As part of her presentation during Thursday’s Columbus Exchange Club meeting at Lion Hills Center, Jeanna Frye, director of Life Choices Pregnancy Center in Columbus, provided data on the center’s work form 2016.
“Last year, we provided 85 pregnancy tests, worked with 67 new clients, provided post-abortion counseling for 23 people and had 1,615 calls to our center,” Frye said.
Later, when asked about the gap between the number of calls and the number of clients, Frye provided a succinct explanation.
“Many of those calls were from people seeking an abortion,” Frye said. “We don’t make referrals for or recommend abortions.”
As a Christian nonprofit, Frye said her center doesn’t support abortion as a choice in pregnancy, but it does show compassion for those who have made that choice.
Among the services Life Choices provide is post-abortion counseling for those who may suffer emotional scars from the decision.
“When we get a call from someone wanting to know about getting an abortion, we use that as an opportunity to reach out to them, to start a conversation,” Frye said. “Sometimes, people are looking for a reason not to get an abortion and we want to support them, first by showing them the love of Christ, and then helping them through every step of pregnancy and even beyond.”
Even among Christians, the choice to abort is not uncommon, Frye said.
“The data we have shows that 40 percent of those who abort are Christians, and of that group, 76 percent say the church had no influence on that decision,” she said. “What that tells us is that we need to do a better job reaching out to these women and girls before they make that decision. That’s what we hope to do.
“Many of those who come to us, come with questions,” she added. “It can be an overwhelming situation. They ask, ‘What am I going to do? How can I tell my mom and dad?’ They’ll say, ‘I can’t be pregnant. I have two more years of college’ or ‘I already have children. How am I going to make ends meet?’ We want to be there for them, show them that there are answers to all these questions.”
In addition to providing free self-administered pregnancy tests, peer counseling, mentoring, abstinence and STD counseling, Life Choices also provides new parent classes to help clients understand and prepare for each stage of pregnancy.
Those enrolled in the classes earn “baby bucks,” which they can redeem for items like diapers, clothes and car seats — “the things you need when you have a new baby,” Frye said.
Life Choices are located throughout the country, with many providing a range of services, including pre-natal care such as sonograms and check-ups provided by medical professionals.
For now, Life Choices in Columbus does not provide any medical care, something Frye hopes to change.
“We would like to become what is called a basic medical model,” Frye said. “That model is where the care is under the direction of a doctor.”
Currently, the Columbus center is staffed by two paid employees — Frye and outreach director Rulinda Ewing.
“We rely heaving on volunteers,” she said. “We are always looking for volunteers and there are many ways to help.”
To help raise money that will be used to expand its services, Life Choices is partnering with the YMCA, which has agreed to donate a portion of the initiation fees for new memberships for those who join the YMCA between now and May 14.
Life Choices, located at 112 Seventh St. N., is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. The phone number is 327-0500.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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