Options United’s 10th anniversary is fast approaching. In these 10 days leading up to our birthday (September 9th, 2019), we are celebrating all that God has done through Options United.
You may be wondering…
What is Options United?
How do we fit into the pro-life industry?
What makes us different?
We’re not your typical brick-and-mortar center or clinic. We exclusively exist online to connect women in crisis with the information, resources, and services they need to CHOOSE LIFE.
Why are we exclusively online? This is a field that the pro-life movement needs to effectively use to win the cultural war. This is where women are – on their phones and laptops. And many of these women are unaware that free services are located just around the corner.
Our effective digital marketing strategies allow women to find us in their moment of need. They can reach us via call, email, text, chat, and online form.
When women looking for an abortion reach out to us, we listen with compassion and assess their situation. We then offer a referral and sometimes book an appointment at a non-profit clinic or center near her. There, she will receive a free pregnancy test and a consultation to go over information about all of her options, the different abortion procedures and risks, her medical history, and any questions or concerns she may have.
We also encourage the pregnant woman to get an ultrasound before scheduling an abortion to verify how far along she is, if she’s miscarrying, and if the pregnancy is located outside of the uterus. Our goal is to slow her down, get her to breathe and think rationally, and help her understand the importance of taking these initial steps to ensure she’s safe and well-informed.
Women deserve to know exactly what they’re getting into when seeking an abortion, information they won’t get at an abortion clinic that will profit off of her decision.
Then we follow up in the coming days, weeks, and months to check in on the woman who called us. We find that, through the consultation or seeing the baby in the ultrasound, a woman often changes her mind and chooses to keep her child! However, if she still chooses to abort, we tell her what she needs to know going into an abortion clinic, including the fact that she can leave at any time, even if she’s signed a contract or paid for the abortion. We also offer post-abortive counseling to encourage healing in the hearts of broken men and women who’ve chosen abortion.
What makes Options United different is how we connect with a woman in crisis. We meet her where she’s at. We step into her life through the phone in her hand – a fairly anonymous device that makes her feel safe enough to be open and honest about what’s going on in her world. We direct her towards a free LIFE-AFFIRMING clinic or center that will provide free services, resources, education, and support. These are things women need in making their decision.
Being well-informed and realizing that a BABY is forming in her womb allows a woman to understand the weighty consequences of abortion and choose parenting or adoption instead.
Then we redirect women back to clinics for services like parenting classes and material resources, depending on the clinic. We also refer to adoption organizations if they’re interested in learning more about that option. We really do it all.
There is no non-profit that really serves and unites these other non-profit clinics and centers. Our goal is to reach those women frantically searching the internet for an “easy fix” and get them where they need to go for REAL help and solutions. We provide the marketing, take the calls, and guide these women to the clinics or centers nearest them.
Our call responders are regularly trained to compassionately and skillfully navigate the waters of a woman’s crisis. And we couldn’t make that happen without the support of our generous donors and prayer warriors.
Every save is a team effort made possible by our call responders, the clinics and centers we refer to, and our supporters.
If you didn’t know what we did at Options United, now you do. Simply put, we are the link between pregnant mother and clinic. When all she can think of is “Planned Parenthood,” we show mama where she can get the help she truly needs just around the corner from someone who’s not going to profit off of her decision. And that’s a cause worth fighting for.