Area residents who believe that all life is sacred and a gift from God are forming a new pregnancy resource center in Cullman County to assist women and teens facing an unplanned pregnancy.

Theresa Kane, board president of Her Choice North Alabama Women’s Center, said it is an ecumenical movement. Several area churches are represented on the board and in the membership, including Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Saint Andrew’s United Methodist Church and Saint John’s Evangelical Protestant Church.

Kane said the new PRC is in the planning stages. Board members are attempting to locate a building where they can provide confidential counseling and testing for their clients.

HCNAWC will be an affiliate of Heartbeat International which provides training to more than 1,000 pregnancy resource centers in the U.S. HI operates a 24-hour option line with Care Net, another national group doing the same kind of work.

Women can call the option line for a referral to a pregnancy resource center in their area. The number is 1-800-395-HELP and is advertised on billboards across the country.

All services at Her Choice will be provided for free such as pregnancy tests, prenatal baby-care classes and ultrasound tests.

The most important tool the new pregnancy resource center will have at its disposal to protect human life and to put an end to abortion is the ultrasound machine, according to board member and nurse Joan Florence.

“The ultrasound machine will show them an outline of the baby in the womb. When you can show them that they have a child inside of them, they bond with that child,” said Florence. “They see it as a human being, and they’re less likely to destroy it once they bond with it.”

The ultrasound machine was donated by the Gardendale pregnancy resource center. The Gardendale pregnancy center obtained an ultrasound machine that takes 3-D pictures through a grant from Focus on the Family and wanted to donate their machine to the new group.

Baby items including diapers, clothing and other supplies will be made available to pregnant clients through an “earn while you learn” program where mothers can earn points to put toward purchases, said board member Joann McDermott. The classes will teach parenting skills, abstinence training and other topics.

Young women can also earn points for keeping prenatal visits or for bringing a friend who needs abstinence training, said McDermott.

Her Choice will help pregnant girls find emergency housing if need be, said Kane. If a girl is being kicked out of the house, a lady in Blount County volunteered her home as a temporary shelter.

“We have acquired statistics through Sav-A-Life in Birmingham that the known figure last year for women leaving Cullman to acquire abortions was approximately 75,” said Kane.

Sue Turner, director of Physicians for Life, said when clients visit a pregnancy center where only counseling is provided, 40 to 60 percent of women decide not to abort their babies. With ultrasound machines, especially the newer 3-D machines, 75 to 90 percent turn around according to statistics from pregnancy clinics because the mother bonds with the baby when she sees it, said Turner.

“When you can see your baby and not only the heart beat but can make out the eyes and nose and mouth, it has a tremendous effect,” said Turner.

Several fund-raisers are under way, according to Kane, including a photo contest for newborns to 5 years and a variety show to be held at the Civic Center, May 18.

Board member Catherine Bethell is working on a letter to business people in the community letting them know they are going to call on them for donations.

Bethell said she has met women who were given counseling only and live with the regret of their choices. They wish they had had an ultrasound.

HCNAWC will refer women for post-abortion counseling. Rachel’s Vineyard is a good organization to turn to for help, said Kane. They recently held a weekend retreat in Cullman.

Her Choice is looking for volunteers and benefactors. For further information, contact Joann McDermott at 736-8653 or via e-mail at rjm435@bellsouth.net, or Sue Turner at 735-1005.