The Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission are partnering through the Psalm 139 Project to provide a new ultrasound machine at the Legacy Pregnancy Resource Center in Hobbs, N.M., four miles from the Texas border.
Although abortion essentially was banned in Texas following Roe v. Wade’s reversal and subsequent anti-abortion laws, New Mexico remains an option for women seeking abortions, said Katie Frugé, director of Texas Baptists’ Center for Cultural Engagement and the Christian Life Commission.
“We know several abortion-vulnerable women are now traveling out of state to seek services, and we want to help support the crisis pregnancy center in Hobbs as they experience an influx of women in need of support and services,” Frugé explained.
Texas Baptists “affirm the sanctity and dignity of all human life,” she added.
“This partnership with the ERLC is the result of our shared commitment to continuing to work to grow a culture of life in a post-Roe world,” she said.
The abortion industry has targeted Hobbs because of its location and already sees many clients from Texas, the ERLC noted. With a junior college and a four-year university in the city, Legacy has recently seen an increase in client appointments, averaging about 70 per month.
“At the ERLC, we are overjoyed when we can partner with state conventions as we stand for life together. This placement in Hobbs, N.M., in partnership with the BGCT, is unique since the state convention is reaching beyond its borders and giving with a missional mindset to serve their neighbors in an abortion-permissible state,” said Rachel Wiles, director of ERLC’s Psalm 139 Project.
Psalm 139 Project exists to make people aware of the life-saving potential of ultrasound technology in unplanned pregnancy situations and to help pregnancy centers minister to abortion-vulnerable women by providing ultrasound equipment for them to use.
The Legacy Pregnancy Resource Center was established in 2012 to provide “help, hope and healing to all persons facing unplanned pregnancies in and around the communities of Lea County.”
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The center serves the community through free and confidential pregnancy tests, peer counseling, options counseling and the Earn While You Learn program. Its underlying goal is to share the love and hope of Jesus Christ with clients.
With the surge in clientele after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the center is preparing to transition into a medical pregnancy care center.
First Baptist Church of Hobbs provided Legacy with a new building to house its operation permanently and allow for the growth and expansion of services. Ten churches currently support the organization.
Working to ‘change hearts’
When Legacy’s director, Janet Waldrop, requested an ultrasound machine for the facility to serve abortion-vulnerable clients better, the Psalm 139 project was encouraged. Texas Baptists ministry staff had been in communication with First Baptist Church in Hobbs about the pregnancy center’s need, and CLC leaders were honored to be able to support the effort at Legacy.
“The ERLC helped facilitate the purchase and placement of the machine, and Texas Baptists paid the cost of the machine and the training for the staff to use it,” Frugé explained.
“Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, we have seen a variety of responses across the United States.”
One recent study released toward the end of 2023 found since the Dobbs decision in 2022, the number of abortions in the United States actually have increased, she noted.
“We must work to change hearts, not just laws, as we support life going forward,” she said. “Ultrasound technology offers a unique window into a life that previous generations could never have imagined, and we are thrilled to be able to help pregnancy centers utilize this relatively new technology as a meaningful affirmation of our historic Baptist position.”
Frugé said the CLC emphasis on the sanctity of human life is based on Genesis 1:27, which notes all people are created in God’s image and that every human life has intrinsic value and worth.
“Christians have historically been champions for causes that support a culture of life,” she said. “The gospel itself is the good news of Jesus Christ, who tells us he is life in John 14:6.”
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