*Video here if not showing up in post. 

I first met Callie Cowan online through the world of fitness blogging, through this blog right here! We became Facebook friends and over time, I noticed she posted a lot on social media about her work with a local pregnancy center in her town, Pregnancy Solutions.

Callie’s post were never negative. She wrote lovingly about women who came into her center each day seeking information, resources and most of all, support. She prayed for them and asked her friends to do the same. The women would leave the center and have a big decision to make. Many were deciding between abortion and choosing life for their babies.

They don’t always choose the latter, but often do…precisely because of Pregnancy Solutions, which is representative of thousands of crisis pregnancy centers across the nation that exist to empower women to choose life in the face of extreme adversity. These centers aren’t to shame women out of abortions, but simply to let them know there are other options. There is emotional and tangible support to help them make their pathway to motherhood, or adoption.

“A lot of times women feel like life’s just in fast forward. They don’t know where to go, they don’t know what else to do…and if they can just have a chance to sit down and talk through their fears with someone, often we’re able to alleviate some of those fears,” Callie says in the interview.

We also talked about how anti-woman it is to tell women that they can’t have a child and go to college or pursue career goals or find someone to marry in the future if that’s a fear. It’s the opposite of empowerment for a woman to feel as if abortion is the only way she can fulfill her dreams or survive the next day. We must turn this messaging around. There’s no one that walks in or out of an abortion clinic feeling great about life. And they shouldn’t have to.

It’s places like PS and people like Callie who are making a difference in the lives of women and children everyday. Callie has countless stories about women who chose life after seeing their free ultrasound or being counseled by the center. And she’s also passionate about helping those who ultimately did or do choose abortion. She recently started a program called “Support After Abortion” that is an entryway for both men and women suffering emotionally after the experience. As you can imagine, it’s not something you can talk about with just anyone and it’s important there be a resource.

Lastly, neither Callie or I are focused on overturning Roe v. Wade or making abortion illegal. We leave that to others and focus on loving people. As she points out in the interview, abortion is an issue of supply and demand. Whether or not it’s legal, there is a demand. The idea here is to reduce the demand. We don’t want people to feel forced into giving birth by law or having an abortion by necessity.

I enjoyed speaking with Callie, love the work she is doing and aim to emulate her loving spirit and acknowledge the the truth that we are each created in God’s image — fetus, newborn, pregnant mamas, abortionists, Planned Parenthood workers, pro-life activists. No matter where you stand, you are loved equally by God. And it’s in that spirit, I work for life.

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