These days, when a young girl finds herself facing an unplanned pregnancy, she's under enormous pressure from our pro-abortion culture to take the easy way out, but a group of pro-life women are determined to help Generation Y choose life!LiveActionNews.com is reporting on StandUpGirl.com, a 501(c)3 organization that helps to provide pregnant women with alternatives to abortion. Founded in 2000, 400,000 visitors a month visit the site where women can receive information about pregnancy resource centers in their area,signup for online and/or text counseling as well as access testimonies from other women who chose life for their unborn babies.
"We are a direct link to the Pregnancy Resource Centers that are affiliated with Heartbeat International, CareNet and BirthRight International," explained Executive Director Dawn Marie Perez to blogger Cassie Fiano.
"When a young woman comes to the site seeking help, we get her connected with a life-affirming pregnancy center in her neighborhood. We also have beautiful fetal development images, 3D ultrasound pictures, month-by-month growth charts, pregnancy calendars, and much more. Along with our social media sites, we have 24 hour text counseling, blogs, chat rooms, forums and articles that are monitored and responded to on a daily basis."
The site is manned by volunteers, called StandUpGirls, who moderate the chat rooms and forums, answer e-mail and help connect women to the resources they need. They also refer girls to OptionLine.org, a 24/7 support line to connect pregnant women with pro-life pregnancy resource centers. Women can also text PREGNANT to 313131 and receive 24 hour support. More than 400 women a month are helped through this text service alone.
Perez said the organization was founded to reach Generation Y with life-affirming resources because most of the women who come to them feel pressured into having an abortion by family, friends, and a society that considers it to be the "norm".
"The women that come to StandUpGirl with thoughts of abortion tell us stories like 'my boyfriend said he would leave me if I didn’t have abortion'; 'My parents said if I ever got pregnant they would kick me out of their house and I have no where to go'; 'my parents will disown me and my friends at school will talk behind my back and call me names'; 'I have plans and goals for myself and the baby will ruin everything'; 'I will never finish school with a baby'," she explained.
"They are under overwhelming pressure to conform to what appears to be the easiest traveled road. They are being told that a baby is an inconvenience, and they will never be able to provide the best for this child in their current circumstances. The majority of our visitors say they know in their hearts that having an abortion is wrong, but they feel they have no other choice. We are working to give them other choices!"
Having the willing support of a community of women goes a long way in reassuring them that there is another choice, that many women are choosing it, and are going on to live happy and fulfilled lives.
"Many teens and young adults rely on their peers for advice and mentorship. As a community of women that have 'been' there, we offer that same peer relationship in an anonymous environment where girls in need can feel free to be honest and ask whatever questions they may have," Perez says.
Most importantly, "We provide . . . a listening ear for their worries. We offer love and support, and encourage the girls to seek these types of relationships in their lives, relationships where they can grow emotionally and physically to become the mothers they are meant to be."
Click here to learn more!
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