(LifeSiteNews) — Pro-lifers in the intensely pro-abortion state of Massachusetts have joined forces to form an alliance dedicated to encouraging and assisting men and women facing unplanned pregnancies to choose life.
While the New England state defends a so-called “right” to abortion in its constitution, including no parental consent requirements for some minors and taxpayer funding, Christians on the peninsula of Cape Cod have come together to promote the dignity of the unborn.
“The predatory nature of our state politicians, local press, and pro-abortion advocates towards pre-born babies compelled us to action,” Joe Meeks, co-chairperson of the Cape Cod Pro-Life Alliance, told LifeSiteNews via email. “The Alliance offers aid to local life-affirming organizations that provide women experiencing unplanned pregnancies the support needed to choose life for their babies and raise their children.”
Meeks further described the initiative as “a grass roots effort by Christians of all denominations” that has so far gathered “over 80 members from 14 different churches and Christian organizations” after just three months, numbers that Meeks says are “growing rapidly.”
“While our Christian faith is what drives us in our commitment to life, knowledge of science alone makes it indisputable that life begins at conception. In direct conflict with both spiritual belief and secular fact, the right to life of pre-born babies is ignored by pro-abortion advocates. The Alliance is an outspoken advocate for the pre-born.”
Meeks further outlined six “principles” that the newly formed group has committed to when it comes to serving the unborn and families, including support for mothers and children before and after birth, parents “facing an unplanned pregnancy” as well as “struggling to make ends meet for their families,” walking with parents “to know they aren’t in this alone” and praying for men and women who are struggling to raise families or considering abortion.
Additionally, “the priority of the Alliance is changing hearts and minds” rather than striving to change laws that defend a so-called “right” to murder the unborn.
To begin their mission, the Cape Cod Pro-Life Alliance is “mobilizing as many Christians as possible … to take action to support life,” believing that “there is strength in numbers, both spiritual and financial.” Meeks added that the Alliance is willing to work with secular pro-life groups “with the only exception being anytime an activity or position would be in conflict with our Christian beliefs.”
The Alliance has already partnered with Your Options Medical, a Massachusetts organization that “has been providing life-affirming services to pregnant women for over 30 years.” With financial, staffing and advocacy support provided by the Alliance, the group will open on Cape Cod this summer, beginning with “a Mobile Medical Clinic equipped with ultrasound, followed by a permanent Pregnancy Resource Medical Clinic.”
The permanent clinic will be located near Hyannis, “central to all towns on Cape Cod.” Recruitment of medical professionals and patient advocates to operate the mobile unit is currently underway. To “complement the services of Your Options Medical,” local churches will develop advocacy strategies to continue supporting parents after their children are born.
Meeks told LifeSiteNews that “the response from local pro-lifers to the Pro-Life Alliance has been overwhelmingly positive.” He said the effort seems to have brought out “many people who are pro-life and have been on the sidelines while the abortion crowd has been so vocal in their scorn for us and for any pro-life development.”
Abortion on Cape Cod
The Alliance was launched in response to efforts from local politicians and media personalities to bring abortion directly to Cape Cod, as the nearest killing center was nearly 100 miles away from the peninsula. In December 2022, a pro-abortion nonprofit received $700,000 in state funds to expand their “services” to Cape Cod. Meeks told LifeSiteNews that all Health Imperatives locations will begin dispensing chemical abortion pills this summer.
According to the group’s website, contraception, HIV drugs and cross-sex hormones for gender-confused individuals are also distributed at the facilities. Democrat Sen. Julian Cyr is one local legislator actively pushing for abortion to be brought to the islands.
However, abortion was not always scarce on Cape Cod. In 2007, an abortion facility was shut down after a woman died while under anesthesia for an abortion. The abortionist was deemed to have engaged in “reckless conduct” and received a six-month prison sentence, additional home confinement and three years of probation. Rapin Osathanodh pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Although a pro-life pregnancy center was open at the same time, it closed shortly after the abortion facility, Meeks explained, due to limited resources that were deemed better used closer to “Boston’s large population of college age women most susceptible to unplanned pregnancy.”
The same organization, renamed from A Woman’s Concern to Your Options Medical, now has three locations in the state, with a fourth planned to open on Cape Cod.
Pursuing strategies for ‘keeping Cape Cod abortion free’
Meeks shared that while the Alliance’s top priority is “getting the mobile clinic and permanent location fully functional,” the group is looking ahead to other ways in which the pro-life message can be shared with the community.
Some plans include “exploring other needs of pregnant and parenting moms that are not being met because of poor funding or absence of advocacy” and “ways to engage with life affirming conversation[s] with young families.” Meeks also expressed concern over “what appears to be growing support in the secular world for physician assisted suicide,” noting that “serious developments in this area would become a new call to action for the Alliance.”
Regarding the current issue of abortion, he told LifeSiteNews, “Our only hope of keeping Cape Cod abortion free is if our children understand God’s plan for them and that the same gift of life He gave to them is also given to every baby from the moment it is conceived in its mother’s womb.”
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