Author: Sarah Lawson

Over the last few months, you may have noticed people with clipboards outside stores, the library, and other public places. If you’re lucky, you haven’t been asked to sign their petition for “women’s reproductive rights.” If you’re not-so-lucky (like me), you’ve had many signature collectors ask, yell, and even knock on your door to get you to sign. 

These signature gatherers are working hard on behalf of an initiative petition for a Missouri constitutional amendment that would guarantee a “right” to abortion. You read that right: an amendment to enshrine abortion into the Missouri Constitution. 

This radical amendment would legalize abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, even up to birth. If passed, it would instantly erase years of hard-fought pro-life legislation.  

We still don’t know if the amendment will be on the ballot. The deadline for signature gathering is May 5th, and the Secretary of State’s office will then begin the process of verifying each signature. If the effort is successful in collecting the required 171,592 verified signatures with the correct percentage from each Congressional District, we will see abortion on our ballot in November. 

As the deadline approaches, we will likely see even more petitioners these next few days before time runs out. With this increased presence, I thought it important to pause from our Banquet preparations and let you know what we are doing in light of this amendment: 

First, we are praying. We must be on our knees often, praying that this effort to expand abortion access in our state will be unsuccessful. 

Second, we are declining to sign. In these last few days of signature gathering, please tell your friends and family to decline to sign the petition when asked. If you or someone you know has signed this petition in error and would like to remove your name, please click here and complete the process before the signature gathering deadline of May 5th. 

Third, we are waiting. It will take some time for the Secretary of State’s Office to complete the signature verification process, but we will keep you updated on the status of the amendment as we learn more. 

Even if this effort is successful, and even if abortion becomes widely available once again in Missouri, my promise to you is that PCC will continue providing hope and real solutions to young people facing unplanned pregnancy in our community. 

Thank you for your faithful partnership in furthering PCC’s mission to save lives and strengthen families, and for your commitment to protecting our state’s most vulnerable citizens: the unborn.

Blessings, 

Lisa McIntire, CPA
Executive Director

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a case which could significantly impact access to and regulation of abortion pills.

Chemical, sometimes known as medication, abortions consist of a two-drug protocol a woman takes to terminate her pregnancy. These drugs are currently available through the mail with no medical oversight before, during, or after the process.

Yes, you read that right.

The time of DIY abortions is upon us, and the FDA has made it easier than ever. In this latest legal battle, a group of pro-life doctors and medical organizations are challenging the FDA’s removal of safeguards for one of the abortion drugs, Mifepristone.

According to Pregnancy Help News, Mifepristone, which blocks progesterone to the developing baby, was approved by the FDA in 2000 to be prescribed in-person for abortion through the 7th week of pregnancy. In 2016, the FDA not only approved the pill being prescribed through the 10th week of pregnancy, but also removed the requirement that only physicians could prescribe the drug, and no longer required women to take the first pill under medical oversight in a clinic.

Then in 2021, the FDA eliminated the in-person dispensing requirement permanently and allowed for the drug to be sent via mail. And even though abortion is illegal in Missouri, this is happening here. Most recently, in 2023, the FDA went even further by allowing retail pharmacies, such as Walgreens and CVS, to dispense the drug.

Now the Supreme Court will decide whether the FDA’s actions were lawful. But regardless of the outcome of this case, we at PCC see the tragic results of unregulated access to chemical abortions day in and day out.

Our team of registered nurses regularly receive calls and texts from young women who have been told that self-inducing an abortion is safe, even without ever talking to a physician. They aren’t told that, for their own safety, they need an ultrasound to rule out ectopic pregnancy ─ a condition for which immediate medical attention is required. When ordering the pills online, they often don’t know who or where the pills are coming from. And when they do have medical complications, they don’t know where to turn since a doctor was never involved in the process.

This is just one glaring example of why PCC’s approach always has been and always will be firmly rooted in compassion.  We all know how abortion impacts babies. But are we willing to recognize what abortion does to women and men?

Are we willing to play the long game where we love all the people impacted by an unplanned pregnancy? And are we willing to trust God with the outcomes of our prayers and work? Even when it’s messy. Even when abortion proponents get creative. Even when court decisions don’t go our way.

I can practically see you nodding your head, resolute in our shared commitment to keep on keeping on. I know how you answer those questions because you partner with PCC. In fact, my husband, Steve, and I began partnering with PCC long before I came on staff precisely because we believed that the only way to truly create a culture of life ─ to save lives and strengthen families ─ was to choose compassion and give hope to those who need it most.

No matter the ruling on this, or any other, Supreme Court case, we will continue to show the love of Jesus to our clients by offering lifesaving and life-changing services ─ and it’s all possible because of your faithful partnership.

Thank you and God bless you,

Lisa McIntire, CPA
Executive Director

Today marks the 40th National Sanctity of Human Life Day, as proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan on the 11th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that struck down state laws outlawing abortion. 

Much has changed around the issue of abortion over the past four decades: the Roe decision was reversed in 2022, the introduction of DIY abortions via pills, states across the nation enshrining the “right” to abortion in their state constitutions, and now, efforts to have abortion placed on Missouri’s ballot this year. 

It’s clear our culture is at war, and at PCC, we view our role as “boots on the ground”. We work to save lives and tend to the wounded with the compassion of Christ and the practical help they need to navigate their own battles.   

The word “sanctity” sounds strange to our modern minds, but it is the cornerstone of all we do at PCC. Many of our team members have experienced unplanned pregnancy and been wounded by abortion ourselves, so our compassion is never contrived.  We comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received from the Comforter. 

Creating a framework of justice and liberty for all human beings through legislation is essential. But at best, laws modify behavior; they don’t change hearts. Only love can do that. 

That’s why – together – we will continue offering hope and help to young people facing unplanned pregnancy, no matter how the abortion landscape changes. 

Prayer is our most powerful tool in this work. So, this Sanctity of Human Life Month, we invite you to join us in prayer over the following items:

• Pray for a culture of life to sweep across our nation, state, and community. 
• Pray that women and men in our community who are considering abortion will find and contact PCC. 
• Pray for strength and wisdom for PCC’s team of staff and volunteers as they serve clients considering abortion.
• Pray that those who have experienced abortion would find the courage to share their story and seek healing. 

If you would like to get more involved with our mission to save lives and strengthen families, click here.

“I call upon the citizens of this blessed land to gather… in homes and places of worship to give thanks for the gift of life, and to reaffirm our commitment to the dignity of every human being and the sanctity of each human life.”  National Sanctity of Human Life Proclamation, January 13, 1984