Karen Sims is the Executive Director of Hope Clinic in Hattiesburg and leads the Mississippi Pregnancy Resource Alliance.

Note: At the Mississippi Life Summit, Karen Sims led this session discussing the history and legacy of pro-life support both nationwide and in Mississippi.  Karen Sims is the Executive Director of Hope Clinic in Hattiesburg and leads the Mississippi Pregnancy Resource Alliance.

We need to know where we come from and how the ‘hand of God’ has worked in our lives. We should remember those who came before us because they laid the foundation for where we are today. We learn from the challenges of the past, celebrate our wins, and look ahead to what lies ahead of us. 

I will provide a comprehensive overview of the history of life-affirming work nationwide. The life-affirming work demonstrates the ‘hand of God’ present in our lives. ‘But God’ moments in time and history refer to those pivotal times when God’s mercy and love intervene and demonstrate the ‘hand of God’ present in our lives. (Ephesians 2:4)   

The History of Life-affirming work: Maternity Homes, Adoption Agencies, Pregnancy Centers, and Support Affiliate Organizations

Maternity Homes

Maternity housing programs offer housing and guidance to pregnant women. These programs are often offered by pregnancy help organizations, adoption agencies, or separate non-profit organizations. 

Maternity homes have adapted over the years, but have kept with the same mission. In 1886, the Salvation Army opened its first maternity home in the U.S. 

Today, Heartbeat International has a nationwide network of 450 maternity homes that help women with unplanned pregnancies. For example, MiraVia is a one-of-a-kind maternity home on the campus of Belmont College in North Carolina. This home gives mothers the support to pursue motherhood and a college degree.  In Mississippi, housing programs that accept pregnant or parenting women are limited in space and funding. Mississippi does not have a designated maternity home that is only for pregnant women. 

The Life Affirming Work of Adoption

Adoption is seen as the ‘common ground’ in the debate on abortion access, and that the law should make adoption more easily accessible. The first modern adoption law was the Adoption of Children’s Act in 1851 in Massachusetts. After 1930, adoption agencies started to provide more specialized care. In 1970, adoptions peaked domestically with an estimated 175,000 adoptions, and nearly 80% of those adoptions were arranged by adoption agencies. The rate of adoption slowly declined afterwards due to birth control and the legalization of abortion. 

In the 1990s, we saw open adoptions become more prevalent. Some adoption agencies start to help with the financial needs of the birth mother. State laws are enacted to protect the child, assist the mother, and help the adoptive parents as well. The cost of adoptions can range from $25-60 thousand. Adoption tax credits are available for parents. Currently there are about 900 agencies in the United States.  In Mississippi, some of the adoption agencies we refer to are Lifeline, New Beginnings, and Catholic Charities. 

Safe Haven Baby Boxes

Safe Haven Baby Boxes provide a lifeline for mothers and a safe beginning for babies.  These boxes are safe and effective.  As of June 27, we have five active locations. We have five more boxes that are due to open this year. Mississippi has had two babies safely surrendered in the last six months. Nationally, there are 340 plus boxes with 59 safe surrenders. The Safe Haven Baby Box national hotline has helped over 230 face to face surrenders. 

Crisis Pregnancy Centers

In the 1960s, there was a growing need for crisis pregnancy centers. The first pregnancy center opened in Hawaii in 1967 in response to changing abortion laws. Birthright established the first network of pregnancy centers in Canada in 1968. In Mississippi, we currently have 27 pregnancy help centers/clinics, and together we served over 8,571 new clients in 2024.  

After Roe v. Wade in 1973, crisis pregnancy centers grew nationwide. Over the years, their names have changed from pregnancy help centers, pregnancy resource centers, pregnancy support centers, and to our own unique names. In 2021, there were approximately 3,000 pregnancy centers nationwide. We outnumbered abortion facilities 3 to 1.

Our overall mission is very similar. We are a life-affirming, non-profit service provider for individuals experiencing an unexpected pregnancy. We provide compassionate care with a holistic health approach, with our primary goal to share truth and expose others to God’s hope. 

In the early 1990s, pregnancy centers began to advance their efforts by becoming medical clinics offering various services including ultrasound, STI testing/treatment and now abortion pill reversal services. In 1992, there were four pregnancy medical clinics offering ultrasounds. In 2022, there were over 2,000.  In 2024, Heartbeat International reported that pregnancy centers offered 2,164,043 total client sessions. 

In 2024, Heartbeat International reported that out of over 2,750 pregnancy centers nationwide: 

• 72% provided abortion recovery services
• 26% were part of the Abortion Pill Rescue Network.
• 75% provided ultrasounds.
• 82% offered material aid for families 

It’s important to consider those who came before us.  Hebrews 13:7 tells us to ‘remember your leaders… consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.’ Those before us laid a strong foundation. 

Pregnancy centers have come a long way from having only volunteers who opened the doors to multiple staff positions. We have come a long way from being on a shoestring budget with second-hand stuff. 

Over the years, pregnancy centers have faced tribulation. We have been accused of being deceptive. We were attacked physically and legally, but none of this has stopped the work that God has set before us. Despite the storms, we have met these hateful accusations and attacks with growth and expansion. We have refined our standards of care to provide quality healthcare services and comply with legal requirements. We have a national code of ethics. We hire licensed professionals and provide improved training for volunteers. We have strived to provide compassionate care with a holistic approach. We continue to show how love saves lives. 

The mission of pregnancy centers will always stay the same, but like those who came before us, we always need to grow.  We need to add new services and programs to support our clients.  We need to follow the lead of our predecessors and become innovative and adapt our methods to reach her without compromising our God-given mission.  And filter these new ideas through the mission as we seek God’s direction in all things.  

As pregnancy centers focus on growth, they will look to add new services that allow for a quick response to connect with the mother.  The mother may be just a click away from ordering the abortion pill to be delivered to her doorstep or her dorm room. Pregnancy centers are not just providing services through ‘brick and mortar’ but ‘brick and mobile’. Because these centers are competing for her attention online, they also need to expand their marketing and increase their speed of response time through various mobile connections and outside regular work hours. 

Abortion Pill Reversal Services

Another way to adapt to the changing times is to add abortion pill reversal services. Heartbeat International is seeking MS doctors willing to provide APR services to MS residents. HBI has an Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) of doctors and needs more MS-based doctors. If you know of a doctor who would be interested in this life-saving opportunity, they can contact Heartbeat International at medical@heartbeatinternational.org. 

Even the country with the highest abortion rates in the world, Russia, has embraced the abortion pill reversal protocol. They recognize that there is a 64-68% success rate. If your organization is a clinic, you can also become an APR consult as the APRN refers callers to you for your already existing services after the caller receives the APR treatment.

Mississippi Pregnancy Resource Alliance

The Mississippi Pregnancy Resource Alliance is a coalition of individual pregnancy centers working together to address these challenges.  The MSPRA currently has 22 members, including seven resource centers and 14 medical clinics. We also had our first Capital Day in March to bring more awareness to our group. 

In 2024, the members of the MSPRA employed a total of 127 individuals and provided a place of volunteer service to over 325 people. 

Within the MSPRA, we have:  

• 7 Resource Centers offering pregnancy testing and support services 
• 14 medical clinics offering pregnancy testing and US
• 4 of those offer STI testing and treatment
• 4 provide Abortion Pill Reversal services 
• 11 include a Fatherhood initiative program or male mentoring
• 11 provide Abstinence education 
• Our newest center is a mobile unit located in the Delta, serving four locations. 
• All of our centers provide parenting classes and abortion recovery

Mississippi pro-life affiliate organizations

Mississippi pregnancy centers are supported by three affiliate organizations: Christian Action Commission, Choose Life Mississippi, and Pro-Life Mississippi. 

Christian Action Commission provides funding through the Memorial to the Missing Campaign in 2006. They have invested over $500,000, exclusively for pro-life issues, and have awarded more than $225,000. 

The Choose Life tag in Mississippi was established in 2002. All registered pregnancy centers can receive quarterly funding from tags sold in their county. Choose Life Mississippi has sold 176,056 tags and raised over $4,225,356. 

Pro-Life Mississippi was established in 1984 as Jackson Right to Life. Their mission is to educate and equip others to value life through outreach, advocacy, prayer, and service. In 2018 they set up a benevolence ministry to fill in the gaps. They have provided $31,000 in financial assistance to 124 families. This year, they have provided $14,000 through that benevolence. 

How can you help?

When we asked Mississippi pregnancy centers what their current needs were, they included: expanded community engagement and church relations, more volunteers, consistent monthly funding, campus outreach, STI testing and treatment, job skills training, Bibles, baby supplies, prayer for guidance, and continued growth.

How can we accomplish these needs? Through their community

Many of our pregnancy centers are receiving funding from the business and personal state income and property tax credits. These Mississippi tax credits are a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. The amount of money raised just from the tax credits has helped these centers to accomplish many things, such as hiring additional client-centered staff, investing in a mobile unit, purchasing a building, receiving new ultrasound machines, and offering benevolence and scholarship funding. 

But we desperately need to increase donations in 2025 from these Mississippi tax credits to help us accomplish our future goals. Our survey revealed that many of our centers need to: improve their marketing budget to reach more women who are vulnerable to abortion, acquire a larger space or update their current facility, convert their center to a medical clinic, or expand client programs. 

We are confident that these tax credits, which our legislature worked hard to approve, will help each of us to accomplish these goals.

If you are not familiar with this opportunity, click here. We can provide information about your local pregnancy center and how you can keep your money closer to your community, and expand the services of your local pregnancy center. 

In summary, God’s Word shows us the past, present, and future. We began today by looking back while staying on mission as we serve in the present, and now we will conclude by pointing forward. We are not done, even in light of the reversal of Roe v. Wade. We know, more than ever, we are not finished until Jesus returns.