(EDITOR’S NOTE — Sunday, Jan. 19, is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention.)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Monica Henderson says that though abortion in Kentucky has changed after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade and the federal right to abortion in 2022, pregnancy support ministry in Kentucky has not.
Henderson, who serves as executive director of BSideU for Life Pregnancy and Life Skills Center in Louisville, noted the Supreme Court’s decision two and a half years ago has laid bare several things.
“I think it’s exposed a lot of division at all levels — inside the church, inside politics, inside our community. And I think it’s exposed the fact that the pro-life world, the church was not ready for the overturn of Roe,” she said. “And it exposed the fact that Americans weren’t as pro-life as they claimed to be.”
Henderson discussed this shifting landscape and the new pro-life battle on this week’s episode of Leadership Lessons with Todd Gray, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
Pregnancy client traffic at BSideU for Life doubled between 2021 and 2024, and traffic to its mobile clinic also doubled in the month following the Dobbs decision.
Kentucky is a restrictive state — elective abortion is banned, and procedures are performed only to save the life of the mother. Those laws took effect in August 2022. But Henderson cautioned pro-life individuals about celebrating and moving on.
“A change in the law does not change behavior … it didn’t end pregnancy; it didn’t end abortion,” she said. “For those who chose not to go online and buy pills, and chose not to cross state lines, it means that pregnancy care centers’ services are in higher demand, and that’s definitely true for us.”
Henderson said churches can support pregnancy resource centers like BSideU with this increased need by being welcoming church homes for women facing unplanned pregnancy.
Referencing James 1:27, she said “unwed pregnant women are the widows, and their children are the orphans in the modern age. And women who are pregnant do not feel welcome at the church.”
Caring for single mothers can feel expensive and messy for local churches, Henderson noted.
“They want to do the baby bottle campaign and send a check and pack of diapers to the pregnancy center with all their prayers, but they don’t realize … 70-75% of single moms are unchurched. That is an extremely large segment of our society that is an unchurched people group.”
Pregnant women who don’t feel welcome in the church are wrestling with shame and the perception that those in the pews are perfect.
It’s common to think everyone has their act together, but “they keep their own sin and shame a secret. A woman who’s pregnant doesn’t get to keep her sin and shame a secret,” Henderson said.
She said Kentucky Baptist churches can make pregnancy-related ministry part of who they are and advertise it, which will communicate such support is a priority and that women with unplanned pregnancies are welcome. Curriculums like Making Life Disciples and small groups for single mothers like Embrace Grace are resources for the local church to explore.
Henderson and Gray also discussed abortion-addicted culture, abortion pills in Kentucky and how adoption is not the primary alternative to abortion for women wrestling with the decision.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — This article originally appeared in Kentucky Today.)
