Ground Zero for Life
“Are you Pro-life or Pro-choice”—that seems to be the question, doesn’t it?
Well, for most people in the community, it’s a question with a definite answer. Yes or no.
But that’s not so for many Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center clients. The question of choice isn’t even a question at all. Why?
Meet Priscilla and baby Sacramento, Jr.!
Because sometimes the client’s mindset is I HAVE NO CHOICE.
Over 80% of women coming into SMPC for unplanned pregnancy care are “abortion minded”—meaning they are intending to seek an abortion; or, they are “abortion vulnerable”—meaning their lives’ unstable nature may easily tilt them to seek an abortion provider.
This is all day, every day.
Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center asks you to become a First Responder for Life with your summer gift.
At SMPC all babies' lives are beautiful!
From Jennifer Carey,
Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center’s CEO
Hello, friends and supporters,
This summer issue focuses on the reality of how fragile tiny unborn lives can be when a woman finds herself in an unplanned or unprepared pregnancy.
I ask you to read the following pages and the story they tell about the women who come into the Center’s care every single day—for over 22 years now. Thousands of tiny lives have been saved and mothers set free from a life of regret. This issue will bring you into the reality of the work SMPC does every day—right here at Ground Zero for Life
As you read, please consider how you can step forth this summer and become a First Responder for Life by making your most impactful gift to Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center. Your dollars are received with gratitude and stewarded with fiscal diligence. At the Center where life decisions are made every day, your charitable gift saves and protects tiny lives and the mothers who carry them.
To encourage your summer gift, anonymous donors have put forth a combined $30,000 MATCHING INCENTIVE for YOU
Become a First Responder for Life to save and protect tiny lives and their mothers by making your gift today.
I thank you in advance for the gift you will make to our work. I know you will be touched and inspired by this issue. God only knows the expansive impact of your gift and how He will bless you for your giving to this mission.
For
life, Jennifer Carey, CEO
Become a First Responder for Life
Let’s step back for a moment and be mindful of the incredibly sensitive nature of this conversation.
At least 40% of women have endured at least one abortion. That is a staggering number of wounded women, and yes, wounded partners.
Most would admit “I still grieve for my baby” many decades after the termination.*
Imagine sitting at SMPC with a woman who just learned her greatest fear is a reality: She’s pregnant.
Distraught, she tells the nurse and behavioral health therapist,
“…my boyfriend is in the car—he told me to go ‘take care of it.’ He’ll kill me if I don’t!”
“…my mother can’t find out! She’ll throw me out of the house. I’m fourteen. I have nowhere to go.”
“…I have no money and no job. I sleep on other peoples’ sofas. How can I bring a baby into my life now?”
“…I’m living in my car right now. I’m forty years old—I have two other kids with me. There’s nowhere for us to go. I can’t bring a baby into our lives.”
“…my husband beats me when he gets drunk…he’ll be so angry if I tell him I’m pregnant…I have no choice. I can’t leave him. I have no job, car, or money. He’ll find me and hurt me….”
“…I’m twenty-two and single. My son is five and my sister can’t take care of her two-year-old daughter, so I have her. We don’t have enough food now, I can’t have another baby. How will I feed him?”
These women don’t want to abort their baby. They sob and cry out, “I have no choice but to get an abortion.”
Enter First Responders for Life
The nursing and therapist staff witness and help absorb the woman’s fear, confusion, and helplessness. These heros share kindness, compassion, and tenderness in the face of a woman’s challenge to decide to carry or abort, and they do so without an ounce of judgment or condemnation. Every nurse, therapist, peer advocate, men’s coach—every staff member and every volunteer, and yes, every donor—stands inside the gap to protect life and provide support. We are all First Responders for Life.
These women facing an unplanned pregnancy are our neighbor’s wives, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters. They are reluctant to bring a baby into their life’s equation.
One effective way to help abortion-minded or abortion-vulnerable women is with realistic, reliable solutions empowering her decision to face her fear and conquer the obstacles to preserve the life of her unborn baby. Few women, regardless of their socio-economic status, could do this alone. We all need help and that’s what Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center provides because of supporters like you.
Become a First Responder for Life with your summer gift today.
*If you know someone who needs support after an abortion or the loss of a baby, no matter how long ago, please see Events page for the next support group meeting.
Upcoming Events
Questions about SMPC events? Email events@sarasotapregnancy.com
LEGACY for LIFE Lunch & Learn
Join SMPC on Wednesday, September 11 for Making a Planned Gift with My IRA. RSVP Debbie@SarasotaPregnancy.com or 941-724-8746.
LEADING LADIES for LIFE TEA with SILENT AUCTION
Wednesday, October 2
Tea & Luncheon
Laurel Oak Country Club RSVP by September 23. Scan to register and/or sponsor
SAVE THE DATE A LOVING TRIBUTE—A NIGHT OF SUPPORT
October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness month. You are invited to join us for a night of support for your loss. Let this be a meaningful and safe space for remembrance.
October 17th | 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center
SMPC’S ANNUAL GOLF & GIVE EVENT SUPPORTING MEN’S & COUPLES’ COACHING
Friday, October 25
The Meadows Country Club
Scan to register and/or sponsor
SAVE THE DATE FOR SMPC’S 2025 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL! BENEFIT DINNER & SILENT AUCTION
Plan your calendar now for the 2025 Life Is Beautiful! benefit event.
February 27th & 28th at The Ora. Registration details coming soon.
On November 5th, Florida voters will vote for or AGAINST Abortion Amendment 4. See the ambiguous amendment language below. A NO VOTE will protect tiny lives and the wellbeing of women.
The Abortion Amendment
it’s not what it seems – and it’s WAY too EXTREME
.
TITLE:
Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion
Should say: “Amendment to legalize full-term abortion for any age without parental consent in Florida” So… this amendment eliminates all limitations and regulations on abortion – even safety regulations that protect women
Not defined anywhere in the amendment…
Wow…any “healthcare provider” – NOT just doctors – could determine viability or exceptions for “patient’s health”.It could even be a nonmedical staff member at an abortion clinic…. BIG loophole makes limitation meaningless.
SUMMARY: No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature's constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.
Also not defined –even “mental stress” could qualify for the “patient’s health” exception. BIG LOOPHOLE
ELIMINATES CURRENT PARENTAL CONSENT LAWS
–So, parents would be told their daughter is going to have an abortion, but unlike every other medical procedure –would not have to give their consent beforehand.
