Today, that ongoing mission is more urgent than ever.
According to a 2023 peer-reviewed study by Dr. David Reardon — a leading expert on the aftereffects of pregnancy loss — 60% of post-abortive women reported they would have chosen life if they had received sufficient emotional and financial support.
With approximately 1.1 million abortions performed in America annually, that statistic translates to an estimated 660,000 women each year who could have been spared the heartache of abortion, and countless lives saved, simply by having a reliable support system.
Enter Her PLAN, a comprehensive pro-life safety net founded in 2020 designed to bridge that gap.
What is the pro-life safety net?
Autumn Christensen, executive director of Her PLAN, emphasizes that the initiative focuses heavily on the critical window from conception to a child's second birthday. Rather than relying solely on government programs, Her PLAN unites a vast network of charities, ministries, and local businesses.
"We are dedicated to addressing the specific resource needs that women identify for the reasons why they turn to abortion … like lack of work, lack of transportation, not having housing," Christensen said during a recent interview with AFN.
While America's nearly 3,000 pregnancy resource centers do incredible work providing ultrasounds, counseling, and material goods like diapers and formula, Christensen noted that women often face compounding crises that extend beyond the clinic walls.
"Each mom is unique, but if she needs help with transportation or housing, there is a need for the community to rise up and be able to provide that support," Christensen explained.
Beyond the pregnancy test
To tackle these broader challenges, Her PLAN features a directory spanning seven categories of care, connecting women with 8,000 vetted, life-affirming providers, including traditional pregnancy centers and medical clinics, mother and baby resource closets, free job training programs and counseling services, and food pantries, homeless shelters, and transportation support.
One of the most innovative ways communities are stepping up is through Car Maintenance Days. Recognizing that a reliable vehicle is vital for holding down a job, getting groceries, seeing a doctor, and securing housing, Her PLAN has mobilized pro-life volunteers with mechanical skills.
This past May, the organization partnered with businesses across the country to host maintenance events.
In Barrow County, Georgia, Akins Ford partnered with local ministries, hiring 10 mechanics with fully stocked mobile repair vans to bless 36 women.
In South Wake, North Carolina, Christian Brothers Automotive (led by owner Kenny Kase and his twin sons) served 10 women.
In Leesburg, Virginia, Valvoline Instant Oil Change provided free services to 10 women.
Mechanics performed oil changes, tire rotations, and safety inspections while local church members provided breakfast, bouncy houses for the children, and homemade casseroles for the mothers to take home. Most importantly, volunteers paired each mother with a mentor for intentional conversation and prayer.
Her PLAN has also launched a transportation fund for emergency repairs, and recently, volunteers in Nebraska even purchased a used car, complete with a big, red bow, for a new mother.
With research indicating that four in 10 women regularly attend church at the time of their abortion, unexpected pregnancies can feel intensely isolating due to the fear of judgment.
To combat this, churches like Memorial Baptist Church in Beckley, West Virginia, have opened Mother-Baby Resource Closets. Stocked entirely by congregation members, these closets provide maternity clothes, baby clothes, diapers, wipes, bottles, cribs, and strollers, proving to mothers that they are not alone.
Challenge of mail-order abortion drugs
The need for a robust community safety net has grown even more critical with the proliferation of chemical abortion drugs.
"Dangerous abortion drugs are being shipped by mail without oversight, even into pro-life states, amplifying pressure on women to abort," Christensen warned. "Even in pro-life states, abortion drugs are a click away. Or worse, her partner, neighbor, or parents order the drugs and urge her to take them."
Because chemical abortion pills allow terminations to happen privately at home, often without the patient ever visiting a clinic, the distance from a positive pregnancy test to an abortion has become dangerously short.
"The culture has told them that they're too poor, or too unstable ... to be a good mom," Christensen said. "The culture is telling them, 'You can't do this.' And we know that they can.
"If your car breaks down on Thursday, and it's the third time it's happened, and your boss says you're fired, you might start to give up on the idea that you can choose life. Communities in action are absolutely the way to rebut that cultural lie," she asserted.
Getting Involved
On June 24, 2026, the fourth anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Her PLAN officially launched the Pathways to Serve survey, which generates a custom list of volunteering recommendations based on an individual's unique skills and gifts.
"Everyone … has a skill set that would be useful to the pro-life safety net," Christensen concluded. "A mother in crisis needs a plan that works. She needs a reliable support system within her own community that will uphold her dignity, meet her specific needs, and do life with her."
That could mean volunteering at a local pregnancy center, offering professional photography for new moms, performing building maintenance, or organizing church-led community baby showers.
Associated Press photos.
