Reflections from the desk of CEO, Sara Patterson
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of our ministry!
Have you ever heard the voice of God calling to you?
That’s exactly what happened in 1985 when six women in Verona found themselves called to do something to help women facing crisis pregnancies and considering abortion. Referring to themselves as the “Verona Friends for Life,” they formed the Pregnancy Information Center to help women facing an unintended pregnancy. Their resources were few, but their commitment was deep. They offered pregnant women compassionate support and counseling about their options.
Over the years, our center grew, added medical services, and eventually became an affiliate of Care Net National, changing our name to Care Net of Dane County. God blessed the ministry in a myriad ways, and countless lives have been saved and changed because of the committed people who desired to be obedient to God and listened to His call.
What does Care Net look like today?
We offer a broader range of services than ever including counseling, help with everything from jobs to healthcare, education, parenting classes and housing for homeless pregnant women.
We help women in places far beyond Dane County. Thanks to our mobile clinic, we can bring our services where they’re needed most. We currently serve all of South-Central Wisconsin, including Rock, Sauk and Columbia counties.
Thanks to certified Spanish/English medical translators on staff, we now serve more women with limited—or even no—English skills.
God willing, with the opening of our second maternity home in 2025, we’ll be able to serve more women and their babies with holistic, transformational housing and programming than in any time in our history.
All of that adds up to one thing: We now have more opportunities to share the love of Jesus with more people.
And just in time.
Views on abortion have changed
Four decades after our opening, our culture has changed drastically. Abortion used to be considered a weighty decision, a last resort for women who lacked support and resources. Now, it’s positioned as “healthcare” and touted to be “as safe as Tylenol.” And most abortions don’t happen in a clinical setting. Nearly 70% of all abortions are chemical—consisting of two pills, many which arrive by mail—and taken at home.
In effect, the new abortion clinic is now a woman’s bathroom. She sits alone, waiting to “take care of” this unplanned pregnancy. And because chemical abortions are used up to ten weeks gestation, many women experience the trauma of seeing a fully formed, preborn baby in their own toilet.
Our culture wants to deny that an abortion ends a human life, and that there are any negative aspects of abortion. Consequently, these women have no safe place to talk about their choice, to talk about their physical, spiritual and emotional pain. Many push down the uncertainty and shame. They suffer in silence unless they find a support group like the ones we offer at Care Net. And all too many have more than one abortion. According to the Pew Research Center, 24% of women with a previous abortion have a second one, 11% have a third and 8% have had four or more.
At Care Net, we understand the truth: there is no easy or convenient way to answer a woman in the midst of a pregnancy that is creating a crisis in her life. And as our culture continually slips further and further away from God’s ideal for marriage and sexuality, more women and men will find themselves facing an unintended pregnancy.
My point is this: our work is not done. In fact, with every passing year, we see more women who are more determined to have an abortion than women we saw the year before. Each generation grows more familiar with abortion and sees it as commonplace—the logical choice when faced with a pregnancy they aren’t ready for. With each passing year, fewer and fewer women consider what God may think about abortion. And fewer Christians understand God’s view on the subject because many of our churches have become complacent and silent.
In our present economy, we see more families struggling to meet basic needs like housing and food. That means the demand for resources of all kinds increases – including a safe place to live while pregnant.
As we celebrate our first 40 years, it is not business as usual. What has been accomplished in years past can’t count as today’s victory. We can’t rely on past sacrifices if God is asking us to sacrifice today.
To be successful, we must meet the current challenges and needs.
To continue this great work, we need more volunteers. More staff. More prayer warriors. More funding. We need more ambassadors to share the good news of how important our ministry is to the communities we serve.
“The Scriptures say, “If you hear his voice today, don’t be stubborn like those who rebelled.” (Heb 3:15). If God is nudging you to do more, I pray that you will not put this article down and walk away from that voice. I pray you will consider and answer that call, just as the six committed and courageous women who founded our ministry did. Our convictions can’t stay in our head. They need to fill our hearts and prompt us to take action.
God will bring the resources He needs to accomplish His work. I have no doubt of that. But I know that a blessing awaits those who hear and obey his voice.
If you would like to take action today, email me at Sarap@carenetdane.org, and let’s discuss what God has laid on your heart.