Many pro-life groups exist to serve women dealing with unplanned pregnancies. But one in particular is looking to address a specific issue that leads many women to seek out abortion: finances. Let Them Live aims to give financial support to women considering abortion, to give them the chance to choose life instead.
Emily Berning is the co-founder and president of Let Them Live, and was recently interviewed on the “Problematic Women” podcast explaining the group’s mission, and how they’re different from other pregnancy resource centers. “Crisis pregnancy centers are amazing. They do so much work and save so many lives, but a lot of them don’t have the funding to pay for rent for women that come in or car payments for an extended period of time,” she said. “That’s where we come in. Because 73% of women who are getting abortions are doing it because of financial reasons. That’s from the Guttmacher Institute.” [See Guttmacher links here and here.]
Berning explained that she wanted to fill the gap in the “untapped market” for women in need of financial support. “Typically, what a situation will be is we ended up contacting or getting contact with a mom who’s referred to us possibly by a crisis pregnancy center or a sidewalk counselor,” she said. “Then if it’s an emergency, which it usually is, the abortion is usually scheduled for the next day or the next week. We will run an emergency fundraiser for her on social media and crowdfund.”
READ: Why women have late-term abortions, according to the abortion industry
Despite what abortion advocates claim, the pro-lifers who support Let Them Live are often ready to step up and help. “We have an amazing donor base that ha[s] been so generous. We always contact our donors. They’re always very happy to help,” Berning said. “Pro-life people are very eager and excited, for the most part, to contribute to something like this, because it is directly helping a mom choose life. Then we have a few other larger donors that we go to meet, have meetings with, things like that.”
After the money has been raised, it’s used to do things like pay for the mother’s rent, utilities, cell phone, and other bills, so she can focus on her baby. And all the while, Berning said they’re focused on building a personal relationship with her, too. “We want to reach them where they’re at. We will counsel them for as long as they need,” she explained, adding, “We just got back from Atlanta a few weeks ago visiting one of the moms that we’re helping. She was just really struggling. Her parents don’t support her, the father of her child left and said, ‘Here’s money for an abortion.’ She was really struggling so we decided to fly down to see her and that really helped nurture that relationship between us.”
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