I went pretty deep into the ProGrace website and blogs…sadly, leaving the woman’s choice intact is not what they are about at all.

Thank you for your comment. I’m only sad I added mine so late to the conversation. I find this entire ProGrace website so scary…they’re seeking to educate Christians on how to speak to vulnerable pregnant women in ways more likely to make them open to hearing Christ’s message. It would be cringe if it didn’t exist in the context of the regressive, christian-army-led hellscape we find ourselves in.

God’s design for pregnancy is to intertwine a woman and a child. He has made it impossible for us to try to help one while bypassing the other, but instead calls us to work for the dignity and welfare of both of them.

That’s one of their two Core Beliefs–how fucking scary is that? Can you imagine being a woman with an unwanted pregnancy who doesn’t have the money or access to just seek the abortion healthcare you need, and you seen an advertisement for “pregnancy crisis help” and you’re desperate so you go there and then someone with that “core belief” is talking to you about some bullshit and you realize “oh, these people aren’t going to help me get an abortion at all” and then you’re just trying to get out of there but you’re not trying to be rude…can you imagine that nightmare?? This organization is, in part, training those crisis center people to use trickier language that makes pregnant women feel like their might be some empathy for their situation…so, lengthening the period of time that woman sits in a center having her time wasted.

Can you imagine being a person who thinks that “God’s design for pregnancy is to intertwine a woman and a child” and believing that you have any right to counsel a woman coping with an unwanted pregnancy??? The delusion is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

The whole this is depressing and shameful.

From the ProGrace website:

The Church being the community of grace and support Jesus intended us to be, can address the reasons of panic, isolation, and shame that cause so many people to think abortion is their only option.

What a frightening sentence to have to read.

There is no such thing as “ProGrace”–this “third option” is co-opting and trickery. The question of whether women should have full access to healthcare during pregnancy is a completely binary one. The answer is Yes or No.

You either recognize that abortion is healthcare and believe that safe access to this healthcare, from a variety of providers, for any of the many reasons a woman may need or want it, is a woman’s right, OR…you do not. Period. That’s the whole thing. Any vague “third choice” is marketing trickery meant to soften the face of something that should disgust us all.

Also from ProGrace:

Our Core Beliefs 1: God’s design for pregnancy is to intertwine a woman and a child. He has made it impossible for us to try to help one while bypassing the other, but instead calls us to work for the dignity and welfare of both of them.

That really sums it up, doesn’t it? “God’s design for pregnancy”–this isn’t a stance in healthcare conversations that should be given a moment of thought. It’s fiction.

If Christians would like to begin encouraging each other to stop being judgmental toward people who have had abortions, I think that would be great. But keep the whole thing in-house, make it about Christians talking to other Christians about how they can get their behavior in line with their supposed religious beliefs. Don’t make the whole thing about teaching Christians how to speak more empathetically to people who have had or are considering abortion for the purpose of being able to more successfully sell Jesus to those people. Because that’s what this whole thing is actually about.

If you really want to help pregnant women the way Jesus would have wanted you to, use some of that sweet, sweet untaxed money from your money piles to start a car service that ONLY gives free rides (chauffeur style with the tinted window between the driver and passenger if the passenger would like to have it up) to women and one or two support people to and from their abortions. No conversation, no strings attached. And pay for the abortions. And throw in a Starbucks card with like $25 on it. Show these women the heart of Christ with your actions, not with phony words meant to control their minds, and maybe after they have their abortion that act of no-strings-attached kindness will have made such and impact that they will seek out a “church community” themselves instead of having to be coerced and cajoled into one in a moment of true despair.

Seriously, this is your new campaign…“WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? He would drive you to your abortion and pay for it, too, cause he was just that kind of guy.”

EDIT: typo.