As you know, Online for Life is committed to reaching abortion-determined women and men online. We then give them the opportunity to connect with life-affirming resource centers in their communities. The goal is to encourage these parents to have a sonogram and hear truthful counsel from the staff at the centers so that they make life-affirming decisions.

We have had some exciting things happen in the past few months:

1. Online for Life’s work, in conjunction with the resource centers we affiliate with, has resulted in 179 abortion-determined parents choosing Life instead!

2. We are expanding our work into another state! Online for Life works in three states now, and we will begin working in California later this month. Pray for our efforts as we enter this new battle ground.

3. We are converting from a part-time, volunteer organization to a full-time, national organization! God has provided the resources for us to make this rather dramatic leap in a short amount of time. This means we will be growing aggressively in 2012 as we move into several new states. It also means we will be connecting with far more abortion-determined people than we were able to in 2011.

We are starting our national outreach with a small staff, but I did want to introduce them to you.

Jeff Bradford is heading up our growth plans and our partnerships with other life-affirming organizations. He owned his own marketing company for over 15 years and has a deep background in corporate development, strategic planning, and sales. Jeff has been active with Online for Life for a few years now and we are excited to have him on our team. Jeff, his wife, and his four kids are passionate about Life!

You can reach Jeff at jbradford@onlineforlife.org.

Tim Gerwing is leading our technology charge. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Tim is responsible for making sure we are using every available Internet tool to reach people who are contemplating abortion. He has a broad background in Internet marketing, IT, business, and business development. Tim, his wife, and his seven children are actively promoting Life in their home and in their community.

You can reach Tim at tgerwing@onlineforlife.org.

I’m thrilled to be a part of our team here. You can always reach me at bfisher@onlineforlife.org.

We will have many more exciting things to share with you over the coming months. Be sure to keep checking your inbox!

Here are the details of our impact for Life as of February 8, 2011:

Number of visits to our websites: 18,412

Number of calls and emails to our affiliate centers:3,650

Number of appointments made: 601

Number of appointments kept: 343

Number of decisions for Life: 179

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161 children have been rescued from abortion!

When we started 2011, we projected we would see 102 abortion-minded moms and dads choose life.  Here we are, not even at the end of the year yet, and we’ve seen 59 more babies saved than we originally thought!

This a wonderful tribute to our affiliate pregnancy resource centers and the tremendous care they continue to provide to abortion-determined women and men.  The power of compassion, truth, and a sonogram machine cannot be understated. 

This is also a reminder of how the Internet can be used for life-saving purposes. 

We were thrilled when Baby #100 was saved.  We were amazed when Baby #150 was rescued.  And now we look forward to the 200th baby that will be born as a result of Online for Life!

This Christmas season, please consider giving to Online for Life so we can save even more babies in 2012. 

Right now it costs $349 to save a life.  That is less than $30 a month.  Will you give to help us stop abortion today?

1.  We were hoping and praying for a total of 100 babies rescued from abortion by the end of this year.  As of this morning we have already seen 145 saved!

2.  Our affiliate pregnancy centers in nine communities who tirelessly work to help young men and women understand the value of Life.  Their jobs are often thankless and exhausting.

3.  We continue to open up discussions with other pregnancy centers across the country about working together to rescue unborn lives.  We are prayerfully considering how much to expand in 2012. 

4.  We are thankful for you!  It is your support, prayers, and dollars that make this revolutionary, life-saving effort possible. 

So thank you!

Here are the details of our impact for Life as of November 11, 2011:

Number of visits to our websites: 15,748

Number of calls and emails to our affiliate centers: 2,804

Number of appointments made: 474

Number of appointments kept: 277

Number of decisions for Life: 145

You can help us save even more babies by joining our support team here.

For Life!

However, Online for Life connected him to a pro-life pregnancy center instead.  He called the number and ended up speaking to the director of our affiliate center for several minutes.

Normally our affiliate centers invite callers to come in and spend some time talking about their decision.  This young man, however, lived too far away.  So the director gave him wise counsel over the phone regarding the truth about life in the womb and the devastating impact of abortion on families.

The young man listened intently. The director encouraged him to go to a local pregnancy center for a sonogram so his ex-girlfriend could verify the pregnancy and see the child growing in the womb. 

The next day the director called the young man and asked how he was doing. 

“It looks like I’m going to be a dad,” he replied.

He took the mother of the child to the local pregnancy center and they did, in fact, see their baby on the sonogram.  They chose life.

And just a few weeks ago, this young man became the proud father of a beautiful baby girl.  He and his girlfriend (they are back together and are committed to parenting their baby together) graciously allowed us to share their joy with you:

I’d like to introduce you to “Baby A,” who was born in August to beaming parents and extended family. She will be surrounded by supportive friends and family as she grows into a young woman. 

We invite you to rejoice with us, as God continues to bless us with stories and pictures of babies that have been rescued from abortion through Online for Life and the work of our affiliate pregancy centers. 

This beautiful baby girl was just three days from being aborted, but instead has now been born into a wonderful family who already loves and cherishes her more than life itself. 

Help us rescue more “Baby A’s” by donating here.

As Online for Life continues to connect with abortion-determined women and men online, our affiliate pregnancy centers continue to provide wonderful counsel and sonograms to this at-risk group of people. 

The last few months have seen a remarkable increase in the effectiveness of our collective efforts. 

Here are the details of our impact for Life as of October 10, 2011:

Number of visits to our websites: 14,577

Number of calls and emails to our affiliate centers: 2,459

Number of appointments made: 413

Number of appointments kept: 239

Number of decisions for Life: 127

 Just two months ago we had 87 decisions for Life. One year ago the number was 9!

We are praying that 150 babies will be rescued from abortion by year end.  Please join us in that prayer!

You can help us save even more babies by donating here.

For Life!

The next day the woman called back and agreed to come in for a pregnancy test and sonogram on the 22nd. 

When she came in the following day, the center gave her the sonogram – she was 21 weeks pregnant. Previously, the woman was convinced she needed an abortion.  But when she saw the very developed baby, spoke with the counselors about the life growing inside her, and realized that abortion is the taking of an unborn life, she changed her mind and decided to carry the baby to term and parent the child!

These true testimonies never get old to me.  Online for Life started less than two years ago, but has already worked with our affiliate pregnancy resource centers with great success.  Over 280 appointments at our affiliate centers have been scheduled, 156 of them have been kept, and 79 babies have been rescued from abortion.

One of Online for Life’s unique characteristics is its ability to find and connect with the most difficult cases – women and men who have already decided to abort their child.  If you were to ask any of our affiliate centers, they would tell you that Online for Life calls are the most difficult calls they receive – yet they are the people our centers most want to see. 

The first question asked when an Online for Life client calls one of our affiliate centers is normally, “How much do you charge for an abortion?”

The work that these centers do is difficult, emotional, hard work.  They deal with aspects of life and death that many of us rarely see. 

Continue to pray for our affiliate centers and all other pregnancy centers that are courageously fighting for Life day in and day out.  

We are launching two new programs this month in PA and are excited to expand up north.  We have another five centers on our waiting list.  Would you like to help us open those new programs up so that more lives can be saved? 

Join our life-saving efforts today by donating. 

We saw our first set of twins rescued also!  An Online for Life client came into our affiliate center in southwestern PA on June 28th.  She was very early in her pregnancy so they scheduled her to come back this past Wednesday.  After seeing the ultrasound of her babies and after wise counseling from the center, she decided to carry her twins.  They are due in March.

We congratulate our 9 (soon to be 11) affiliate centers on their dedication, compassion, and life-saving efforts.  Online for Life continues to grow because of these tremendous results.

Compared to the 1.2 million children aborted in America every year (3,500 each day), 65 seems like an almost insignificant number. 

But is it?

On the contrary, it is very significant for 3 reasons.  

1.  One the unique aspects of Online for Life is its ability and commitment to finding men and women who have already decided to have an abortion.  The vast majority of the people we connect with are shopping for abortion facilities.  In many cases, the sanctity of life community has not been successful at reaching what we call “abortion-determined” people – until now.

They are most at-risk of aborting their children, and they are in desperate need of the love, care, compassion, and truth provided at our affiliate centers.  Our affiliate centers consistenly tell us that Online for Life clients are their most difficult cases.  Yet they continue to provide superior care and counsel to them with life-saving results. 

2.  Every life is invaluable and precious.  There are numerous people working with Online for Life who have donated their time, skills, resources, and energies to this effort.  If it had all been for just one child, every one of us would have said it is worth it.  Instead, we continue to see lives saved every month and the outreach continues to expand.  More than half of the babies saved have come in just the last 3 1/2 months.  What does that mean?  Online for Life continues to grow in its effectiveness and our affiliate centers are doing the same.  In other words, the entire effort is gaining momentum. Life-saving momentum. 

3.  Every life saved changes other lives.  A woman who has aborted a child will normally stay silent, often times suffering alone for years.  A woman who was going to abort a child and then chooses life instead will often be an evangelist for the unborn.  One woman’s courageous choice influences numerous people around her.  This is why I believe it is possible to end abortion in America. Every time an abortion-determined woman or man chooses life instead, they are changing the culture for life around them. 

One of our very first Online for Life babies was born a few weeks ago.  Our affiliate center has maintained a relationship with the mother, and last week the mom sent pictures of her newborn baby to us.  Mother and baby are doing great, and the mother continues to express her gratitude to all involved for counseling her for life. 

THAT is why 65 is a wonderful number. 

We continue to grow and expand – but we can’t do it without you!

Join our life-saving efforts today by donating. 

This story came in from Pennsylvania and is a vivid reminder of how important it is that we continue to aggressively expand our outreach across the country.

On May 1st around 5PM, our associate center received an Online for Life phone call from an abortion-determined woman. 

She was 8 weeks pregnant, single, and had already had one abortion and one miscarriage.  

She was looking for an abortion facility, but our partner center encouraged her to come in for an ultrasound to verify her pregnancy.  The client scheduled the appointment for May 2nd. 

On the evening of the 2nd, the woman came in and had an ultrasound and spoke with the staff at the center.  

Instead of aborting a second child, she chose life. 

The center learned that the baby had been scheduled to be aborted on May 3rd. 

The baby was less than 24 hours away from being aborted when Online for Life and our associate center intervened, the truth was shared, and the woman was counseled appropriately for life. 

Because Online for Life reaches out specifically to abortion-determined people, we send our associate centers crisis calls and emails every day.  Continue to pray for our nation’s pregnancy centers.  Continue to pray for these clients, most of whom are ready to abort when we find them. 

We rejoice that this child was saved from death just one day before his/her abortion.  We rejoice that this courageous woman chose not to repeat history. 

There are so many more women and men to share the truth with.

We can’t do it alone. 

Join our life-saving efforts today by donating. 

You might be surprised how many times I get these questions from people who consider themselves to be pro-life.  They aren’t necessarily phrased as blatantly as what I wrote, but the underlying question is the same: “Would the child be better off dead than alive?”

The fact that the question is asked at all indicates that there are probably far more people on the fence about the sanctity of life than we might think. 

For years I assumed that people were in one of two camps, pro-abortion or pro-life.  But I’ve discovered that many, many people don’t hold to either position with any commitment or passion.  This is true for people inside and outside the Church.

There are many who hold to a pro-abortion position because it is popular and sounds American (who wants to be against choice?).  And there are those who claim to be pro-life because they feel some sort of pressure from their peer group, Sunday school, or family. But if you press members of either group to define and articulate their position, chances are they cannot do so with any clarity.  The “ambiguous middle” could potentially be a very large group of Americans and could hold the key to how abortion is treated in the next generation. 

And so the question “Would the child be better off dead than alive?” is often asked by people in both camps.  It is an honest inquiry that deserves our careful response.

I first heard this argument from a friend of mine who had worked in social services for years in the inner city.  I doubt she would label herself pro-life, but I suspect she wouldn’t be comfortable with pro-abortion, either (although that is really the position she holds).  She would be in the ambiguous middle, with a bent towards giving women the right to choose life or death for her child.  She would probably take the position that so many do: “I certainly wouldn’t have an abortion, but I wouldn’t force my choice on another woman.  It should be her choice.”

For years, she lived and breathed the underbelly of social services, seeing the neglect, apathy, and horror that sometimes come with social work.  Her experiences led her to conclude that children in these families would have been better off had they not been born.  Their lives of abuse, squalor, and little opportunity were not lives worth living.  These children, most of who were born out of wedlock and had no father figure, were doomed to a miserable existence.  They would have been better off dead.

This position might shock some of us but it really shouldn’t.  Society’s perceived value of human life has decreased steadily over the last hundred years or so.  We are, in the mind of society, producers of limited value, not divinely created beings with infinite value.

So how do we address the question in its variety of forms, “Would the child be better off dead than alive?” Here are a few suggestions:

1.  The question presumes that we know the future of the child before he or she is even born. And we cannot predict what that future will be, just as we can’t predict our own futures.  To ask this question about an unborn child is to make presumptions that we cannot even make about ourselves.  I could lose my job, get cancer, and my wife and kids could leave me.  Those things could all happen and would be a terrible set of events. But does it mean I shouldn’t have been born in the first place because those things MIGHT happen?  And even if they did happen, do those things make my life less valuable? 

Most people would agree that we cannot predict the weather with any degree of certainty.  If we agree on that, we should agree that we cannot predict any person’s future (whether born or pre-born) with any accuracy, and thus to make a life and death decision on a prediction is foolishness.

2.  The question also presumes that a difficult childhood devalues the life of the child.  I certainly do not wish that any child be born into adverse circumstances.  Abuse, addiction, neglect, and disease are terrible challenges.  However, last time I checked I couldn’t find a friend, co-worker, family member, or stranger who didn’t have challenges in their lives – some of them severe.  I certainly wouldn’t advocate ending their lives because they are having a difficult time. 

My social worker friend would argue that a family faced with an unplanned pregnancy might have a higher probability of birthing a child into difficult circumstances.  And the statistics might show that children born into those circumstances are more prone to perpetuate those to the next generation.  Perhaps.  But America is full of children who beat difficult family circumstances and rise to positions of influence.  Our current President is one of them.

So to end the life of an unborn child because we believe she might face hardship and challenge is to presume she will not be able to overcome those challenges, or will not be shaped and formed by them.  That is an arrogant position to take and one that history has time and again proven false. 

3.  The question also presumes that death is superior to life.  Our society appears very comfortable killing an unborn child, assuming that the afterlife is better than the current life.  I’ve never been dead so I can’t address this experientially.  However to presume that death is superior to life is to assume we know everything there is to know about death.  And since we have no one to interview who can verify that, I’d take my chances with life.

Additionally, to presume that death is better than life for a pre-born child logically leads us to believe it would be better for us as well.  If that is the case, we should all be committing suicide to join all of those babies who have it better than we do.

The logic in asking the question, “Would the child be better off dead than alive?” is rarely asked in that form.  But it is the underlying question of a society that devalues human life. And it also leads to an inevitable conclusion – man has the power to take the life of man at will.  And that is exactly what abortion is. 

Join our life-saving efforts today by donating.