addition to the in-house counseling.

It was noted that each home should customize policies that best reflect their ministry and the women they serve.

The only option the abortion industry offers these moms is to kill the life within them— the one thing that could motivate them to change their lives.

Maternity homes offer a unique opportunity because they provide the four things that according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration are necessary to support a life in recovery: health, home, purpose and community.

This is what truly caring for women looks like.