The monitor turns on and a gentle thumping of a heartbeat appears. With every thump of the heartbeat, the handiwork of the Father is seen by a mother who is given the opportunity to choose life (Psalm 139). With every beat, the baby’s life says, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I am being knit together, I am seen and known by God.” Ultrasounds allow a window into the womb, moving more women to choose life after seeing their babies on screen than those who don’t have the same opportunity. This is the pulse of the Psalm 139 Project.
The Psalm 139 Project exists to purchase and place ultrasound machines in Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) and Women’s Health Centers (WHCs) around the country and train clinic staff for their use. Each placement allows abortion-vulnerable and abortion-determined women to get a glimpse of the life inside their womb. One hundred percent of all donations given to the Psalm 139 Project go toward the purchase of life-saving machines and training of the clinic staff who will utilize them.
In 2022, the Psalm 139 Project placed or committed to place 27 ultrasound machines across nine different states that are serving a wide variety of demographics within their communities. Some centers are located in major metropolitan areas while others are in small towns with limited prenatal care and pregnancy support. Rural areas requesting mobile units were a focus, as well clinics that were located near Planned Parenthood facilities. These life-saving placements represent the successful completion of our goal to place 50 machines by January 2023.
Life-saving technology
Recently, an ultrasound was place at a PRC located in a pro-abortion state. Already, the Lord has used this technology to save a baby’s life. Here is the testimony from one of the staff members at New Hope Family Services in Syracuse, New York:
“We had our very first life saved on our mobile unit today—with the machine we received from the ERLC! Our mobile ultrasound van was parked outside of Planned Parenthood this morning. A woman had been going into Planned Parenthood this morning for an abortion. She was on the phone with her pastor, crying. One of the sidewalk advocates started talking to her before she went in, and she expressed that she wasn’t sure she was making the right decision. She agreed to come to our unit for an ultrasound and upon seeing her baby on the screen and hearing the heartbeat, she chose LIFE!
“She already has other children and is sleeping on a family member’s couch. Our nurse called our office and arranged for her to meet with one of our staff members here at our brick-and-mortar location for counseling. So she came right over and we gave her diapers and other things she needed for her kids and gave her referrals for housing. Shortly after, I got a text from the executive director of a maternity home in our area. He and I had just been on a Zoom call yesterday where he shared that they only had one spot left and that their call volume is up 86% over last year. So I was surprised when he texted and said that she was going to be moving in there!
“He said: ‘We literally have one two-room suite available that we have been holding in case we got a call from a pregnant woman who already had children. She just sent the sweetest text to our hotline thanking us so much for the opportunity and letting us know that she thought about it and decided that it was a good fit and she wanted to move in.’ God was saving this room just for her!!! Sadly, she told the caseworker at the maternity home that the pregnancy center and maternity home were the only people who spoke positively to her about her baby. Everyone else said ‘you went and got pregnant again’ and her boyfriend fled and said, ‘get rid of it.’ So we are praising God for this life saved today! Thank you for being part of this story by giving us the grant for the machine and nurse’s training.”
At the ERLC, we believe in standing for the life of preborn children as well as caring for the well-being of women. Through hearing the heartbeat of a preborn child, caring for the pregnant woman regardless of where she finds herself, or education others about the truth that each life has dignity, we desire to widely share the beauty of this holistic, pro-life vision.
The pro-life movement requires us all working together to continue to see a shift in this country to make abortion unthinkable for women and to show them the true value of the life within their womb. We would like to invite you to join us in this vital work through the Psalm 139 Project in 2023.
You can learn more about how you can help save preborn lives and raise $100,000 by Dec. 31, 2022, so we can place three more ultrasound machines in pro-abortion states like Illinois, Michigan, and California in 2023.
