(Oregon Right to Life) — The president of an Oregon pro-life maternity home gave a behind-the-scenes look into how her organization meaningfully helps moms in need in a recent article published by The Washington Examiner.
“As I look into the faces of the moms, babies, and children, I am not thinking about politics,” Road 2 Hope president and CEO Leona Bicknese told Washington Examiner contributor Kimberly Ross. “I’m thinking about how we can love these moms well. I’m thinking about how we can serve them so they can experience true hope, how we can pray for them, and how we can help them overcome lies with truth.”
Bicknese described the maternity home, located in Beaverton, just west of Portland, as “countercultural.”
“We exist in a strongly pro-abortion, anti-Christian environment,” she told the outlet. “We are in Oregon just south of Washington state. Both states have pledged millions of dollars to pay for abortions, including abortions from out of state. In Oregon, there is no restriction on abortion even up to the moment of birth.”
Read: Oregon’s History
Maternity homes like Road 2 Hope differ from pro-life pregnancy resource centers (PRC)s, Ross pointed out in the article. PRCs provide services like ultrasounds, counseling, adoption information, and baby supplies. Maternity homes, true to their namesake, provide food, clothing, and shelter over an extended period. There are about 3,000 PRCs nationwide, but only about 400 maternity homes.
Moms who come to Road 2 Hope in need of help will receive education “in the form of life skills and cooking classes,” Ross writes. They’ll also learn prudent financial strategies, and even get assistance finishing high school, going to college, or landing a job.
“We set our clients up for future success and independence,” Bicknese told The Washington Examiner. “In addition, all of the women set goals and establish individual plans for the future with support, encouragement, and guidance from staff.”
“Maternity homes are an overlooked or even unknown but crucial part of the pro-life movement,” Ross wrote in the article. “These homes are nonjudgmental, nonpartisan, and truly life-changing.”
“If anything, we need more of this and less of the fleeting activism that relies on temporary slogans or shaming,” she said. “Working in the trenches, encouraging women toward life goals and achievements, and showing them they can do it is where the real cultural transformation begins. One by one.”
Read the Washington Examiner article here.
