Why Alliance Needs to Be Everywhere

Want to know what makes me mad?

One of our clinic teams recently shared a patient's story with me, and I think it will make you mad, too. But I also think it will create a determination in all of us.

Two days before coming to us, a mom went to Planned Parenthood and took the first abortion pill, mifepristone, at around 1:00 in the afternoon. She was then given four misoprostol tablets meant to complete the abortion.

She had made a devastating decision, but then she started to feel deep regret.

She called Planned Parenthood back. Being a promoter of death, not life, they told her it was irreversible.

But that isn't true. At least, it doesn't have to be because of a procedure called abortion pill reversal.

This mom had done her research and found that progesterone could reverse the effects of the first abortion pill, so she went to a hospital clinic and asked for it. However, the hospital refused to give it to her.

Think about that. A mother who had just tried to end her child's life changed her mind and started fighting for that same child. The clock was running, but she hit one closed door after another.

Eventually, she found the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline, called, and got an appointment at Alliance. For the first time, she was filled with hope. She came in, and we did an ultrasound. Her baby was alive, with a heartbeat, at nine weeks gestation!

She brought those four misoprostol tablets with her and surrendered them to us, and we began treating her with progesterone. 

At the time of this writing, her baby continues to thrive in the womb, and she is now returning for ongoing prenatal care visits.

What's Actually Happening in Her Body?

Here's the part she was never told by Planned Parenthood or the hospital.

Progesterone is the hormone that sustains a pregnancy. It keeps the lining of the uterus healthy so the baby can stay attached and keep growing. Mifepristone works by blocking progesterone. It occupies the progesterone receptors so the body's own hormone can't do its job, and the pregnancy begins to fail.

Abortion pill reversal works by giving mom enough progesterone to compete for those receptors again. We're supplying more of the very hormone her body is already trying to make. It's time sensitive. The sooner we start, the better! Ideally, treatment begins within 72 hours of that first pill.

The procedure isn’t successful every time. But for many moms and babies, it is life-saving and life-changing.

This isn't a mystery. It's a medical service that trained clinicians can provide, and it gave this little one a chance to live.

Why This Makes Me Mad

Yes, this mom made a terrible decision when she took that first abortion pill. But I'm not mad at her. I'm proud of her. Once she changed her mind, she was brave and relentless.

What makes me mad is that the help existed, and she almost didn't find it. She was told it was irreversible. She was refused at a hospital. Her child's life came down to her persistence and a hotline number. If she had given up after the first "no," or even the second, or if there had been no clinic like Alliance within reach, this story ends very differently. And unfortunately, for a lot of women it does.

When a mom regrets taking that first pill, we aren't measuring the window in weeks. We're measuring it in hours. The help has to be close.

Our work doesn't end with stopping the abortion. We want to walk with her through this pregnancy, care for her and her baby, and get to know her as a whole person. Choosing life is not a one-moment thing. It's a continual choosing, and we want to be there for each of those choices.

Our goal isn't only to rescue this baby. It's to care for this mom so well that she never finds herself in that situation again. That's why we provide excellent life-affirming reproductive healthcare and share the hope of the gospel with her. She was created in the image of God, and so was her child. Both of them matter to Him, and both of them matter to us.

One Clinic Isn't Enough

Every Alliance clinic makes a real difference in its own community. But abortion isn't only a local problem. It's a national epidemic.

Medication abortion now accounts for the majority of abortions in this country, and the abortion pill is easier to get than ever, including by mail. That means more women taking that first pill and more women left with regret and nowhere to turn. A mom in any city, in any state, could end up where this mom was.

That's why Alliance has a national strategy. Our goal is to have 30 clinics by 2030, bringing life-affirming reproductive healthcare, including abortion pill reversal, close to the moms and babies who need it. Close enough that when a mom calls in a panic, someone can see her today. 

That takes urgency, flexibility, and a willingness to go where others haven't. It takes people who believe every city deserves a door that opens when a mom knocks.

This mom found us because a clinic was ready to answer. Every new Alliance clinic is another open door, another team equipped to say "yes, we can help you" when everyone else said no.

Thirty clinics by 2030 means thirty communities where the answer to a mom's cry for help is yes. When you support Alliance, that's what you're building.

And the next time a mom calls, full of regret, I want her first answer to be the right one.