Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director
Priests for Life
Abortions can be stopped and lives can be saved long before laws are changed.
The children scheduled to die tomorrow don't have time for legislators to pass
laws to protect them. This is one of the ways in which the pro-life cause
reveals itself to be much more than a "political" issue. It is an emergency to
which the People of God need to respond here and now, to save the lives of the
most defenseless among us. It is a concrete demand of charity.
There is a simple way we can activate our parishes to respond: Spread the
phone numbers at which people can find alternatives to abortion.
And one of the most effective ways to spread them is not only to put them
in the bulletin but to put them on the bulletin, in other words,
right there on the front cover along with the other standard phone numbers that
we always want to make known to our people. After all, the need for abortion
alternatives is not seasonal or occasional, and, as a matter of life and death,
certainly has priority importance over other numbers.
Studies and the experience of those who work with women in crisis pregnancy
indicate that most do not know that there are alternatives to abortion, and most
would choose an alternative if it were offered. I have seen women walk out of
the waiting rooms of abortion facilities simply because they saw someone outside
holding a sign offering alternatives.
The irony of the rhetoric "freedom of choice" is that women get abortions
precisely because they feel they have no freedom and no choice. A
simple phone number on the bulletin can change all that.
Now which numbers do we use? Certainly, local numbers through which people
can contact resources in the diocese or community are always valuable.
As a national movement, Priests for Life also makes known national hotline
numbers that can connect people to help in any part of the country. The criteria
we use for which numbers we publicize are that they are 1) toll-free, 2)
accessible 24 hours a day, 3) available from anywhere in the country, and 4)
serviced by a live person at all times. You may wish to call the number yourself
to find further information in order to determine which you want to publicize.
We therefore invite pastors to put one or more of the following numbers
somewhere on the cover of your bulletin as a permanent item:
Nurturing Network 800-TNN-4MOM
Pregnancy Hotline 800-848-LOVE
Bethany Christians Services 800-238-4269
Several Sources Foundation 800-NO-ABORT
America’s Crisis Pregnancy Helpline 800-67-BABY-6
Birthright 800-550-4900
We invite parishioners to make this option known to their pastors.
Furthermore, these numbers can be posted in the vestibule, distributed in our
high schools and colleges, put in parish mailings, and displayed in the local
press or cable TV bulletin board. There is hardly a simpler thing that can be
done for the pro-life cause. Let's not put it off until tomorrow!
